rojo wrote:
Let's talk about the men's race now.
When I saw the men's field, two words jumped out at me. Kimetto and Kipsang (but i guess he wants to be known as Kamworor now). So Kimetto or Kamworor. I've been a big fan of Kamworor for a while now looking for him to take over the mantle of superstar young phenom left by Sammy Wanjiru.
He still could. WHile Kamworor's marathon career has been slightly disappointing up to date - how crazy is marathoning that a 2:06 pb at age 21 is a disappointment? - here's something to consider.
He's still super young.
Wanjiru defied his Japanese coaches by running and winning the Olympic marathon at age 21 (Wanjiru's first 3 marathons were all run when he was 21 - Fukuoka (1st 2:06:39, London (2nd 2:05:24) and Beijing 2:06:32 2nd). THat was viewed as super young.
Kamworor is 21 and this will be his 5th marathon. He ran his first at age 19 (side note, someone on the messageboard pointed out the IOC has made it a rule that you have tob e 20 to run in the Olympic marathon).
SO the focus will be on them but I want to give out some love for Tsegaye Kebede. OUr friend Sabrina Yohannes had a great Q&A with him earlier this week. Check it out:
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/wmm-leader-tsegaye-kebede-hopes-for-another-series-win-in-berlinThe guy is a real pro and model of consistency. his track record in marathons is unreal. At age 27, he's run 17 marathons. All of them have been under 2:10:00 except for a 4th place finish at world and 3rd in the Olympics. 10 times he's broken 2:07!! Ten!!!
I wonder if he's ever even dropped out of a marathon. How dyou keep that up year after year?
He says it's because he has no vices. So great.
KEbede's career marathons.
2007
2:08:16 8 ING Amsterdam 21 Oct
2008
2:06:40 1 Paris 6 Apr
2:10:00 3 OG Beijing 24 Aug
2:06:10 1 Fukuoka 7 Dec
2009
2:05:20 2 Flora London 26 Apr
2:08:35 3 WC Berlin 22 Aug
2:05:18 1 Fukuoka 6 Dec
2010
2:05:19 1 Virgin London 25 Apr
2:06:43 2 Bank of Am Chicago IL 10 Oct
2011
2:07:48 5 Virgin London 17 Apr
2:07:14 3 ING New York NY 6 Nov
2012
2:06:52 3 Virgin London 22 Apr
2:04:38 1 Bank of Am Chicago IL 7 Oct
2013
2:06:04 1 Virgin London 21 Apr
2:10:47 4 WC Moskva 17 Aug
2:09:15 2 ING New York NY 3 Nov
2014
2:06:30 3 Virgin London 13 Apr
He's only 27. If he stays motivated, imagine how many sub 2:10s he cold produce.
But the shelf-life of a marathoner isn't very long is it? Take a look at the top 15 from the 2008 Olympics. Kebede is the only one that is still a bigtime threat.
1 Samuel Wanjiru KEN 10 Nov 86 2:06:32
2 Jaouad Gharib MAR 22 May 72 2:07:16
3 Tsegaye Kebede ETH 15 Jan 87 2:10:00
4 Deribe Merga ETH 26 Oct 82 2:10:21
5 Martin Lel KEN 29 Oct 78 2:10:24
6 Viktor Röthlin SUI 14 Oct 74 2:10:35
7 Asfaws Gashaw Melese ETH26 Sep 78 2:10:52
8 Yared Asmeron ERI 3 Feb 79 2:11:11
9 Dathan RitzenheinUSA 30 Dec 82 2:11:59
10 Ryan Hall USA 14 Oct 82 2:12:33
11 Mike Fokoroni ZIM 10 Jan 77 2:13:17
12 Stefano Baldini ITA 25 May 71 2:13:25
13 Tsuyoshi Ogata JPN 11 May 73 2:13:26
14 Grigoriy AndreyevRUS 7 Jan 76 2:13:33
15 Ruggero Pertile ITA 8 Aug 74 2:13:39
So while I dont think he's likely to get the win or WR, some major props out to him for being so consistently good. Truly amazing.