Mo Farah and the 5k/10k WR - possible this year?

sesterman wrote:

Manchester wrote:

Even more ridiculous... name ANY mid-distance runner who runs 60:00 for a half...

Whether or not they can be named is irrelevant. Is that really how you decide if something is true??? That's a horrible conclusion process.

If mid-distance runners should be able to run 60 minutes for a half marathon then it should be very easy to name some who have. You obviously cannot name any. Therefore it is highly unlikely that there are any. It's easy to name the great mid/long-distance runners who ran a lot slower than 60:00 - Bernard Lagat (62:33), Rui Silva (62:40), Bouabdellah Tahri (63:30). In fact nobody, mid-distance or otherwise, broke 60 until the 1990's. You are delusional if you think mid-distance runners should be able to run a half in 60.

tasty wrote:

well - what'd y'all think now? All one has to do is call out Mo on twitter and get him fired up.

It will be far from easy or proportionally financially motivating, but he could get the 5k record. Hailed and bekele both set 5k records that were similar in time to each other and that had terrible peacemaking (my opinion) with the pacers dropping off around 2k or earlier? And not doing a good job toward the end or their pacing duties. I haven't watched the vids in a while (and bekeles video actually only showed up relatively recently thanks to a poster on these boards) but I recall bekele was the worst paced and was a true testament to bekeles fitness, poise and skill. Get the finest pacemakers (a team), the best venue and crowd and weather conditions , have them go to 3500-4200m, and mo has got a shot. If we can assume fantastic fitness now and increasing into the outdoor season, he's capable of at least 12:40.x. Remember fantastic pacing and good conditions help. Mo has dusted dejen g, who in Paris recorded 12:46.change. He has done this while doubling. Dejen g doesn't have mos 5k dominance nor The range from 3:28 to ~2:08. With this result AFTER his foray into marathon/half, it's clear this range is inclusive as mo has got the best of all fitness worlds.

Manchester wrote:

TrackCoach wrote:

The 10K is almost definitely out because I am convinced Mo is actually a middle distance runner, with good endurance and a great kick.

Absolutely ridiculous... He is a distance runner with great 1500 speed. Mid-distance is 800/1500. 1500m runners don't run 60:00 halfs or 26:4x 10K's and they definitely don't have the strength to kick at the end of those 5k/10k races.

Steve Scott and Steve Ovett both ran decently fast half-marathons back in the last century while training for 800/1500.

grandpa simpson wrote:

Manchester wrote:

Absolutely ridiculous... He is a distance runner with great 1500 speed. Mid-distance is 800/1500. 1500m runners don't run 60:00 halfs or 26:4x 10K's and they definitely don't have the strength to kick at the end of those 5k/10k races.

Steve Scott and Steve Ovett both ran decently fast half-marathons back in the last century while training for 800/1500.

Decent, definitely. 60:00, no.

Manchester wrote:

grandpa simpson wrote:

Steve Scott and Steve Ovett both ran decently fast half-marathons back in the last century while training for 800/1500.

Decent, definitely. 60:00, no.

True, but their efforts were essentially workout races.

There was a 3:40 1500 guy who ran 61:43 in the early 80s, as I recall.

I would say if Farah continues to improve into outdoor, is uninjured and can get in a well paced race... We could see a sub 12:45 performance. Though just based on how he fared in the marathon i do not think that he can get anywhere near the 10,000 record (within 10 seconds).

Based on his 1500 speed and range it does seem reasonable to assume that he can go sub 12:50. Just how far under 12:45 will he go, only time will tell. If i were to bet, I would say 12:42.x.

grandpa simpson wrote:

Manchester wrote:

Decent, definitely. 60:00, no.

True, but their efforts were essentially workout races.

There was a 3:40 1500 guy who ran 61:43 in the early 80s, as I recall.

He was not a mid-distance runner. That 61:43 would have been close to the world record at that time.

Manchester wrote:

grandpa simpson wrote:

True, but their efforts were essentially workout races.

There was a 3:40 1500 guy who ran 61:43 in the early 80s, as I recall.

He was not a mid-distance runner. That 61:43 would have been close to the world record at that time.

And yet only a couple of years earlier he had set the AR in the steeplechase and was world-ranked in that event.

Also, that time was just off the world record - ~7 seconds behind the WR set in the same race, and would have been a WR otherwise.

he is going for world records this year , just confirmed it yesterday

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/athletics/mo-farah-targets-more-world-5214067