Bekele's Back!

As was said in the other thread he got beat by more than half a mile.

He's sort of back but I think he'll get left off the Olympic team which is a shame. Rio would be way more interesting with him in the race.

This was the first race he had finished since 2014.

Does anyone have a list of the other Ethiopian contenders for Rio and their spring marathon performances?

I thought this was pretty spectacular actually. Okay, only 2.06, okay half a mile back from Kipchoge. But Kipchoge has just run the greatest marathon ever.

Consider who else in this race was utterly destroyed by the brutal early pace... Kimetto, Kipsang among them. And Bekele still looked pretty strong coming in.

Happy to be corrected but I can't see how the Ethiopian selectors can't look at that performance and think it was worthy of a spot in Rio.

Kenny's a contender still alright.

Personally I don't believe a word of what bekele says about his prep, he's a matter of disinformation about his training build up. But his time was good today irrespective.

londoner wrote:

Does anyone have a list of the other Ethiopian contenders for Rio and their spring marathon performances?

I thought this was pretty spectacular actually. Okay, only 2.06, okay half a mile back from Kipchoge. But Kipchoge has just run the greatest marathon ever.

Consider who else in this race was utterly destroyed by the brutal early pace... Kimetto, Kipsang among them. And Bekele still looked pretty strong coming in.

Happy to be corrected but I can't see how the Ethiopian selectors can't look at that performance and think it was worthy of a spot in Rio.

Kenny's a contender still alright.

Whereas I have no business telling Ethiopia what to do, this team looks reasonable;

1. Lemi Berhanu Hayle

2. Lelisa Desisa

3. Kenenisa Bekele

Women

1. Tigist Tufa

2. Perhaps Mare dibaba

Yes, he is back.

He could get a medal in Rio. It's a long shot but he could.

I'll hate Ethiopia forever if they don't let Kennster run the Rio marathon.

I watched the whole race...Bekele ran like a beast. Splitting that fast was suicidal for almost everyone (except Kipchoge and Biwott). Bekele messed up his water at about 25km lost a load of ground and got back into the race. It wa simpressive to watch. The guy went for it as long as he could, and even when dropped, yes he lost ground to the two best guys in the world, but he toughed it out and beat some stellar guys, including last year's world champ and Kipsang (he beat each by over a minute).

Ethiopia would be idiotic to not name him to the Rio team, particularly the way the rest of the Ethiopians are running (and the guys he beat from his own country today)...Ethiopia team should be: 1. Hayle, 2. Bekele, 3. Desisa

His performance today off of limited training, as well as Kipchoge's amazing show, are a demonstration of the other worldly talent that the top track runners of the 2000's possess. You could speculate that this generation of runners is so talented due to PED. However, what they are doing in the marathon now is showing just how much more talented they are compared to all other runners. I personally would be shocked if these two men were using PEDs in today's threatening testing environment. But you never know. I personally like to think that these two men are simply a demonstration of extreme outliers of God given talent. If only he could stay healthy, we could witness more of his greatness.

KB was a better runner than Kipchoge on the track/XC, so it's possible that he could be as dominate in the Marathon as Kipchoge has shown himself to be. Although I suspect that even if things went perfectly for him over the next few years, he would not do what Kipchoge has done in the Marathon. But maybe he could come close. A healthy KB still has the capability of breaking the current WR, but by the time he gets there, Kipchoge may have lowered the WR beyond anyone's reach.

On the same topic of Bekele's extreme talent, His London time is about 2 minutes faster than Mo Farah. Even if you ignore the limited training, this is more indication that Mo Farah should not be a candidate in the GOAT conversation (unless you limit the conversation to just WC/OG track medals).

Now that the race is over, I can write the truth about the preparation of Kenenisa.

After his injury in Dubai last year, HE DIDN'T RUN FOR 11 MONTHS, till the beginning of 2016, and was in treatment with an equipe of doctors and physios from England. His problem in the left Achilles tendon was almost solved, but he started to have a similar problem in his right tendon.

However, he started jogging at the beginning of January : one session per day, not longer than 1 hour till half of February, when started to increase the volume.

His REAL training started 7 weeks ago (so are practically 6 weeks of preparation).

Two days ago, Kenenisa asked me about the pace in London. When I told him the tartget was 61'45" at half, he told me "it's a little too fast for me, since I'm prepared at 50% only". So, I told him "there is also a second group with target 63' at half", and hi replied "my mind is not ready for running with weak athletes".

This is Kenenisa, and without this type of mentality, NEVER could be Kenenisa in the past.

The guy is really a "monster" under mental and organical point of view, and, if his tendons are ok, can open in the best way the second part of his unbelievable career.

Thanks Renato +1

do you if he is untrained?how fast can he run a 10K?or why was that tendonitis nagging him so long?how about his weekly mileage?only 4 months training to run that fast is impossible!!!

Thanks Renato, love the insight. Do you know if Kenenisa has been able to get in any quality workouts and if so what they were? Also, do you have any specifics on Kipchoge's prep for London? What do you believe he could run all out on a faster course like Berlin? 2:02:15? Thanks in advance.

Hey Renato, read the first pages of the linked thread below. And tell Kenenisa that no one since Alan Webb a decade ago has got so much love from letsrun posters as him:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=7197216

Certainly not impossible for a great talent such as Bekele to come back into great shape quickly off limited training. He could sit on the couch for a year and still get up to break 30 for 10k based off his capabilities, which the naive and slow can't comprehend, obviously. I really don't understand why some running people think that you lose all your fitness after a few months off. Muscle memory works for running just the same as it does for any other sport. I guess that line of thinking is from the compulsively obsessed addicts who think they can't take a day off or else they'll lose all their fitness. Bekele is the man!

Thank you Renato, I was hoping you would give some insight after the race. Kenenisa's talent is just unbelievable.

^^^^Love that quote. Bekele is great not just because of his physicality but his MENTALITY!

larkimm wrote:

Personally I don't believe a word of what bekele says about his prep, he's a matter of disinformation about his training build up. But his time was good today irrespective.

Why don't you believe it?

Our guy on the ground heard things hadn't been well with Bekele and he's close to Canova who used to caoch Bekele.

The BBC commentators heard the same things.

Bekele ran through a horrific calf injury and didn't want surgery so it may never heal. He's basically running on a flat tire on one leg. Did anyone see him sort of waddling from side to side? My question for Bekele fans is, "Has his form always looked like that? Or is it the the inujry?" I don't know what he normally looks like but he was rocking a bit today.

I do know one thing. The guy is an AEROBIC monster. Probably the greatest aerobic machine ever. How a guy on limited traininc could go out in 61 and run 2:04 pace for 35k is beyong me.

A great run.

Renato, thanks for the detailed info on KB, very impressive.

Would you mind giving us more details on his achilles injury? What location? was the injury? Middle of achilles or insertion? (down at the bottom)? What has he done to fix it?

Also, what does the future look like for his training? Will he move back to the track or just stay with the marathon?

The weak point wrote:

Will he move back to the track or just stay with the marathon?

Yeah Renato what time do you think Bekele can run for 10000?