Wilson Kipsang appreciation thread

No doubt Kipsang was the Tergat to Bekele's Geb at Berlin. Kipsang is tremendous. Both Kipsang and Bekele are 34 years old. Tremendous efforts.

scubacane wrote:

it is a crime he wasnt in Rio, Can you imagine if both he and Bekele had run?- it would have been an epic race with Kipchoge , while Mr Rupp would have been 5th IMO

How does the addition of one runner (Kipsang) cause Rupp to drop from 3rd to 5th?

If both Bekele and Kipsang would have ran in Rio, they would have crushed Rupp

must be that new math wrote:

scubacane wrote:

it is a crime he wasnt in Rio, Can you imagine if both he and Bekele had run?- it would have been an epic race with Kipchoge , while Mr Rupp would have been 5th IMO

How does the addition of one runner (Kipsang) cause Rupp to drop from 3rd to 5th?

"BOTH HE AND BEKELE HAD RUN"

3 + 2 = 5. Let me know if you need more help.

Kipsang is amazing. One of the all time greats. Hats off to him.

scubacane wrote:

Alot of people had written Kipsang off after a 5th place at London last spring but he brought it yesterday to Berlin, setting a personal best and running the 4th fastest marathon ever on a record eligible course.

Bekele's perfromance was ridiculous but let us applaud the man who made Bekele work for it.

Kipsang has now gone sub- 2:05 six years in a row- it is a crime he wasnt in Rio, Can you imagine if both he and Bekele had run?- it would have been an epic race with Kipchoge , while Mr Rupp would have been 5th IMO

Interesting that everyone(including myself a while ago) seems to be getting six as the number of times Kipsang has run under 2:05! The number is SEVEN!

1. 2:04:57 Frankfurt 2010

2. 2:03:42 Frankfurt 2011

3. 2:04:44 London 2012

4. 2:03:23 Berlin 2013

5. 2:04:29 London 2014

6. 2:04:47 London 2015

7. 2:03:13 Berlin 2016

My bad, you talking about years in a row! Still did it SEVEN years in a row!

This is an exceptional career for sure.

I just offered similar comments on the Bekele GOAT thread, prior to seeing this one. Kipsang is an all time great, who just ran his way out of a patch of subpar performances and into a new PR, which as a former WR holder, is saying something. Kipsang is definitely exceptional. An amazing run.

MarathonMind wrote:

This is an exceptional career for sure.

Very exceptional! That is why there is no disputing Kipsang is the actual King of the marathon and everyone else is still playing catch up until they can beat this record! He failed to break the world record by 16 seconds this year but this accounts for the shoddy job by pacemakers(didn't even make it to 20K) and the energy he had to spend the rest of the way as a result. I bet if the pace makers were good he would have run under the existing world record and would have beaten Bekele by going sub 29 mins the last 10K!

If you compare the last 12.195 Km of 2013 race(pacer did great) and this year's, there is a big difference.

2013 35:22

2016 35:47

That is 25 seconds lost.

Bekele 35:34

Kipsang will be back next year to make it eight times in eight years sub 2:05 and possibly another 2:03 time if not 2:02.

Seven times wrote:

scubacane wrote:

Alot of people had written Kipsang off after a 5th place at London last spring but he brought it yesterday to Berlin, setting a personal best and running the 4th fastest marathon ever on a record eligible course.

Bekele's perfromance was ridiculous but let us applaud the man who made Bekele work for it.

Kipsang has now gone sub- 2:05 six years in a row- it is a crime he wasnt in Rio, Can you imagine if both he and Bekele had run?- it would have been an epic race with Kipchoge , while Mr Rupp would have been 5th IMO

Interesting that everyone(including myself a while ago) seems to be getting six as the number of times Kipsang has run under 2:05! The number is SEVEN!

1. 2:04:57 Frankfurt 2010

2. 2:03:42 Frankfurt 2011

3. 2:04:44 London 2012

4. 2:03:23 Berlin 2013

5. 2:04:29 London 2014

6. 2:04:47 London 2015

7. 2:03:13 Berlin 2016

Exactly, he made the race, the guy is brilliant. Remember Bekele holds the 5k & 10k WRs. 2:03 is an epic time which is so over looked, he was never going to out sprint Bekele if close. As entertainment we are all still talking about it and it was him that set it up.

scubacane wrote:

Alot of people had written Kipsang off after a 5th place at London last spring but he brought it yesterday to Berlin, setting a personal best and running the 4th fastest marathon ever on a record eligible course.

Bekele's perfromance was ridiculous but let us applaud the man who made Bekele work for it.

Kipsang has now gone sub- 2:05 six years in a row- it is a crime he wasnt in Rio, Can you imagine if both he and Bekele had run?- it would have been an epic race with Kipchoge , while Mr Rupp would have been 5th IMO

i am with you.

Let me first apologise for being one of the leading people on this assessement which was clearly wrong.

I agree that had pace setting been great, Kipsang could have done wonders.

Of all the top marathoners to watch Wilson is my favorite. Just mesmerizing form.

Reality Bath wrote:

Of all the top marathoners to watch Wilson is my favorite. Just mesmerizing form.

He is like a super-fast metronome for sure, and with a smooth glide like a gazelle but maybe like a giraffe(long neck)! Kipchoge comes second on favorite to watch form. He looks more like a lion or buffalo but with an effective rhythm of his own.

scubacane wrote:

Alot of people had written Kipsang off after a 5th place at London last spring but he brought it yesterday to Berlin, setting a personal best and running the 4th fastest marathon ever on a record eligible course.

Bekele's perfromance was ridiculous but let us applaud the man who made Bekele work for it.

Kipsang has now gone sub- 2:05 six years in a row- it is a crime he wasnt in Rio, Can you imagine if both he and Bekele had run?- it would have been an epic race with Kipchoge , while Mr Rupp would have been 5th IMO

The hosts of this site were the biggest ones to write him off.

Kipsang has run 7 marathons within 2 minutes (actually 1:57min.) of the current world record, which is mind boggling.

If we examine even closer:

1. 2:04:57 Frankfurt 2010 (58 seconds from Geb's WR)

2. 2:03:42 Frankfurt 2011 (4 seconds from Makau's WR ran just a few weeks earlier)

3. 2:04:44 London 2012 (1:06min. from Makau's WR)

4. 2:03:23 Berlin 2013 (WR, a 15 sec. improvement)

5. 2:04:29 London 2014 (1:06 min. from his own WR)

6. 2:04:47 London 2015 (1:50 from Kimetto's WR)

7. 2:03:13 Berlin 2016 (16 seconds from Kimetto's WR)

So that's one WR and six runs at an average of 60 seconds from the WR.

Not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure Kilsang opted not to run in rio, either way it would have been a whole different race so we can't really say what would have happened there, also very different conditions.

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

Not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure Kipsang opted not to run in rio, either way it would have been a whole different race so we can't really say what would have happened there, also very different conditions.

Need a edit button

I wont forget kipsang running ny a couple years ago. First time I watched a live marathon and someone running that fast and so powerfully. And with a half mile left he did that check on his competitor and took off. Epic.