So I was contacted by a reporter this afternoon who wanted to know 1) if I viewed today's announcement as a legitimate attempt or a marketing gimmick 2) wanted to know what the reaction in the running community was to the announcement, and 3) wanted to know if there were any details that I wanted to be revealed about the attempt.
Since I spent a half hour collecting my thoughts, I thought I might as well share them here.
1) I'm very disappointed by today's announcement on some many levels.
I totally view it as a marketing gimmick. Anyone who understands the sport knows that we're not anywhere close to being ready for a legitimate sub-2 hour attempt on a standard course with a standard surface. The idea that one of these guys is going to do it in 2017 is just beyond stupid.
And if we are talking about doing it with some ridiculous amount of aid (downhill or downwind - perhaps they'll drive behind the runners with fan blowing on them), then who the heck cares? Under that logic, then Justin Gatlin is the world's fastest man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAz1gnXCTQc
If it's only the time that matters, then I'm going to sponsor the first sub-4 minute mile by a woman as there clearly are a lot of women that could run a sub-4 minute mile if they ran it down a mountain.
The fact that the time and place hasn't been announced proves it’s a marketing gimmick. Let people talk about it and generate the swoosh some free publicity for six weeks before announcing the details.
What is most disappointing in my mind though is Nike has made this all about them. In the process of announcing this marketing gimmick, they've killed off one of the most anticipated marathon matchups in history - Kenenisa Bekele vs. Eliud Kipchoge - and killed off one of the greatest marathons on the planet - the London Marathon - for 2017.
Imagine for a moment that running is golf. The greatest in history Tiger Woods (Bekele) has been out injured. But suddenly he's back and on a tear and he's set to face Jordan Spieth (Kipchoge), who is totally on top of his game as well, at the Masters. The fans can't wait as they've never seen an in-form Woods vs. Spieth at the Masters. That's what we were going to get at London this year. Instead, we learn that there will be no Woods - Spieth dual at the Masters because Nike is paying Spieth to try out some new equipment and go for the lowest score on record in an exhibition.
The sheer amount of arrogance behind this announcement is also mind-boggling. So we're supposed to believe the people in the sports science lab at Nike - the same people who had no idea that Lance Armstrong was committing one of the biggest frauds in history for over a decade(or the same people who had the insoles coming out of Kipchoge's shoes last year in Berlin) - are so much smarter than everyone else that they can get a human to run three minutes faster than before in the span of six months?
2) I don't know how the running community feels about it. I mean that's like asking how does the US feel about Donald Trump's election. But I'm pleasantly surprised though that on our forum, where many of the sport's most die-hard fans are, most people seem to be against the idea and realize it's a gimmick as shown here (link to this thread)
3) Yes, all of the details I need to know. I really want to know about the a) wind and b) elevation drop. If there is some unnatural wind tunnel created, then who cares? We already know that a 20 mph tail wind for a marathon can easily be worth 3-4 minutes (Provided a link to John Kellogg's prediction to the possibility of a 2:03 in Boston).