London Marathon 2017 elite field

Monster field indeed

https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/london-marathon-2017-men-elite-field-bekele

Hope Bekele will be recovered from Dubaï...

Funny this is not getting attention yet.

Good field, but having a Wilson Kipsang or Denis Kimetto would make it even better. (If Kimetto can actually produce another good marathon.)

*Dennis

Karoki debut, eh? Wonder how that will go.

grox wrote:

Funny this is not getting attention yet.

Good field, but having a Wilson Kipsang or Denis Kimetto would make it even better. (If Kimetto can actually produce another good marathon.)

Makes you think that Boston field could be pretty tough for Rupp this year. Maybe some folks will choose Tokyo (haven't checked) but Kipsang, Kimetto, Lelisa Desisa, Geoffrey Kamworor, come to mind. Could have a tough field for Rupp. 8 under 2:07 in London almost sounds weaker to years past.

With Bekele in Dubai and targeting the World Champs you have to wonder if he really toes the line here, especially if he gets a WR in Dubai.

Surprising Kipsang is not running London. Maybe he try Boston? I think Tokyo is too low standard for him.

I was surprised to see that Calling Hawkins wasn't in the field. Wasn't he the top Brit at London last year and at the Olympics. Anyone know why he wasn't included?

Calling fan wrote:

I was surprised to see that Calling Hawkins wasn't in the field. Wasn't he the top Brit at London last year and at the Olympics. Anyone know why he wasn't included?

"‘A few days before that, getting the pre-selection last week for the London 2017 World Champs marathon was a big boost to me.

‘It was just a big weight off my shoulder because now we make all the plans around August next year – rather than the London Marathon in April.

‘I’ve said all along I really wasn’t keen to do two marathons in London in quick succession (late April and early August). So I was really pleased when we were told by British Athletics that the selection had been secured by finishing top ten in Rio.

‘For 2017 the main goal will be the World Champs and the marathon. Everything we do will be building towards that.

‘I’m looking at the New York Half Marathon in March as a distinct possibility and one or two other races of that kind of standard."

FightFor15 wrote:

Makes you think that Boston field could be pretty tough for Rupp this year.

Another good thread spoiled by someone going on about Rupp still. Like he's the only runner who matters in the world. The guy has no personality. I don't know how he has so many fanboys.

george oscar bluth wrote:

Karoki debut, eh? Wonder how that will go.

Assuming he's healthier than last summer this is fantastic news. Just think to Kamworor's debut in NY. Sub-2:05 debut is certainly possible.

Calling fan wrote:

I was surprised to see that Calling Hawkins wasn't in the field. Wasn't he the top Brit at London last year and at the Olympics. Anyone know why he wasn't included?

Yes, he is putting all of his eggs into the World Championship marathon basket. He's not even going to do World XC.

Meanwhile, Bekele wants to do Dubai, London and WC London.

FightFor15 wrote:

Makes you think that Boston field could be pretty tough for Rupp this year. Maybe some folks will choose Tokyo (haven't checked) but Kipsang, Kimetto, Lelisa Desisa, Geoffrey Kamworor, come to mind. Could have a tough field for Rupp. 8 under 2:07 in London almost sounds weaker to years past.

With Bekele in Dubai and targeting the World Champs you have to wonder if he really toes the line here, especially if he gets a WR in Dubai.

Your thought process isn't supported by the facts.

Here is our analysis of the 2017 London field. It's very similar in quality to last year's field. There are very few big names left at all for Boston or Tokyo.

Thanks to you, Scot, and Rojo for the update. Sorry about the misspelling. It was unintentional.

Your thought process isn't supported by the facts.

Here is our analysis of the 2017 London field. It's very similar in quality to last year's field. There are very few big names left at all for Boston or Tokyo.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2017/01/4-thoughts-2017-london-marathon-mens-field-londons-stacked-whos-left-face-balen-rupp-boston-bedan-karokis-debut-can-kenenisa-bekeles-body-hold/

[/quote]

The Supreme Leader of LRC creating an inclusive environment for one of their readers. Chill with the "Your thought process isn't supported by the facts" nonsense when your "facts" support me. 2016 London- 8 under 2:06 vs. 7 in 2017 and 5 under 2:05 vs. 4 in 2017. So, marginally, 2017 is a little weaker. I'm not an expert who spends my days looking at this stuff. I just commented that my feeling was "London almost sounds weaker to years past." That's not a statement meant to sound final. I'm just saying that, if Bekele doesn't end up on the start line, London 2017 doesn't seem to be as good as London 2016.

LetsRun.com wrote:

FightFor15 wrote:

Makes you think that Boston field could be pretty tough for Rupp this year. Maybe some folks will choose Tokyo (haven't checked) but Kipsang, Kimetto, Lelisa Desisa, Geoffrey Kamworor, come to mind. Could have a tough field for Rupp. 8 under 2:07 in London almost sounds weaker to years past.

With Bekele in Dubai and targeting the World Champs you have to wonder if he really toes the line here, especially if he gets a WR in Dubai.

Your thought process isn't supported by the facts.

Here is our analysis of the 2017 London field. It's very similar in quality to last year's field. There are very few big names left at all for Boston or Tokyo.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2017/01/4-thoughts-2017-london-marathon-mens-field-londons-stacked-whos-left-face-balen-rupp-boston-bedan-karokis-debut-can-kenenisa-bekeles-body-hold/

Thanks for the analysis and thoughts.

Kispang is indeed a bit of a mystery and it would be interesting to see Kamworor give it another shot at marathon sooner rather than later.

rojo wrote:

Calling fan wrote:

I was surprised to see that Calling Hawkins wasn't in the field. Wasn't he the top Brit at London last year and at the Olympics. Anyone know why he wasn't included?

Yes, he is putting all of his eggs into the World Championship marathon basket. He's not even going to do World XC.

Meanwhile, Bekele wants to do Dubai, London and WC London.

Hawkins will end up 6th with 5 Africans and Rupp in front of him.

Is Eliud only doing WC's? Berlin?

I wonder if Hawkins will reconsider world cross after last weekend.

Most of the so-called "elite field" for London are not in fact elite. How can you be "elite" if your PB is 10 minutes (ie, 2+ miles) slower than the fastest guy? It's ridiculous.

Yes, they are all talented runners but marathoning has moved on and unless your PB is around 2:05 you don't have a hope in hell of winning. In fact you are not "elite" but second-rate and you don't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Africans.

London should recognise this but deliberately choose not to do so. By putting all the Brits and other no-hopers in the same category as the Africans they imply the second-raters can still compete. But we have seen on countless occasions that they can't - they just get destroyed.

So why continue with this stupid pretense of calling everybody "elite"?