Bernard Lagat to pace in Nike Sub-2 attempt!

Um, nope. wrote:

Crime? Bekele just got his doors blown off.

GT

Did you even watch? He clearly had something disrupting his stride (we later learned blisters) but still fought back and had closed the gap to under 5 seconds with 400 to go.

Er... wrote:

What's the difference? I mean what will the selected media get access to that anyone watching the online stream won't be able to see?

It's ridiculous the way the coverage is going already, like there's a snowball's chance in hell that this thing will be successful. They'll be lucky to break 2:04. What are they going to do when the leaders cruise through halfway in 61:00 slowing down?

You've been spotted, dumb dumb.

If it's not record-eligible, it just seems silly to me. Using a relay of pacers who aren't actually starting with the competitors makes this even sillier.

There's no question someone can break 2 hours over 26.2 miles if you ignore the rules of the sport. Put Kipchoge in inline skates and he can break 1 hour. Or pay Kipchoge to run the St. George Utah Marathon. That doesn't prove anything about running an actual rule-complying marathon under 2 hours.

Nike is not pushing the limits of human performance --- it's just proving that if you change the rules to make the marathon easier, then people can finish faster. So what?

really? you think they can run the equivalent of 105 consecutive 400s @ 68.5 seconds per 400m......think about that for a few minutes.

Question for everyone: which is easier, sub-2 1km or sub-2 'thon?

i dont know why people are so against this. yes irs not a legit marathon. SO WHAT? we have a ton of high end marathons every year and at least this is a unique idea.

yes itll ruin a great potential matchup in london.. once! id love to see bekele and kipchoge for sure, and thats probably what im most bummed about. but otherwise why not enjoy it for what it is and stop comparing it to a legit marathon. its just a different thing.

i for one am curious to see how conti uous pacing could help. i dont see why races already cant have a pacer jump in halfway. or for e.g. on the track have one pacer lterally stand at the start line and wair a few laps to hop in when other pacer drops out

Why? Not going to even be close.

more silliness wrote:

If it's not record-eligible, it just seems silly to me.

This won't even be an official record? What's the point?

cyhawk wrote:

more silliness wrote:

If it's not record-eligible, it just seems silly to me.

This won't even be an official record? What's the point?

Money.

French Dawg wrote:

MakeTrackGreatAgain wrote:https://twitter.com/runwithcuan/status/859024550813720576

Multiple world class runners are helping pace the attempt. Pacers will be working "shifts" in an attempt to keep everybody fresh and on pace. In addition to this, Nike will only be giving an access code to a select few members of the media to watch the attempt online. It won't be open to the public.

Oh my god. They're actually going to fake it. This is insane. The media is going to be paid off to report in advance, and it is unlikely the race will even be run. Nike is truly unbelievable.

Moon landings???

Not open to the public. That sounds uncomfortably quiet.

Part of doing a Marathon is the thousands of people going insane around you. I predict Kipchoge fails to break 2:03 citing how there was freaking nobody around.

That'd be kinda fun if they have Lagat pace Kipchoge in the toughest part of the race to get his competitive juices flowing. He wouldn't want to look weak and fold in front of one of his oldest rivals.

Jeebus, I wonder what the budget for pacers is for this.

maybe i can help... wrote:

cyhawk wrote:

This won't even be an official record? What's the point?

Money.

Yes: The first Sub 2 = A lasting Meme = PR = Money.

And it will work if they go sub 2. It will work as a meme, even more so if they manage to do it on the same date as Bannister run sub 4 for the mile. Legit or not doesn't matter at all, you'll be forced to have an opinion, you won't be able to avoid the meme. Remember that MANY people argued the wind aided down course 2:03:02 in Boston was the REAL world record simply because at the time it was the fastest time run over the distance.

HardLoper wrote:

There's never going to be a record eligible sub-2 so who cares.

It is if you can arrange it so that the wind shifts during the race to produce a constant tailwind.

But this isn't a race for Bernie. Have you ever worked out with him? Dude hits splits like a quartz watch.[/quote]

Of course I've worked out with him. What are you talking about? Every Tuesday. We also shower together. It's not a sexuall thing, it's just easier to get each others' backs that way.

blargh wrote:

That'd be kinda fun if they have Lagat pace Kipchoge in the toughest part of the race to get his competitive juices flowing. He wouldn't want to look weak and fold in front of one of his oldest rivals.

Kipchoge and Bernie Lagat come from the same village. Apart from both being NIKE's I am Not surprised they will be working together.

However the whole sub 2Hour thing is a waste of talent and will not be fun for the running world. They should have just put those runners on a course like Berlin and using the many pacers who jump in at different points, try to see for how long Kipchoge, Tadese and Desisa will hold a sub 2Hr pace. Then call that World Record for Sub 2Hr marathon pace. It probably would be somewhere between 34K and 37K.

I beat Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one basketball. But first I changed the rules so he had his hands tied behind his back and could only hop on one leg.

changing the rules wrote:

I beat Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one basketball. But first I changed the rules so he had his hands tied behind his back and could only hop on one leg.

So what are the specific rule changes that everyone is bent out of shape about.

Which changes will actually make a difference?