rollerskates wrote:
LM wrote:Kipchoge ran like a badass and got everyone all hyped up, because it was an insane run he put in. Contrived and assisted or not, it was still extremely impressive to witness.
The format was goofy, but also fun in a science experiment kind of way.
cool it was fun to watch but if they went sub 2 would it really have been worth it? The actual barrier would be tarnished all for the sake of nike making a ton of money. I get that people who don't follow running would hear about it and think its awesome, you can't blame them for not knowing its stupid or caring about the integrity of the sport. I'm surprised so many letsrunners sold out so easy though
sucks that while this one may have failed, some other attempt just like it probably will happen sooner or later
I think we ought to question whether it would really be tarnished. Everybody would know that sub 2 marathon hadn't been broken except under the most contrived of circumstances.
The WR would remain 2:02:57, not 1:59:xx. Yes, the phalanx of pacers contributed to the race, but beyond that I think you could duplicate just about everything at Berlin on a good day. Weather, ideal course, could lay out some super efficient aid stations, etc. You could even get that kind of quality pacing...till at least 20k, maybe even 25-30k if you could get the right pacers in, having them drafting off the pacers getting to 20k.
If Kipchoge had run under 2, I think it would have just motivated people to say "Hey, we can break 2 in this super optimal situation, maybe on a better day with everything right we could challenge such a time at Berlin."