I just saw Guye Adola did not DNF in London (Finished in 2:32:35)

Ouch. Biggest positive split by an elite thonner ever?

Imagine doing a drag race and you don't double clutch, you are going to suffer on the turnaround. Look at the Fast and the Furious, the original race. Paul Walker is at the front, but at the end his car blows up. He still finishes with a blown gasket, but is a mile behind Van Diesel. Adola reminds me of this.

The heat and pace caused so many elite runners to bonk. It was Boston in reverse.

- Mary K

- Tirunesh D

- Bekele

- Adola

- Ghirmay

-

I like that he finished.

appearance fee or not wrote:

I like that he finished.

This.

It's a fine line to walk in a marathon with dangerous conditions like Boston and London this year but when 95% of the Boston field finished the race but only 60% of the elite field did it tells me that some people probably could have made it, albeit with a slow finishing time. He's a 2:03 guy that had nothing to prove. A lot of us have been there and have had miserable races that we've gutted through. I like this.

El Keniano wrote:

appearance fee or not wrote:

I like that he finished.

This.

+1

He finished. That's what matters.

Guts.

appearance fee or not wrote:

I like that he finished.

I do too. I understand when an elite drops because of an injury, but if you are having just an off day, suck it up an finish like the rest of us do. It is weak character to pull the plug just because you will not meet your goals for the day.

So.... wrote:

Ouch. Biggest positive split by an elite thonner ever?

"Elite thonner" is an oxymoron.

Might as well try to grab that Boston qualifier right?

So.... wrote:

Ouch. Biggest positive split by an elite thonner ever?

Berlin was a one off. He's well into his 30's.

broken arrow wrote:

appearance fee or not wrote:

I like that he finished.

I do too. I understand when an elite drops because of an injury, but if you are having just an off day, suck it up an finish like the rest of us do. It is weak character to pull the plug just because you will not meet your goals for the day.

That’s not how it works, and this why Africans are better.

They understand that running is about the big picture and not one race, so they will drop out and save themselves for another race. That way they can race again later on in the month or next month.

They race for a certain time, not to just finish a race. They can do that with their eyes close. So if things are going bad in the first half of the race, cut it off, label it as a tempo run, and find another Race to run. No need to beat the body up any further.

Think about all the extra wear and tear keitany put on her body just to finish, and she was hurting badly. Just imagine what her recovery is going to be. Dibaba did the smart thing, and saved her body.

Africans are better solely because they drop out of races when they are having a bad day. Right.

helpfulhands wrote:

"Elite thonner" is an oxymoron.

A little bit maybe, I like the frase though. Thonner is quote worthy.

He does not DNF.

Adola despises the DNF — he’d rather run slow than drop out

“[The 2016 World Half Marathon Championships was hard] but I didn’t want to drop out. Many athletes, if they can’t win, they drop out. They think, If I can’t win, what will people say about me? But I don’t care what people think, I wanted to finish the race, even if having 63[:26 finishing time] will damage my profile.”

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2017/09/unbelievable-guye-adola-just-ran-fastest-marathon-debut-history-didnt-know-running-berlin-4-days-race/

pkl wrote:

He does not DNF.

Adola despises the DNF — he’d rather run slow than drop out

“[The 2016 World Half Marathon Championships was hard] but I didn’t want to drop out. Many athletes, if they can’t win, they drop out. They think, If I can’t win, what will people say about me? But I don’t care what people think, I wanted to finish the race, even if having 63[:26 finishing time] will damage my profile.”

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2017/09/unbelievable-guye-adola-just-ran-fastest-marathon-debut-history-didnt-know-running-berlin-4-days-race/

Ok, that guy has got to be at least 35, if not older.

ClonedDuck wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

This.

+1

He finished. That's what matters.

why?!

what's the value of a 2:03 guy struggling and trashing his body just to finish in the heat?

this is his livelihood. the sooner he is back training at a high level, the better. this only hinders it.

he really ran the second half at like 1:31?! haha

That's what you took from that? lol

I'm saying africans have a better perspective than americans when it comes to running. They don't have complexes, or feel inferior if they drop out. In america, there is this foolish mentality to tough it out at all cost, which is not running smart.

An african will drop out of the race, and will not think anything of it.....not one bit. If americans run poorly or drop out, they will think of themselves as losers, and fret about it for the rest of their lives ( lol) .. Or if a person gives up, they'll ridicule that person or degrade them.

It's the same thing with training. A kenyan will run at 9 min or 10 min pace during a long run or recovery run and think nothing of it. Americans runners wouldn't want to be seen running that slow, so they over run their recovery and long runs.

That is what I'm saying.