Today's race in Stockholm was purportedly "fast," with Barega & Co. sticking to the rabbits ... and the winning time was 13:04 (a world lead, no less).
WTF has happened to this once great event?
While it's easy to attribute the slower times to improved drug testing, marathon times are faster than ever. 1500 times have still been strong, too.
Is it too much to ask for a race in which Barega, Kejelcha, Chelimo, Cheserek, Cheptegei, Gebrehiwet et al. go out with pacers at, say, 12:50 pace and stick to it in the middle kilometers? I mean, the Paris 2012 Diamond League wasn't THAT long ago...