KIPCHOGE ACTUALLY LOST IN BERLIN

My brain hurts.

He made more because he worked less time

Didn't Sergey Bubka purposely break his own world records by the smallest of margins, in order to collect more bonus money? This probably wouldn't work for marathon runners as well as it worked for a pole vaulter, though.....

He's not doing it for the money! He's doing it for the GLORY.

Any one of his next few marathons could turn out to be his peak, if Berlin wasn't already. If he collected 100 grand by running 2:02:52 and then 2:02:47, he'd end up somewhat richer but would soon be eclipsed by Tola or another capable upstart.

By running a 2:01 he became a god. Either they chase his record for decades, or if others start running fast he gets credit for taking the marathon to a whole new level.

Besides, with that fame and fortune he can easily start a successful chain of restaurants or other business, like wealthy hotelier Haile did. That's worth way more than 100k.

You make it sound like it would be easy for him to go out and break the WR by just a few seconds whenever he wants. To break any WR a lot of things have to come together - the course, the weather, pacing, being injury free, etc.

Any great marathoner only has so many races in them. At his age Kipchoge knows he may never get another chance. When everything comes together and you feel good you have to go for it and put the record as far out there as you can.

Look at Bolt - 9.58 in 2009 and never came close to that time again. There are plenty of other examples of athletes that could never repeat a great pdrformance.

Bad Wigins wrote:

He's not doing it for the money! He's doing it for the GLORY.

Any one of his next few marathons could turn out to be his peak, if Berlin wasn't already. If he collected 100 grand by running 2:02:52 and then 2:02:47, he'd end up somewhat richer but would soon be eclipsed by Tola or another capable upstart.

By running a 2:01 he became a god. Either they chase his record for decades, or if others start running fast he gets credit for taking the marathon to a whole new level.

Besides, with that fame and fortune he can easily start a successful chain of restaurants or other business, like wealthy hotelier Haile did. That's worth way more than 100k.

+1

I see many ignorant people who don’t know where elite athletes money comes from.

The majority of the money doesn’t come from the prize money. It comes from the consequences of the athletes fame and achievements- commercials, adds, all kinds of contracts with sports manufacturers. He can even get more than he got from Berlin by just giving one lecture, some people are willing to pay that much just in order to hear him live.

Eluid ran very smartly.

Followed the lines and tangents. I think I'll watch

the race again, this weekend. The commentating was great.

Especially the parts about fluid intake.

He won. Nothing beats a happy winner with the runners high.

If only Boston had a similar stripped course?

Postman Pat. Postman Pat. Postman Pat and his black and white cat.

I'm a very friendly lion called Parsley.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Jgff wrote:

I see many ignorant people who don’t know where elite athletes money comes from.

The majority of the money doesn’t come from the prize money. It comes from the consequences of the athletes fame and achievements- commercials, adds, all kinds of contracts with sports manufacturers. He can even get more than he got from Berlin by just giving one lecture, some people are willing to pay that much just in order to hear him live.

Bad Wigins brought up some really important points and you did too. I think Kipchoge is a very smart person, not just athlete. He is known as a mentor, motivational speaker and a marketing icon not just in Kenya but even abroad. Kipchoge is now a brand. I watched his speech at Oxford University in UK and he really is breaking through barriers. I hope he harnesses his worth further by developing a line of clothing, perfumes and even a shoe named ELIUD Kipchoge or Nike 2:01:39. Surely Nike can help him do that. I expect to find Nike T-shirts, hats etc with inscriptions , " I am ELIUD Kipchoge" or "ELIUD Kipchoge Fan".

Is he related to Kip Litton?

Almighty Dollar wrote:

I expect to find Nike T-shirts, hats etc with inscriptions , " I am ELIUD Kipchoge" or "ELIUD Kipchoge Fan".

Yeah, good luck with that. Not happening.

This post is ridiculous. You have no clue how much Kipchoge will make out of setting the WR by an astounding 78 seconds. Go play a video game.

The real winner in Berlin was Bekele. By running such fast times in the 2000s Bekele really pushed Kipchoge to train hard and become the marathoner he is today. Bekele always was the greatest.

Almighty Dollar wrote:

Unless there is a yearly royalty (and a decent one for that matter) and I was Kipchoge, I would improve that record 5 seconds at a time. Can someone maybe help us understand the incentives that come with the world record that would make a smart athlete like Kipchoge take off a huge chunk off the world record?

Realistically, how many times can the body run a 2:01?

On paper you're right. Why not plan to just better it a little knowing you have more in the tank? On the track that may work, but in the marathon everyone is on borrowed time. Most hyper-elite marathoners only have 4-5 good marathons in their legs before they retire. Kipchoge, while a freak athlete, can't bank on a fast course, great conditions, no injuries, etc. year after year after year just to try to cook the books to gain some more prize money.

The safer bet are the contractual bonuses he likely has with his sponsors when he breaks a world record or wins a major race. Any runner can wake up with a small nagging injury tomorrow and never get in the same level of training that they needed to win a big race let along set the world record again.

He'll make plenty for accomplishing what he did in Berlin.

Pretty sure being the world record holder will help with getting money from sponsors etc.

This thread is stupid. Unless this is about how JD Greening won the Berlin Marathon then I don't care.