Official 2019 Dubai Marathon Discussion Thread

which break was it? wrote:

wow21 wrote:

It really is quite a feat to basically miss the men's break when they seem to have a lot of editorial control over the coverage and didnt do any of those human interest stories. It was like 2 hours of just the elites, and yet they miss the break.

There are usually lots of breaks in a marathon race so I'm not sure what people mean when they say they missed "the" break.

It was unavoidable. Right at the point where the course veered off for the long finish straightaway & the lead vehicle with the camera had to turn off.

2:17:07 she beats the best Japanese men's finisher

2:17:07 and 2:17:4x puts them just behind Keitany and just ahead of Dibaba respectively, I think

Ni wrote:

Explains his huge pr!

Lol, he ran a literal 4% PR... not a good look for his sponsor

Wow, #3 and #4 all-time in the women's race! Tirunesh shunted down to #5.

interviewed rosa once wrote:

A or B or C?

A: Is this finally our first version of Caster S in an event besides the 800

B: Or is this Rosa's drugs at work?

C: Both.

if she looks like a man to you, I don't even know what to say.

the drugs though...yeah probably

Bonus 10k coverage?

reed wrote:

if she looks like a man to you, I don't even know what to say.

the drugs though...yeah probably

Which one of you is more of the idiot.

kmaclam wrote:

Fastest debut yes?

Yes, previous 2:03:46 Adola in Berlin.

Speaking of, what's the deal with that guy? He dropped off the back like he had bricks in his shorts.

You heard it here first. wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

They finally got good weather for this race. Too bad Kipchoge put the WR out of reach or else they would be chasing it right now.

Nope, they won't break 2:04.

Bzzzzzzzt.

Falsehood wrote:

You heard it here first. wrote:

Nope, they won't break 2:04.

Bzzzzzzzt.

Short course, like neighbouring Abu Dhabi, has to do with when they measure the course as temperature, dew point, etc has an effect in that part of the world, it affects the measuring equipment, suggest you research how the courses are measured, what with and when.

Would have been over 2:04 otherwise. wrote:

Falsehood wrote:

Bzzzzzzzt.

Short course, like neighbouring Abu Dhabi, has to do with when they measure the course as temperature, dew point, etc has an effect in that part of the world, it affects the measuring equipment, suggest you research how the courses are measured, what with and when.

So any marathon in hot weather is short, thats what you are saying..... Just stop typing ...

What the actual? 2 women under 2:18 is huge!

At what point are we going to get the Dubai course re-certified? There's no way every year all these up and comers smash their pr at Dubai, both men and women. I just don't believe the times. I would bet the course is short by some amount.

The Dubai courses have been measured for the past several years by one of the best measurers in the world - Maurice Winterman of the Netherlands.

I have had the pleasure of working with Maurice on the Breaking2 course.....he's very good.

Question to contemplate. wrote:

reed wrote:

if she looks like a man to you, I don't even know what to say.

the drugs though...yeah probably

Which one of you is more of the idiot.

Seriously? At least use correct punctuation if you're going to talk $hit about being an "idiot". This place gets worse by the day.

Never go full retard wrote:

Would have been over 2:04 otherwise. wrote:

Short course, like neighbouring Abu Dhabi, has to do with when they measure the course as temperature, dew point, etc has an effect in that part of the world, it affects the measuring equipment, suggest you research how the courses are measured, what with and when.

So any marathon in hot weather is short, thats what you are saying..... Just stop typing ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKG-kbKeIo

+1

No. If there is a course where it's not possible to cut any meter, during the measurment for the certification, this is Dubai.

The course is fast for the following reasons :

a) The course. Only 5 turns, long furlongs, perfect asphalt, completely flat (maybe there are... 30 cm of hill in all the race), and normally a very good weather (I remember 3 years only with weather problems : two times when Haile tried to better the WR, one with strong wind against in the last 10 km, another with a lot of unusual rain, and one time because it was very humid and the temperature raised from 12 to 21 degrees during the race), but usually the weather is very good, with the right mix between fresh temperature and right level of humidity.

2) The system, without appearance fees. So, this race is ideal for athletes running their first marathon, looking at the high prizes (also if this year they were cut of 50%) without tax (don't forget that, for the athletes, 150,000 USD in Boston are really less than 100,000 due to the taxes in US).

3) The period. For athletes in their first marathon, running in January means to have the opportunity to have, finally, a big PB that can open the door to the Major marathon and to the richest road races of the world.

4) About the period, this is the main reason because Dubai can be considered an "Ethiopian" marathon (also if today Ruth Chepngetich did something amazing). This because in Kenya there are several holidays at the end of the previous year (Christmas, New Year, National Day, etc...) and the most part of athletes reduce their training for celebrating with their families. For that reason, it's not easy for Kenyans to be in top shape in January.

Instead, for Ethiopians (whose year begins the first of September) January is a normal period of the season.

5) Technically speaking, the fact that in Dubai the athletes go for running fast, more than for the position (always for opening a new door for their career).

There is another thing to say.

The continuous improvement in the times in Marathon (both men and women) are due to a big change of mentality, that now pushes the runners to try passages very much faster than in the past, because this is, today, the normal way of interpretation of any marathon.

In 1984, Pizzolato won NY after being number 30 in the first half. In 1990, Gelindo Bordin won Boston after being well far from the leading group in the first half. Today, if an athlete is not in the leading group, there are no chances he can win, so for athletes looking at the top position that one is the only possible tactic.

In order to run fast ALL the race, from the start, the best African (Ethiopian or Kenyan) now changed their training, running fast (not always) the long runs (sometimes at 95% of the Marathon Pace), and extending the volume of fast test on track or on road (may athletes now run between 16 and 20 km on track, at speed faster than the marathon pace).

Only people not knowing the real physiological effects of a difference of 5" per km of speed can think that nothing changed compared with the past. Now the coefficient of resistance (the percentage of speed that top athletes use for running a full marathon compared with the speed of HM and the speed of 10,000m) is very much higher than in the past, when athletes abel running 10000m in 27'45"91 like Frank Shorter were not able running under 2:10:30.

Compare, for example, Shorter with Sondre Moen.

Frank had a PB in 10000m of 27'45"91 (2'46"6 per km) and ran Marathon in Fukuoka (his PB) in 2:10:30 (3'05"54 per km) that means 89.81% of the speed of 10,000m

Sondre had a PB (in 2017) of 27'55" on the road (2'47"5 per km) and won the same marathon of Shorter (Fukuoka) in 2:05:48 (2'58"8 per km) that means 93.68% of the speed of 10,000m.

This mean that today the type of training can increase the Specific Marathon Endurance, and running fast in training has also a mental effect, because increase the self confidence and reduce the fright of the distance. Of sure, today nobody can speak about "the wall" of 30 km, if there is proper training.

The limits of the specific endurance inside the aerobic area are still not explored (and for that reason all the official biography of physiologists about the argument doesn't have any link with the reality : how the modern training can change the individual physiology is something possible to study ONLY if somebody want to study the effects of the training itself during all the development of the specific preparation, and nothing can be studied in any lab tests, that the top athletes don't have any interest to do, because are completely useless for their training).

Instead to continue to speak about doping, it's better finally to look inside the change of training, the change of mentality, and the change of the level of organization of the race, today very much more "technical" than in the past.