KENENISA MF BEKELE: 2:01:41

two of the greatest wrote:

I'm not sure Bekele has enough time to become the marathon GOAT. The minimum requirements you laid out are definitely good, but even if he meets them I still might give Kipchoge the edge due to his incredible win streak + his run in Monza that opened the floodgates to the crazy sub 2:03 clockings we've started seeing. Bekele would have to take gold in Tokyo and demolish Kipchoge's current record for me to entertain the possibility of him being the marathon GOAT.

I would have liked to see Bekele take the record today, because I suspect Kipchoge will lower it again after he crushes the 2 hour mark in Vienna. In any case, the marathon just got a lot more exciting. Let's hope Bekele can stay healthy. He looked phenomenal today.

I tend to agree - the duration required for Bekele to out-marathon Kipchoge would stretch him into his 40s (and Kipchoge would essentially have to stop accomplishing stuff). Here's hoping for just a few more sparks and some fire. What an era.

In my books, Bekele is the greatest ever. A strength 5000, 10000 runner with some of the most devastating kicks ever. I wondered whether a guy with that much speed could possible run a great marathon. 2:01:42 answers that question. He is the greatest cross country runner in history with six long (12 km) course and five short (4 km) course titles. His PRs are unmatched: 1500m 3:32.35, 5000m 12:37.35, 10,000m 26:17.53 Marathon 2:01:41. He's had some of the fastest finishes ever and has come up big in some of the biggest races. He never avoided racing anyone. He has longevity running 13:12 in 2001 and 2:01.41 in 2019

did wrote:

Here's hoping for just a few more sparks and some fire. What an era.

+1

He's not consistent you say? 19 years of very consistent high performances...Of course in his mid 30s he's going to have some injury issues. Don't you remember that he is the greatest X-C runner in history, the WR holder at 5 and 10k, numerous Olympic medals, and just missed the WR in the marathon a few years ago.

You say he ne never avoided racing anyone as if that merits something. I'm not exactly sure how many times raced Kipchoge in the marathon (I'm pretty sure it's 3), but I know he lost to him every time and hasn't even been the runner up to Kipchoge.

If Bekele can clock sub 2:01 and Tokyo Olympics gold, then one should put him in GOAT status.

Kipchoge races are pretty much boring now, because he just leads and everyone is following him and he wins in the end. Now I think Bekele races are more interesting, because we never know what will happen next. He can come from behind and win the race (Berlin 2016, 2019), can't come from behind (London 2017) or even DNF at 41st kilometer. Bekele is actually making marathon running interesting.

refresh my memory wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

Cyclists like clenbuterol, too.

Are you the guy that thinks everyone dopes? Or just black people? I can't remember.

It's not a racial problem; it's a sporting problem - but some countries appear to be more of a problem than others. WADA says the same.

Armstronglivs wrote:

refresh my memory wrote:

Are you the guy that thinks everyone dopes? Or just black people? I can't remember.

It's not a racial problem; it's a sporting problem - but some countries appear to be more of a problem than others. WADA says the same.

Thanks for giving a direct answer. Care to list some of those countries?

If Norway isn't on the list you're full of sh*t.

Which biomechanics experts have splained Bekele's ridiculous high back kick, and whether it is a factor for his speed? There are top sprinters without a back kick like that. Maybe he has unusually long quad muscle tendons?

Bad Wigins wrote:

Which biomechanics experts have splained Bekele's ridiculous high back kick, and whether it is a factor for his speed? There are top sprinters without a back kick like that. Maybe he has unusually long quad muscle tendons?

The back lift is not necessarily for speed, but for economy, and is not due to the quad muscle tendons either.

SUPERIOR COACH JS wrote:

How does a 2:01:40 look like when it comes to training paces ? Well…….something like this :

maxVO2-pace at 60-61 sec/ 400m , LT-pace at 2:47 min / km ( 4:28 mile pace) and easy pace at 3:30-3:33 min/ km (5:40 mile pace) . This must be done quite comfortably without too much strain . This is what it takes.

Bekele does it with around 90-95 mpw and I`m convinced it can be done on just 55-65 mpw if just the runner is as talented as Bekele.

- The Wizard -

+ 1

refresh my memory wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

It's not a racial problem; it's a sporting problem - but some countries appear to be more of a problem than others. WADA says the same.

Thanks for giving a direct answer. Care to list some of those countries?

If Norway isn't on the list you're full of sh*t.

Just checked the AIU list of banned athletes for doping. Zero for Norway. Quite a few for Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, KSA, Morocco etc. Feel free to educate yourself:

Provider of facts wrote:

refresh my memory wrote:

Thanks for giving a direct answer. Care to list some of those countries?

If Norway isn't on the list you're full of sh*t.

Just checked the AIU list of banned athletes for doping. Zero for Norway. Quite a few for Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, KSA, Morocco etc. Feel free to educate yourself:

https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/disciplinary-process/global-list-of-ineligible-persons/p12?isDopingViolation=yes&order-by=country&sort=asc

No one caught =/= no one doping

provider of common sense wrote:

Provider of facts wrote:

Just checked the AIU list of banned athletes for doping. Zero for Norway. Quite a few for Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, KSA, Morocco etc. Feel free to educate yourself:

https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/disciplinary-process/global-list-of-ineligible-persons/p12?isDopingViolation=yes&order-by=country&sort=asc

No one caught =/= no one doping

Unless of course you believe that all of the current Kenyans who haven't failed a test are clean.

Bekele may have just crushed Kipchoge. The 2:01 is his magnum opus yet Bekele can also do it and so much more.

Five is the magic number wrote:

Many people here have obsessed so much over new shoe tech and speculating about PEDs that they've missed something truly amazing launched five-six years ago - the new sports drink that has been used by every single male marathon majors winner since.

Frankly no drinks/food should be allowed during any event including the marathon. The marathon should be a test about your body and its reserves only - drinks, energy bars/gels should absolutely not be part of the competition. Guys like Ron Hill ran some of their marathons without taking any drinks and that is the way it should be. Change the rules ASAP and make records legit only if no drinks/food were taken by the athlete in the event. It's bad enough trying to control doping as it is.

KraftMacAndCheese wrote:

therunner101 wrote:

i don't understand why so many in this forum keep saying the elites are taking ped. please don't throw me the articles you will find from googling "doping in east africa"

while doping might be rampant in the lower tiers, i think in the level of kam,kip and kb there is no way they would go undetected and anyway just look at how happy they look running they simply couldn't be doping.

anyway i think there recent onslaught of fast times is because of the shoes.

for all you know kip,kb are still 2.03 guys in better shoes.

This is the dumbest thing I’ve read on the internet this week.

you have to be the dumbest thing on the internet this week.

if you don't have proof that EK,KAM,KB are doping then you shut your mouth.

I only said very few hyper elite east Africans are doping. yes while names like kiprop, sumgong do come to mind i am saying these are more of minority. And i can only what kind of scrutiny people like EK would be under.

i digress , you are dumb.

Its just bad he didn't do it

It would have forced kipchoge to play ball with bekele and drop the 2 hr nonsense

As it is bekele still has it all to prove

Hello Bekele, fix your choppers now.