Anyone Else Not Particularly Inspired by Kipchoge's Performance?

Why the hate for the shoes? Do any of you haters (assuming you all run) wear running-specific gear? is there a reason you run in microfiber clothes, running-specific shorts, and running-specific shoes? Why don't you run in cut-off jeans, cotton shirts, and basketball shoes? Because they give you an advantage of comfort and safety (heat transfer) over the alternative, which will lead to a better performance. These shoes are no different. There's finally a company who actually spends money on research on making a good shoe that will help a runner, instead of just making a flashy, expensive shoe that is crappy for running. And they still get the hate. Is it because it's Nike? Would all this vitriol be here if it was Saucony or Brooks or adidas who developed this shoe?

You think these shoes are unfair. Well, where do we draw the line, then? I'm sure you've all bought shoes through the years that have gone through model after model after model. I'm also sure you've been upset when you see a new model that's more expensive than the previous one, but no better (or sometimes worse) for your running. And now you're upset because this great shoe is helping runners. If this is the case, you're all hypocrites.

If you're truly upset about this shoe, then you should have an issue with the entire shoe industry. Their goal is to make a comfortable shoe that will help you run better. NOBODY I have seen post here or on other platforms, and that includes big names like Pitsiladis and Tucker, have provided any real explanation as to why these shoes are unfair. Nobody. The carbon plate? Well, then why no hate for track spikes? Or luge/bobsled spikes? The "airbags"? Then why no hate for basketball shoes?

Its kinda cool. Fun time trial but not crazy inspiring. Just pretty cool.

People seem to come down so hard on one end of the spectrum or the other. I think it is entertaining and interesting, but folks shouldn't give it more attention and importance than it deserves. The whole thing is cool, a bit artificial and contrived, but still cool. Sorta like watching a great band at the Super Bowl half time show.

semi_pro wrote:

Its kinda cool. Fun time trial but not crazy inspiring. Just pretty cool.

People seem to come down so hard on one end of the spectrum or the other. I think it is entertaining and interesting, but folks shouldn't give it more attention and importance than it deserves. The whole thing is cool, a bit artificial and contrived, but still cool. Sorta like watching a great band at the Super Bowl half time show.

... unless you're watching Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Exactly. People say "he used his own to legs to run sub 2...it has never been done before... and it's like landing on the moon!" However, he probably used the same amount of power as he did as when he ran 2:01:39. There really was no progression. Maybe his fitness was 20 sec better at best. Shoes aside, just look at the benefits achieved from having pacers for the entire 42km:https://www.tue.nl/en/news/news-overview/tue-wind-tunnel-helped-break-the-marathons-two-hour-barrier/ I guess he could have also had a Tesla following him with a giant fan blowing an 11mph tailwind on him the whole way (but that would cross the line of looking too fake!). How would people feel about that? Or what if it was a big net downhill course? Or what if it was done on a treadmill? All pretty much the same thing to what happened. But that might upset more people. They related to what they saw as being pure and they took it very personally (a lot of people mentioned how they started crying). They say its not to compare to the real world record or a real race - but then the only reason the 2:00 time as a number has significance is because the actual WR is 2:01:39. So we are comparing...but now we are just breaking some rules while adhering to others to make things look "just believable enough" to the masses. So where do you draw the line? Spring shoes? Doping? Giant tailwind fans? Look at the numbers and data and science. Don't sell yourself short, realize in great human potential and look to transcend barriers, but realize that limits exist. #EveryHumanIsLimited #Science

he cheated. wrote:

He didn’t run under his own power.. They broke the rules to break a barrier, and people are celebrating it. This is called cheating. Amazing people can’t see this.

You couldn't be more right. The OP made some similar points about running times being significant only because of our ability to relate them to previous times with given constants. With so many additional variables, the sub-2 effort we just witnessed offers too many unknowns (and in other cases, too many knowns) to be strictly comparable.

I guarantee you that chance of us seeing Bekele vs Kipchoge is very very slim... it would be like Ali vs frazier(for you old farts like me!)

In an actual marathon race, Bekele will wipe the floor with this guy he’s just not gonna let you beat him. He has the formula and motivation figured out now, so he’s gonna be a force to reckoned with! I don’t think Kipchoge wants to face this guy head to head. Think about the 5k and 10k Championship races and what Bekele did to him and the rest of the Fields. The race to be the goat has been bekeles to lose and it was slipping from his grasp recently, but right now... despite the 1:59 by Kipchoge, it’s still Bekeles title to lose. Bekele will break the official marathon WR and get paid handsomely to do so!

MrChocolateShakes wrote:

Am I alone in feeling uninspired by this performance?

Very uninspired.

I don't see how ultra-high tech new shoes on a likely doped up (for 20 years) Kenyan, plus all the pace makers, makes running sub 2 hours 'prove that humans have no limits' or whatever.

For me, Jakob Ingebrigtsen reaching two World Championship finals as a clean white teen is way more an inspiring example of 'overcoming limits' than this side show.

Or Brad Barton running a sub 4:20 mile at 53. Or Charlie Allie running 57 seconds for the 400m at 72.

Or Nick Willis winning two Olympic medals eight years apart running clean in a doping infested sport, and only prevented from winning two historic golds by either athletes later caught doping, or by athletes whose coaches were caught doping other athletes.

Those things aren't supposed to happen.

Coevett wrote:

MrChocolateShakes wrote:

Am I alone in feeling uninspired by this performance?

Very uninspired.

I don't see how ultra-high tech new shoes on a likely doped up (for 20 years) Kenyan, plus all the pace makers, makes running sub 2 hours 'prove that humans have no limits' or whatever.

For me, Jakob Ingebrigtsen reaching two World Championship finals as a clean white teen is way more an inspiring example of 'overcoming limits' than this side show.

Or Brad Barton running a sub 4:20 mile at 53. Or Charlie Allie running 57 seconds for the 400m at 72.

Or Nick Willis winning two Olympic medals eight years apart running clean in a doping infested sport, and only prevented from winning two historic golds by either athletes later caught doping, or by athletes whose coaches were caught doping other athletes.

Those things aren't supposed to happen.

I don't share your confidence that any runner you might care to name can be proclaimed clean. They might be but equally there is the possibility they aren't. That is because doping is not easily detected and has a high estimated prevalence in the sport. It isn't confined to particular countries, cultures or races. Trust is what has been lost.

It's been mentioned so often here, I don't think ill rest easy til I see him run in front of a car with a massive fan on it

I'll tell you one thing though, I'll definitely go down to the INEOS store next time I need industrial chemicals. So, great move on their part. Money well spent

Impressed yes

inspired no

I have never been inspired to do anything based on someone else achievement. To me needing the achievements of someone else to inspire you to action is a sign of weakness.

Also the announcers and some write ups talked about people who were there to watch crying at the finish line as he crossed. This I really don't get at all.

Yeah, I dunno what to think about all of this, to tell you the truth

Coevett wrote:

MrChocolateShakes wrote:

Am I alone in feeling uninspired by this performance?

Very uninspired.

I don't see how ultra-high tech new shoes on a likely doped up (for 20 years) Kenyan, plus all the pace makers, makes running sub 2 hours 'prove that humans have no limits' or whatever.

For me, Jakob Ingebrigtsen reaching two World Championship finals as a clean white teen is way more an inspiring example of 'overcoming limits' than this side show.

Or Brad Barton running a sub 4:20 mile at 53. Or Charlie Allie running 57 seconds for the 400m at 72.

Or Nick Willis winning two Olympic medals eight years apart running clean in a doping infested sport, and only prevented from winning two historic golds by either athletes later caught doping, or by athletes whose coaches were caught doping other athletes.

Those things aren't supposed to happen.

You see Coevette, this is a two way road, you can't escape that as much as your psycho sexual admiration for white runners combined with your insatiable appetite for racism.

We can make the same inference that Jakob et al. are also dopers, and actually more probable due to their weak genes.