Leonard Korir 2:07: 56 in Amsterdam - #5 on US List

Ran with the leaders through 25k then held on for the second best US marathon time in this olympic cycle

This deserves a thread? He is an imported Kenyan, and was wearing the Next%. The leader won in 2:05:08 wearing the Adios 4 and doesn't get his own thread...

The live stream showed him lying on ground after the finish.

I think this shakes up the Marathon Trials. If Rupp is healthy, this likely leaves only one spot open.

Epic run by Vincent Kipchumba as well in 2:05:09. Came storming back at 41k and dropped everyone on his way to victory

Whoops. Should’ve searched before starting a thread. My bad. Hopefully the mods delete mine.

Yep -- we knew this could have been coming. Surprised we didn't hear much about his debut before this. 2:07-high is fantastic. He should be the favorite right now with Rupp being a question mark. Next couple of spots are wide open with Fauble/Ward right there and then a slew of 2:10-2:12 guys. Who knows what we get weather wise and then the course will be decently hilly. This is gonna be fun.

Saw on twitter that he went out with the leaders through halfway and then started to fall back. That means he was 1:02:xx most likely and was trying to challenge the American record.

2:07?. Americans are so slow! Lol.

Trains in Kenya

Obviously this is a huge deal and shakes up the Olympic Trials. A few takeaways:

1) Korir showed his marathon potential two years ago when he ran a 59:52 half in New Delhi. But when I spoke to him at Falmouth in August 2019, I asked him specifically about the marathon and he didn't seem that interested in it as a lot of people had told him how hard it is. He made it look easy today.

2) Korir ran the 10k at Worlds two weeks ago, finishing 13th in 28:05. Was he just training through that and focused on the marathon all along? I'd love to know what his thought process and preparation was like. I reached out to his coach Scott Simmons multiple times this week before the race and he never got back to me.

3) I'm not calling Korir a lock for the team. Yes, 2:07:56 is incredible for an American. But Rupp has run 2:06, and both Fauble and Ward have run 2:09 in Boston. Atlanta is a hilly course and it's a championship marathon. Anything can happen. Ritz didn't make the team in 2012 and went on to run 2:07 that fall.

4) Yes, he was probably wearing Vaporfly Next% shoes. Admittedly, I don't know this for sure, but Korir is part of WCAP and WCAP is sponsored by Nike. I assume he was wearing the Vaporflys.

Awesome stuff, Jon.

I wouldn't call letsrun back either. They're not journalists, no matter what they think they are- just gossip mongers with a desire only for controversy.

So what? He lost by 2:50 to a guy not wearing cheater shoes and to top it all off he’s neither American born nor raised. I guess this means that he may qualify for the Olympics for a country he’s only been in for a few years but at the end of the day this performance isn’t exactly exceptional.

It’s pretty sad that essentially a 2:08 marathon ranks so high on the US all time list. Pathetic.

Nice race. He was still on 2:06 low pace at 35k.

Maybe you need to up your training and help us out.

You know, pop a 2:06?

Seriously, people like *you* have turned Letsrun into a bunch of whiners.

LateRunnerPhil wrote:

This deserves a thread? He is an imported Kenyan, and was wearing the Next%. The leader won in 2:05:08 wearing the Adios 4 and doesn't get his own thread...

LRP, aren’t you from across the pond and haven’t you only been running for like 2 years? Don’t tell us who we can cheer for or not, you are not the expert on Katelyn Touhy or the likes, nor are you an expert on training that you purport to be. You do your thing and we will do ours.

Signed a long time runner and fan of Korir and WCAP

This isn't all that surprising given Lenny's incredibly consistent performances dating back to his college days. I imagine he can take his consistency to the marathon and give the US some added hope. Props to the American Distance Project and Scott Simmons as well. Hope he makes the Olympic team this winter!

The Cold Truth wrote:

So what? He lost by 2:50 to a guy not wearing cheater shoes and to top it all off he’s neither American born nor raised. I guess this means that he may qualify for the Olympics for a country he’s only been in for a few years but at the end of the day this performance isn’t exactly exceptional.

Posts like this are so annoying. “Neither American born nor raised”. Stop with this crap. Who cares? I’m not the kind of guy that gets on his knees for military guys thinking they deserve some kind of respect automatically just because they chose to do a job, but Korir joined the army and was willing to fight for the country that he was “neither born nor raised” and deserves to at least represent us