Why do Joshua Cheptegei and Rhonex Kipruto avoid even attempting track records?

Abeneziel wrote:

They are focusing on 10k and 5k road records which are side event (non olympics) while only the marathon is a major event on the road.

Why do they avoid trying beating track records? Are they feeling not good enough? Do they prefer make headline chasing easier records?

I don't know about Joshua, but Rhonex already said one of his main goals is to break the 10,000m WR on the track, after the Olympic Games.

It seems logical starting with the easier records and them moving on to the harder ones.

In Cheptegei's case, he's also not done much track running. Until recently, when he had to use his own resources to set up one, there was no decent track at altitude where he trains from in Uganda. To train on one he had to cross over to Kenya or travel to other towns in Uganda (low altitude). This has limited his track progression.

barney23 wrote:

It seems logical starting with the easier records and them moving on to the harder ones.

In Cheptegei's case, he's also not done much track running. Until recently, when he had to use his own resources to set up one, there was no decent track at altitude where he trains from in Uganda. To train on one he had to cross over to Kenya or travel to other towns in Uganda (low altitude). This has limited his track progression.

It's only logical for them.

You never saw Bekele, Gebre, Komen and all other trying to beat easier road records. Nobody among elites is running road 5k, it's really a distance that no elites has been running on the road.

It wasn't until 2017 that the IAAF introduced the 5k as a world record event; probably that's why Gebrselassie, Bekele, etc. didn't attempt it. You also forget that Cheptegei and Kipruto have time on their side; I believe one of them will break the track records you brought up.

They are not getting paid good $$ to run on the track. I agree they will eventually go after track records though.

Also, if they don't want to bother racing indoors, there aren't good track races for 5000 or 10000 until the summer. However, if they want to get in some good racing experience and try to push themselves to their limits, these 5K/10K road races are a good way to test their fitness and gain a better relationship with the distance before they attempt anything on the track.

Guys, come on...the most obvious reason is that the IAAF is f*cking the distance events on the diamond league. No more 5,000m or 10,000m races included as "diamond" events. Obviously the 10,000 has been out for a long time, and has been reduced to relative obscurity.

But, the big reason is obvious, and that is that the longer events on the track are receiving reduced funding. The road races will always have large crowds by default due to the participation of the masses. I am not pretending to be an omnipotent expert on this matter, but speaking from this on a purely logical angle.

Abeneziel wrote:

barney23 wrote:

It seems logical starting with the easier records and them moving on to the harder ones.

In Cheptegei's case, he's also not done much track running. Until recently, when he had to use his own resources to set up one, there was no decent track at altitude where he trains from in Uganda. To train on one he had to cross over to Kenya or travel to other towns in Uganda (low altitude). This has limited his track progression.

It's only logical for them.

You never saw Bekele, Gebre, Komen and all other trying to beat easier road records. Nobody among elites is running road 5k, it's really a distance that no elites has been running on the road.

We didn’t see Geb going for road records? Are you serious?

Maybe just maybe because as far as JC is concerned it's hard to get that 4% advantage on track....

Two things:

1. Much weaker drug testing on the roads. These dudes are absolutely glowing. Comical performances.

2. Can wear boing-boing fake running shoes on the roads.

Perfect recipe for these new "world records."

FrenchDawg wrote:

Abeneziel wrote:

It's only logical for them.

You never saw Bekele, Gebre, Komen and all other trying to beat easier road records. Nobody among elites is running road 5k, it's really a distance that no elites has been running on the road.

We didn’t see Geb going for road records? Are you serious?

Haile never competed at the 5k on roads. Bekele never raced the 5k or 10k on roads. I didn't look up Komen but I doubt it.

Bekele ran some 10Ks.

PIK wrote:

Bekele ran some 10Ks.

If he did IAAF/world athletics site has none on record.

Ah, I believe he ran the SPAR Great Ireland Run 10K twice.

Bekele competed in some minor 10k race road, which were not record attempts but tune up races.

One of them is on youtube "Irish Great run". I don't even know if it is a certified race for IAAF.

PIK wrote:

Ah, I believe he ran the SPAR Great Ireland Run 10K twice.

Yes.

But Bekele never attempted the road record and did not care at all. None of the greatest runners cared about the road outside of Marathon.

Only Chepteigei and Kipruto seem locked into a road contest, while the athletic world want to see them face the track record to see if they can better it or not.

Abeneziel wrote:

PIK wrote:

Ah, I believe he ran the SPAR Great Ireland Run 10K twice.

Yes.

But Bekele never attempted the road record and did not care at all. None of the greatest runners cared about the road outside of Marathon.

Only Chepteigei and Kipruto seem locked into a road contest, while the athletic world want to see them face the track record to see if they can better it or not.

Yeah I agree completely, just wanted to mention that he did at least run in a few.

Hard to blame them for cashing in on the road records which were obviously soft. They haven't had the opportunity on the track yet, but it's obvious that both can run 26:30s, possibly even 26:20s. I don't think either is good enough to get Bekele's record, though.

The real question is why doesn't Kamworor break it. Sure, he's focused on the half/full marathon now, but he has enough speed and if he leads from the front I think he can easily take down the record.