OT: marathon world record!

[Blakeon18]

Kenyan Kipchoge....33 years old...ran a marathon in Berlin in 2hours....1 minute and 39 seconds....broke the olde record by 1 minute and 18 seconds.

The 2 hour marathon barrier is a bit like the olde 4 minute mile standard.
The closer an elite runner gets to the 2 hour mark the more realistic it becomes for others to believe they can do it.

Kenyan runners...men and women....are the UConn women of distance running.

 

[oldude]

I agree that the 2 hr barrier is now within reach. I’m gonna go way out on a limb by predicting that the the first runner to go under 2 hrs for a marathon will be Kenyan....or Ethiopian.

 

[chj001]

I saw the early part of the race. They had 3 other Kenyans acting as "rabbits" to pace him. Wondering whether they brought in other rabbits after the first 3 dropped off, or did he run the last part of the race by himself. And how far did the original pacers get before they dropped off. I think I saw them still pacing at the 15 km mark (about 9 miles in).

 

[Bama fan]

This story made me remember the amazing performance of another Kenyan, Kipchoge Keino in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. First time I was made aware of the Kenyan runners prowess.

 

[Bronx23]

Great accomplishment and opens the door to break that two hour barrier.
It though truly troubles me with the existence of the rabbits as that's to me at least has an element of cheating. Someone should be required to not only complete the race but post a acceptable time otherwise they shouldn't be allowed to run in future events.
This is not a team or national sport event, it is an individual one.
Sorry if this is or sounds so old fashioned but it's how I see it!
Bronx23

 

[j66kicker]

This story made me remember the amazing performance of another Kenyan, Kipchoge Keino in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. First time I was made aware of the Kenyan runners prowess.

I was at that Olympics. My dad had been a college track guy, and his brother lived in Mexico City at the time, so he took all us kids to the Olympics. That was before TV controlled the schedules, so most of the major track & field finals were all on the same day. I didn't keep up much with international track & field at the time, but was looking forward to seeing the great Jim Ryan. Ryan lost by a full 3 seconds to Keino's world record performance that day in the 1500. Also got to see Dick Fosbury do his newly-introduced high jump "flop", and was there for John Carlos & Tommie Smith's Black Power salute on the 200m medal podium.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think the record will fall on a fast course--Berlin, London, or Chicago. It won't happen in Boston or New York.

 

[eebmg]

I think the record will fall on a fast course--Berlin, London, or Chicago. It won't happen in Boston or New York.

Based on history, I think Berlin. Last 7 WR's set at the Berlin Marathon.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Based on history, I think Berlin. Last 7 WR's set at the Berlin Marathon.


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The course is good, but late September is warm. That's why I think London is still in play. Of course, the big key is the field. It needs to include multiple ultra-elite guys.

 

[Rocket009]

Great accomplishment and opens the door to break that two hour barrier.
It though truly troubles me with the existence of the rabbits as that's to me at least has an element of cheating. Someone should be required to not only complete the race but post a acceptable time otherwise they shouldn't be allowed to run in future events.
This is not a team or national sport event, it is an individual one.
Sorry if this is or sounds so old fashioned but it's how I see it!
Bronx23

Well it's not anything new in athletics. In fact, Roger Bannister had two rabbits to set the pace when he broke the 4-minute mile in 1954. Roger Bannister - Wikipedia

 

[Bigboote]

Great accomplishment and opens the door to break that two hour barrier.
It though truly troubles me with the existence of the rabbits as that's to me at least has an element of cheating. Someone should be required to not only complete the race but post a acceptable time otherwise they shouldn't be allowed to run in future events.
This is not a team or national sport event, it is an individual one.
Sorry if this is or sounds so old fashioned but it's how I see it!

Thing is, a marathon is not only an endurance event. It's also a speed event (4:38 pace is about 17 seconds for a 100 m -- not world-class by any stretch of the imagination, but out of the reach of most mortals). And it's very much a strategy event. As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, rabbits are nothing new. In fact, they're quite common in road races and track events. You said each of the rabbits should have to finish in a reasonable time. Well, they did have to qualify. The qualifying time for an open male in Berlin is 2:45 (2:55 for old farts like me, less than [ahem] 2 hours better than my PR). This guy wasn't paced by just anyone, he was paced by world-class athletes.

Anyway, that's a long-winded and roundabout way of saying you don't sound old fashioned, but possibly a bit unrealistic. I'm sure there's a prize for breaking the world's best in marathon, so there's incentive to use every tool to achieve it. For me it doesn't diminish the achievement.

 

[Bigboote]

I think the record will fall on a fast course--Berlin, London, or Chicago. It won't happen in Boston or New York.

Definitely not Boston, as it's point-to-point and has a large net elevation loss. I think the rule is that the finish must be no more than something like 200 m from the start in order to qualify for a record. Ironically, to be a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, the race must also meet those criteria.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Kenyan Kipchoge....33 years old...ran a marathon in Berlin in 2hours....1 minute and 39 seconds....broke the olde record by 1 minute and 18 seconds.

The 2 hour marathon barrier is a bit like the olde 4 minute mile standard.
The closer an elite runner gets to the 2 hour mark the more realistic it becomes for others to believe they can do it.

Kenyan runners...men and women....are the UConn women of distance running.

Remember Kip Kenow (sp?). Was this runner bare foot, what was the THI, wind assisted, details, details. Just kidding. Thanks for the report.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Definitely not Boston, as it's point-to-point and has a large net elevation loss. I think the rule is that the finish must be no more than something like 200 m from the start in order to qualify for a record. Ironically, to be a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, the race must also meet those criteria.

Boston is net downhill, but the Newton Hills (e.g., Heartbreak Hill) are uphill and very tough. Flat is much better. The times in Boston and New York rarely compare with those on flatter courses.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Remember Kip Kenow (sp?). Was this runner bare foot, what was the THI, wind assisted, details, details. Just kidding. Thanks for the report.

Kipchoge Keino - Wikipedia