Berlin Marathon -- live

[26mi235]

Weltklasse Zurich Aug 13, 1997 had 3 WR's in one night. Men's 800 (Kipketer); Men's 3000 SC (Boit Kipketer) and Men's 5000 (Geb). Was lucky to be there that night and will never forget what happened.

So we even have one multiple with the same name (Kipketer); are there any others.

As for the best marathon ever, it was Wanjiru's Olympic win -- until now. I am not sure how I would rank the two, but Wanjiru changed how I think of warm marathons. Of course, people to not prepare for fast races in hot conditions very often, and typically will run the first part slowly (e.g., Athens and Rio) with some screaming finishes. Wanjiru must have destroyed everyone's race plans that day.

He died not that long afterwards and did not have a real peak marathon that would have shown what he could do. Not sure he had the wheels to run 2:01, whereas EK knocked off two of the greatest distances runners to win a fast 5000.

[Conor Dary]

Jones' time was great back then, but as of today, it's only the 471th fastest of all time.

True....but in non African land it is still amazing and the splits were something else....especially the half....no one had even broken an hour yet...like someone on their own now going out in 59:00..and going on to win..it was such a gutsy run. And far more noteworthy than Lopes's 2:07:12 that had pacers and evenly paced....

And incredible to watch live....everyone in the press tent was going nuts during it.

[Conor Dary]

For me, the greatest unpaced marathon is Wanjiru's 2:06:32 in the unspeakable conditions of Beijing '08.

(I suppose i might argue that it's also better than any paced marathon!)

Definitely up there with Jonesy's run....but I don't think in Kipchoge's league at all especially after Berlin....he just might have thrived in hot weather like Bejing.

[Powell]

Arguably the greatest warm weather marathon ever was Naoko Takahashi's 2:21:47 in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. It moved her to 4th on the all-time list at the time, and the conditions were much worse than Beijing. She won the race by 13 minutes, too.

[Conor Dary]

The greatest hot weather performance has to be Buddy Edelen's 2:24 at the 1964 Trials in Yonkers....winning by 20 minutes....a bloodbath is probably the best description.

Hal Higdon: In 1964 my mindset was to go to Boston to win. Olympic Trials at Yonkers were not on my horizon due to Edelen coming and only one person going on from there to Tokyo. Buddy was there to beat us up. I stayed at the hotel with Buddy and Fred Wilt who was coaching us both by mail. Buddy less so. Buddy ran very conservatively the first 10 miles. I got out of the pack and dropped about 50 yards. Then came back up. I didn’t take any water, although Fred was driving along handing it out. Buddy took off at 10 miles. I stayed in sight for 4-6 miles running with Norm Higgins. Higgins took off after Buddy. Johnny Kelley had ringing in his ears at 16 miles -slowed – ringing started again. He got off the course at 17 miles. Higgins ran well until 23 miles. Course went left, Hig went straight into a wall. Ended up in the hospital. I thought maybe Buddy went too hard and took off too soon. Should have taken it easier and that may have ruined the rest of his career.

https://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2016/10/v-6-n-76-1964-yonkers-marathon.html

[Alan Shank]

He died not that long afterwards and did not have a real peak marathon that would have shown what he could do. Not sure he had the wheels to run 2:01, whereas EK knocked off two of the greatest distances runners to win a fast 5000.

True, but that was one of only two times Kipchoge beat Bekele, the other 8 going KB's way, including two OGs and the 2009 worlds. Also, Bekele had a very fast 10,000 in his legs, and El Guerrouj had won the 1500, whereas Kipchoge was fresh. Same thing in 2004, where EG won, Bekele 2nd, fresh Kipchoge 3rd.

Bekele, BTW, hasn't raced since London, where he had a pretty bad race. I thought he might try Berlin again, but no. Is he supposed to be running Chicago or New York? Given his somewhat spotty record at the marathon and his clear superiority on the track, I think Bekele would be well advised to consider the half-marathon. He's only run it once, back in 2013.

Speaking of which, the IAAF Scoring Tables equate Kipchoge's 2:01:39 to a 57:08 half, which is 13:32.5/5K! The current half WR, 58:23, gets just 2:04:34.

Cheers,
Alan Shank
Woodland, CA, USA

[TN1965]

Bekele, BTW, hasn't raced since London, where he had a pretty bad race. I thought he might try Berlin again, but no. Is he supposed to be running Chicago or New York?

He is scheduled to race in Amsterdam.

https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/amsterdam-marathon-2018-bekele

[bobguild76]

Still trying to wrap my head around Mayer's performance. Starting at 10.55, then following with 25-7¼/7.80, 52-6/16.00, 6-8¾/2.05, 48.42, 13.75, 165‑10/ 50.54, 17-10½/5.45, 235-11/71.90 & 4:36.11.

There have been several POY worthy performances, but in my opinion, this one takes the cake.


:-)

I love it! Filet or Lobster? They are both amazing performances. :-)

[Conor Dary]

Nice to see and surprising the large number of non sports people that are enthralled by Kipchoge's run...

https://mobile.twitter.com/jonward11/status/1042229742982897664

[gh]

Perhaps not so surprising. The 2-hour barrier resonates well with people and there are a shitload more marathon runners than tehre are track fans.

[Conor Dary]

Perhaps not so surprising. The 2-hour barrier resonates well with people and there are a shitload more marathon runners than tehre are track fans.

There are indeed oodles of marathoners... But this is the first I've seen the masses paying any attention to a top runner. Even more than the Monza thing which perhaps set the seed.

[NotDutra5]

Perhaps not so surprising. The 2-hour barrier resonates well with people and there are a shitload more marathon runners than tehre are track fans.

My sister is late to competing in races up to half marathons and when I shared Kipchoge's record race on social media she answered with "you mean the marathon record is 2 hours and one minute?" She was incredulous that anyone could run that fast.

I think that the number is so close to two hours it now means something to more casual fans...or non fans.

[Fortius19]

I wish Bekele could have run a WR in the Marathon when he ran 2:03:05. We've been waiting for Eliud to have good conditions to put the WR out of sight. Bek doesn't have much of a chance now.

[HasBeenNeverWas]

I wish Bekele could have run a WR in the Marathon when he ran 2:03:05. We've been waiting for Eliud to have good conditions to put the WR out of sight. Bek doesn't have much of a chance now.

I had the same thought, although he was even closer than that, running 2:03:03. Then he claimed to be in even better shape for Dubai in Jan 2017, but ended up getting pushed over and briefly trampled at the start (then DNF'd around halfway, with injuries from the fall).

I'm not sure he would have actually set the WR in Dubai, but he has had plenty of bad luck with the marathon. At this point obviously the WR is out of reach (even for him) and I'm afraid even a new PR might be beyond him by now. Seems like he can't break the injury cycle and/or commit himself to marathon training the same way he did for the track.

[Alan Shank]

I had the same thought, although he was even closer than that, running 2:03:03. Then he claimed to be in even better shape for Dubai in Jan 2017, but ended up getting pushed over and briefly trampled at the start (then DNF'd around halfway, with injuries from the fall).

I'm not sure he would have actually set the WR in Dubai, but he has had plenty of bad luck with the marathon. At this point obviously the WR is out of reach (even for him) and I'm afraid even a new PR might be beyond him by now. Seems like he can't break the injury cycle and/or commit himself to marathon training the same way he did for the track.

All the more reason for him to attack the half-marathon record.
Cheers,
Alan Shank