[Other Sport] Kipchoge runs marathon under 2 hours!

[RexCathedra]

20 second cushion with pacers, etc?

There's a 50% chance, I recokon, that the 2 hours falls in competition in the next 3 years.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Also didn’t he not stop for drinks but had them handed to him from bike riders?

Seems like a set up

But fair play to him for running very fast

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Massive congratulations to the chemists that made this possible.

 

[Eeyore]

Also didn’t he not stop for drinks but had them handed to him from bike riders?

Seems like a set up

But fair play to him for running very fast

Conditions were made favourable. But the fact is that someone put one leg in front of another and did it. The first recorded time.

Then some start pour water by rattling on about drugs.

 

[jimhigham]

Fantastic individual achievement but also good to see that the team afford required was heartily acknowledged.

Kipchoge also seems to be a very grounded, humble and likeable guy. He turned up at the end of the inaugural For Rangers Ultra (which I shall bore you with another time) to present medals. Pitches in to help rhino conservation when he could be elsewhere earning a mint.

Thanks for everything, Eliud.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Conditions were made favourable. But the fact is that someone put one leg in front of another and did it. The first recorded time.

Then some start pour water by rattling on about drugs.

Wow, he was taking drugs too?

Blimey

 

[Eeyore]

Wow, he was taking drugs too?

Blimey

Poor wording by me. But, yes, some raise the question. Don't know why.

 

[LVGull]

Records should only count in proper races not in set ups like this

Have you ever congratulated anyone? What would it take for you to give praise?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

What was the laser car doing?

 

[jimhigham]

What was the laser car doing?

I think it was being driven along at about 1:59:50 pace, thereby projecting a reliable marker on the ground for the pacemakers to follow. It was driven slightly ahead of two hour pace to provide a margin of error for Kipchoge.

 

[beorhthelm]

Records should only count in proper races not in set ups like this

why does athletics need to have proper races for records to be set. fastest car, most records sold, longest sausage, etc. stand without competition structures. not sure why this one is being questioned.

 

[Ernest]

why does athletics need to have proper races for records to be set. fastest car, most records sold, longest sausage, etc. stand without competition structures. not sure why this one is being questioned.

I could run a marathon UNDER an hour if I was given the assistance he was

 

[*Gullsworth*]

I think it was being driven along at about 1:59:50 pace, thereby projecting a reliable marker on the ground for the pacemakers to follow. It was driven slightly ahead of two hour pace to provide a margin of error for Kipchoge.

Well I think it's all rather clever. Seems to me a real team effort to allow a human being to be able to run a marathon in less than 2 hours, they achieved their goal with ease not forgetting the main athlete ran faster than any one ever recorded at that distance.....great run.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I am campaigning to have Bannister's time expunged from the records because of the use of pacemakers. They also delayed the race to benefit from the wind dropping and waited for near ideal conditions. It was an assisted time and as such, should not have been allowed. The first man to break the 4 minute barrier should have been John Landy, who, only a short time after Bannister and in an unassisted race, ran 3:58:00 smashing the previous time and going on to hold the record for three years.
( I am still awaiting a reply from the IAAF )

I would have assumed this was a bit of irony from you were it not for the vehemence and partiality of your posts on the Brexit thread

Actually, I agree with your sentiment. The new 'record' will not be recongnised because it was little more than a couple of hours on an ergonomic treadmill in hushed and environmentally lovely conditions. So it seems odd that Bannister's record was allowed. Perhaps the rules were later changed due to the very thing that it is what you are talking about.

 

[highflyer]

Nothing against him personally. I am sure he's a lovely guy and I am certain he has worked unbelievably hard to reach almost superhuman level of fitness and endurance. No question about that or the level of his achievement. Certainly they threw every bit of technology (and money) at it, and if chemicals were involved (probably) it would have been up to the precise limits of what is allowed and no further, with exact measurements in place to make sure it all stayed within the letter of the law. Financial doping? Yes. But still a stunning performance by an admirable athlete.

What ruins it all for me is watching and seeing 'Ineos' plastered over everything. A systematic greenwashing effort by one of the most unethical and damaging corporations out there. F*ck em.

I had previously though I couldn't dislike a cycling team sponsor any more than I did Sky..then Ineos took over

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

why does athletics need to have proper races for records to be set. fastest car, most records sold, longest sausage, etc. stand without competition structures. not sure why this one is being questioned.

Read up how he did it. Then look up the notion of 'even playing field'.

There are folk who do agree with you stance though. They also argue that any amount of steroids and other performance enhancement should be permitted. Presumably you'd agree?

The current rules are a compromise (all performance is enhanced - by training - and the best costs money, yet this is accepted), and are arbitrary like rules for a lot of things (blood alcohol for drivers etc), but the guidance is pretty clear, with changes made when unanticipated events occur (like Caster Semenya).

 

[beorhthelm]

Read up how he did it. Then look up the notion of 'even playing field'.

There are folk who do agree with you stance though. They also argue that any amount of steroids and other performance enhancement should be permitted. Presumably you'd agree?

The current rules are a compromise (all performance is enhanced - by training - and the best costs money, yet this is accepted), and are arbitrary like rules for a lot of things (blood alcohol for drivers etc), but the guidance is pretty clear, with changes made when unanticipated events occur (like Caster Semenya).

it was a record attempt, not a race, so notion of playing field is diminished. i just dont understand why atheltics seems to act so aloof.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

why does athletics need to have proper races for records to be set.

This is a good question. Does anyone know? I presume its because the world records we talk about are from the IAAF ....which focuses on competition.....so they only recognize competitive races.

It would a bit odd for them to ratify times outside of their jurisdiction and/or rules.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I could run a marathon UNDER an hour if I was given the assistance he was

No.

I don't think people fully understand how difficult it is to run at the pace Kipchoge ran at for those nearly 2 hours. You can talk about the pacers making it irrelevant, but they only did 5k at a time and the teams were rotating in and out. They didn't run the whole distance, only Kipchoge did. He had to keep himself moving at a pace that some of the best runners in the world could not sustain over one EIGTH of the distance the man himself was running.

For further context, every saturday morning at 9am there is a parkrun. There are 500odd in the UK alone and there have been a total of 51,363,611 (51 million, 363 thousand, 611) parkrun times and 5 (FIVE, only) have been quicker than the pace Kipchoge ran EVERY 5k split during his run yesterday.

I think he'll run Berlin in under 2 the next time he runs it, to set an official record. Amazing athlete.

 

[vegster]

I don’t disagree that’s it’s a remarkable time and pace - the same pace would’ve completed a parkrun in 14 m 17s - but it’s no more remarkable than his official world record 2.01.39, which was set without the assistance of pace makers he could draft behind for the entire race.

For those questioning the advantage, go to your local track and run 100m in 17s to feel how fast it is and to actually feel the effect of the air resistance.

No doubt Kipchoge was waxed and plucked to within an inch of his life before the start, then lightly oiled just before the met office said the wind was in the right direction. Nike wouldn't have left anything to chance !