Quite a weekend for Kenyan running
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2019 4:23 pm
First Kipchoge manages a marathon distance in less than two hours - some people equate this to Roger Bannister in 1954 but I wouldn't quite put it up there. Kipchoge beat his own world record by about a minute and a half but was aided by a very flat track, a phalanx of pacemakers who cycled in and out of the run (i.e., they did not run the distance of the race themselves) and some new super tech shoes from Nike. A fantastic achievement certainly; but it's no Bannister moment.
Secondly (chronologically not in importance) Kenya's Kosgei broke the women's world record - which has stood for 16 years - by 80 seconds at the Chicago marathon. She too had the benefit of the new NIke shoes but no organized pacemakers and a regular course so to me that's much more of an achievement in terms of bettering what we already knew about an athlete's capability.
As always of course these days we have to wait for the drug test results but as far as I am aware there has never been a suggestion that Kosgei is a druggie. So we'll know in a day or two if there is a problem but I doubt it.
Secondly (chronologically not in importance) Kenya's Kosgei broke the women's world record - which has stood for 16 years - by 80 seconds at the Chicago marathon. She too had the benefit of the new NIke shoes but no organized pacemakers and a regular course so to me that's much more of an achievement in terms of bettering what we already knew about an athlete's capability.
As always of course these days we have to wait for the drug test results but as far as I am aware there has never been a suggestion that Kosgei is a druggie. So we'll know in a day or two if there is a problem but I doubt it.