Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

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ex-khobar Andy
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Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

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.

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Well, he "beat" his own world record but it doesn't count because it wasn't a real marathon but a staged event with all the aids (and more) that you mentioned. He'd come close a short time before in a similar fit-up.

So, congrats to him for running really really fast for a very long time and tough noogies.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

rubato
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Re: Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

Post by rubato »

ex-khobar Andy wrote: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.
… "
I would reverse it. Bannnister broke an illusory barrier which, today, many HS students have broken . It was a barrier only because of the relatively low level of competition resulting from a sport practiced by a tiny, and mostly economically defined, subset of the population. The marathon by contrast is contested by people from all walks of life and all continents by enormous numbers each year. Kipchoge had a lot of 'unsporting' technical advantages but Bannister had pace runners, also not strictly 'sporting'.


Sub-four-minute mile runs by U.S. high school students
Name Time Date Venue Location
Jim Ryun 3:59.0[9] June 5, 1964 Compton Invitational Los Angeles, California
Jim Ryun 3:58.3[10] May 22, 1965 KSHSAA Track and Field Championships Wichita, Kansas
Jim Ryun 3:55.3[9] June 27, 1965 AAU Track and Field Championships San Diego, California
Tim Danielson 3:59.4[9] June 11, 1966 San Diego Invitational San Diego, California
Marty Liquori 3:59.8[9] June 23, 1967 AAU Track and Field Championships Bakersfield, California
Alan Webb 3:59.86 (indoors)[9] January 20, 2001 New Balance Games New York City, New York
Alan Webb 3:53.43[9] May 27, 2001 Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Oregon
Lukas Verzbicas 3:59.71[9] June 11, 2011 Adidas Grand Prix New York City, New York
Matthew Maton 3:59.38[9] May 8, 2015 Oregon Twilight Meet Eugene, Oregon
Grant Fisher 3:59.38[9] June 4, 2015 Festival of Miles St. Louis, Missouri
Drew Hunter 3:58.25 (indoors)[9] February 6, 2016 Armory Track Invitational New York City, New York
Michael Slagowski 3:59.53[9] April 29, 2016 Jesuit Twilight Invitational Portland, Oregon
Reed Brown 3:59.30[9] June 1, 2017 Festival of Miles St. Louis, Missouri

yrs,
rubato

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Gob
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Re: Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

Post by Gob »

My best full marathon time was 3 hrs 29 mins. I cannot conceive of running at the sped these guys did for mile after mile.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

My best was in Colorado, an hour and 45 minutes but that was in the Dodge Caravan; trailing around after Margaretta who was doing her third marathon. I'd speed ahead, circle back, go have dinner, a beer, that kind of thing, showing up at crucial "cheering" moments and spots. Beat own my records from San Antonio and SF but I didn't go to the Alaska one.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Quite a weekend for Kenyan running

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Gob wrote:My best full marathon time was 3 hrs 29 mins. I cannot conceive of running at the sped these guys did for mile after mile.
That's some pretty serious running, Gob. OK it won't win any championships but I bet it puts you in the 99.9 percentile of the population.

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