Forums >General Running>Mo Farah in the marathon
Feeling the growl again
Yes, Mo was the subject of a serious amount of hype given that no knowledgable person would have given him decent odds of winning the race. No, I don't think it's out of line for Mo or anyone else to be disappointed with it turning out in 2:08. That's legitimately slow given his track performances and his recent performance vs Bekele (now a 2:05 guy in a near-solo effort). Is it because Mo is too trained for speed and not optimized for the marathon? Or was he just human and had a flat day? Who knows.
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He extremely talented but he's a proven winner on the track and I think he should resist the temptation to move up to the marathon until after the 2016 Olympics.
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I just find it really funny those top guys like Kipsang, G Mutai, E Mutai and Kebede are all saying he does not belong in the marathon at this point in his career, which I agree with. I'm interested to see what his next move is in terms of racing
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Mo is a very accomplished mid-distance runner, with gold medals from the highest levels. It is a striking coincidence that his debut comes in the same week as two substantially more accomplished mid-distance runners.
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Why is it sideways?
Pet peeve: Mo is not a mid-distance runner!
The distance running world has changed a lot since Geb and Tergat moved up -- only when their times on the track started to turn south. The marathon, not the track, is now where the money is. This is why we see so many very young East Africans jumping directly to the marathon. Mo has actually benefitted somewhat from this, as the competition in the 5K/10K is actually not up to its former standard.
We like to think about Olympic medals, but I'm sure for someone like him the finances play a role too.
I don't know Mo's financial dealings, so I remain curious if that is why he was testing the waters in the marathon while he is still doing very well 1500-10,000m or not.
All that said, given what happened in his debut I think he should stay on the track, and that it would likely take more than a single training cycle to develop himself into a world-class competitive marathoner. But I do think that given a year or two he would probably get there.
There is the technical answer and the non-technical answer from a person's point of view. You are all spinters and mid-distance runners to me. Except WG - she is a long distance runner.
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But he won't - He will be a rocket out there, burning red hot and either flame out or finish ... So it Ilene would give me 3-1 odds on him running a BQ, I might take some of that action.
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I heard somewhere Mo made $700,000 for appearances at the London Marathon. (Last years dropout at the half counted as 1) So that would definitely make sense.
Good point. But it's confusing to me - - possibly the 3000, and definitely the 5000 and 10000 on the track are long distance.
But on the road, aren't those mid-distance?
Just saw this link - (not new) - interview from Nov 2013 with Wilson Kipsang: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUDW28tIwfg
Sub 3:30 in the 1500 and 7:36 in the 3000 are nothing to sniff at.
I wasn't sniffing at them. Mo is a 10k distance guy and yes he has a suspiciously fast 1500m time, especially for a guy who is not a mid-distance runner!!!!!!!!!!!
But yes, I was being snooty, which is why I called it a "pet peeve" -- indicating that my complaint was more about me. I get AP's point.
RIght now anything over 100 meters seems like a long distance run to me.
High expectations when a 2:08 is considered a fail in a debut. To spaniel's point, I wonder how much the $s play a role in this between winning 5k/10k money and being a contender in the marahon big races. It seems to force these runners in the marathon direction vs. keeping with their perceived optimal distance.
One thought, does training and racing for a marathon reduce his capability to still switch to being a winner in the 5k/10k world given a decent training cycle prior to the big events? Assuming no injury, he should be as good or perhaps stronger for the marathon effort. SO nothing really lost by going long or at least low career risk. What do you think?
"He conquers who endures" - Persius "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel
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