OttawaSteve wrote:
Lots of people could cover 1:02:31 these days. His final time was 2:07:56, but his last-half pace for a full marathon equates to only 2:05:02, very good, but probably not good enough to medal.
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Not sure if London is any indication of what Makau can do. Dropping out was kind've a weird thing for him to do, unless he really had been given a guaranteed place, or was injured (and I haven't read anything to suggest he was).
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Other than his 3rd in London 2011, he's won every marathon he's started.
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I am sure that Boston 2012 is no indication of what Mutai can do. As I mentioned earlier, I was in that race, and it was brutal. But in the last couple of years GM has been consistently around 2:05 or lower, including a 2:03:02 in Boston (I guess you missed that w.r.t. PBs, although yeah, the weather was kind've 'special')
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Kirui, on the other hand, has never run a marathon sub 2:05, which Mutai and Makau have both done twice.
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Kirui is a very good runner, but in my opinion he has not shown the tools to cover a very fast pace.
These comments are silly.
First, regarding last year's world championships: Of course, lots of people can run 1:02:31 for a half-marathon. Lots of people can also run 14:17 for a 5K. But very few could run those splits under those conditions in Daegu. And if there's anyone in the world who could actually run 2:05:02 under those conditions, you better believe that he'd be good enough to medal in the Olympic marathon.
Second, regarding Makau: If you haven't read anything to suggest that Makau was injured when he dropped out in London, then you simply haven't been paying attention. And Makau has not won all but one of the marathons he's started. In fact, he's only won one of the last three.
Third, regarding G. Mutai: Of course, I did not "miss" his 2:03:02 last year in Boston. I simply recognize that it wasn't a personal record under any generally accepted standard. G. Mutai's PR for the marathon is only about nine seconds faster than Kirui's, and on the same course.
Finally, it's perfectly O.K. to have your own opinions. But don't suppose that you know more about these matters than someone like Ibrahim Hussein does.