Kipchoge may still target a sub 2 hour marathon??

Sounds reasonable, I’ve never had a race and said “that’s the fastest I’ll ever be.” Whether or not he can do it is another story, but I think he feels like he could do something different and break 2 in a real race.

We would all rather see him run Boston and NYC, but he just ran a PB/WR at 37. He probably thinks he has at least one more shot.

He'll never stop trying, and WMM bingo will not be finished.

He's afraid, and with good reason, that the pieces are in place for anyone of similar talent to take this on and Kipchoge wants to get there first. If I had anything to do with the Dubai Marathon I'd be throwing money at every sub-2:04 guy and every sub-60 HM runner.

Is that a question?

Boston bro

There was a question mark.

I think Kipchoge would rather try to run a "legitimate" sub-two-hour marathon than win all of the marathon majors. He was right on pace through 25 km, and I think he believes he can fix/figure out the final 17 km and truly make history.

I agree although he may also believe he has a few more years in him as far as New York and Boston go. Sub-2 be probably has one more shot

"We would all rather see him run Boston and NYC"

No we all wouldn't, those two are crap marathons compared to #1 Berlin and #2 London and #3 Tokyo.

I doubt EK doesn't want to either, he's just being polite about it when asked, or angling for a big pay day to run a slow crap course.

Wejo, this was discussed on several threads on Sunday.

Of course Kipchoge is considering going for it again -- I have no idea why this should come as a surprise to anyone.

To recap, he ran 2:01:09 with basically the worst splits imaginable. He was all by himself for the final 17km and probably was holding something back to me sure he didn't blow up around 35km.

If he goes out in 60:10 in ideal conditions, and can somehow get a pacer to bring him through 30/35 km, then who the heck knows what's possible.

And for the millionth time -- there are PLENTY of us who'd rather watch a sub 2:01 from him than watch a 2:05/6/7/8... victory in NYC

I do hope he runs Boston next year.

Then Berlin brings Kiplimo / Kandie / Cheptegei to help pace Kipchoge for another go!

Fair enough, I try to stay away from absolutes so I will rephrase. Most of us want to see him win a tough hilly marathon like Boston or NY and set course records. Maybe even go for the record at Comrades.

A minority of fans want to see him keep running the same easy flat races with rabbits going for sub 2.

Despite Boston and NYC being venerable events, it’s amazing to think that some would prefer him to run these over a sub-2 in a legit race (which would only be Berlin, really).
It’d be fascinating to see him in all 6WMMs, but let’s be real - that’s his retirement project for when he no longer has WR pace. His 9-5 is being the fastest ever and pushing sub-2.

Kipchoge choosing those over Berlin again would be like Kamworor, Kandie or Cheptegei choosing XC over the Half Marathon Worlds. It’d still be a good watch, but it’s not a priority.

Having said that, running a tough race eg Boston and then going on to run Berlin might be a good addition for his training - not choosing them over it but using them for it. I could see the justification… but if running an early marathon, surely London if it is in April will still be the choice there until Berlin/sub-2 is put to bed.

Bekele is also going for the sub 2. I'm not sure what his target is in London. Given that he chose London over Berlin, he may be aiming for a time close to his PB, and a course record. I predict that he will replicate the pace from his Great North run and smash the cr in London. Then next year we will see a WR in Berlin most likely. I'm not sure if Bekele is too bothered about the Olympics. He wants the WR more, so could also run Berlin 2024 if he doesn't get the WR by Berlin 2023(potentially a sub 2 hr race)

I agree. Berlin should do everything it can to get multiple people to help him to 30K+. Kiplimo/Cheptegei seem to like ending their seasons on a HM, so if you threw enough money at them to pace Berlin, they might do that instead. Cheptegei is also part of NN running and was at Berlin with Kipchoge last weekend, so might make it more likely for him to help.

My guess on his future schedule

'23 Spring - Boston

'23 Fall - Berlin WR chase

'24 Spring - Dubai (With Olympics in August, London is too late. Dubai is fast and in February which will give him a 6 month buildup for Paris)

'24 Fall - Olympics

He might retire here, but if not I think he goes London and then ends in NYC. This gives him a shot to win all 6 major marathons + 2 more legitimate WR attempts in Berlin/Dubai

"We would all rather see him run Boston and NYC,"

umm, no. maybe you mean the americans would like to see that.

I know Dubai is perfectly flat and has minimal turns, but isn't it generally quite warm? At least too warm for a WR attempt?

Yeah that entirely possible. I believe they start the race at like 5:30AM so that mitigates it to some extent and guys have run super fast there before. But when the margins are that slim in breaking 2, then every second counts.

Maybe Tokyo then? He ran fast this year and the race is early March, not sure how that course stacks up time wise with Berlin.