This thread is in honor of LRC's Jon Gault who is (almost) as excited about Manning vs Brady XVI as he is in covering Kipsang vs Mutai III (in New York City for the first time).
The only two times they've raced in the marathon have been at London the last two years.
In 2013, Patrick Kipsang was 5th and Geoffrey Mutai a DNF.
This year, Kipsang won in 2:04:29 and Mutai was 6th in 2:08:18.
Kipsang has been incredible his last two marathons. He set the World Record in Berlin last fall. Then he followed that up by winning the most competitive marathon in the world London this spring. Now he's in NYC.
He's never run a poor marathonin his life. His worst marathon ever place wise is a 2:07:47 for 5th in London.
The one knock against him is he's never run a major on a course like New York or Boston. Can he handle the terrain?
Mutai is the king of Boston and New York with the course record at both. He "only" ran 2:08:18 in London this spring so that's the knock on him. He's won the last two New Yorks.
Lelisa Desisa is also a contender. He was the #1 ranked marathoner in the world last year per Track and Field News. He won Dubai, Boston, and got a silver at Worlds. He dropped out of Boston this year.
So who you got?