Eliud Kipchoge Weighs In on IAAF’s Decision to Kill off Distance Running on the Track

I have spent 10 good years competing on the track. 9 out of 10 seasons I broke 13:00 on the 5000m.

It's the distance which has been crucial for my career and has helped me to become the athlete I am today.

I believe in long term careers where a great career in Track & Field can be translated to a great career on the marathon.

I hope future athletes will have the possibility to follow this exact same path in their careers.

+1

+1 wrote:

I have spent 10 good years competing on the track. 9 out of 10 seasons I broke 13:00 on the 5000m.

It's the distance which has been crucial for my career and has helped me to become the athlete I am today.

I believe in long term careers where a great career in Track & Field can be translated to a great career on the marathon.

I hope future athletes will have the possibility to follow this exact same path in their careers.

+1

+1

Does anyone know what Bekele is saying?

Banana Bread wrote:

Does anyone know what Bekele is saying?

"Looks like my world records are set in stone!"

+googleplex

Some dopers are just trying to take records. Seb Coe has the sense to keep WRs clean anyway. Not that the newbies who appeared suddenly last year had a chance in the first place anyway. It is no coincidence that the IAAF was literally thinking of getting rid of all WRs before 2005(before Bekele started getting WRs, Seb Coe knows Bekele is safe and clean and will always deserve his WRs.

And guess what? I gave him a "like" for this very post.

The distance community appears to have very little say in whatever the IAAF decides and most seem happy to sit back and take whatever’s heaved at them. Even walkers’ protests against changes to their events was more spirited than the distance guys’.

El Keniano wrote:

The distance community appears to have very little say in whatever the IAAF decides and most seem happy to sit back and take whatever’s heaved at them. Even walkers’ protests against changes to their events was more spirited than the distance guys’.

I guess they just don't know when to walk away

Banana Bread wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

The distance community appears to have very little say in whatever the IAAF decides and most seem happy to sit back and take whatever’s heaved at them. Even walkers’ protests against changes to their events was more spirited than the distance guys’.

I guess they just don't know when to walk away

Ah, you’re a riot. LOL ?

Are you being sarcastic?

Banana Bread wrote:

Seb Coe knows Bekele is safe and clean and will always deserve his WRs.

Seb Coe should have his 1:41 erased from the 800m record progression because he was a blood doper, steroid user like every elite before OOC testing, and also it was a short course.

Try to find a better testmonial for Bekele than Coe.

doot doot wrote:

+1 wrote:

+1

+1

+1

Kipchoge can say whatever he wants, but the fact remains that he hasn’t run a track race in years. He effectively abandoned track and field. I’m glad it was a great stepping stone for him and all. Imagine if all the top NBA players quit basketball in their prime to go play some other sport? Would it help put butts in the seats? Would it help TV ratings? That’s what’s happening in the 5k and 10k effectively.

That’s the problem with the 5k and 10k on the track, it’s not a priority for any of the top runners. Bekele, Kipchoge, Farah, Rupp...the list goes on and on, none of these guys are running the 5k or 10k on the track outside of an Olympic year anymore. So why should any fans care about the events in track when none of the top runners seem to? Instead of bemoaning the loss of these events we should be asking how we can make track as lucrative as the marathon as that’s ultimately what killed the 5k and 10k on the track.

^ 10 seasons, running sub-13s in all but one, not enough for you?

CO Coach wrote:

That’s the problem with the 5k and 10k on the track, it’s not a priority for any of the top runners. Bekele, Kipchoge, Farah, Rupp...the list goes on and on, none of these guys are running the 5k or 10k on the track outside of an Olympic year anymore.

None of those are at the “top” in the 5k anymore. That would be Barega, Gebrewhit and Kejelcha.

There's an over emphasis on the Olympics. That's why these guys don't have the cache that Farah has because the Olympics is all that matters which is ridiculous. Hopefully world cross can make a comeback as the most difficult race to win.

Banana Bread wrote:

+googleplex

Some dopers are just trying to take records. Seb Coe has the sense to keep WRs clean anyway. Not that the newbies who appeared suddenly last year had a chance in the first place anyway. It is no coincidence that the IAAF was literally thinking of getting rid of all WRs before 2005(before Bekele started getting WRs, Seb Coe knows Bekele is safe and clean and will always deserve his WRs.

That's not what Coe believes at all. In fact no one in the know believes any African record setters have been clean over the past three decades. None. That includes Meb, KB, El G and Kipchoge.

I’m all for these longer races, just not on the track. If you want a place to develop marathoners that would be the 5k, 10k and half marathon on the roads. Who can honestly sit here and say having a 25 lap race that takes almost 30 minutes long on the track is good for the sport? 99% of the 10k races on the track are snooze fests, for every amazing race like the battles between Tergat and Gebreselassie we had back in the 90s there are 10 races that amount to a jog with a kick at the end, and that’s all anyone who’s not a runner sees at these things.

We should be jumping at the opportunity to kill these long track races so we can promote cross country as the one true long distance race. Imagine exciting courses with loaded fields; something someone who’s not a poster on these boards might actually want to watch...

The other thing I’ll add, the sooner the IAAF kills the 5k and 10k on the track the sooner we can get rid of these races in college track. The typical college women’s 10k in the NCAA takes over 40 minutes! No one on this board can honestly say they’d want to watch that or that it’s good for sport.