Is Mo Farah really that fast

Ispin

Just looking at the results from New Orleans 1/2 today, Mo won from Gebre Gebremariam, time 60:59. Considering the RAK 1/2 a week or two ago had about 10 runners quicker from 58:... upwards, how good is the competition Mo is facing? Granted he is the Olympic champ but his 10000m time was slow relatively speaking. He seems to be an excellent tactician and uses his kick to his advantage but up against the right competition I think he could be left wanting.

thirstywork2

Shows what you know haha.He is double olympic champion

KielyUnusual

He won the race didn't he? Why would he want to run any faster? Olympic Finals don't tend to be too quick so guaging his level of fitness on those winning times is a bit of a misnomer. I'm sure he could run a faster half with a more competitive field. He's got some half decent PBs.

thirstywork2

Guy he beat ain't half bad looking at his pb's

Mo's range is amazing and his times will improve on the road.


Event Time Venue Date
3000 m 7:39.48 New York City, USA 11 June 2005
5000 m 12:52.80 Rome, Italy 8 July 2005
10000 m 26:52.33 Hengelo, Netherlands 26 May 2007
Half marathon 1:00:25 Philadelphia, USA 19 September 2010
Marathon* 2:04:53 Boston, USA 18 April 2011
Marathon 2:08:00 New York City, USA 6 November 2011
(*) Downhill and point-to-point course

Mo's pb's

Outdoor Track 800 m 1:48.69 3 August 2003 Eton
1500 m 3:33.98 28 July 2009 Monaco
One mile 3:56.49 6 August 2005 London
2000 m 5:06.34 9 March 2006 Melbourne
3000 m 7:38.15 31 August 2006 Zagreb
Two miles 8:20.47 3 August 2007 London
5000 m 12:53.11 22 July 2011 Monaco
10,000 m 26:46.57 3 June 2011 Eugene
Indoor Track 1500 m 3:39.03 28 January 2012 Glasgow
One mile 3:57.92 4 February 2012 Boston
3000 m 7:34.47 21 February 2009 Birmingham
Two miles 8:08.07 18 February 2012 Birmingham[78]
Road 10 km 27:44 31 May 2010 London
15 km 43:13+ 25 October 2009 Portsmouth
10 miles 46:25 25 October 2009 Portsmouth
Half marathon 1:00:23 20 March 2011 New York City Half Marathon *needs to be updated*
+ intermediate split in longer race.

Ispin

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Shows what you know haha.He is double olympic champion

how does this show what i know oh learned one?..... i just think theres plenty of Kenyans out there who could give him a better run for his money given the opportunity. I know they didnt do it in the olympics but that was down to poor tactics on their behalf. 5 runners under the hour in RAK, with 3 under 59 mins .....how would Mo get on?

rom

Gebremariam only won New York in 2010 and was also beaten by Mo the following April in the NY 1/2.
3rd in Boston in 2011.
4th in New York in 2011 too.

Why would they want to give him a "run for his money". Its a business and they give a damn about Mo Farah and his will I or won't I run a marathon. They want a pay day. Why be taken down by him in a half which could lessen future appearance fees for them ?

I can't see him or Ryan Hall ever winning a major.

myflipflops

Ispin wrote: »

how does this show what i know oh learned one?..... i just think theres plenty of Kenyans out there who could give him a better run for his money given the opportunity. I know they didnt do it in the olympics but that was down to poor tactics on their behalf. 5 runners under the hour in RAK, with 3 under 59 mins .....how would Mo get on?

At full fitness, he may well hang on and outkick them. Maybe he would get gapped.

To be honest, who cares.

One Olympic gold > infinity 58.xx half marathons.

I actually cannot remember the last time I saw Farah run a time trial style paced race with the view to running a quick time. I think all his PBs from 3k to the half marathon are way slower than his potential.

Ispin

myflipflops wrote: »

At full fitness, he may well hang on and outkick them. Maybe he would get gapped.

To be honest, who cares.

One Olympic gold > infinity 58.xx half marathons.

I actually cannot remember the last time I saw Farah run a time trial style paced race with the view to running a quick time. I think all his PBs from 3k to the half marathon are way slower than his potential.

Wouldn't agree fully....some of his times are world class. My main point is that i think he's a great championship runner and a great tactician but is he being made to look better than he really is because of the inferior standard and tactics of his competitors on the day (not withstanding their past achievements). The world championships will tell a lot.....id be surprised if the Kenyans get so exposed by his kick a second time, not to mind the Ethiopians.... this leads to another point... all his serious middle distance competition are gone running marathons, more money, look at Dubai this year, 5 Ethiopians on 2:04......amazing stuff.

Gringo78

Ispin wrote: »

The world championships will tell a lot.....id be surprised if the Kenyans get so exposed by his kick a second time, not to mind the Ethiopians....

That theory only holds true if the Ethiopians or Kenyans run as a team, but to do that someone has to sacrifice their shot at a medal....there isn't much money in middle distance running so more likely they will not run as a team as at the end of the day there are only individual medals not team medals - nobody is willing to sacrifice themselves at the front and lose their shot at a medal. Hence the guy with the kick wins.

average_runner

Ispin wrote: »

how does this show what i know oh learned one?..... i just think theres plenty of Kenyans out there who could give him a better run for his money given the opportunity. I know they didnt do it in the olympics but that was down to poor tactics on their behalf. 5 runners under the hour in RAK, with 3 under 59 mins .....how would Mo get on?

Put it this way, the Olympic marathon wasn't won by the fastest person in the world. Big races like this, tactics come in to place and this is where Mo is very strong.

Alot of the African countries dont seem to work as a team and as a long as this continues Mo has a great chance.

thirstywork2

Ispin wrote: »

Wouldn't agree fully....

So you would take a 58 half marathon over an Olympic gold,please tell me im picking you up wrong here???


Farah is one hard man to beat right now and even when he fell in an indoor mile last year he wasn't beaten that far.
You have a point about the Kenyans chasing money but proof is int he pudding Farah is top class.
olympics could have been ran at world record pace and I still think he would have won.
Ok he might not be at his peak in terms or half/full marathon but Salazar is training him for the long term unlike alot of Kenyan's who start their marathon career at a very young age.

Pisco Sour

Crazy thread. Give me Olympic and World gold medals any day of the week over running after an identically clothed rabbit in a DL meet!

Athletics is about racing in the end of the day. At elite level PBs aren't worth much when it comes to the heat of battle.

Letyourselfgo

Didn't he set acourse record in New Orleans?

Ispin

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Yeah, you're picking me up wrong, what I wouldn't fully agree with is that all his pb's are way slower than his potential. Obviously a championship medal surpasses a time (time will always be beaten).

So is it the general concencis that Mo is the best runner in the world at the moment from 3000m to 1/2 marathon. Must be that fresh Oregon air that himself and Rupp are breathing..............:D

Clearlier

Ispin wrote: »

pasted-image.png

Yeah, you're picking me up wrong, what I wouldn't fully agree with is that all his pb's are way slower than his potential. Obviously a championship medal surpasses a time (time will always be beaten).

So is it the general concencis that Mo is the best runner in the world at the moment from 3000m to 1/2 marathon. Must be that fresh Oregon air that himself and Rupp are breathing..............:D

I don't think so. I think that he's well capable of going under the hour for a half but I'd be very interested to see how he got on against the 58:xx guys. That said I imagine he's only toying with the half marathon while he still focuses on the track. Once he moves to the marathon he'll run halves but as the guys at Letsrun have pointed out on numerous occasions a fast half in the build up to a marathon usually equals a disappointing marathon. So, I don't think that he'll have more than one chance of running 58:xx.

PaulieC

Cringefest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2013/feb/26/mo-farah-us-tv-video

menoscemo

PaulieC wrote: »

Cringefest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2013/feb/26/mo-farah-us-tv-video

Haha that's gas. Apart from not knowing who he was she just wouldn't tkae the hint that it was a half not a Marathon!!

overpronator

rom wrote: »

Gebremariam only won New York in 2010 and was also beaten by Mo the following April in the NY 1/2.
3rd in Boston in 2011.
4th in New York in 2011 too.

Why would they want to give him a "run for his money". Its a business and they give a damn about Mo Farah and his will I or won't I run a marathon. They want a pay day. Why be taken down by him in a half which could lessen future appearance fees for them ?

I can't see him or Ryan Hall ever winning a major.

What's Ryan Hall got to do with it, does he command big appearance fees too?

PaulieC

menoscemo wrote: »

Haha that's gas. Apart from not knowing who he was she just wouldn't tkae the hint that it was a half not a Marathon!!

Aye, good job too that it wasn't a mini-marathon

pgmcpq

PaulieC wrote: »

Cringefest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2013/feb/26/mo-farah-us-tv-video[/QUOTE]

That's a classic . I love the stunned silence when she asks if he has run before ... then the "Sorry?" as he tries to buy time to to figure out a polite response that would not embarass either of them. Mo has gone up in my estimation.

YFlyer

overpronator wrote: »

What's Ryan Hall got to do with it, does he command big appearance fees too?

Only if God his coach tells him to :rolleyes:

sconhome

Ispin wrote: »

Mo won from Gebre Gebremariam, time 60:59.

If 60:59 wins a race why would you race any faster?

If 58:xx won the other race who's to say he wouldn't have run 58:xv against that competition?

rom

amphkingwest wrote: »

If 60:59 wins a race why would you race any faster?

If 58:xx won the other race who's to say he wouldn't have run 58:xv against that competition?

Once the competition is beat you compete with yourself.

velo.2010

Inclined to give that lady the benefit of the doubt. I would think she meant 'have you run this particular race before' or 'have you run this distance before'. Likely the former as she thinks its a full marathon. As others have said elsewhere, she probably covers everything from local flooding to world events so her questioning is pretty generic.

Anyway, good to see Mo out on the road. New Orleans seems odd but I guess it ties in with warm weather training.

rom

velo.2010 wrote: »

Inclined to give that lady the benefit of the doubt. I would think she meant 'have you run this particular race before' or 'have you run this distance before'. Likely the former as she thinks its a full marathon. As others have said elsewhere, she probably covers everything from local flooding to world events so her questioning is pretty generic.

Anyway, good to see Mo out on the road. New Orleans seems odd but I guess it ties in with warm weather training.

I wouldn't.

She said "your off to a great start" too.

nerraw1111

velo.2010 wrote: »

Inclined to give that lady the benefit of the doubt. I would think she meant 'have you run this particular race before' or 'have you run this distance before'. Likely the former as she thinks its a full marathon. As others have said elsewhere, she probably covers everything from local flooding to world events so her questioning is pretty generic.

Anyway, good to see Mo out on the road. New Orleans seems odd but I guess it ties in with warm weather training.

Me too. I reckon she was referring to the distance.

He didn't help matters by saying he's not going to run the marathon till 2014 then in the next breath say he's running the London marathon but only half of it. Which in turn, highlighted the ridiculousness of it.

robinph

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Me too. I reckon she was referring to the distance.

He didn't help matters by saying he's not going to run the marathon till 2014 then in the next breath say he's running the London marathon but only half of it. Which in turn, highlighted the ridiculousness of it.

I don't.

The caption refers to "Marathon winner". So the local TV station didn't even know that there was a half marathon being run in their city that day. He mentions that he is running London but only half of it in April in an answer to come up with something for the "have you run before?" question, her next question is then "are you going to do another race?".

No problem with her not knowing who he was, but I'm sure she thought it was a 5km "marathon" that had just been won. Her next question would have been about what charity he was collecting money for and did he have to stop and walk any of the "marathon".

Clearlier

The presenter was clearly fed the questions and didn't know anything about running. I suspect that the 'Have you run before?' was a poorly worded attempt to ask if he had run New Orleans before. At best the hapless researcher responsible for the mess would have got a bollocking. The presenter didn't help herself but she would have gotten through it with better prep.

thirstywork2

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/london-marathon/9893304/Alberto-Salazar-says-2014-London-Marathon-will-be-Mo-Farahs-audition-for-Rio-Games-marathon-in-2016.html