Geb added to London.... as a pacemaker

ecoli

http://www.albertostretti.org/2014/02/haile-gebreselassie-to-run-as-pacemaker.html

I dunno whether having such an established name as a pace maker is a good thing or a bad thing to be honest

On one side I think its great not having an unknown up at front of the pack in terms of viewership for general public having said that kinda sad to see the man being "relegated" to pacing duties

thirstywork2

No better Pacemaker though,experience and after the Great North Run he can defo carry them to 20+ at world record pace.
Goes to show how much London really want a world record and publicity of this will be massive just like getting Mo to run to halfway mark last year.

Letyourselfgo

I think it's great and he'll surely nab another masters PB along the way 30k or sth like that.

tomdempsey200

prob not good news for mo's chances

he'll prob be a little off that pace

he's prob not expecting a win first time out anyhow

Diamond_25

I think that is cool for him to do it

pconn062

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

prob not good news for mo's chances

he'll prob be a little off that pace

he's prob not expecting a win first time out anyhow

With the field they've put together for London, he'll do well to come in the top 5.

Run and Jump

I like to think Haile is at home cackling and rubbing his hands together with glee: "My plan is working - I have them fooled into thinking I'll be a mere 'pacemaker'. The fools!"

(Wishful thinking, I know.)

tomdempsey200

pconn062 wrote: »

With the field they've put together for London, he'll do well to come in the top 5.

whats he gonna do?


go with the world record pace or hang back for 2-06/2-07?

Krusty_Clown

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

whats he gonna do?
go with the world record pace or hang back for 2-06/2-07?

I'd say he'll have to go with the pace of the leading pack, as to do otherwise would leave him in no-man's land, or at best, running with one or two stragglers.

I know he hasn't demonstrated that he has the same kind of speed over 5k/10k, but is there a genuine reason to suspect that he couldn't hold the same pace as the leading pack for 20-22 miles? Surely falling off the pace after 20 miles and finishing in the top-10 would represent a better achievement (and stand to him more), than aiming for 9/10th place from the start of the race?

tomdempsey200

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I'd say he'll have to go with the pace of the leading pack, as to do otherwise would leave him in no-man's land, or at best, running with one or two stragglers.

I know he hasn't demonstrated that he has the same kind of speed over 5k/10k, but is there a genuine reason to suspect that he couldn't hold the same pace as the leading pack for 20-22 miles? Surely falling off the pace after 20 miles and finishing in the top-10 would represent a better achievement (and stand to him more), than aiming for 9/10th place from the start of the race?

idk


one thing for sure ..tactics is his strong suit as he has demonstrated many times

so he'll get it right

isn't there a danger of blowing up completely if he goes with wr pace

Krusty_Clown

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

idk


one thing for sure ..tactics is his strong suit as he has demonstrated many times

so he'll get it right

isn't there a danger of blowing up completely if he goes with wr pace

Absolutely there is. But in his case (and specifically his reputation) isn't he better off having a go and blowing up, rather than playing it conservative and 'settling' for a place/time?

overpronator

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Absolutely there is. But in his case (and specifically his reputation) isn't he better off having a go and blowing up, rather than playing it conservative and 'settling' for a place/time?

Yeah definitely plus you would imagine that the potential bonus money on offer for a win as well as course record/world record would also be a big incentive to go hard.

tomdempsey200

overpronator wrote: »

Yeah definitely plus you would imagine that the potential bonus money on offer for a win as well as course record/world record would also be a big incentive to go hard.

ok.. but he doesn't have a realistic shout at the wr

robinph

The lot of them went off at WR pace last year, potentially to try and scare Mo, or was he the one dictating the pace? Anyway, the second half was 5 minutes slower as they had all blown up to varying degrees. Can't see him winning though as the tactics on a marathon race has to be way off what he's used to on the track. It's not like this is going to be his first long run though, so whilst he's never raced a marathon before he'll be well able for the distance.

You then have the random "having a bad day" factor to throw in the mix as well though, but that is the same for all of them. As far as Mo is concerned though it's ten against 1 and he won't be lucky enough that all of the rest of them will have a bad day.

rainbow kirby

Would be comedy gold if everyone going out at WR pace completely blew up and it ended up being a genuine race between Farah, Kiprotich and Jeilan to come in at around 2:07

ecoli

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Would be comedy gold if everyone going out at WR pace completely blew up and it ended up being a genuine race between Farah, Kiprotich and Jeilan to come in at around 2:07

After Jelians HM a few weeks ago doesn't look like he is handling the marathon training all to well so 2.07 might not even be on the cards (although hard to judge given we don't know where he is in his training)

In terms of Mo I can't see him not going with the lead group even if it is only trailing at the back. I still think he will be exposed. The 10k has been a weak event over the last 5 years on track and I have yet to see anything which translates to anything more than a 2.06 and 2.07. At the moment he is a 1500-5k guy along the lines of Lagat or El G (though I wouldn't rate him as highly) who has been winning the 10ks with the likes of Mosop, Wanjiru, Kipsang and all the other potential 10k greats moving to the roads which have allowed the likes of Jelian and Farah to exploit the 10k with their speed in tactical affairs.