Oscar-Wilde-1854 t1_iraxuia wrote on October 6, 2022 at 5:08 PM

Reply to comment by Goodlollipop in Eliud Kipchoge's New Marathon World Record, Visualized [OC] by chartr

>2.6 seconds a mile is A LOT during this distance

Oh for sure, that's why I added the "but still so far realistically"

It's just that even for someone at his level it must still feel so miniscule to see those numbers. To think "Oh, all I need to do is shave off 2.6 seconds per mile". He knows how hard it is, but when the number is that small you probably can't help but feel it's right there.

And yeah, that sounds about right. It's amazing he's able to compete this aggressively at his age already, so yeah one final olympics at age 40 and maybe one more kick at Berlin after that? Seems like a good line to draw for him.

Anyway, I absolutely hope he pulls it off. Who knows when we'll see someone else with a realistic chance! There are a bunch of Ethiopians and Kenyans who've posted sub 2:04s over the last few years, so we'll see! Legese is probably the youngest of them at 28, so maybe he'll excel into his 30s as well and have a good chance at it over the next decade!

Goodlollipop t1_irb58xw wrote on October 6, 2022 at 5:56 PM

I know for myself I'm always thinking "Ehhhhh 2 seconds a mile for this half is all I need to do for my goal time? That's easy!" Even though I know it's not haha I agree, it can be easy to get that idea into your head and I doubt professionals are immune to it.

I have high hopes that Tola will become a star marathoner, although I am doubtful we will see a marathoner of Kipchoge's caliber for a while. Jakob Ingebritsen, a phenomenal 1500m and 5k runner has expressed interest in future marathoning, but I imagine he has a lot still to achieve on the track before making the move.