I was reading Alfons Juck’s EME news updates today, and saw the piece on Mo Farah and the focus on the two hour marathon. Actually, the article said, he was looking at the possibility of the two hour marathon. Hopefully, that only took a few minutes…
I have one thought on that: Would you please stop the insanity?
Let Mo Farah run some marathons and be successful at it. The world record is 2:03.23 at this time. To take three plus minutes off the world marathon record at this time makes little sense. Such a day requires everything perfect: perfect pacing, perfect weather, perfect hydration and near super human athletes.
Paul Tergat, former world record holder and one of greatest distance runners of the 20th century noted for Letsrun.com that a serious attempt on the two hour marathon is close to ridiculous.
Sebastian Coe is the champion of the London Olympics and a great sports politician. His comment on Mo Farah being “ambitious” is kind, it does not say that the two hour marathon is imminent. Sir Roger Bannister notes that Mo Farah is a most versatile athlete, and he notes that Mo Farah will not achieve this record in the coming year.
Can the world record drop? Yes, but a two hour marathon?
Be serious.
Taking the world record down fifteen seconds is one thing,
taking the WR down by three plus minutes is just not realistic.
Stop focusing on merely world records, and focus on the competition! Mo Farah and Kenenisa Bekele had a fantastic half marathon at the Great North Run.
Mo Farah is a fantastic athlete. It does him a disservice however, to put pressures on him to run a two hour marathon-it is unrealistic.
Let’s enjoy the competitions. And know that every marathoner in the world wants to show Mo Farah how hard 26.2 miles is. And, many of them will try.
That will make for great racing, wonderful for the sport, but this two hour marathon goal is just something not based in the world of reality.
Mo Farah aims to break two hours, by Alfons Juck
LONDON (GBR): Two of Britain’s best runners of all time have shared their opinions on Mo Farah’s reported attempt at a sub 2 hour marathon, reports the BBC. Double Olympic champion Lord Sebastian Coe says Mo Farah’s aim to break two hours for the marathon is „highly ambitious”. „This is a very ambitious aim from Mo,” said Coe, „I love ambition. You cannot even think of breaking a record unless you are innately ambitious.” “This is highly ambitious observation from Mo but he has the right training group in his corner. His coach Alberto Salazar is a former world marathon record holder”. Sir Roger Bannister, the world’s first sub 4 minute miler, had high praise for Farah, calling him “the most talented, wide-ranging distance runner we have ever seen”. He believes that while a 2 hour marathon is possible, Farah will not achieve it next year. He explained „It has to be a set occasion, it couldn’t be at an event and he would have to be lucky to have a day when the weather is favourable”.
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Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.
Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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by Larry Eder
