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Always Seeking a World Record!?!

An Olympic Year / Selection
For many athletes, representing one’s country at the Olympics and having the opporunity to win a medal is a highpoint of their career – but only three can represent their country in the marathon so to get selected is difficult. The USA selects its team on one day, in one race – the USA Olympic Trials Marathon – but in most countries the selection is either by pure rank of eligible marathon finishes or an arbitrary selection by the Athletic Federation based on a variety of factors.

Although no specific standards were set by the Kenyan, Ethiopian or Eritrean Athletic Federations; it was widely expected that an athlete’s good performance at the London Marathon would be the deciding factor in selection to the Olympic Team. For the British team, criteria was specified: the top three men running 2:12:00 would be selected for the Olympic Team, with discretion to select additional men if there were not three with the UK standard but others bettered the Olympic standard. The London Marathon was going to decide at least three Olympic teams or at least be pre-eminent in the decision process.

At World Record Pace
The London Marathon is fast – and race organizers hope for fast times with time bonuses to encourage those outcomes. Common knowledge suggests that the Berlin Marathon – pancake flat and with no sharp turns – is the fastest marathon and no race could challenge the world records set there. But from the start, the men at the London Marathon went out at a pace faster than the world record pace. Everyone watching knew this was an impossible pace and the fear was that none could continue at that pace and finish…

5K in 14:16 = on target toward a 2:00:24 whereas the world record is 2:02:57. 10K in 28:37 on pace for a 2:0045 marathon. 15K in 43:17, on pace toward a 2:01:45 – then men were slowing down, but not much… At the ten mile mark, the men were 50 seconds faster than the runners in the year that the London Marathon record was set. Halfway was passed in 1:01:24 – the fastest half split ever at the London Marathon (and perhaps ever in history – we will check that statistic). What was perhaps most amazing is that this pace was set by the pacemkers, and almost all of the top men were running at that pace. With a pace that fast, we might expect the lead pack to have just a few men in it, but at the halfway mark, eight men were still in the pack – all ahead of world record pace.

We will note that just before mile 12, Wilson Kipsang ran up to the front of the pack and spoke with the pacemakers. We can only guess that he asked them to slow it up a bit. And the next couple of miles were a bit slower – but as noted at the halfway mark the runners, though slowing were still ahead of world record pace. Remarkably, after some slowing and just past the halfway mark, defending champion Eliud Kipchoge began to push the pace – even faster than before…

Photo Credit: London Marathon

A Two Man Race
With defending champion Eliud Kipchoge pushing the pace, the race broke apart. Only three men would go with Kipchoge: Staley Biwott, Gimray Ghebreselassie and Wilson Kipsang. But ultimately only Stanley Biwott – the reigning New York City Marathon champion and man with the third fastest personal best in the field – could stay with Kipchoge. By mile 20, Kipchoge and Biwott were a minute ahead of all others – and still on world record pace…

Passing mile 25, the pair was slightly behind world record pace, but crushing the course record my nearly a minute – the course record would fall… Kipchoge still had another gear left and pushed forward again to run away with the win in 2:03:05 – the third fastest marathon ever run (but if we ignore the non-record eligible Boston Marathon where Geoffrey Mutai ran 2:03:02 aided by 20 mile per hour tailwinds, this is really the second fastest marathon ever). The time also crushed the previous course record (2:04:29) by nearly 1-1/2 minutes! Stanley Biwott ran strong to finish second in a new personal best 2:03:51 – the eighth fastest time ever run ina marathon.. What an incredible finish: two men crushing the old course record, two men running sub-2:04 in the same race. Kenenisa Bekele continued strong to run to third place in 2:06:36 – easily securing third place. Ghirmay Ghebreselassie – the reigning World Champion and only 20 years old – finished fourth in 2:07:46 near his personal best and showing that he is a capable marathoner. Wilson Kipsang – the two-time London champion and past world-record holder – proved to be outmatched in this race but finished just behind in fifth place in 2:07:52.

Selecting an Olympic Team
Based on the results at the London Marathon, we will be surprised if Eliud Kipchoge, Stanley Biwott, Kenenisa Bekele and Ghirmay Ghebreselassie are not selected for their respective Olympic Marathon teams – although anything could happen as team selection in those East African countries are done behind closed doors.

One thing we do know is that based on the London results, the top two British runners will be selected for the British Olympic team: Callum Hawkins (2:10:52) and Tsegai Tewlde (2:12:53). With his close finish and bettering of the Olympic standard, it is also probable that Derek Hawkins (2:12:57 and brother to Callum) may also be selected although it is not required by the British selection criteria….

Photo Credit: Race Results Weekly

An Amazing Race
What more can be said? The 2016 London Marathon will go down as one of the most impressive races in history with so many runners going at world record pace from the start and with a the world record only missed by 7 seconds. London served as a great venue to decide who is among the best of the best and we’ll exlook forward to seeing a number of these men racing at the Olympics.

Top Finishers:
1. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2:03:05 – $55,000 + $125,000
2. Stanley Biwott (KEN) 2:03:51 – $30,000 + $100,000
3. Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2:06:36 – $22,500 + $50,000
4. Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (ERI) 2:07:46 – $15,000 + $25,000
5. Wilson Kipsang (KEN) 2:07:52 – $10,000 + $25,000
6. Tilahun Regassa (ETH) 2:09:47 – $7,500 + $3,000
7. Sisay Lemma (ETH) 2:10:45 – $5,000 + $1,000
8. Callum Hawkins (GBR) 2:10:52 – $4,000 + $9,000
9. Dennis Kimetto (KEN) 2:11:44 – $3,000
10. Ghebre Kibrom (ERI) 2:11:56 – $2,000
11. Yuki Sato (JPN) 2:12:14 – $1,500
12. Tsegai Tewelde (GBR) 2:12:23 – $1,000 + $6,000
Other Top British Finishers:
14. Derek Hawkins (GBR) 2:12:57 – $0 + $6,000