One of the most questionable world records ever taken apart by over a minute...

https://results.chicagomarathon.com/...amp;search_event=MAR

Impressed that she set out to smash it, not just break it.

1:06:59 half, en route to 2:14:04

So back to a little over 12 minutes differential from the men again. That seems about where it should be, guessing this one won't hang out there as long as the other one too. IT is hard for my old brain to wrap these new times into my current fandom of running. She was 4 minutes behind the 1st American guy, and ran a time that would have won the pro mens race in Boston last year!!

Trying to remember back what the milestones I can recall, The Aussies Derek Clayton going sub 2;10, the Rob DeCastella going low 2;08, and the one I really remember is Carlos Lopes going low 2;07 at what was then an advanced age of 37 I believe. After that it is just a blur of Africans for the next 30 years chipping away at it from various countries, to where we are now.

I wouldnt have thought it back in the 80's, but looks like I will live to see 2 hours in a real race, which means maybe 2;12 for the women..Dam....

Huh? That record has been standing for 16 years...

For the sub two hour effect to open the flood gates on breaking down other barriers, as in, the very long standing Paula Radcliffe record..

She tech is really opening some doors.

Men’s race looks like it was pretty tight. Top 4 within 8 sec.

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Formerly DrD

I didn’t think anyone would ever break Paula’s record. Impressive run

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Matt

Saw her go by at 13.1, super smooth and tucked in tight behind two pacers. Looked effortless

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Boots
Fleet Feet Rochester, NY
Fleet Feet Buffalo, NY
YellowJacket Racing, Rochester, NY

So you think that she broke the record because Kipchoge ran sub 2 the other day?

OTP, but Salazar's "ex athletes" bombed. Hmnnn?

I’ve been fortunate to be on the sidelines working but also watching the many attempts to break that record. Most of those attempts were in London where Paula set the record. Today when Kosgei went by me tucked in with her two pacers shoe looked relaxed and in control. It was real special to hear she broke the record.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

because you and boots mentioned this, i'm guessing there's some pink in your comments?

we have a rule in triathlon. it's right in the written rules. i helped write the rule in fact. once you abandon your own race ambitions - meaning, you race in a way that subordinates your own best performance in service of another - that's it. you're out. you're DQd. the person you're serving is DQd.

now, i know that this is not quite the same thing in running. we see records set on the track because pacesetters were deployed. but at a minimum, they must be of the same gender. at some point you have to go out and do the thing yourself. i didn't see this race. but if the pacesetters were male then, sorry, no record. in my book.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Today when Kosgei went by me tucked in with her two pacers ///

I remember years and years ago that this was a hot topic of discussion, guess it still is?? I suppose with all the ** added to the breaking 2 record, they felt this was a good time to pull out all the stops..Rules are rules I guess, seems like there needs to be multiple world records now, with explanations on how each was achieved. Still a great run...

Pretty sure I read Paula had male pacers for her record too. But don’t most marathons now have pacers for the pros? I’m pretty sure Chicago has so they can take down the course record. So I don’t see an issue if it’s within the rules.

I also don’t see the issue with pacers in general. Yeah it helps a lot but the runner still has to go out and do it. Could be wrong but thought all pacers had to be gone by like 25-30k too. And those last 10-15k is when the real runners come out!

(As I reader that there’s a lot of “I think” in there, ha. I’m sure many others, probably including you know more details to the pacers and all that. I just think it’s fun to watch performances like the ones we’ve seen the last few years, assuming they’re clean!)

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and the magic shoes...

You have to remember when Ratcliff set the record she was surrounded by pace setters(Men) the entire way. At least today they limit the number of pace setters a runner can have. The men have them too. Nobody has pacers in Boston or NYC but in London, Berlin, Chicago and Tokyo they are allowed and it’s a heavy negotiation between the runners and or agents as to which pacers are allowed and what those paces will be.

The funny thing is today the pacers set out at 2:16 pace and she said no, go faster!

A case in point is Bekele three weeks ago in Berlin. He went 2:01:41 or 2 seconds slower than the world mark set by Kipchoge. In London last year Kipchoge wanted a world record pace from the gun but Bekele did not. They negotiated two separate pace groups. Kipchoge didn’t set the record but nobody really challenged him either. The guys with the slower pace group never caught up. Without that negotiation in Berlin, Bekele was able to set his pace which was very conservative and then he turned it on over the final 15K to get darn close to the record.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

I thought it was Paula's record I remembered as being contorversial. But the difference is of course, women can have pacers to the bitter end, where the men get left alone shortly after half way to 3/4. I'm of the mind with this, as I was with the women pros racing with the men pros back in the day, that there should be a totally separate race. If women want it equal, then do what the men have to, hire the best 1/2 marathon women to put out that pace, and then run for dough.

Imagine how much of an advantage it would have been for Lucy yesterday if it was one pro start? She would have undoubtedly have won. Couple more super easy minutes on the swim(actually going easier than she did), and then men pacers for a lot of the ride for a few more, all making her just that tiny bit fresher for the end..

But as they say, thems the rules!!!

i don't remember the circumstances of paula's record. i do remember having this debate, recurring, about whether it's okay to have men pacing the women. i just think the answer is no. the sub-2 run was just silly. i could't watch it. a truck with a line beamed on the ground representing 2hr. a phalanx of runners around the guy, switching out. my thought, we just encase him in a moving dome? that shoots air up from the ground? like a huge air hockey table? uplifting him? and it's pure oxygen inside the dome? let's see if we can break 1:55?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Dan please don’t give Nike any ideas ;)

The Pacers with Paula were with her the entire run. You can search that on YouTube. That was part of the major debate. As you know Dan there are rules around pacers. They can’t run with the athletes the entire race, they have to pull off. For the men and for the women.

With Men pacing the men, there are plenty of pacers who can run 2:04 pace for 20-30K. For women there just isn’t a pool of woman who can pace this. Their option is to have men do the pacing or nobody.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

maybe nike can help my wife pay for a man to just run 2:13 for her, and then she gets the record. nike's record setting bedroom slippers. the lady doesn't even need to leave the house.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Along those lines with men pacing women, today there were 21 men who ran 2:13-2:19 so even if there weren't pacers per se the women have the advantage of being able to run with the men who are running that pace. I know some marathons have separate starts but Chicago is not one of them.

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3 records in a weekend.
But only Jan's was genuine. The others ? Contrived.