edinburgh x country- bekele dropping back

[mump boy]

it's great to see baby face back, i think i love her

and hayley ran well to get 4th

the men's race is now on but i'm not really watching i just looked up and bekele is in 4th !! he's not going to catch up either

[nevetsllim]

Bekele was about 14sec behind the leaders when I counted the last time and I think he's losing more ground on Kipchoge in third now.

[mump boy]

apparently he's going for the 3k WR this summer

er good luck with that

[nevetsllim]

Bekele 21sec behind the leaders but clear in fourth.

[3]

Mr. Bekele is not too far behind with a lap remaining. My confidence in him remains high.

[nevetsllim]

Mr. Bekele is not too far behind with a lap remaining. My confidence in him remains high.

He's about 150m behind!

Plus it's not like the leaders are straining themselves.

[3]

He won't win, that's for sure.

[nevetsllim]

Bekele's excuse was rather lame

[bpence]

What was it? Too cold? Too much snow?

[Mighty Favog]

Results?

[nevetsllim]

What was it? Too cold? Too much snow?

He said he hadn't trained since he arrived in Edinburgh because of the snow and ice.

And Barrios, who was just a few seconds behind, had it much worse. He had his flight cancelled from Heathrow yesterday so he had to take a train from King's Cross to Newcastle, then a bus from Newcastle to Edinburgh, and arrived at 3am this morning.

[nevetsllim]

Results?

Full results won't be released for a while.

4km
Stevenson - Vernon - Farah

Women's
Dibaba - Cheruiyot - Gezahagne - H. Yelling - Twell/Chemos

Men's
Ebuya - Mbishei - Kipchoge - Bekele - Barrios

[IanS_Liv]

That was a pretty good win by Rick Stevenson in the 4km btw. As for Farah, whenever an athlete of his calibre fades like that, a virus is usually given as the answer in the end.

It was interesting to watch KB. He was still very smooth, he was fine with the conditions, he just didn't have it when Ebuya and the other fella started to press on with 2 laps to go. The excuses weren't hugely convincing, although I'm glad others have posted them as I couldn't quite understand what he was saying through the duvet I had wrapped round me lol.

[joeltetreault]

apparently he's going for the 3k WR this summer

er good luck with that

But it's January, there is still a long way to go. And keep in mind that this was a guy who opened his 2006 season with a 4:01 Mile at Millrose then a few months later won the short and long XC Champs in Fukuoka two weeks after destroying the field in the 3000m World Indoor Champs in Moscow. And in early 2005 his wife passed away but he bounced back that summer with a WR in the 10000m and a 12:40 5000m...

There was a recent interview with him on the BBC, evidently all of his PRs are off of 5000/10000m training, if he switches to a more speed focus, he may have a legit shot at the 3000m WR...or at least ElG's 7:23 mark.

[mump boy]

apparently he's going for the 3k WR this summer

er good luck with that

But it's January, there is still a long way to go. And keep in mind that this was a guy who opened his 2006 season with a 4:01 Mile at Millrose then a few months later won the short and long XC Champs in Fukuoka two weeks after destroying the field in the 3000m World Indoor Champs in Moscow. And in early 2005 his wife passed away but he bounced back that summer with a WR in the 10000m and a 12:40 5000m...

There was a recent interview with him on the BBC, evidently all of his PRs are off of 5000/10000m training, if he switches to a more speed focus, he may have a legit shot at the 3000m WR...or at least ElG's 7:23 mark.

i didn't mean because he' not in good shape right now, just that Daniel Komens 7.20 is one of the best records in the books and i think it unlikely that a 10k specialist can move down to 3k and beat that record at this stage in his career

he has a 1500 and 3k pb's of 3:32.35/ 7:25.79 from 2007 i don't see his speed improving that much but we'll wait and see nothing would suprise me

[joeltetreault]

i didn't mean because he' not in good shape right now, just that Daniel Komens 7.20 is one of the best records in the books and i think it unlikely that a 10k specialist can move down to 3k and beat that record at this stage in his career

he has a 1500 and 3k pb's of 3:32.35/ 7:25.79 from 2007 i don't see his speed improving that much but we'll wait and see nothing would suprise me

Ah ok, yeah I agree with you, it will be tough. Though I will give him a little wiggle room given how good he looked in his 3k in Paris last year against Lagat, and that was off of 10k/5k training. Most likely he will run 7:23-7:24..one also needs to get solid rabbits for this task...