At the Tokyo Marathon, Kipchoge lost the race again, which became a hot topic after the race. Looking at the relevant reports in Kenya, some English** forums, and some event analysis**, there is a point that has been widely disseminated.
Kipchoge fell out of the first group early in the Tokyo Marathon, which is unprecedented in his 20 official races, what is the reason for this?
Speaking at the Elite Meet & Greet before the match, Kipchoge said he had prepared very well and that it would be a good match. The temperature at the start of the race day was around 7 degrees Celsius, and there was basically no wind, which was also an ideal weather. Kipchoge has run once in East Malaysia, and his 202 result proves that East Malaysia is also a fast track. These conditions prove that this year's competition is the right time for Kipchoge.
Before the technical meeting, the organizing committee also informed the elite players of the pace target this time, and the rabbits of the first group will lead according to the pace of 2:52-2:54, and the expected finishing time is between 2:00:58-2:02:22, a very fast speed.
After the start, the first group quickly diverged, and the three rabbits quickly ran to the front with the masters within 204.
According to the information provided in the live broadcast screen, the first group was led by three rabbits, and the first 5K time was 14 minutes and 16 seconds, and the pace was just stuck within 2 minutes and 52 seconds.
The second 5K took 14 minutes and 14 seconds, and the 10K time was 28 minutes and 30 seconds, which is an average pace of 2 minutes and 51 seconds, which is close to Kipchoge's speed when he broke the 2 challenges, and the estimated finish time is 2 hours, 0 minutes and 19 seconds.
At foreign forums, some people believe that this pace is too fast in the starting stage, which is the main reason for Kipchoge's collapse. Anyone who has ever run a marathon knows that the start of the race is the toughest time, and to get into the best condition, it's usually not too fast in the first few kilometers. This time, the rabbit was indeed a little fast, and the pace1 runner crashed and retired at 16km.
Last year's Chicago Marathon, Kiptum broke the world record time in the first leg of the 5km in 14 minutes 26 seconds, 10km in 28 minutes 42 seconds, 15km in 43 minutes 36 seconds, and half time in 60 minutes 48 seconds, and each section of the Tokyo Marathon was faster than that.
At the 19km mark, Kipchoge began to lose speed, and when the Pace2 rider saw it, he continued to break the wind, but he held on for a while and left, and it didn't take long for him to quit the race, and the Pace1 and Pace2 runners were all teammates of Kipchoge's NN running team, and this time it was mainly to give him a lead.
At Kipchoge's peak, he basically blew the rabbit up, and the biggest obstacle to his record-breaking at that time was that there was no suitable leader. In fact, Kipchoge broke the world record twice, and ran a very fast first half, especially the time at 2:01:09, which was a complete ride.
According to relevant reports at the time, the 2022 Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge 5K took 14 minutes and 14 seconds, 10K took 28 minutes and 23 seconds, 15K took 42 minutes and 33 seconds, and the half time was 59 minutes and 51 seconds, each section was much faster than this time in Tokyo, especially the half half was less than 60 minutes, which was the fastest first half record in history.
It's faster than Tokyo, Kipchoge can hold it, why can't it this time? Obviously, as he gets older, his physical function declines, and his current physical condition is no longer enough to support him to run so fast, if he has to go to the top, even if he does not collapse at 20k, the same situation will occur after 30k.
What's more, the opponents he faced in the Tokyo Marathon were so formidable that Kipruto had beaten him twice before, and this time he became the fifth man in history. In the 20 official races in which Kipchoge has competed, only three opponents have scored 203 in the same race, and Kipruto's 2:02:16 is the fastest one, which is a difficult time to beat.
Kipchoge did not serve old age, he still wanted to challenge the limit, but the years were unforgiving. If the speed of the Tokyo Marathon was not so fast after the start of the marathon, maybe he could still hand in a good answer. Just like the 40-year-old Bekele, who ran at his own pace at the Valencia Marathon last year, he did not rush to follow the first group for a long time, and finally broke the world record in the over-40 age group with a time of 2:04:19.
Kipchoge's ultimate goal is to win three consecutive Olympic marathon titles, and although the pace is decreasing, he is the best at battling the heat, and the Paris Marathon is also held in hot weather, Kipchoge is still looking forward to it.