Londoners love their distance and mid-distance races, and so do I. Without further ado:Women's 5000m:
Before this race, I really thought Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot's ability to control the pace at the front and then run a 58-60 second last lap even off a quick pace was truly unbeatable. How foolishly I forgot that for years there's been someone doing that exact thing with similarly impressive results. The "Baby-faced Destroyer", Tirunesh Dibaba, made a triumphant return to the European circuit with a dominating 5000m win in 14:38.17(she ran 14:30s in Eugene for an easy victory a while back). The race alternated between 2:54 and 2:58 kilometers before Cheruiyot hit the front and began what she likely thought was her winning move. Defar lurked on her shoulder and passed by with 550 meters to go. From there, she slowly unleashed her unrivaled kick that has been the trademark of her global championships at the 5000m distance.
Race Dynamics: This race had a large feeling-out process that I thought was quite unique. With Ejigu, Dibaba, and Cheruiyot by a considerable margin the three best in the field, the fast-starting pacemaker's intent to chase a world-record was seamlessly ignored. In addition, runs at the front by Sally Kipyego and Molly Huddle were not closely covered by the trio as they simply worried about their own position vis a vis eachother. Dibaba in what is a novel strategy for her was especially patient and passive running as far back as eight or ninth. She simply covered and closely followed anything this year's event leader, Cheruiyot, did. The race really began in earnest as Cheruiyot made her move to the front awakening Ejigu and Dibaba and springing them to action.
What were they thinking?: This goes to Vivian Cheruiyot who had a momentary brain lapse at a critical time of the race. At 550 meters to go, Cheruiyot allowed Dibaba to go by her with little response. This would have been OK, but her passiveness and decreased tempo allowed Ejigu to swing by and take her spot on Dibaba's shoulder. Worse, Ejigu angled in to block an inside pass for Cheruiyot. Linet Masai swooped in on Cheruiyot's outside, too, and suddenly all ways to the front were blocked. Cheruiyot ended out having to slow down to get behind Masai, and sprint around her and Ejigu to get on the shoulder of Dibaba. All in all, a very costly and inefficient move at a point when she needed all of her energy to deal with an on-form Dibaba. Could she have won without this error? I'm not sure- Dibaba looked awfully strong, but either way Cheruiyot will have to be a little bit more careful and aware of her surroundings when facing an opponent willing to challenge her and overtake her for the lead before the bell.
Men's 800m:
In a near "re-do" of last week's botched Stockholm race, Abubaber Kaki won as expected, but did not look dominant in beating emerging American middle distance star, Andrew Wheating. Kaki looked far from the force that he has occasionally been in his young career, but had just enough strength to hold onto his victory at the line.
Athletes and Storylines that may Interest only me:
1. Pacemaker, Khadevis Robinson, had a chance to redeem himself after the debacle last week in Stockholm. To his credit, Robinson did a great job this time running a fast first 200 and 400 24/49.24. In somewhat dramatic fashion, he erased all doubt that he would impede on any of the runners by staying in lane 1 for too long. About halfway into the turn after the bell, Robinson was already angling out into lane 2. He stopped the clock at 1:16.47, and despite having slowed down somewhat he still had a nice cushion on the field.
2. After last week's confusing showing, in which he gave Robinson tons of room despite a modest pace, World #2 Abubaber Kaki seemed much more intent on going out with the pace. However, Robinson went out hard and Kaki was already visibly straining only 150 meters into the race. From 200 meters on, Kaki's head was bobbing and he did not look comfortable. He let the foot off the gas pedal at 400 meters, and there was some bunching and jostling right on his shoulder in reaction. He seemed to picked it up a bit on the back stretch to get a little breathing room and again on the home stretch where he was able to hold on. The race looked anything but easy for him, and it seems he is a ways off his 1:42 form from early on in the season.
3. Last week I praised Andrew Wheating for asserting himself at the front of the race, and breaking from his run-from-the-back strategy. This week, he did the same and ran with the leaders after a dawdling first 200, and even held second and third for much of the second lap. Unfortunately, his early positioning at the back for the first 200 meters left him running in lane 2 for nearly every turn. It's hard for me to criticize Wheating too heavily for this because the first 200 was in around 24 seconds, and no doubt that type of pace might negatively impact his race (he may really have to sprint to run it). Still, the cost-benefit analysis of a reasonable first 200 meters has to include all of the maneuvering in lane 2 that adds critical extra distance.
4. Crowd favorite, Michael Rimmer, was unable to repeat the success of the past couple weeks and simply did not have the legs at the end of the race. The man who put him into second, Marcin Lewandowski simply did not race.
5. Wheating's biggest enemy during the race was probably Abraham Kiplagat who continually made life a little more difficult for him by pushing him out wide and surging to maintain second place only to fade badly in the final stretch.
6. Nick Symmond's race plan seemed to be very much on the lines of "Follow Wheating at all costs". He closely tracked him all race, and finished a solid 3'rd as his kick expired about 50 meters from the line.
7. Kudos to the race director who decided to put the 6'5'' Wheating next to the 5'7''ish Alfred Kirwa Yego. It was quite the sight!
Women's 800m:
With a dominant last 200m Mariya Savinova established herself as the best female 800m runner in the world. With no pacemaker, frontrunner and world leader Alysia Johnson took on the pace and set a quick one hitting 57.24 for the first 400 meters. Perched on her shoulder, were Savinova, who in a savvy move ran in the middle of lane 1 to assure herself of not getting boxed. With 200 meters to go, she began her move to get even with Johnson and take the position next to her to open the last 120 meters. At that point, Savinova sling-shotted the turn, willingly taking on extra distance. Her move closed the book on the race and she romped home to victory the last 80 meters, as Johnson faltered badly.
Athletes and Storylines that may Interest Only Me:
1. I wrote this on the rail-thin Janeth Jepkosgei in my preview of this race:
"Jepkosgei is an aggressive runner, but she is also very thin and vulnerable to the physicality that can take place in the two-lap race. If she can avoid some of the elbows and shoves and execute her race, there are few who can match her speed and endurance. However, a crowded twelve women field makes this anything but a given. Watch her ease in navigating to the front and running in the pack to see what type of race she's in for."
- It turned out to ring true as Jepkosgei got passed early on by Savinova and failed to established a good spot for her amongst the other runner. She ended out running critical extra distance throughout the race as compared to Savinova who had a very clean run. In an 800m, positioning is crucial and Jepkosgei must become a master of it or abandon caution at the beginning of races, if she is to beat Savinova, Johnson, and her other competition.
2. Training partners Morgan Uceny and Anna Pierce began in the same lane, and did end out cooperating relatively well even as they ran close together. Pierce was overtaken by Uceny by the end after assuming the early leading duties as Uceny ran just behind her.
3. If you watched the 400m-600m section of the race of Maggie Vessey you knew immediately it was not going to be her day. Vessey was not picking up distance on anyone and finished way out of contention.
Men's Mile:
Kenyan Augustine Choge held off Mekonnen Gebrehmedin with a solid last 200 meters en route to a reasonably fast 3:50 victory. The man closing the fastest at the end of the race was American Leonel Manzano who for most of the race languished far off the pace.
Athletes and Storylines that may Interest Only Me:
1. I was confounded as were the announcers by the early gaps in the field in spite of a reasonable and even pace. In the second lap, Augustine Choge had built up about a 5 meter gap even tough he was going to come through in only around 1:55 for the 800. My conclusion is that some combination of Choge's reputation for going out ambitiously along with some unfamiliarity with the mile distance led to it. Still, it was weird to see Gregson and Kiplagat so far back from a moderate pace.
2. Young guns Silas Kiplagat and Ryan Gregson finished side by side some 2 seconds adrift from Choge as they struggled to bridge the gap that they allowed to build. Both had decent finishes the last 100 meters, but it was surprising that they weren't up there with the protagonists and instead we're battling with the minor characters of the race.
3. 3:29 man Amine Laalou made a late bid for the win, but simply ran out of gas towards the fininsh as Choge and Gebremehdin held on strong.
4. American Leonel Manzano dug himself a big hole, but kicked ferociously with a split of 26 seconds for the last 200 to run a monster PB of 3:50. True, the mark roughly equals his 1500 one, but the longer race probably hinders a speed 1500 runner like Manzano. I would have liked to see Manzano a little further up considering the pace was not too fast, but his tactics were understandable amongst a host of runners with faster PB's, and in a distance he'd never race well in as a pro.
5. Lastly, I have to give credit to Augustine Choge for running a smart race in which he ran aggressively, but marshalled his energy well. I'm still not sold on him or his kick because his finish here displayed more strength than the speed he'll need an unpaced final. Still, a nice win for a consistent and extremely strong runner.
Women's 1500m:
This one set up perfectly for kicker extraordinare Nancy Langat (or is it Lagat?). With no pacemakers, the pace was tremendously slow and the leaders really did not matter. The pace was so slow in fact that a bunch of athletes including Langat, Lisa Dobriskey, and Maryam Yusuf Jamal voluntarily ran in lane 2 to avoid being boxed. There was a subtle boost in pace the second lap and all of the principal contenders found their way to the front. At 400 to go, Anna Ivanovic continued her custom of seizing the lead and finished off a sub 63-circuit from 800 meters to 1200 meters. Langat seized control at 200 meters to go, and calmly eased by unleashing her finishing move. She triumphed easily over Ivanovic who was able to hold off a surging Dobriskey.
Athletes and Storylines that may Interest Only me:
1. Track Drama Update: John Cook reject, Erin Donohue, outkicked John Cook's preferred athlete, Shannon Rowbury, in the final stride to run a strong 4'th place. Donohue looked very good the last half of the race, even after digging herself into a considerable hold with some lax running in the first half of the race.
2. Anna Alminova continued (in modified form) her front-running ways as she grabbed a slow, tactical race by the scruff of the neck and tried to win with a long kick. Unfortunately, Nancy Langat was throughly unfazed and crushed her in the last 150 meters.
3. As predicted, American Christin Wurth-Thomas was a tad more aggressive this week as she was in the top 3 in the early-going of the race. However, once the real running began she was nowhere to be seen and she finished a ways back from her compatriots, Rowbury and Donohue. Hopefully, she can recover her form before the season ends. If not, she still ran a very strong 3:59 PB and if she can figure a way to harness a kick, she can be a contender.
4. Maryam Yusuf Jamal's struggles in the 1500 continued as she finished way back in the race. It's hard to put a finger on what's going wrong for her this season, as she's run a solid 3000 and there are no injuries as far as I know.
What were they thinking?: To Shannon Rowbury, who made a subtle step to the outside with about 75 meters to go. Unfortunately, the move backfired as it gave Lisa Dobriskey, who was running behind Rowbury on the rail, a ton of room to make an inside pass. Additionally, the move barely affected the trailing Erin Donohue as she barely had to move outside to get around Rowbury and beat her to the tape as well. Rowbury pretty much ran out of steam, anyway, but if she'd had something left she would have been better served either moving out further to more thoroughly block Donohue or staying put to keep Dobriskey boxed. I'm also unfairly not really factoring in the fact that she does not have eyes in the back of her head.
Blurbs
Men's 3000mST: I'll do a much better write-up/comment on this when I preview the ridiculously stacked steeple this Thursday, but Paul Kipsiele Koech took a slow, unpaced race and blew it open with a huge move at about 1000 meters to go. Koech almost literally started sprinting. The move disintegrated the field. World leader and former Olympic and World Champion, Brimin Kipruto, struggled with his hurdling thereafter(especially on the water jumps), and no doubt running a near-suicidal pace over the barriers was difficult. A late addition to the field- Ezekiel Kemboi, the 2009 World Champion, made this race a 3 man battle, but he didn't have the strength to deal with Koech's accelaration either.
Women's 3000mST: Milca Chemos Cheywa avenged her loss in Stockholm to Yuliya Zarudneva with a narrow victory over her.
Men's 3000m: There would be a lot more on this, were there any stinkin' video! From what I gather, the pacing was a little slow and no one really stepped up to make a long drive the last 1000m. My expected man for the job, Mo Farah, was content with a kicking battle against Bernard Lagat and predictably fell short. Mark Kiptoo struggled to stay with the two of them, and finished third. American Galen Rupp set an outdoor PB, but finished behind the leader at the bell, Australian Collis Birmingham.
That's all for now, stay tuned for a preview of Thursday's Diamond League Meet tomorrow, and a cooldown wrap of the meet and an off-beat feature later in the week. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment on any/everything!
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