Althouse: "The 33-year-old Kipchoge, who is 5 foot 6 and weighs 115 pounds, had run 26 straight, blazingly fast, 4-minute and 38-second miles."

"I’ve always said of world-class marathon times like this that if I didn’t know it could be done, I wouldn’t believe it was possible to run that fast for that long. 'It was a performance so far superior to anything we’ve seen before that comparing it to another marathon feels inadequate,' the running-news website LetsRun.com said of Kipchoge’s new record. 'This was Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in basketball, Usain Bolt’s 9.58 in the 100-meter dash.... Kipchoge’s run was so remarkable it’s hard to give it its proper due... In today’s age of hyperbole, this run deserves every accolade said about it. The lower the world record gets, the harder it is to be broken, and the less it should be broken by. Yet Eliud Kipchoge just broke the world record by more than any man in the last 41 years, and he ran the last 10 miles by himself.'... If I didn’t know that Kipchoge had run a marathon in 2:01:39, I wouldn’t believe it was possible. But now that I know he’s done it, I believe I’ll still be running marathons when someone—possibly Kipchoge himself—runs 26.2 miles in less than two hours."

Writes Vernon Loeb in The Atlantic.

23 comments:

Birches said...: He can run a mile faster than I can run a half a mile. I'd kill for a four hour marathon time. Wow.; 9/20/18, 5:05 PM
WK said...: Last year he ran 2:00:25. Two hours and 25 seconds in the Nike Breaking2 initiative. They had a pace car with laser tracking for the runners. Multiple teams of fresh runners to set the pace and shield the race runners from wind. Looked like he could break 2 hours in that race. Huge achievement to drop the record so far under normal race conditions. Nike race was Not a true race but an attempt to see what was humanly possible. 2 hours will fall someday.; 9/20/18, 5:13 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: He ran those 26 miles faster than I could bicycle them. And only 4 seconds per mile are needed to break the 2 hour mark.; 9/20/18, 5:14 PM
rhhardin said...: Agent 99 in sweats collides with Max, both fall to sidewalk

Max - Sorry.
99: That was my last mile. I have no idea how fast it was.
Max: You were moving. It's not easy to knock me down. I have a low center of gravity. Pretty solid.
99: (looks at watch) I'm just gonna call that one a 4:50.
Max: Impressive. I once ran a 5:16.
99: Oh, really? That's, uh, slower.
Max: Not everything's a competition.
99: Well, if it were, I'd win.

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=get-smart; 9/20/18, 5:17 PM
Jim at said...: Geez. My best mile time was 4:36.8. And this guy ....; 9/20/18, 5:22 PM
rhhardin said...: Actually Max is wrong. It's easier to knock down somebody with a low center of gravity than with a high center of gravity.; 9/20/18, 5:28 PM
bagoh20 said...: He doesn't even have long legs. It's like a chihuahua winning a greyhound race.; 9/20/18, 5:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: The real question is: what is he running from?; 9/20/18, 5:44 PM
rehajm said...: This was Wilt Chamberlain’s 20,000 women in the sack record.; 9/20/18, 6:49 PM
D 2 said...: Hey, you've dropped that one in here before, Mr rhdino! It's a A Hathaway movie, I think...
~
I walk quite a bit and don't mind the routine of that. Something to do with another as well. Most walk-mates say the pace is too fast, but an hour or 80 minutes, it isn't bad, (I think) and can clear the cobwebs. I don't understand the appeal of running for three hours though. Different end goal I suppose. I presume by somewhere in hour two the meaning of existence, or non-existence, is made clearer or something.; 9/20/18, 6:51 PM
eddie willers said...: So I'm glancing at the post headline and see "4 minute, 38 second" mile and I'm thinking, "That's no big deal".

Then I see that he did it 26 times in a row!; 9/20/18, 6:51 PM
Howard said...: Blogger rhhardin said...

Actually Max is wrong. It's easier to knock down somebody with a low center of gravity than with a high center of gravity.

Exactly. That's why every football coach tells their players to stay as high as possible to get superior leverage against the opponent. I'm pretty sure the same goes for rassling.; 9/20/18, 6:53 PM
rastajenk said...: Bob Beamon deserves a mention.; 9/20/18, 7:03 PM
Comanche Voter said...: So does Roger Bannister. Once you break a record,it is easier for others who follow. Kipchoge is a great runner--and he may break the 2 hour mark. The fact that he's shown it is possible will mean someone actually does it.; 9/20/18, 7:40 PM
traditionalguy said...: I am amazed. Is he a human?; 9/20/18, 8:13 PM
Rigelsen said...: Howard: Exactly. That's why every football coach tells their players to stay as high as possible to get superior leverage against the opponent. I'm pretty sure the same goes for rassling.

I’m guessing rhh accidentally reversed his batteries today.; 9/20/18, 9:30 PM
Yancey Ward said...: At my peak running ability, I could cover a mile in under 6 1/2 minutes. I could cover 6 of them in under 44 minutes on a flat course and in good temperature and humidity conditions. Running 26 miles at an average pace of Kipchoge is just so out of my experience, that I can't even imagine how it is possible- you really do have to be a runner yourself to really comprehend how impossible it sounds.; 9/21/18, 12:12 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "It was a performance so far superior to anything we’ve seen before that comparing it to another marathon feels inadequate...This was Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in basketball, Usain Bolt’s 9.58 in the 100-meter dash.... Kipchoge’s run was so remarkable it’s hard to give it its proper due... In today’s age of hyperbole, this run deserves every accolade said about it. The lower the world record gets, the harder it is to be broken, and the less it should be broken by. Yet Eliud Kipchoge just broke the world record by more than any man in the last 41 years, and he ran the last 10 miles by himself"

With only an 86 IQ, his accomplishments can only be compared - I'm assuming by a "white" person - to only other black people's, because,..."white" people are too smart to improve?; 9/21/18, 12:49 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: The Crack Emcee said...

With only an 86 IQ...

Why would you think he only has an 86 IQ?; 9/21/18, 7:19 AM
tim in vermont said...: Jeezum Crow, as we say in Vermont.; 9/21/18, 7:23 AM
sparrow said...: Amazing pace; 9/21/18, 7:29 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Wonder if he is somehow named after Kipchoge Keino - Jim Ryun's rival?; 9/21/18, 9:24 AM
gahrie said...: Why would you think he only has an 86 IQ?

Projection.; 9/21/18, 11:51 AM