2014 London Marathon Men's Race - Post Race Writeup

London Marathon - The Men's Race
by MarathonGuide.com

Always Seeking a World Record!?!

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

We know that the London Marathon organizers rightly consider their marathon one of the fastest in the world and bring together runners and pacemakers to prove that each year. Since Khalid Khannouchi set the world record on the course in 2002 (2:05:38) the course record at London had dropped three times (2008,2009,2011) -- but at 2:04:40, London's current course record was eclipsed by times at a number of other marathons and was more than a minute off the world's best. With that desire to be atop the world stage, seemingly limitless funds and that history, we can recognize that London's men's field is created in the hope, each year, of challenging the world record.

The Field
The 2014 field included the world record holder, Wilson Kipsang (2:03:23); Geoffrey Mutai, the man who had run the fastest marathon ever (2:03:02 at the Boston Marathon which, which a net dowhill course, is ineligible for records); and Emmanuel Mutai, the existing course record holder (2:04:40 in 2011) and 2013 runner-up, who ran the fourth fastest marathon ever at the Chicago Marathon six months earlier (2:03:52). Also in the field was the defending champion Tsegaye Kebede (2:04:38 PR), who is always a tough competitor. In addition to these speedsters were other talented men...the supporting cast: Ayele Abshero, Feyisa Lilessa and Stanley Biwott - three men with personal bests of 2:05:12 or better. Rounding out the top field was Stephen Kiprotich - who with a PR of 2:07:20 was the slowest of this crew, but he was the reigning Olympic Champion and deserved his spot in the field.

In fact, the 2014 field looked very similar to the 2013 field - with the top six and seven of the top ten finishers from the 2013 race returning to London. But this race would be a bit different. In 2013, the field and pacemakers started at breakneck speed and in all of the early miles well ahead of world record pace - with eight men passing the halfway mark in 1:01:34 (wow!). That pace proved too tough and all slowed greatly and the race was won by Kebede - who dropped off the leaders at 25K to conserve energy and finish in 2:06:04. That made 1:01:34 for the first half and 1:04:30 for the second half for the winner...not what the race organizers had hoped.

A Different Race Than The Year Before
For 2014, with nearly the same field as 2013, the race took an opposite tack and the lead pack (again of 8 men) crossed the halfway mark in 1:02:30 nearly a minute slower than the year before. With that start, a world record was nearly out of reach, but the top runners were able to run a negative split and set a new course record.

Of the eight men at the halfway mark, Emmanuel Mutai and Feyisa Lilesa were the first two to fall back. From the remainder, Wilson Kipsang and Stanley Biwott pushed the pace and ran away from the others by mile 20 and then continued strong to the finish in 2:04:29 and 2:04:55 respectively. Tsegaye Kebede - as tough as he always is - worked hard to run alone in third place and then, although slowing, held on to take third place in 2:06:30 barely able to hold off a surging Ayele Abhero who finished just behind in 2:06:31. Both were more than 1-1/2 minutes ahead of the next finishers.

Mo Farah - the Other Story

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

After taking both the 10000m and 5000m Gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics, Mo Farah was a national hero in a country with a dearth of great runners in recent years. Farah made his much anticipated marthon debut at London - and some (including Farah) were expecting him to set one or another record: the 2:06:36 European marathon record (Antonio Pinto, 2000), the UK marathon record of 2:07:13 (Steve Jones, 1985) or at least the best time for a Brit at London of 2:08:16 (Steve Jones, 1985). Farah smartly did not go out with the lead pack, but ran in a second group and went through the halfway point in 1:03:08 - well ahead of the pace for any of his goals. At the end, however, the marathon took its toll and Farah slowed to finish in eighth place in 2:08:21. Post-race, Farah said he was disappointed, but looked forward to his next go at the marathon.