IAAF World Half: Farah Takes On Rival Kamworor In Epic Clash
IAAF World Half: Farah Takes On Rival Kamworor In Epic Clash
Let’s be honest. The half marathon isn’t a distance we’re used to taking all that seriously. As a marathon forecaster it is often flawed, and more important
Let’s be honest. The half marathon isn’t a distance we’re used to taking all that seriously.
As a marathon forecaster it is often flawed, and more importantly, it’s not a race contested at the Olympic Games or the World Outdoor Championships. A title as the World’s greatest half marathoner generates much less than half the buzz (and $) of, say, a track or marathon equivalent.
But for the purposes of this weekend— the unofficial bridge between indoor and outdoor— I say we give the half marathon a fair shake. After all, the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships are this Saturday in Cardiff, Wales, and my goodness, talk about a lineup on the men’s side. We’ll tackle that side first, because I’m sure you’re at least partially here to read about Mo Farah.
A fun but mostly futile theme of the last five track seasons has been the potential (or lack thereof) for Mo Farah to lose at a major track championship. It only takes a Kenyan or an Ethiopian to run a really fast 5k, 10k, or just win a few big races and we tend to anoint them as a possible Farah slayer. OK SERIOUSLY THIS TIME! THIS IS THE GUY, we say.
And then Mo-Bot proceeds to crush “the guy” in the last 100m or 200m—his strength of strengths—because that’s where championships are won on the track and nobody can beat him there. Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor— whose resume includes such flashy titles as 2014 World Half champion and the 2015 World XC king— did an admirable job making last summer’s Beijing 10k interesting, but the Brit demolished him in the final straightaway.
Farah and his 3:28 1500m speed, not to mention his incredible gear-shifting ability, have proven too much for everyone in a championship race since he lost the 2011 World Championship 10k, where Farah hadn’t yet perfected being the best distance runner on Planet Earth. He was second there, but he’s won each of his global championship bouts since.
Farah and Kamworor speak after their duel in the Beijing 10K:
But a new championship— and a Beijing rematch with Kamworor (and another Kenyan, Bedan Karoki)— awaits Farah on Saturday in Wales. This time, though, we should take “the guy(s)” a little more seriously.
Why?
As good as Kamworor is on the track, his game elevates when not confined to the 400m oval. He’s only 23-years-old, but the Kenyan has already run six sub-60 half marathons (including a 58:54 PR) and three 2:06 marathons. One of those sub-60s was his title two years ago in this event, which preceded his World XC victory by a year.
Farah will encounter a stronger athlete here than the one he dusted in Beijing in Kamworor, and the same is true in Bedan Karoki, the World XC runner-up last go around. The 25-year-old Kenyan ran his 59:14 PR just a few weeks after finishing 4th in the World Champs 10k, and he’s shown great fitness to start 2016, including a 3:42/13:38 1500/5k double last week in Kenya at 6,000 ft. of elevation.
If picking between the two Kenyan heavy hitters, however, I’ll stick with Kamworor as the primary antagonist to Farah on Saturday. Kamworor has already beaten Karoki in 2016, defeated him at World XC and in Beijing last year, and most importantly, he’s the reigning champ.
My touting of Farah’s challengers shouldn’t distract too much from the simple fact that the 33-year-old Brit is the greatest 5k/10k runner in the world, and is himself a world class half marathoner. This is a championship after all, and Farah wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think he had a very good chance to win. His last 13.1 outing in September was a 59:22 PR that earned him an incredibly valuable scalp in Stanley Biwott, who would go on to defeat Kamworor less than two months later at the NYC Marathon.
Here's a dose of Mo Farah's track speed for all you doubters:
In case you were too sold on either of the Kenyans, this is the point where you return to Earth and realize this is Mo Farah we’re talking about. He’s reportedly been dealing with a sickness that has limited his buildup, and he’ll have to combat team tactics from the Kenyans that might make things tougher, but for me, picking against Farah in a championship race on UK soil would be foolish. Kamworor will not go down easily, but he has yet to prove that he can beat Farah, and with uncooperative weather making for tough conditions, I don’t think that changes tomorrow.
The Kenyan women swept the top five places at this event two years ago, and they could just as well do the same tomorrow if Ethiopian Genet Yalew is not quite on top of her game. Yalew is the only non-Kenyan in the field to have broken 67-minutes, and the defending team champs will bring a whopping four such ladies into Cardiff with a shellacking in store.
While Yalew’s 66:26 is actually second-fastest in the field, this race is likely to come down to a battle between Kenyans Cynthia Limo and Mary Wacera.
See, a little over a month ago, Limo won a crucial Cardiff tuneup at the RAK Half in a lightning quick 66:04, taking down 2014 World Half champ Gladys Cherono (who isn’t running tomorrow) as well as Yalew and two other Kenyans Peris Chepchirchir and Gladys Chesire. Limo beat those last three names by 22, 35, and 53 seconds, respectively, while running the sixth fastest half in history, and so she clearly has the upper hand over that trio in Saturday’s rematch.
Wacera, however, will be a much tougher out for Limo. Not only was she the silver medalist in this event two years ago, but most crucially, Wacera beat her Kenyan adversary in Houston on January 17th, 66:29 to 66:41. While Limo’s race for the record books was certainly impressive, she has only beaten Wacera once in four career match-ups.
Given how historically fast the RAK Half course has been, I’m more inclined to favor Wacera’s experience and her success over Limo rather than putting too much weight into one result.
Complete fields below:
The women's race begins tomorrow morning at 8:35am CT, with the men starting shortly after at 9:10am CT.
As a marathon forecaster it is often flawed, and more importantly, it’s not a race contested at the Olympic Games or the World Outdoor Championships. A title as the World’s greatest half marathoner generates much less than half the buzz (and $) of, say, a track or marathon equivalent.
But for the purposes of this weekend— the unofficial bridge between indoor and outdoor— I say we give the half marathon a fair shake. After all, the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships are this Saturday in Cardiff, Wales, and my goodness, talk about a lineup on the men’s side. We’ll tackle that side first, because I’m sure you’re at least partially here to read about Mo Farah.
Mo Farah Into The Snake Pit Against Rival/Defending Champ Geoffrey Kamworor
A fun but mostly futile theme of the last five track seasons has been the potential (or lack thereof) for Mo Farah to lose at a major track championship. It only takes a Kenyan or an Ethiopian to run a really fast 5k, 10k, or just win a few big races and we tend to anoint them as a possible Farah slayer. OK SERIOUSLY THIS TIME! THIS IS THE GUY, we say.
And then Mo-Bot proceeds to crush “the guy” in the last 100m or 200m—his strength of strengths—because that’s where championships are won on the track and nobody can beat him there. Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor— whose resume includes such flashy titles as 2014 World Half champion and the 2015 World XC king— did an admirable job making last summer’s Beijing 10k interesting, but the Brit demolished him in the final straightaway.
Farah and his 3:28 1500m speed, not to mention his incredible gear-shifting ability, have proven too much for everyone in a championship race since he lost the 2011 World Championship 10k, where Farah hadn’t yet perfected being the best distance runner on Planet Earth. He was second there, but he’s won each of his global championship bouts since.
Farah and Kamworor speak after their duel in the Beijing 10K:
But a new championship— and a Beijing rematch with Kamworor (and another Kenyan, Bedan Karoki)— awaits Farah on Saturday in Wales. This time, though, we should take “the guy(s)” a little more seriously.
Why?
As good as Kamworor is on the track, his game elevates when not confined to the 400m oval. He’s only 23-years-old, but the Kenyan has already run six sub-60 half marathons (including a 58:54 PR) and three 2:06 marathons. One of those sub-60s was his title two years ago in this event, which preceded his World XC victory by a year.
Farah will encounter a stronger athlete here than the one he dusted in Beijing in Kamworor, and the same is true in Bedan Karoki, the World XC runner-up last go around. The 25-year-old Kenyan ran his 59:14 PR just a few weeks after finishing 4th in the World Champs 10k, and he’s shown great fitness to start 2016, including a 3:42/13:38 1500/5k double last week in Kenya at 6,000 ft. of elevation.
If picking between the two Kenyan heavy hitters, however, I’ll stick with Kamworor as the primary antagonist to Farah on Saturday. Kamworor has already beaten Karoki in 2016, defeated him at World XC and in Beijing last year, and most importantly, he’s the reigning champ.
My touting of Farah’s challengers shouldn’t distract too much from the simple fact that the 33-year-old Brit is the greatest 5k/10k runner in the world, and is himself a world class half marathoner. This is a championship after all, and Farah wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think he had a very good chance to win. His last 13.1 outing in September was a 59:22 PR that earned him an incredibly valuable scalp in Stanley Biwott, who would go on to defeat Kamworor less than two months later at the NYC Marathon.
Here's a dose of Mo Farah's track speed for all you doubters:
In case you were too sold on either of the Kenyans, this is the point where you return to Earth and realize this is Mo Farah we’re talking about. He’s reportedly been dealing with a sickness that has limited his buildup, and he’ll have to combat team tactics from the Kenyans that might make things tougher, but for me, picking against Farah in a championship race on UK soil would be foolish. Kamworor will not go down easily, but he has yet to prove that he can beat Farah, and with uncooperative weather making for tough conditions, I don’t think that changes tomorrow.
The Kenyan Women Will Dominate Again, But Who Will Win?
The Kenyan women swept the top five places at this event two years ago, and they could just as well do the same tomorrow if Ethiopian Genet Yalew is not quite on top of her game. Yalew is the only non-Kenyan in the field to have broken 67-minutes, and the defending team champs will bring a whopping four such ladies into Cardiff with a shellacking in store.
While Yalew’s 66:26 is actually second-fastest in the field, this race is likely to come down to a battle between Kenyans Cynthia Limo and Mary Wacera.
See, a little over a month ago, Limo won a crucial Cardiff tuneup at the RAK Half in a lightning quick 66:04, taking down 2014 World Half champ Gladys Cherono (who isn’t running tomorrow) as well as Yalew and two other Kenyans Peris Chepchirchir and Gladys Chesire. Limo beat those last three names by 22, 35, and 53 seconds, respectively, while running the sixth fastest half in history, and so she clearly has the upper hand over that trio in Saturday’s rematch.
Wacera, however, will be a much tougher out for Limo. Not only was she the silver medalist in this event two years ago, but most crucially, Wacera beat her Kenyan adversary in Houston on January 17th, 66:29 to 66:41. While Limo’s race for the record books was certainly impressive, she has only beaten Wacera once in four career match-ups.
Given how historically fast the RAK Half course has been, I’m more inclined to favor Wacera’s experience and her success over Limo rather than putting too much weight into one result.
Complete fields below:
The women's race begins tomorrow morning at 8:35am CT, with the men starting shortly after at 9:10am CT.