How happy or sad should we be for Yomif Kejelcha, the man who broke the 2 hour barrier at the London Marathon, but only came second?

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ReceptionNo4565@reddit

It’s mind boggling how any of the top 3 managed to do what they did. I was watching it with my mum and was genuinely convinced they weren’t going to manage it. I do feel bad that the BBC had to capture him vomiting… no one wants to see that.

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Candid-Engineer-6926@reddit

Someone did under 2 hours in a basically shoe trial already but that wasn’t officially timed. Nike worked for years on breaking this barrier

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AK18242816@reddit

Why not? Let the people see what it takes to do that. For me it makes me like him even more.

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ReceptionNo4565@reddit

Give the guy some privacy. He’s just ran the race of his life, come in under 2hrs, he’s not necessarily going to be in control of his bodily functions. I wouldn’t want a camera capturing me vomiting if I was in that situation.

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AK18242816@reddit

Its not like camera zoomed on him. The camera man was just trying to film him congratulating sawe

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TSC-99@reddit

You should see how many people shit themselves and throw up in a marathon. It’s absolutely brutal that distance.

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extraspicyteen@reddit

mixed feelings, but still impressive

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qualityvote2@reddit

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Difficult-Roll-350@reddit

for sure feels like a vibe here, keep it up fam

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BrickAskew@reddit

So was he the second man to break the 2 hour barrier? Who was the first?

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Jazzlike-Basil1355@reddit (OP)

Race was won by a man named Sawe. He broke two hours and set the record, the man in second place also broke two hours but the winner had set the new records seconds before

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BrickAskew@reddit

Ouch. Came second twice in one go.

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Tumtitums@reddit

Oh forgot about him but I feel this is an important life lesson ie noone remembers the loosers no matter how well you do

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JohnCasey3306@reddit

Not very. He only broke the 2 hour mark because the guy in front did -- it's a pace thing.

Absent the new record-breaking winner in front of him, that guy would not have run a sub 2 hour marathon.

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andyh2003@reddit

Agree and disagree...

Sawe would have helped, but he still needed to be able to actually run the pace required for the time required.

For example, I can run the distance, but if you put me behind Sawe.. I'm not getting close to sub 2 😂

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cutluv@reddit

Kudos - I'm super-pleased for him - I'd think twice about running for the bus, let alone twenty-six miles.

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WetCuteObsession@reddit

mixed feelings for sure

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Sensitive-Praline601@reddit

Wait, if he came second wasn't it beaten already?

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

Not officially, yet

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Sensitive-Praline601@reddit

So how has he come 2nd when the 1st place wasn't official?

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

He was unofficially in 2nd at that point. It wasn't official until 1st place was official.

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Sensitive-Praline601@reddit

Errrrrr.... I'll take your word for it bro.

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

Not sure why the downvotes... that is literally how it works. It is not a new record until the race results are certified.

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Sensitive-Praline601@reddit

I threw you some upvotes just for enlightening me lad

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

My apologies for thinking that it was you doing the downvoting. /g

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Sensitive-Praline601@reddit

Nah man I knew you knew what you meant it was this end not getting it

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Alarming-Produce4541@reddit

How do you break a record and come in second? I read an article but still dont understand. I'm daft.

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No-Willingness-4097@reddit

He broke the old record, but the guy ahead of him had just set a new one.

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SeoulGalmegi@reddit

I mean.... that's sport? I don't get what's so unlucky/unfortunate/whatever about this?

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smcl2k@reddit

The 2-hour barrier had only been broken once before, and that was under conditions engineered to be so favourable that the record was never officially recognised.

It's incredibly unlucky to achieve that feat in the same race that someone else did it ever so slightly more quickly.

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SeoulGalmegi@reddit

haha ~ fair enough.

So is there no reason why it happened twice on the same day? Were conditions then particularly favorable or anything?

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

One factor is that shoe companies have debuted new technology that provides better energy recovery. This helped Kipchoge go sub-two before London (but not under race conditions, so it didn't count as a world record.)

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SeoulGalmegi@reddit

Thanks! So how does 'energy recovery' work? All I can think of is bouncer shoes or something, but I imagine it's a little more than that haha

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

That's pretty close to as much as I understand about it! I assume a lot of research went into putting the bounce in the right places and hitting the optimum bounce/weight tradeoff.

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SeoulGalmegi@reddit

Ah, yeah? Makes sense I guess, not else a shoe can do unless you go full Inspector Gadget/Rick Sanchez, which might well be against the rules!

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

OK, now I want Inspector Gadget shoes!

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SeoulGalmegi@reddit

Let's got for the 20-minute marathon!

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

Go-go Gadget rocket shoes!

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smcl2k@reddit

I may be misremembering, but I'm fairly certain that Kipchoge was also using an illegal race shoe.

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

I thought he was using the same the technology that was being developed for actual races, a d that it was similar or same as what Sawe and Kejelcha had in London?

Now I gotta go do more research to see if I completely misunderstood!

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cinderubella@reddit

You're exaggerating how lucky it was to have happened twice in the same day, but they weren't independent events.

Both runners probably made each other run faster. Both runners were running in brand new shoe technology. London Marathon is one of the most famous events, which makes it an even better place to debut the shoes from the shoemakers perspective (and the athletes if they get a cut from Adidas based on performance). Conditions on the day were extremely favourable. London Marathon is seldom disputed as a marathon course (unlike say Boston a few weeks ago) which makes it good for a WR attempt.

It was no coincidence the precious record was broken three times in one day.

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Alarming-Produce4541@reddit

Cheers

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Kiss_It_Goodbyeee@reddit

First and second both broke the existing record. First broke it more than second.

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OutdoorApplause@reddit

And third.

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Kiss_It_Goodbyeee@reddit

Wow. Am sorry I missed it.

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Jazzlike-Basil1355@reddit (OP)

He broke a 2 hr milestone I suppose.

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EldritchSanta@reddit

The previous record was 2:00:35.

The first three runners to finish were faster than this (2 sub 2 hours, one just over 2 hours but under the previous record), but obviously only one of them gets the world record.

It's just a comment on how the other runners put in an incredible performance that would normally be both race winning and a new World Record, but that someone even faster beat them on the day.

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PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit

What about the guy who came 3rd? He also beat the previous world record.

But 2nd and 3rd, and perhaps 1st, likely wouldn't have made those times without the others,

Kejelcha would probably not have run a sub 2 hour marathon if he didn't have someone ahead of him running at that pace, likewise having someone on his heels also capable of sub 2 hours probably pushed Sawe harder

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

Sawe said as much

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/marathon-record-breaker-sawe-credits-second-place-finisher-kejelcha-after-smashing-2-hour-barrier/vi-AA21TBzE

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PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit

Ah! Nice, I like it when I'm not talking bollocks

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MikeyRidesABikey@reddit

Most definitely not bollocks! /g

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reader270@reddit

I’m quite excited for him. This was his first marathon so imagine what he might go on to do!

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Background-Shape-429@reddit

I don’t believe either of them were clean so I don’t care.

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TSC-99@reddit

They were though. Read the facts.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

The winner actually has gone through particular extra testing because he knows claims like this will arise.

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Blue1994a@reddit

I’d be quite pleased if I were him.

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Past-Obligation1930@reddit

Now I know marathon running only takes 2 hours, I might take it up.

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RenuisanceMan@reddit

It was his first marathon too. Currently the only marathon runner to have never run over 2 hours.

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bandlj@reddit

Love this!

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diabeticoats@reddit

As a Brit, this is a heroic near miss.

I suggest we offer him British nationality. Valid, up until he wins the race :)

Yes, all three of them completed their marathons in well under half the time I finished mine. I doff my metaphorical cap to them.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

People say they feel bad as he won't be remembered, but honestly I couldn't have told you the name of the previous record holder anyway. Under 2 hours is a special marker only because it happens to be a round figure, it will probably now get broken again as they are always knocking time off it and Sawe will be a footnote or a future pub quiz question and little else.

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Icy-Belt-8519@reddit

I'm definitely happy for him, but a bit gutted too, any other year that would have been a win and the record broken!

Amazing achievement either way! I hope he's happy!

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Pete_Iredale@reddit

It reminds me of Sammy Sosa breaking Roger Maris's MLB home run record three different times but not leading the league in home runs in any of those years because Mark McGuire (98,99) and Barry Bonds (2001) hit even more.

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caiaphas8@reddit

I’ve never read a comment and understand nothing quite like this

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AskDapper7360@reddit

Just been discussing this with my wife. Thinking it might be because his name is harder to pronounce than "Sebastian Sawe". I had to google him to remember what his name was. But definitely BOTH of them should be being interviewed for BOTH. Joseph Kiplimo also breaking the world record in 3rd place, but Kiplimo is pretty well established already, with the half marathon world record under his belt, so I imagine everyone is quietly recognising him. One cool thing about the London marathon was that all of the Big 3 running nations were represented on the podium: Kenya 1st, Ethiopia 2nd and Uganda 3rd.

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Peppl@reddit

its up to him, i dont care too much, but silver seems pretty good no?

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Any-Ask-4190@reddit

Absolute belter of a pub quiz question.

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notacanuckskibum@reddit

Only guy to average under 2 hours on all his competitive marathons

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fluffypuppycorn@reddit

Had the same conversation today. Bless him he was throwing up when he passed the finish line.

An absolutely incredible achievement and congratulations to both of them.

I understand why he is being overshadowed, but he should also be getting his moment.

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Lister_RD_169@reddit

I mean, he's still an elite among elites. He's entered an extremely exclusive club of sub two hour marathons.

He might not have won but he's still in the books. He's still done something phenomenal.

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MJLDat@reddit

Oh, that’s his name.

Seriously, had the same conversation with the missus earlier, poor guy will never be remembered.

I’m sure he’s pretty big in the long distance running world of course.

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