by Larry EderAfter Copenhagen and Paris, London is a multi media frenzy. The Virgin Money London Marathon features fields on the men and women’s sides where any of six men and four women can actually win the 2014 London Marathon.
Mo Farah, photo by PhotoRun.net
In the never ending drive to find a story, or to find an approach that is not duplicated by other media organizations, sometimes, it seems that media organizations make the proverbial mountain out of a molehill.
Two recent examples come to mind.
The two hour marathon. It is ridiculous. No one in his or her right mind, who understands the minutest idea on physiology would expect such a situation by a clean athlete over the next two decades. Heck, I will go so far to say that a two hour marathon is maybe thirty years away.
The second is denigrating MO Farah’s chances in the marathon due his collapse in New York. If one has run hard, really hard, then one has come across a circumstance where one collapses after a race. I had a friend who passed out and threw up after a series of races. Not a pretty site. But, we found out the guy had a dairy allergy and once we stopped the milk the puking went away. For Mo Farah, the guy put it out, like he does.
So, Mo was asked by a news organization: “What is harder? Having children or racing a marathon? In his imitable style, Mo Farah considered the question and deadpanned that as his wife had not run a marathon, he could not provide an answer.
Face it, Mo Farah could break the British record of Steve Jones (2:07:13), by two minutes and not make the top three in the Virgin Money London Marathon.
Then, the field could either go out in 61 minutes and commit running suicide as he hits 62:15-30, and rolls on by the field, or just be so intimidated by Mo Farah that he just sits and kicks over the last five kilometers.
We will just have to wait and see.
