David Rudisha has advised Marco Arop against racing a half marathon too soon, warning it could hinder his middle-distance performance.
World 800m record holder David Rudisha has offered wise counsel to Canadian Marco Arop following his major milestone of competing in a half marathon at the end of the 2024 season.
The Olympic 800m silver medallist competed at the Back Half the Marathon Huntsville in Alabama, where he crossed the finish line in 1:11:16, but David Rudisha thinks it was not a great idea.
David Rudisha explained that for a middle-distance runner, competing in a half marathon is going overboard, noting that he should have begun with a 1,500m race and gradually progress to the longer distances.
He pointed out that Marco Arop might have competed in the 21km race but feels there are better ways for him to achieve his goals without overstretching.
The two-time Olympic champion revealed that he needs speed endurance to thrive and the half marathon might destroy his rhythm.
“For now, I think the half marathon is too much, it’s too much for a middle-distance runner like Marco Arop. He should have tried to move to the 1500m or even a mile or so,” David Rudisha said on the sidelines of the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country.
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“I don’t know the kind of techniques or training they are doing, whether it’s trying to push to ensure he has more endurance or so but to me, it’s good to try but I don’t know if that is good.
“According to me, I don’t think it was wise. He should have tried to move slowly and maybe at the end of his career, he should have tried something like that.”
David Rudisha also warned that Kenyans should put in more effort following the impressive run from European and American runners indoors.
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World records have already fallen when the season is still young and David Rudisha has predicted that it is only the beginning.
“Europeans are coming up well and breaking records at this time of the season, it’s very impressive and this tells you that it’s going to be a very tough competition because the Americans and Europeans are doing well in the middle and long distances,” he added.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been the talk of town following his impressive run at the Meeting in Lievin. The Norwegian middle-distance runner broke the indoor mile world record with a time of 3:45.14.
The reigning Olympic 5,000m champion also broke his own 1,500m record of 3:30.60 while running the mile. With his run, he broke the record set by American Yared Nuguse at the Millrose Games.
Grant Fisher has also been on a roll, breaking the 3,000m and 5,000m world records. Fisher broke the 3,000m world record first at the Millrose Games before breaking the 5,000m world record at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational.
