LELISA DESISA | BOSTON MARATHON SPECIAL ANALYSIS | ETHIOPIA

Lelisa Desisa is one of the best marathon runners in the world. In 2013 he jumped into the marathon scene by winning the Dubai Marathon and the Boston Marathon, both within 3 months of each other.

On April 15, 2019 (which is tomorrow!), Desisa will be attempting an incredible 3rd victory in Boston.

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Analysis Points:

Running Mechanics - 8
Desisa is extremely efficient, yes, but there are multiple negatives to his running mechanics. First, his shoulder sway in each stride is quite large. This, potentially, lowers his overall efficiency and leaves both of his feet on the ground for a longer period of time on each stride. Additionally, Desisa often is slightly too upright on his stride.

Mental Toughness - 10
Desisa clearly deserves a 10 here. On multiple marathons, Desisa has pulled out extremely gutsy performances to win marathons. In both the 2013 Boston Marathon and the 2015 Boston Marathon, Desisa closed his last few miles at a pace that no others could endure. I believe he completely deserves a 10 here.

Strong Kick - 9
For the purposes of a marathon, I'm using Desisa's last few miles as his "kick". He clearly has the ability to shift gears and beat his opponents, but his overall kick is not quite as impressive as other runners I've seen in the past including Haile Gebrselasse or Kenenisa Bekele.

Career Longevity - 7
Considering Desisa is still working on his overall running career, it's difficult to give him anything above a 7 at the moment. As I mentioned in the video, I think this number will go up in the future.

Championship Races - 9
Overall, Desisa's marathon major performances have been quite impressive. He's already won 2 Boston Titles, a Dubai title, and a New York City Title. Very impressive indeed.

Running Range - 8
Desisa has run great times from the 10k all he way up to the marathon, but his personal records for any race below 10k is not quite as impressive as others. For this, I gave him an 8.

Tactical Awareness - 10
I believe this is Desisa's strongest asset. His marathon major races have been full of great decisions at crucial times during races. His move in the 2018 New York City Marathon was perfectly timed for him to win. I fully expect him to inject surges and long drives in the future that will help him win races.

Personal Bests - 9
Desisa has great times in the 10k (27:18), the half marathon (59:30) and the marathon (2:04:45). I fully expect him to improve on his marathon in the future. Currently, I believe he deserves a 9 but perhaps this also can be improved in the future.

Records Broken - 7
Again, he hasn't broken many records. He's run great times and he has broken a handful of course records, but his lack of national records, world records, and other record breaking races is lacking.

Adaptation - 8
Desisa is great at responding to changes in races, but it seems to me that his greatest year in racing was back in 2013 and he's been trying to return to that form ever since. He's been quite good at racing over the years, but he's been beaten multiple times by other great runners.

Total Score: 85

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[TotalRunningProductions]

Boston Marathon Update: Congratulations to Lelisa Desisa for an extremely gutsy race. He placed 2nd overall with a time of 2:07:59, only 2 seconds behind the winner Lawrence Cherono. I'm very impressed by the guts the Desisa displayed. Congratulations again on a great race!

[thedailystride]

Desisa is a great marathoner, but he clearly has room to improve. I think 85 is a fair score for now. I'm really excited to see what he can run tomorrow. Given his past in Boston, I wouldn't be surprised to see him win it. Thanks for the great video!

[RandomGuy-dwhf]

I’ve learned so much about running from your videos, keep it up!

[theslightlyrecklesstrailru]

Nick Symmonds! He took 5th in the Olympics in fastest 800 ever! Ran high 1:42! Maybe not one of the greatest ever since his range was limited, but still would be interesting to analyze

[jamesharrod]

Desisa had also been ill in the weeks leading up to Breaking2 and Nike also made him change his training approach a month before the event so it's no wonder he didn't really excel.

[TotalRunningProductions]

What will Lelisa Desisa run at the 2019 Boston Marathon? According to Desisa, he's going to win!

[gamerdogleo]

Desisa is good but not great. 85 is an appropriate score.

[daniep]

also have you done Mathew centrowitz jr, if you haven't please do.

[vofilangi]

Can I make a suggestion on the scoring range? Since you are focusing on elite runners, it is kind of pointless to have everything squashed in the 90-100 range.
To that effect, I would recommend "zooming in" your scoring by compressing the range of of each category in 1-5, or even better 1-3.
This will make differentiations much more meaningful and -- also -- you will give yourself permission to be more aggressive in rating people more accurately without seeming 'disrespectful' even if it's subconsciously. You ARE looking at the best of the best and the comparison is really amongst them so you want to have better delineation.

[santhoshsai]

please analyse rob de castella of australia who was great marathoner and carlos lopes of portugal

[funvideofan]

Desisa Cames 2nd This Year 2019 In 2:07:59

[grgfrg]

I think desisa is surely the favourite to win tomorrow. Will get some competition and Ghirmay Ghebreselassie has the potential to beat him depending on which GG we get on the day. I think Rono also has a shot but as a Canadian I am a bit biased as Rono holds the soil record here.

(You mixed up the photos for his 2015 and 2013 Boston wins).

I thought desisa was a bit immature in his early 20s I've seen him make unnecessary contact with other runners and once at the Houston half it looked like he intentionally knocked down a bunch of water cups so his opponent couldn't get anything to drink but I've come to like him especially after his New York win, not bothering to use the translator provided to him for the quick podium interview

[SjXCYT]

do alberto juanterena, 400 and 800 double champ 1976 Montreal, also a world record holder

[lachlanbarnes]

I think he is going to burn out in the later stages of his career, I doubt he will last as long as kipsang or lagat.

[Slayer-yytz]

Analyse Mitrus yifter the shifter or Sammy wanjiru

[TheSiameseDreamer]

Was unfortunate. Desisa was struggling from the start for Breaking 2. Along with his quad injury. But he really wasn't in prime shape for the attempt.

[daniep]

so basically his form was bad in breaking2 because the pace was so fast?
because i watched breaking2 before i watched any of his other races and i thought his form was terrible in breaking2
but in all the other races you show he looks good

[raghavvasudevan]

You should totally do Matt Strangio from Jesuit in Sacramento

[jcizzlepiano]

Is there supposed to be a headwind at Boston this year?

[TheSiameseDreamer]

2:50 per km is beyond some people's fartlek pace. lol