Run to Win

This weekend saw a lot of great racing, with at least 10 runners below 2 hours and 7 minutes in races around the world. Six of them were in Paris alone!

Most impressive, of course, is Duncan Kibet and James Kwambai’s 2:04:27 marathon in Rotterdam, where Kibet just edged Kwambai as both ran a time faster than everything other than the past 2 world records, both set by Haile Gebrselassie over the past year or so (2:04:26 and 2:03:59.)

The finish, with tens of thousands of spectators packed into the city’s Coolsingel center district, was a thriller for the final 500 metres. Kwambai who ran a strong and impressive race was the first to enter the broad central Rotterdam thoroughfare.

He was several metres ahead of his compatriot, the Kalenjin tribesman Kibet, who came back in the last few hundred metres, fell back only to come back again to finally edge Kwambai at the finishline to become Kenya’s new national record holder, surpassing former World record holder Paul Tergat. The distance between the two was nearly not visible.

I would have loved to have seen that race live; it must have been a real treat for the spectators at the finish line. You’ll also note in the photo above that Duncan Kibet is doing his best impression of Shiva (pictured left in a bronze statue from the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

There were 4 people in Rotterdam under 2:07, a race which has produced 3 world records in less than 30 years.

(More Info: IAAF – Runner’s World – Photos: Rotterdam Marathon (Kibet) – Wikipedia (Shiva))

Last September, Bekele, Tergat, and Gebrselassie wrote an open letter to the International Olympic Committee to try to get cross country reinstated into the Olympic Games. Cross country was originally removed after the 1924 Paris Games when unseasonably hot weather combined with the course going by an industrial chimney spewing noxious fumes led to 23 of 38 runners not finishing the race.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has officially backed the request for a cross country race, stating that it is perfectly reasonable to hold the race on snow for the Winter Olympics, which has the benefit of giving countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia an interest in the Games. Discussions will resume after the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Lamine Diack, the President of the IAAF, said: “The IOC have now written to us to ask our advice and we have told them that we are in favour of it.

“We are prepared to organise cross country in the Winter Olympics.

“It would be a good move for our sport.”

As I stated 6 months ago, I’d love to see cross country included in the games, and holding it the Winter just means that there will be tougher conditions that will be more fun to watch.

The traditional winter sports will probably find a way to block cross country running from the Winter Games, but hopefully there is enough support to overcome that.

(More Info: Inside the Games – Photo Credit: Trail Monster Running)

Rain thwarted Haile Gebrselassie in his attempt to break his own world record in the marathon this morning in Dubai. He set the world record at 2:03:59 last year in Berlin, but went out a bit too fast in the first 10k in his attempt to break the record at Dubai in 2008. This year, he was about 20 seconds faster at the halfway point in 61:45 but the weather didn’t cooperate over the second half of the course as a steady rain eroded his time to 90 seconds behind his Berlin record.

The Dubai Marathon is the richest in the world, and Gebrselassie’s win still netted him $250,000. Had he broken the world record, he would have won a $1,000,000 bonus. He is already looking forward to Dubai in 2010 and to the Olympics in 2012.

“Everybody was expecting me to break the world record here, but I am very pleased with the time I ran today,” said the 35-year-old Gebrselassie. “This is my best time in wet weather. It could have been much worse, but I’m really happy with the time.

“I saw the clouds ahead and it looked like it was going to be difficult,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not just about defeating time, sometimes you defeat yourself. When I saw the rain coming, I defeated myself. But it (a new record) will happen. I will come back next year.”

The race was his 4^th fastest performance in the marathon, which is impressive not only in its own right but also due to the weather.

(More Info: Associated Press – Photo Credit: AP Photo/Tracy Brand)

A year ago, Haile Gebrselassie set the marathon world record in Berlin. This year, despite losing a week of training this month, he was able to break his own mark under near perfect weather conditions.

“Today, I’m so, so, so happy. Everything was perfect today,” Gebrselassie said. “I had a small calf muscle problem and I stopped for a week, and then I started again a week ago. Then today I had, you know, some doubts … but it was really very good.”

His final time of 2:03:59 is almost half a minute faster than last year’s world record pace. This was the 3^rd time he’s won Berlin.

That is not quite walking…

(More Info: ESPN)

It was a light week this week last year.

• I began the week by discussing how effective body weight exercises are when traveling. This was the final article of the month on training and travel in collaboration with Scott.
• I collected my best tips as well as what other people with the article about what to do when a dog wants to chase you. Once you use these tips and are safely away, I really recommend that you call animal services or your local warden. It may seem like a harsh thing to do and it will definitely upset the owner, but it is in the dog’s best interest for their owner to be aware of what they are doing and making sure that the animal stays safe and doesn’t put itself or anybody else in danger.
• This week last year, the marathon world record was broken by Haile Gebrselassie with a time of 2:04:26. That ain’t walkin’…
• In local racing news, Kay West finished the Eliot 5k in 1:28:53, which was below the USATF age group guidelines for the distance. She was 97 years old! I wonder if she’ll be running again later this morning?
• This week 2 years ago, I made the front page of the local newspaper. The story didn’t have a whole lot to do with me, but it involved a giant picture so I won’t complain! I pointed out how easy it is to make new friends while you are running, and discussed how important a flexible training schedule can be.
• This week 3 years ago, I discussed DNA tests that determine what sports you may have better success at than others. I also spoke about running through illnesses and a good swiss ball routine.

Kenenisa Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie, and Paul Tergat have written an open letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge in an effort to return cross country running to either the Summer or Winter Olympics. Here’s a copy of that letter:

AN OPEN LETTER to the

President of the IOC, Mr. Jacques Rogge and president of the IAAF, Mr. Lamine Diack

We the undersigned global champions and record breakers would like to invite your two highly esteemed federations to consider the re-introduction of cross country running into the Olympic Games programme, either as a summer or a winter sport.

Cross country running is of course the most natural, indeed elemental of all sports. It is a fascinating discipline whose roots are lost in the earliest history of mankind.

In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, cross country running was so far seen for the last time with the victory of one of the greatest ever Olympians, Finland’s Paavo Nurmi.

The official report at the time noted that a combination of unseasonal hot weather and the effects of the heat of a near-by industrial chimney – yes we had global warming in those days too! – meant that the air temperature on the course was as high as 36 degrees Centigrade (96.8 Fahrenheit). As such, of the 38 starts, 23 failed to finish. The problems of 1924 were certainly unique.

So we humbly and respectfully ask, what is your opinion about returning cross country running to a future Olympic Games, either on the programme of a summer or winter celebration?

We think it would be wonderful to give the worlds best cross country runners the chance to compete in the greatest of all sporting festivals, and are hopeful of a positive response.

Yours in sport,

Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Paul Tergat

I would love to see cross country in the Olympics, as well as some event such as a 24 hour or 100 mile trail race. I think that those sorts of sports lend themselves well to not only the Olympic Spirit but also to the Olympic Marketing Machine. Right now, the only foot race off of the track is the marathon, and I would love to see some other races that took to the streets (or preferably, the fields and woods.)

Realistically, I don’t expect to see an ultra- event in the Olympics, but I could see cross country being added in 12 or 16 years or so. I certainly hope to see it, and would make it a point to watch as long as whoever is providing the coverage deigned to allow it.

(More Info: Original Letter [PDF] – Hat Tip: Runner Vision)

Haile Gebrselassie set the mark for the indoor 2 mile world record in 2003 at 8:04.69. Yesterday, Kenenisa Bekele broke that mark by 0.34 seconds in Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham to set the new 2 mile world record at 8:04.35.

“It was not easy but I knew I could do it,” Bekele said. “Paul Koech was very close, but I knew I had a fast finish in me.”

Paul Koech was right on his tail throughout the race, but Bekele dropped him in the final lap. He has now broken Gebrselassie’s 3^rd indoor record, including the 2000m and 5000m.

(Further Reading: BBC – IHT – AFP)

Last week, Haile Gebrselassie attempted to break his own world-record marathon time at the Dubai Marathon. He fell short by 27 seconds, but there can be little doubt that a man who now owns both of the two fastest marathon times in history is one of if not the best marathoner in the world right now. Add in his 25 other world records and you know that the man must be something special.

Unfortunately, there is a very real possibility that Gebrselassie is not going to compete in the 2008 Olympic Marathon in Beijing. The city has done a sub-par job of cleaning up its levels of pollution over the past couple of years, and there are already some fears that events will have to be rescheduled this Summer due to the ever-present smog.

Gebrselassie had a little trouble dealing with the pollution in London last year and had to drop out of the race.

“When I come to Beijing, things could happen…it could be worse and that’s why I am a little bit worried,” he told Reuters Television in an interview. “If things are like that (still heavily polluted) I would try to run a different distance, instead of the marathon.”

I realize that he can be just as competitive in shorter distances, but I would love to see him compete in the Olympic Marathon and I hope that he decides to run. Since I have doubted for the past couple of years that China would be able to clean up the pollution in Beijing, though, I highly doubt that he will subject himself to it.

(Source: Guardian Unlimited Sport)