Mehdi Baala celebrates a new French record in the 1,500 meters. © www.photorun.net
Mehdi Baala of France broke his country’s 1,500-meter record in Karlsruhe this weekend in front of 5,000 cheering spectators. Running in one of the IAAF’s permit events, Bala, 30 years old, won in 3:34.71 minutes—the second-fastest indoor 1,500-meter this season. Only the Kenyan, Haron Keitany, has run faster with 3:33.96 in Gent last week.
In the race, the pacemakers did a nice job setting Baala up for the French record. In the final laps, he surged ahead of the Kenyan, Gideon Gathimba and the German, Wolfram Müller, who runs for LG Asics Pirna.
Müller ran a nice race, improving his season’s best from 3:40.10 to 3:38.80 minutes and earning him another qualifier for the European Indoor Championships. After the race, Müller had this to say about his impressive third-place showing: “I knew I was in good form and could run a good time.”
Baala had been considering running the European Indoor Championships in Turin at the beginning of March. He would have been the clear favorite there, but recently decided against running in favor of preparing to run the outdoor World Championships. He has made it known that he will only run once more indoors this season: the 1,000 meter race in Stockholm.
Beside’s Baala’s French record, another highlight in Karlsruhe was in the women’s 800 meter race. Italian runner Elisa Cusma ran the fastest time in the world this year and broke her own Italian record. That makes her one of the top Italian hopes for Turin. At first, she drafted behind the favorite, Tatyana Petlyuk. Then Cusma passed the Ukrainian with 150 meters to go from the finish. Cusma crossed the line in 1:59.25. Petlyuk ran 1:59.63—also breaking the two-minute barrier.
The men’s 800-meter race was equally exciting. The Olympic champion, Wilfred Bungei of Kenya, was matched against his rival, the silver medalist in Beijing, Ismail Ahmad Ismail of Sudan. After Ismail had won in Stuttgart eight days previously, Bungei turned the tables. He took the lead once the pacemaker had dropped out around the 600 meter mark. Bungei held on to win in 1:47.02. Ismail finished in 1:47.34.
Surprises in Valencia
Besides the excitement and broken records in Karlsruhe, there were also some fast times and surprises in Valencia. In the men’s 3,000m, the Ethiopian, Abraham Cherkos (the world junior champion at 5,000m), won in 7:34.05, outkicking the Kenyan, Augustine Choge, at the finish. Choge was clocked at 7:34.47. Third place went to Shadrack Korir in 7:35.98.
The surprise in Valencia came from the Spaniard, Nuria Fernandez, who produced a storming performance in the women’s 1,500 meters to run 4:01.77—the fastest time in the world this year for that distance. The 31-year-old runner took a massive chunk off the Spanish record held by one of the country’s leading performers, Marta Dominguez, who ran 4:07.69 for the distance seven years ago. Nuria Fernandez sprang another surprise when she told journalists that her record-breaking race was only a test run and that her real goal is to concentrate on the 3,000m at the European Indoors in Turin!
Across the Atlantic, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Bekana Daba ran the second-fastest indoor 5,000m this year. Daba won in 13:17.79. Second place went to the American, Galen Rupp, who ran an American record of 13:18.12.
Marathon Runner Isn’t 101 after All
Buster Martin’s achievement seemed so unique that the organizers of the London Marathon arranged a press conference for him two days before the race last year. Aged 101, he would have broken the age record for the marathon. However, as the Times of London now reports the whole event was probably a fabrication. It turns out that Buster Martin was “only” 94.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest marathoner in history was Dimitrion Yordanidis of Greece. He finished the Athens marathon in 1976 in 7:33 at the age of 98.
Martin finished the London Marathon in well over ten hours last year. While certainly an extraordinary performance for a 94-year-old, it is not a record. When investigating his claim, Members of the Guinness Book of Record discovered that Mr. Martin had informed the British National Health Service (NHS) that he was born on September 1, 1913 and not 1906.
Was the whole affair actually just a publicity stunt? According to the report in the Times, Buster Martin ran in a shirt bearing the name of a plumbing company where he apparently works. The company name was prominently displayed on his racing vest and tracksuit. The company had been in touch with the Guinness Book of Records about the record run before the London Marathon, but was unable to provide any documents proving Martin’s birth date.
When asked about the controversy surrounding his age, Buster Martin told the London newspaper: “I know how long I’ve been alive. There will always be envious people who spread rumors.”
For now, Yordanidis’ record still stands.
