Berlin 1990
Berlin 1992
New York 1993
Boston 1994, #1
Boston 1994, #2
Boston 1995
Berlin 1995
Boston 1996
Before the 1996 Olympics
After the 1996 Olympics
The Berlin Reunification Marathon 1990: With Goose Bumps Through the Brandenburg Gate to an Emotional Win
No wonder the Berlin Marathon holds a special place in Uta Pippig’s heart. It was the scene of the first great triumph of her running career—on a very special day for Germany and the world as well as marathoning. It was on September 30, 1990 when Uta won the Berlin Marathon in her hometown. The Berlin Wall had fallen and East and West Germany were just three days away from their reunification. For the first time, the Berlin Marathon was run through both parts of the city and beneath the arches of the famous Brandenburg Gate. For 25-year-old Uta, raised in East Germany, it was a deeply emotional experience, unique in her stellar career. She led 25,000 runners through the once-divided city to win in a course record of 2:28:37. “When I ran through the Brandenburg Gate into the East, I got goose pimples,” she remembers. ”A shiver went down my spine as I realized, a chapter of history was coming to an end.” She was not alone in her emotions: many of the thousands of marathoners crossed the former border between East and West with tear-stained faces.
Uta bettered the course record, set the previous year by Paivi Tikkanen of Finland, by eight seconds. The Finnish star lined up again in 1990 and set the pace from the start. The first of the contenders to drop off at around five kilometers was Carla Beurskens from the Netherlands, and then Tikkanen herself began to struggle. The Finn finally dropped out at 15 kilometers with stomach cramps. Now, if Uta was going to win Berlin in record time, she’d have to do it alone.
By the 38-kilometer mark, Renata Kokowska of Poland had cut Uta’s lead to 13 seconds—strangly, with hardly anyone noticing the move. With Uta assuming she had a comfortable lead, her coach Dieter Hogen had not realized that the Pole was a female runner. He kept shouting to Uta that the lead was around a minute. It was five kilometers from the finish when Dieter finally recognized Renata Kokowska. “Suddenly Dieter was no longer shouting, ‘One minute,’ but ‘Just 15 seconds’ instead,” says Uta. ”In the heat of the race he’d thought Renata was a man. But I didn’t panic, though I certainly had to work hard, since I was getting tired. The long running season was taking its toll.” Uta, running in the colors of LG Stuttgarter Kickers, crossed the finish line with 13 seconds to spare.
It was the first of a string of great marathon victories for Uta. When she ran through the Brandenburg Gate, it also signaled a great future in store for the young woman who had recently crossed the border to freedom. “I realized it was time to look ahead and stop looking back,” she says. ”For me it was a new beginning.”
The Berlin Marathon 1992: “That Was Great, Uta!”
“Winning in Berlin a second time, I felt like I was dreaming.” said Uta after triumphing in 1992—this time wearing the colors of SC Charlottenburg (a Sport-Club in Berlin) and was running before her hometown fans for the first time since her 1990 victory. More than a million spectators lined the course to witness a victory bravely won over adversity.
Her time of 2:30:22 was far from Uta’s personal best of 2:26:52, but the joy of the Berlin runner and her coach and partner Dieter Hogen was undiminished since the victory was hard won: Uta ran much of the way in pain from a foot injury.
Uta had set her sights on breaking the German record of 2:25:24, held by Katrin Dörre, and after a few kilometers the 27-year-old had broken clear of her rivals. Splits of 51:11minutes at 15 km and 1:12:37 at halfway pointed to her being right on course to set the national record. But there was trouble ahead. Says Uta: “In training for the race I had pushed the right foot to the limit and was on the verge of having a stress fracture. The pain came on at 25 kilometers and I even thought of dropping out.” But there could be no question of quitting in front of such devoted home supporters, she told herself. Certainly not right there at 25 kilometers—because the course went close to where Uta lived in Berlin, and plenty of fans in Steglitz lining the streets knew her personally.
Uta made the decision to ignore the national record—but stay in the race. She slowed to run tactically and the previous year’s winner and course record holder Renata Kokowska (2:27:36) from Poland and the Russian Ljubov Klochko were able to close on her. The trio ran together to the 40 kilometer mark. “The pace was slow, but I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the victory,” Uta explained. She waited patiently until two kilometers from the finish before making her move. When she did, neither Kokowska nor Klochko could stay with her. Uta ran down the popular ‘Kurfürstendamm’ blowing kisses to the spectators, en route to a celebrated victory.
The nagging foot injury had left her winning time clearly short of the target she had set for herself. … but when Uta returned home to her apartment in Steglitz later that day there was a surprise awaiting her. Neighbors had hung a banner on the front of the building. On it was written: “THAT WAS GREAT, UTA!”
New York Marathon 1993—”I Felt as if I’d Won the Olympics”
Dieter Hogen ran from First to Fifth Avenue, fought his way through packed crowds lining the route and shouted. In the midst of the throng the coach gave his girlfriend a pre-arranged signal that she had long been waiting for. Uta from the Sports-Club Charlottenburg in Berlin had been the fastest woman in the field for the New York marathon without knowing that she was heading for an impressive victory. The last rival to be dropped was Nadia Prasad of France. She had last seen her over an hour ago at 15 kilometers. After that, Uta didn’t know what was going on behind her. Dieter Hogen’s news was that he had timed the lead at First Avenue and it was around 90 seconds.
“Then I started to feel tired, running into a headwind and with the temperature over 20 degrees Celsius. Having to run on my own was also a factor, since there was no-one else in sight,” Uta explained; she didn’t know that in the meantime her lead had in fact grown to three minutes. That’s why she kept looking around, fearing that she had overlooked someone who could still take the greatest triumph of her sports career from under her nose. Yet, Uta could not have spotted Olga Appell in second place (2:28:55) if she had been using a telescope. The Mexican runner was streets behind.
In recent years it is unusual for a woman runner to dominate the grand parade which is the New York marathon as the Berlin athlete has done. Her time of 2:26:23 was 29 seconds inside her personal best and left Olga Appell more than two and a half minutes down. “I couldn’t believe there was no-one behind me,” recounted Uta as she recalled what was going through her mind during the last few kilometres before the finish in Central Park, “Then it dawned on me, I was going to win New York.”
The 28-year-old runner is the first German woman to achieve the dream of every world class distance runner: to win the most prestigious road race in the world. New York is not just any old marathon, it is the marathon above all. Proof is the enthusiasm of the spectators en route, reckoned to be around two million. “Marathon running has a very high profile in the USA. The organisation in New York is spot on, the whole town gets behind the race—you are well aware of that when you are running the race” Uta explained. “Winning Berlin in 1990 after the Wall came down was perhaps even more of an emotional win. But now I feel as if I’d won the Olympics.” As if more proof were needed, here it is: Uta is one of the world’s best road racers. This year in the USA her record has been perfect: seven races and seven wins, including victory over Lisa Ondieki, the previous year’s winner in New York. Her finishing time puts her eighth in the world best list for the year, with only six Chinese women and the Russian Olga Markova faster.
The triumph in New York also helped Uta recover from her disappointment at the World Championships. She had overtrained in the build-up, went into the 10,000m final tired and could only finish ninth. In New York she won 40,000 (US) dollars and a Mercedes car—a model worth more than the ones given to the athletes who won World titles in Stuttgart. But more so: the boost to the reputation that a New York victory gives her created the motivation for one of her next marathons. “The Berlin course is a flat and fast course compare to the New York Marathon—next year I hope to put in a fast time” said Uta.
The Boston Marathon 1994: How Uta Broke the Boston Course Record
You could call the story of the 1994 women’s race at Boston “Love and Muscle”. The winner, 28-year-old Uta Pippig of Berlin, Germany, and Boulder, Colo., demonstrated her love for the Marathon and the people of Boston—while displaying the muscle necessary to break the course record. Approaching the finish, Pippig alternated between blowing kisses to the crowd and shoving her clenched fist into the air as she pointed at her biceps muscle. Uta was a joy to see. Her time of 2:21:45 bettered Joan Benoit-Samuelson’s record of 2:22:43 set back in 1983. By three miles, with Pippig up front, the key players in the much-anticipated race were in position. Close on Pippig’s heels strode defending champion Olga Markova of Russia, countrywoman and 1992 Olympic gold medalist Valentina Yegorova, Alena Peterkova of the Czech Republic (who had blitzed the Alamo Run a week earlier), 1993 World Cross Country Champion Albertina Dias of Portugal, 1993 Falmouth winner Colleen de Reuck of South Africa and her much-heralded teammate Elana Meyer, the 1992 10,000-meter Olympic silver medalist, making her marathon debut after a recent 1:07:22 half marathon performance in Tokyo. Yegerova and two-time Boston winner Markova traded fates from last year when it was Yegorova who dropped out. This year Markova stayed with the lead pack for about nine miles and dropped out at 20.
De Reuck led through the six mile check point (32:20) with the pack close behind averaging 5:24 per mile. As they churned through the next several miles, various runners technically had the lead at specific check points. Pippig led at seven and eight, De Reuck at nine and ten. Ten miles passed in 53:56. Joan Benoit’s split during her record run in 1983: 51:38. Over the next miles, when Pippig put in a tiny surge, Yegorova would match it, with Meyer merrily tagging along with a track runner’s kicking confidence, seeming to be having no trouble with the pace. The next miles passed in 5:30, 5:25, 5:23, with the half marathon mark reached in 1:10:48. De Reuck’s lead at this point was eight yards. Benoit had run 1:08:22 for the half marathon. So, if you’d like to imagine the pack of ‘94 chasing Benoit’s solo run of 1983, you can see them now 2:26 behind. This may perhaps produce an unterstanding of how Benoit had gotten her record the hard way – by going out fast and struggling in.
By fourteen miles Pippig and the pack had reeled in De Reuck. At fifteen miles Yegorova took a five yard lead. Then Pippig took a big swoop down the hill into Newton Lower Falls with a 5:12 mile. She picked up fifteen yards on Yegorova and Meyer, but she took long looks back as if to say she didn’t believe she could have broken away so easily. The surge knocked off De Reuck. It should have knocked off Yegorova and Meyer, but Meyer set off in pursuit and gained the lead by the 18 mile mark. Pippig again upped the ante with a ten second increase in pace to 5:20. Meyer looked to be floating along. Pippig kept looking back and spitting.
Meyer and Pippig ran close together with Meyer usually behind. At times Pippig would gesture to Meyer to come up and share the lead. Meyer refused. Pippig kept looking back to check on Yegorova. At 19 miles, Pippig opened a gap—and Meyer could not respond. The little quick steps that had allowed her to close all the previous gaps would not come. She slowed dramatically. Pippig passed 20 miles in 1:48:22. In 1983, Benoit had passed here 1:38 earlier. Pippig, now released from her shadow, flew away after the course record. She cranked out miles of 5:12, 5:18 and 5:10 while chasing Benoit’s ghost. Her 140 mile training weeks paid off. The tailwind pushed her along. Somewhere along Beacon Street she caught the ghost.
Yegorova, who had passed Meyer at 40 K, clinched second in 2:23:33. With a new marathon PR, down from the 2:26:40 run at Tokyo in 1993, Yegorova now had her day in the sun.
Afterwards, Uta said, “I thought about the record with about three-four miles left. But, I really tired at miles 25 and 26, and I just wanted to finish. I said, ‘C’mon, just win’. I trained for a 2:22, so this was a good run.”
Tom Derderian, The New England Runner
The Boston Marathon 1994: Steely core of Super Uta: Pippig targets marathon and track records
The kisses Uta Pippig blows to the crowd as she wins a marathon, whether it be in Berlin, New York or Boston, disguise her steely, teutonic determination. The radiance and goodwill the sparkling 28-year-old German exudes belie her inner conviction that she is the greatest woman distance runner in the world and that she will soon deliver proof of that. The Berliner has shelved her medical studies for three years, moved to altitude in Boulder, Colorado, and has already begun the countdown. Her total commitment to running had early success in Boston on April 18: a marathon time of 2hr 21min 45sec, the third fastest ever by a women and only bettered by Ingrid Kristiansen’s 2:21:06 and Joan Benoit-Samuelson’s 2:21:21 back in 1985. It surprised neither Uta nor her coach / boy friend Dieter Hogen who have long regarded the women’s marathon record as soft and Kristiansen’s 10,000 metre time of 30:13,74 within easy reach too. “Boston was only the beginning” Hogen says. “Uta will now concentrate on the track as well.” Two years ago, many in Germany were shocked at Uta’s dismissal of the records and treated her pronouncements as just hot air from an ,Ossie’ (East German) drunk from the first taste of political freedom. Her victories in New York last November (2:26:24) and Boston in April have now silenced the doubters. Super Uta is for real.
But the turning point for the photogenic German came not two years ago, nor at Boston, but back in 1989 when East Europe began falling apart. This was the year Uta had been ‘allowed out’ to race for East Germany in the World Cup at Milan (she was third in 2:35:17) in the spring but had been obliged to watch the Berlin marathon itself on her television set in the eastern part of the city behind the Wall. As she sat watching Alfredo Shahanga win in 2:10:11 and Finland’s Päivi Tikkanen take the women’s title in 2:28:45 – both race records – Uta could hardly have guessed that in five weeks the Berlin Wall would have fallen. Nor that in twelve months time she would heading the women’s field in that same race, but running in reverse, through the Brandenburg Gate, back into East Berlin and heading not only for a race record 2:28:37 but on her way, too, to becoming one of the sport’s super-rich.
For Uta and Dieter Hogen the fall of the Wall was like a starting pistol for a new career. As members of the Army Sports Club, Potsdam (a Berlin suburb), neither had been happy in the East German system. “It was never possible to work freely or creatively” they said. “In a dictatorship, not only competitions were controlled, but also relationships, in the sense that pressure could be put on you.” Hogen, who began coaching Uta in 1986, said: “We had planned to flee in 1987 and 1988 but the thought of what repressive measures could be taken against our families, stopped us.” When Uta went to the Tokyo marathon in 1988 and placed second with 2:32:20 to Aurora Cunha’s winning 2:31:26, Hogen was not allowed to accompany her. Uta had won the Leipzig race a year before in 2:30:50 and Hogen was anxious for her to race against top internationals in order to improve her basic speed. “My requests to the athletics authorities were turned down.” Said Uta: “When I was allowed out I was constantly under observation and was not allowed to make contacts. I never felt happy. “The political changes in East Europe came like salvation and the couple immediately ,escaped’ to Stuttgart where they joined the Stuttgarter Kickers club, a wealthy track and field outfit. But before long, homesickness brought Uta back to Berlin again where they switched allegience to the running-orientated Sport Club Charlottenburg (SCC Berlin). Three days before the two Germanies officially united, the SCC anticipated history by staging its Berlin marathon on a new route, through both sectors of the city, and Uta found herself in a new role – as the ambassadress of unity. “My Berlin win on that day was perhaps emotionally greater for me than any of my other successes” she says. “Running through the Brandenburg Gate, which for all of us had never seemed possible in our wildest dreams, gave me goose pimples. “It was indeed an historic day, with marathon directors from around the world watching as 25,000 streamed through Berlin’s wide boulevards headed by Steve Moneghetti, whose 2:08:16 was a course and race record and equalled that of London. Earlier in the year she had made her first visit to the United States and placed second in the Boston marathon with 2:28:03 behind Rosa Mota’s 2:25:24. The American city was to become the focal point of her marathon development, the young German taking third place there in successive years before her outstanding 2:21:45 victory in April. But already by 1991 the strain of combining a heavy road and track racing programme with her medical studies was beginning to tell on the ambitious Uta. At first, the mix of disciplines appealled to both Uta and her coach but eventually their biggest enemy became time, or the lack of it. “Just before the Olympics of 1992 I had to sit two important exams” Uta recalls. “At the time I wanted it that way – only running 3,000s and 5,000s and the marathon would have been boring. But two vital exams like this just before the Olympics was really silly! I was looking like death warmed up.
She was studying at the Freie Universität in Berlin. “I often used to study right through the night until 6 am and then sleep a couple of hours before going to lectures. How they all laughed when I put in an appearance!” It was not surprising that in the world championships in Tokyo, 1991, she was only sixth in the 10,000 metres. A hip injury that had affected her in Boston in the spring (third in 2:26:52) lingered on into the Tokyo track races. A heavy year, which had begun with an indoor world best 5,000 m time of 15:13,72 had begun taking its toll. But still Uta persisted with her studies. In the Boston race of 1992 she felt fit again and challenged Poland’s Wanda Panfil (winner the previous year in 2:24:18) for the early lead. The two, locked in combat, were running at sub 2:20 pace. They both paid for it. Olga Markova, of Russia, who had run at her own pace, passed both of them to win in 2:23:43 with Uta only third in 2:27:12. Just before the next highlight in her calendar, the 10,000 metres at the Barcelona Olympics, Uta caught a cold and could manage only seventh. To complete a year of misfortune, a foot injury slowed her to a 2:30:22 winning time in the Berlin marathon that autumn. Her target, the 2:25:24 German national record of Katrin Dörre-Heinig, had been missed completely. Still shouldering both her athletic and scholastic burdens, Uta soldiered on through the winter but illness finally forced her to interrupt her medical studies in February of 1993. With Dieter Hogen, she moved her training base to Boulder and set about building up a training workload comparable to that of the Chinese. New York was the primary target, the world track championships in Stuttgart last autumn (she was ninth in the 10,000 metres) serving as a mere diversion. Victory in the ,Big Apple’ was what she wanted and it came in November with a personal best of 2:26:23. “I’m quite sure I can set a world marathon record” Uta said. “Preferably it will be in Berlin, my home city. I’m devoting everything to running now, putting everything else, including having a child, into the background. “Hogen sees four essential ingredients for success: a diet carefully attuned to a long distance runner’s needs; a balanced attitude to life, especially that experienced in highly competitive sport; training at high altitude where there is no change in climate; the creation of compatible surroundings. Boulder (2,500 m) provides much of these. “It is like living in a big family in Boulder; people help each other” says the Berliner. With her coach she has even bought a house outside town to avoid paying rent when they go to Colorado three or four times a year for long, intensive training periods.
Uta has captivated the United States, not just through her outstanding road running – she is undefeated in two years – but also through her charming personality. Her rapidly improving English – she is rarely short of words – has earned her press allies. After winning the Bolder-Boulder race, one local newspaper penned this: “With her humour, her German accent and her upbeat manner, she’s won many more friends. For the first time I heard a German say: ,Mama mia’. Wow!”
Michael Coleman
The Boston Marathon 1995: How Uta repeated her victory
Outside the church in Hopkinton shortly before the start of the 99th Boston Marathon, Dieter Hogen kissed Uta Pippig. This kiss was not the good-luck kiss of a coach to an athlete, nor was it the passionate kiss of new lovers. It was an airport kiss of the long-married who know that the travelling or the staying could change their lives. For eight years, Hogen has coached Pippig, 29, the defending champion, course record holder (2:21:45), and 1995 f avourite who last year had worried that a cold would hurt her race, but this year held no such worries. They refer to each other as companions. So why did coach Hogen have the gnawing feeling in his stomach as he watched Uta walk from the church through the shade of the nearby graveyard with the other elite runners to their starting position, ahead of 2,175 qualified female entries? Because things go wrong. He saw Uta at 5 K. She led with no one in sight. At 10 K, Valentina Yegorova, Elana Meyer and Franziska Moser arrived to worry Dieter. The three hung behind Uta. Yegorova, 31, of Cheboksari, Russia, is the current Olympic champion. She placed second last year in Boston with a 2:23:33 personal record. Meyer, 28, is from Stellenbosch, South Africa, and is the current Olympic silver medallist at 10,000 meters. She finished third in her debut marathon last year in Boston with a 2:25:15. She had won the World Cup 10,000 meters in 30:52,51 and the Tufts 10 K in 31:39. Moser, 28, of Spiegel, Switzerland, won the Frankfurt Marathon in 2:27:44 last year. At the 10-mile checkpoint Hogen saw Tegla Loroupe of Kenya had passed Moser and was approaching Uta. Loroupe, 21, looked quite at ease. Hogen matched strides with Uta and her entourage of Yegorova, Meyer and Loroupe. Later, Uta would say she liked running with the others but wished they had taken a turn leading. Loroupe, although as far from threatening as a person could look, nonetheless looked like a threat to run away with the race. In her first marathon – New York City – she had come from behind to win in 2:27:37. Many observers of marathon racing expect a great surge of women marathoners to follow the men out of Kenya and look to young Loroupe as the crest of the wave. She had already run 31:29 for 10 K. Dieter, when asked if he had told Uta that Loroupe approached, said “no”. He said he’d told her to run a tactical race because the sun, heat and headwind made conditions bad for a record attempt. Uta passed the halfway point in 1:11:23. Four women – Uta, Yegorova, Meyer and Loroupe – ran together toward the 30 K mark. Never before have such a large group of women been so tightly bunched so late in the Boston-Marathon.
But on these hills, Uta felt the best. She had been training on mountains in Colorado, so the Newton Hills did not impress her. Later she said that Heartbreak Hill felt, “like a little bunny hill for me”. Uta ran her tactical race and essentially followed from the front. She let her feelings of how the other runners fared dictate her pace. Yegorova relented first. She had been running with quick, choppy strides that suddenly slowed to a shuffle. Soon after, she dropped out, as she had in 1993, at about the same place. She was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, rehydrated and released. At 19 miles, Uta approached the elite athletes’ water table. Deftly she snatched her bottle of chamomile tea. Meyer casually reached to the table to pluck her bottle from the line-up but instead knocked hers and several other bottles to the ground. Loroupe’s bottle fell and Meyer stumbled into her as each groped for the right one. And Uta sped away. Inexperience often shows itself in the small things – later, Loroupe nearly tripped Meyer. Uta glanced back when she felt no one on her shoulder.
Soon the two Africans would come back on the German, but at a cost that would be fatal to Loroupe’s chances. Almost immediately upon returning to Uta’s shoulder Loroupe began to drop back. She eventually faded to ninth place by the finish, and collapsed into a medical wheelchair, where she closed her large eyes, and curled up. Still, Meyer followed. Uta later said she felt confident on her fitness, but she also felt a growing blister on her foot. “This is sport and anything can happen. It would be no good if you had absolutely no problems. It would be too easy.” The blister became a problem on the downhills after Boston College. Every time Uta looked back, she said later, “I could see a little person with blue clothes.
“But the ,little person’ had her own problems of sport: Her quadriceps muscles began to cramp. So cramps followed blisters as both women slowed to performances that were considerably slower than last year’s. But Uta’s high mileage and consequent extra strength kept her from slowing very much. Gradually, her lead stretched to over a minute, although her stride was noticeably shorter as she headed toward the finish. The blister did not bother her sense of exuberance on the Boylston Street promenade. She glanced back, saw her lead, and blew kisses to the crowd. Meanwhile, Hogen walted beyond the finish chutes. He could not see Uta. He could only infer her approach to the finish from the public address and the crowd reaction. Hogen hadn’t seen Uta since the 22-mile mark. He didn’t know if Meyer still lurked on Uta’s shoulder, with her trackrunner’s kick at the ready. So the little creature that gnawed at his stomach chewed on. But when he heard the announcement, a big smile flashed across his face and he began hopping in excitement. Still, he had to wait to see Uta. First she had to receive the laurel wreath, treat the photographers to her smile and blow some more kisses. She worked her way toward where Hogen waited, pushing a wave of photographers like a big boat pushes the sea. Suddenly she saw him, burst through the wall of admirers, and gave Hogen a powerful hug and a real kiss, the kiss of the returning traveller, safe and home. Meyer, who took third last year after she was passed by Yegorova, moved up to finish second in 1995, holding off a steadily advancing Madina Biktagirova, of Belarus, who finished third in 2:29:00.
Tom Derderian, The New England Runner
The Berlin Marathon 1995: Uta wins and her Training Partner causes a Sensation
Two factors about the 22nd Berlin Marathon were unique: one was the number of spectators on the course, which far exceeded any previous edition and the other was the phenomenal performances. Once again Uta Pippig confirmed her status as the best woman marathoner in the world. The Berlin runner from the local SC Charlottenburg, the event organisers, ran to an impressive and popular home win before a million spectators in 2:25:37. Her coach and partner Dieter Hogen had an even greater triumph. The fastest man in the field of 16,677 starters from 62 countries was Sammy Lelei, whom Hogen coaches in their second home of Boulder, Colorado. Not only did he ensure the first Kenyan victory in the Berlin Marathon but produced the sporting highlight. Sammy Lelei ran the second fastest performance of all time with 2:07:02. Only the world record holder Belayneh Dinsamo of Ethiopia with 2:06:50 has gone faster.
“It was an incredible feeling to win on home turf. I dedicate this victory to the fantastic spectators in Berlin. I was also very happy with the time” Pippig said, though she failed to meet her original target which was to set a world best for the year. In Boston in the Spring she ran 2:25:11 but 2:25:36 now in Berlin. To Dieter Hogen it was “A great Triumph” though the coach was not entirely happy. He was sorry for Sammy Nyangincha of Kenya in fourth place in 2:09:35. “He was clearly in better form than Sammy Lelei, but had the bad luck to slip in the shower the day before and injure his arm so badly that he could barely move it.” In their most recent training session Nyangincha had taken 20 seconds out of his team-mate over 15 kilometres. Lelei missed the world record by 12 seconds. Both men train in Boulder with Uta Pippig.
“A race with these results comes once in a decade” said Horst Milde, the Berlin Marathon organiser-in-chief. The second fastest race of all time created a stir around the world. “We wanted to go for it because the conditions were perfect” was Dieter Hogen’s comment on the world record pace set by the men.
The 31-year-old Sammy Lelei, whose previous marathon best was a mere 2:11:11, had only begun his preparation with Dieter Hogen in August. “He was new to the training group and before that had trained on his own” said the coach. Lelei’s comment on his improvement was: “I do what my coach tells me and the result shows that it’s right.” The Kenyan already had an excellent base of fitness before he started working with Dieter Hogen. Lelei was the first runner to break the hour for the half-marathon, clocking 59:24. He then had the misfortune to find that the 1993 Lisbon Half-Marathon was 97 metres short.
“The Kenyans do as much weekly volume as I do. Depending on the stage of preparation, that’s between 210 and 250 kilometres” Uta Pippig said but added: “The Kenyans train, of course, much faster than me. The quality of their training is incredible.” It was a Kenyan that Pippig had to battle with for a long time during the race. Angelina Kanana, who eventually finished second in 2:27:41, had set off at world record pace. She went through 10 kilometres in 33:26, 12 seconds ahead of the Berlin runner. “But I knew she couldn’t keep that up and was confident I would win.” Pippig had closed the gap by 20 kilometres, passed in 1:07:34, and went clear at 30 kilometres with the clock showing 1:42:14.
Thigh cramps meant that she did not run as fast as planned. “There were signs of that in the past few days when I had a little bit diarrhea. On top of that, I didn’t get my bottle at the first drinks station.” Despite the problems, Pippig, cheered on constantly with chants of “Uta, Uta!” delivered an impressive home win, her third following 1990 and 1992. It was also her fifth big marathon victory in succession; after Berlin in 1992 came success in the 1993 New York race, Boston 1994 with a German record of 2:21:45 as well, Boston 1995 and now Berlin again.
The Boston Marathon 1996: Uta Stages Comeback of the Century
With a field full of talent, a formidable defending champion, a stellar day and $ 100,000 up for grabs, the stage was already set for an incredible women’s race. But nobody could have guessed just how memorable the day would be. In some ways, the 25th anniversary women’s race outshone the 100th running of the men’s, simultaneously showcasing tactics, toughness and the incredible distance the women of Boston have covered in two and a half decades. Uta Pippig of Germany toed the line as F1, seeking to become the first woman to officially win Boston three times. Gunning for her was a crowded elite division—probably the deepest ever to set foot on the course—that included Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe, two-time winner at New York who was seeking to move up from her ninth-place Boston debut in 1995; perennial U.S. challenger Kim Jones, out to avenge a DNF at the U.S. Women’s Olympic Trials; Madina Biktagirova of Belarus, third last year; and a roster of talent from all over the planet. With dry conditions and a headwind, Boston ‘96 became a tactical battle instead of a runaway record quest. Jones took the lead in the early miles before handing the honor to Fujimura. They had company up front from Biktagirova, Russia’s Alla Jilaeva, and Kenyan Saline Chirchir. Loroupe followed. Uta, who was reportedly suffering from menstrual cramps [editors note: she had stomach cramps and there was a misconception: Uta had no menstrual problems, but was afterwards diagnosed with reverse ischemic colitis] and diarrhea from five miles on, was struggling to stay with the front-runners. By the halfway point, Franziska Rochat-Moser of Switzerland moved up to contention. The half passed with Fujimura leading in 1:11:57—a cautious pace compared to Wanda Panfil’s record-setting 1:08:22 in 1992. Uta was never far off the lead. By Mile 15, Jiliaeva was in front, followed by Fujimura, Uta, Loroupe and Chirchir. Uta and Loroupe emerged from the group by the 128 overpass in Wellesley, and the race became a two-person mind game. After running side by side over the bridge, Uta took an uneasy lead and Loroupe fell in behind her, dodging left or right to stay out of sight when Uta looked over her shoulder.
The pace duties shifted again, and Loroupe carried a slim lead into Newton. On the hills, she sensed the weakness in Uta and took off. Loroupe, who trained on hills in Kenya, threw down a 5:25 from mile 18 to 19, and passed 20 miles in 1:50:32. The phrase “Kenyan sweep” formed in many people’s minds: Loroupe blew open a 100-yard gap between herself and Uta, who was fading in the hills before Boston College. With a 5:32-per-mile average pace, Loroupe looked capable of blowing away the Boston field—a la New York. If she could keep the pace, she’d take the win in a time of about 2:25. But it was her turn to look over her shoulder. At 35 K, Loroupe’s lead was about 200 yards, and Uta, her last challenger, had dropped off the pace and was looking visibly distressed. She was not racing well and seemed to have settled for second place. Although Loroupe ran through 20 miles much slower than Joan Benoit’s record time of 1:46:44 (1983), she looked unstoppable. But Loroupe ran subsequent miles in the following times: 21 miles—5:56; 22—5:31; 23—5:53; 24—5:57; 25—6:32. Uta, to her surprise, found herself stumbling toward the lead. “I heard the crowd roaring, but there was nothing I could do” Loroupe said after the race. “I could not move my legs.” Uta had given up on the race. She did not think she would win. Now, energized by the loud crowds and Loroupe’s flagging stride, Uta bolted.
But she also realized that Loroupe might challenge, or sprint away and out of reach. Uta’s racing instincts told her to pass strongly and decisively. She did. From the passing just before the 25-mile mark to the finish, Loroupe lost a minute and 25 seconds. Those numbers indicate a last mile of close to 8:00. Although it appeared to television viewers that Uta burst past Loroupe with a big increase in speed, the reality was the opposite. Uta may have accelerated 10 seconds per mile, but Loroupe had lost minutes.When Uta found herself clear of Loroupe, she could not believe that the lead she thought she’d lost for good was again hers. She expressed her shock in an open-mouthed mug at the TV crew on the lead vehicle. For the final two miles, Uta was smiling again, but the strain of the race mixed with the joy on her face. Clearly still respectful of Loroupe, Uta kept looking over her shoulder—both shoulders—trying to pick out her nearest rival. As she neared the finish, the pain evaporated from her face, and after miles of agony, Uta finished the 100th Boston joyfully, clocking 2:27:12 and joining Roberta Gibb and Sarah Mae Berman as three-time winner—and becoming the only woman to do so “officially”. Loroupe held on to second, besting Fujimura, 2:28:37 to 2:29:04. Sonja Krolik of Germany moved up to take fourth in 2:29:04 and Larisa Zouzko was fifth in 2:31:06. Thirty years after Gibb became the first woman ever to run Boston, Uta’s run only made public to a wider audience what most athletes already knew—that toughness, grace and poise can coexist. Uta said, “It was amazing for me because so many people screamed even when it was not possible to win anymore … they said, ‘You can catch her.’ I said (to myself), ‘come on guys, it is such a big gap.’ ” “I thought a lot about so many women who can start in this race … I feel good about it … it’s equal now. Everyone should have the same right to do anything. It is a special thing, this Boston Marathon.”
Tom Derderian and Mary Stevens, The New England Runner
The Approach to the Olympic Games of Atlanta in 1996:
A Day of Training with Uta
Longmont, 5 A.M.: Uta Pippig doesn’t need an alarm clock. Her inner clock tells her that it is time to get out of bed and go to work. It will soon be light in Colorado – meaning it’s time to start running. It is a day in February and the 30-year-old long distance runner, of the LG SCC Nike Berlin, is preparing for the Boston Marathon. But, not just Boston – 1996 is presenting her with an unprecedented opportunity. Uta, who is currently the world’s greatest female marathoner, has aspirations of capturing championships in both Boston and at the Olympics in Atlanta over a three month period. During the last four years, Uta has been unbeatable in Berlin, New York and Boston in the classical 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometres). Her dream of capturing the laurel wreath in Boston and Gold in Atlanta would solidify her as the greatest women’s marathoner of all time. So, she runs through the suburban town of Boulder for a few relaxed miles in her quest for marathon greatness.
“1996 could be a great year. To win the 100th Boston Marathon and then the Marathon of the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Games – that would be wonderful! I am confident that I have a chance at it. I’ve achieved a certain marathoning success and over the past few years, I’ve worked hard to get where I am in the running world. It hasn’t been overnight success but instead years of hard work and now I feel that I am mastering my training regimen.”
After completing her relaxing run, she arrives back at her house, where her friend and trainer Dieter Hogen has prepared breakfast. The morning meal is comprised of wholemeal roll with cheese and turkey, half a portion of muesli with some banana and tea. After consuming the well rounded breakfast, Uta rests for 60 to 90 minutes before she is off with Dieter Hogen to one of the many courses at high altitude of up to 2700 meters. On this day the weather unfortunately turns blustery with winds sweeping directly into the face of Uta. At the gustiest segments of today’s course, Dieter navigates his cross-country vehicle in front of Uta in order to serve as a windscreen for the diligent runner. Dieter is used to such random turns in the weather after once being subjected to an unannounced blizzard while training Kenyan runners and Berlin’s Rainer Wachenbrunner who he also trains as well as Uta. Today’s training is extremely hard for Uta but promising.
The reward for Uta’s enormous efforts: She wins the 100th Boston Marathon. The race was almost intolerable as she is challenged by both Tegla Loroupe of Kenya and physical ailments related to intestinal difficulties. Throughout the run, the 30-year-old runner, called upon her demanding training sessions in Boulder to allow her to overcome her obstacles in route to her most prolific victory. “My strong will has allowed me to realize success. Boston showed me once again – never-to say-never. Even in the last two kilometers in a Marathon many things can happen, as in Boston. This is why marathoning is so interesting and fascinating.”
Two months later, back in Boulder, its summer time and temperatures are exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Uta is driving with Dieter towards the hardest course in the mountains – the “Magnolia.” In the last century, a gold digger built the Magnolia Road in the mountains to gain him access to his mines. The gravel road has a large differential in altitude ranging from 2,400 up to 2,700 meters. Physical therapist Dirk Schmidt and the Kenyan runners are joining the group on this day.
Uta starts the run ahead of the Kenyan runners so that they finish at approximately the same time. After the Kenyans push off, Dieter Hogen and Dirk Schmidt drive up ahead in order to set up drinks and essentials for the runners at a pre-assigned location. At somewhere along the course the Kenyans catch up to Uta and activate her competitive juices causing her to increase her pace. On this day, Uta runs upwards of 40 kilometers in preparation for the Olympics. The Magnolia’s degree of difficulty combined with the scorching temperatures will prepare Uta for any unforeseen challenges that might arise in Atlanta.
“In the 10 to 12 weeks prior to a Marathon, I run an average of 220 to 230 training kilometers a week. My typical day consists of 12 hours of training which includes running, physical exercise, physiotherapy, light weight training and swimming – with no days off. Therefore it is essential that I stay motivated while maintaining my passion and love for running. To be able to perform at my highest level I need to extend myself in my training. This will allow me to compete with excellence.”
It is now 1 P.M. and Uta is back in Longmont. Dirk Schmidt has come along for the physical-therapy treatment while trainer Dieter Hogen switches hats from coach to cook as he prepares a lunch of fish complemented by lot of vegetables and potatoes, as he does several times during the week.
“I am frequently asked about the different components of my training that account for my success. Briefly, it is the professional behavior in all areas necessary to realize success. And it is not just running. An important part of the foundation of my success is proper nutrition. Sometimes people seem confused by this explanation, but I further clarify that answer by explaining that such attention to nutrition allows me to draw upon built up reserves during races thus providing me the necessary fuel to push myself further.”
After a two-hour rest they have tea and pancakes made with wholemeal flour. After running “Magnolia” in the morning, the second training in the afternoon is a relaxed short run of some kilometers.
“Mentally I’m extremely comfortable with my current status. That’s important after the physical and mental challenge Boston presented. I know it can’t get worse which means I really have nothing to fear in Atlanta. And although the climate conditions will be extreme because of heat and high humidity, I’m somehow relaxed even though this is the Olympic Games.”
Subsequent to the afternoon run, Uta participates in strength and exercise sessions in their gym at the house. At the conclusion of that segment of the day’s training, it’s time to exhale and relax in a nice warm bath or sauna. At dinner, Uta feasts on wholemeal bread, a lot of vegetables and perhaps tuna.
“In Atlanta, the outcome of the race will balance on my ability to adjust to the course and the conditions. It will be essential for me to run a proper pace. I think that about 20 runners have a legitimate chance to win. It will be very exciting – I’m looking forward to it.”
It is now 9 pm in Longmont, and Uta is going to bed. She doesn’t dream at night, but instead saves those visions of great victories for her long training runs. In three weeks she will line up at the starting line in Atlanta where greatness awaits.
The Olympic Games 1996: Uta explains what happened in Atlanta
Uta Pippig arrived in Atlanta as a significant favorite to win the gold in the Women’s Marathon. After all, over the last four years she had dominated the event with three championships in Berlin, one in New York and three in Boston—including the hundredth running of the race three months prior to the Olympics. During this string of victories, she’d set German records in the marathon and half marathon with world class times of 2:21:45 hours and 67:58 minutes respectively. Her personal best in the marathon was just 39 seconds off the world record. All the pieces were in place, it appeared, for Uta to add to her already rich legacy of running.
Sadly, the run for gold would not be realized in Atlanta. In the midst of her 20th Marathon, she was compelled to leave the course. “I was fit and absolutely determined to win” the 31 year-old said. Problems began to beset her at the 12-kilometer mark of the race, when her sciatic nerve started giving her pain. She tried to run through the pain, but the injury only worsened. “The pain was caused by the extreme pressure on my sciatica nerve when my shoes failed to grip the wet road properly” Uta explained two weeks after the race. “It was a nightmare to have to drop out of a race for the first time—especially at the Olympics. At first when the pain hit me, I thought I could still run well enough to win a medal despite only having half a leg to run on. But, it proved to be a miscalculation. I ran with my heart and not my head which proved to exacerbate the injury.” It was discovered some weeks later, that apart from the sciatica problem, Uta had suffered two stress fractures in Atlanta, one in her hip and one in her right shinbone.
Her Olympic disappointment was enormous. After training in the high altitudes of the Colorado mountains, she didn’t fear any obstacles this course might present. And although some questioned the short turnaround time between Boston and the Olympics, Uta explained that the workload did not have an adverse affect upon her. “At the beginning of the year, we had customized the training schedule with both races in mind. There is no question in my mind that I was capable of two outstanding efforts within that 15 week period. At the level Uta was running leading up to the Olympics, only Fatuma Roba, could approach her credentials. But, nonetheless, Atlanta was not meant to be due to her injury.
Uta intends to run a marathon in the spring.
