Haile Gebrselassie fights the rain and wind again in The Hague this weekend. © Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon
Haile Gebrselassie made his second attempt at regaining his half-marathon world record from the Kenyan, Sammy Wanjiru, in The Hague this weekend at the “City-Pier-City” race. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t materialize. Like Gebrselassie’s last attempt in Dubai in January, wind and rain were the key factors in slowing the times down. Wanjiru’s record is 58:33 minutes. Gebrselassie’s time this weekend was 59:50—good for second place.
The winner of the race was the Kenyan, Sammy Kirop Kitwara, who ran 59:47. At the finish, the 22-year-old Kenyan won a sprint duel with Gebrselassie. After the race, Kitwara was magnanimous. “I would never have thought I could beat Haile Gebrselassie—I thought he was unbeatable,” he said.
Gebrselassie was disappointed with his performance. “It’s a pity because the course is really good,” he said afterwards when reflecting about his missed chance for the world record.
Third place in The Hague went to Dereje Tesfaye (Ethiopia) in 60:02. Along with Getu Feleke (Ethiopia/60:36) and a surprisingly strong performance by the Irish runner, Martin Fagan (60:57), two more runners broke 61 minutes.
Two Kenyans fought to win the women’s race. Victory ultimately went to Pauline Wangui in 1:10:49 hours by a clear margin from the world marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba, who finished in 1:11:33. The Dutch runner, Ilse Pol, placed third in 1:14:39.
A total of 26,000 runners took part in the 35th annual “City-Pier-City” race.
Arusei and Tola the Champions at the Seoul Marathon
The Kenyan, Moses Arusei, and Robe Tola of Ethiopia were the winners at the Seoul Marathon in South Korea. It was Arusei’s biggest victory of his career. Tola, just 22 years old, had already won the Hamburg Marathon three years ago. In cool conditions Moses Arusei ran 2:07:54 hours and Tola clocked 2:25:37.
After a large pack had led through the half, the decisive moment in the men’s race came shortly after 30 kilometers. Moses Arusei picked up the pace and broke away from his remaining rivals. At 35K, he had a lead of 15 seconds. Arusei’s time of 2:07:54 was the second-fastest marathon of his career. In Paris last spring, he finished second in 2:06:50. Arusei has also had success in Germany in the past. He won his marathon debut in Dresden in 2005 with 2:16:48. A year later in Frankfurt, he was second in 2:10:30.
The Ethiopian, Dejene Yirdawe, who ran 2:08:30 and improved his personal best by more than three minutes, came in second place. Sylvester Teimet (Kenya) took third place with 2:10:11.
In past years, Chinese runners have always dominated the women’s race in Seoul. Not so this Sunday. When Robe Tola increased the pace, her last remaining rival, Wei Yanan of China, was quickly overcome. At 35K Tola already had a lead of more than a minute. She finished over two minutes ahead of the Korean, Lee Sun-Young (2:27:48). Wei Yanan finished third in 2:29:00.
