A small town in the southwestern part of the Italian island of Sicily is the pleasant setting for an annual high-class 10-kilometer race. In warm weather, three strong half marathon and marathon runners dominated this year’s race. In the end former New York City and London Marathon champion Martin Lel took the race. The Kenyan clocked 28:45 minutes and was well ahead of reigning Boston Marathon champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (Kenya/29:24) and Hassan Mubarek Shami (Qatar/29:42). Shami was runner-up in last year’s world half marathon championships.
The three fronted the field after Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie was unable to make the race owing to air travel complications. After winning in Sicily, Lel said that he intends to break Gebrselassie’s half marathon world record of 58:55 in Rotterdam next month. “After that, I want to win the New York City Marathon,” Lel said.
Gebrselassie Looks to Berlin
“I will run as fast as I can, but I cannot say what time is possible,” Gebrselassie said during a press conference for the Berlin Marathon, where he will compete on September 24 alongside 40,000 other runners. The 33-year-old consciously avoided the words “world record;” he has missed that goal in his three previous attempts at the distance.
His Kenyan rival Paul Tergat holds the world record of 2:04:55 hours, which he set while winning the Berlin Marathon in 2003. “I know, of course, that Berlin has a flat course upon which very fast times are possible,” Gebrselassie, the two-time 10,000-meter Olympic gold medalist stated. He has set 21 world records in his career, the last of which was at the beginning of March with a time of 1:11:37 for 25K, which, however, has not been officially recognized.
The journey to Berlin was adventurous for Gebrselassie. He had planned on running the 10K in Sicily on his way to the German capital, but the 4-time 10,000m world champion never arrived there. “The problem was that shortly before take-off, a rabbit got caught in the engine,” he said. “After already flying for an hour and forty minutes, the captain decided that we had to turn back and prepare for an emergency landing.” As a result, Gebrselassie missed his connecting flight to Italy.
“It is too bad that I was not able to run the 10K, but it was not decisive for my marathon preparation,” Gebrselassie said. “And the only really important race for me is the Berlin Marathon.” The Ethiopian’s best time for the marathon is 2:06:20, which he achieved a year ago in winning the Amsterdam Marathon. Not including one race as a 15-year-old with a time of 2:48 hours, his other two marathons were run in London: in 2002, he came in third in 2:06:35, and this year he was ninth with a time of 2:09:05. “That was simply not my day in London this year,” Gebrselassie said. Last year in Amsterdam he said, “I know that I can break the marathon world record. I just don’t know when it will happen.”
“After three races, I now have a better feeling for the marathon,” Gebrselassie said in Berlin. He will face Sammy Korir, the second-fastest marathon runner of all time, in Berlin. “That is good for the spectators, for it will be an exciting race,” Gebrselassie said. “That is less good for me. I hope that Sammy has trained hard, as I will be in top form.”
When questioned about the current doping cases in athletics, Gebrselassie said, “It is important that the perpetrators are caught so that the clean athletes are protected.” This kind of news is not pretty for the sport, he said, but at the same time it is important to convict those who are cheating.
Gebrselassie, who won his first big title in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Stuttgart in 1993, is giving no thought to ending his career. “As long as I am still the fastest during training, there is no reason to think about quitting,” he said. “I have not set any date for myself. The 2008 Olympics are definitely part of my plan, however.”
Fast Times on Track in Europe
In Zurich, the traditional Weltklasse meet was the farewell to Letzigrund stadium. It will be demolished now, and rebuilding will start immediately. It is supposed to be finished in time for next year’s meeting. Saif Saaeed Shaheen (Qatar) broke the meet record for the steeplechase in 7:56.54 minutes, but missed his world record, which he was targeting. Winners of the 5,000m races came from Ethiopia: Tirunesh Dibaba clocked 14:45.73, while Kenenisa Bekele ran a season’s best of 12:48.25.
Two days later in Monte Carlo, KIMbia’s Abraham Chebii (Kenya) was the highlight of the running events. He took the 3,000m in a personal best of 7:33.42.
