I don’t know if you can remember much from the dark ages of 1993. I know I can’t. The most I can vaguely recollect is nap-time and a few rooms at school that as a 5 year old I identified by color. Still, as much as things have changed the last 17 years, many things remain the same. To whit, a Clinton is negotiating peace in the fractious Middle East, a much-ballyhooed new Windows operating system has been released, and Haile Gebresalassie is at the forefront of the distance running world- winning in style. Sure, there has been some evolution in all of these developments: For the first, it is wife Hillary, not the then-newly-inaugurated President Bill, now doing the honors, and for the second, it is Windows 7 being released and not 1993's Windows NT 3.1, which has probably found its way into the Smithsonian displayed with the telegraph by now.
As for the last item, Gebresalassie, aptly nicknamed the emperor, has since changed his arena from the mondo ovals of European stadiums to the streets of the world’s biggest cities in the latest chapter of his sprawling and illustrious career. The current marathon world record-holder (2:03:59) is still going strong at age 37, some 17 years after his first gold medal (10,000 meters) at the senior World Championships in Athletics. He is still one of the best of the world, an astonishing twelve years after he had what my scoring formula considered the greatest season of all time (see Greatest Season of all time post). That year the same man, who would go on to compile an enviable marathon record that is still growing, dipped down successfully to events as brief as the 1,500, which is some 28 times shorter than the marathon for those scoring at home. Long after his early rivals- names like Moses Kiptanui, Paul Tergat, Ismael Kirui and Daniel Komen- have called it quits, Gebresalassie is churning out world class performances and chasing the course and world records against men more than a decade younger than him. Even at 37 and sporting a mug that looks more like 47 years old, Geb still has the infectious smile and the youthful energy of a man half his age.
Against the field Saturday at the Great North Run, early in the second mile Geb dealt with an exuberant but ill-advised move on a downhill by fellow old codger and 38 year old Jaouad Gharib that followed a comfortable 4:38 first mile. Gharib’s move beckoned a swift 4:27 second mile and strung the lead pack into single file with only Gharib, Geb, Dathan Ritzenheim and Kenyan Kiplimo Kimutai (say that five times fast) remaining in contention. Kimutai, the owner of a 59:44 PB that earned him second at the race a year ago, was dissatisfied with the four remaining comfortably in contention and with the reluctant assistance of a “grimacing” (IAAF’s words) Gebreselassie, he began to push the pace and succeeded in creating a two-man race. Later, he was helpless like so many of the Emperor’s vanquished competitors. To destroy Kimutai, Geb pushed his ageless body to consecutive 4:20 miles and made his move in the seventh mile. Geb continued to pound away and was on pace to a swift clocking just over 59 minutes until the latter stages of the race when he succumbed to the lack of pressure on him and soaked in an appreciative crowd that witnessed another dominant victory in 59:33. He was unchallenged to the line and won by a massive 1 minute and 50 seconds over Kimutai. Gharib came in next, and a disappointed Dathan Ritzenheim labored to finish fourth in 1:02:35.
American hope Ritzenheim said the following to David Monti of Race Results Weekly about the early pace set by Kimutai and Gharib: "I went out really hard with the front guys…It was just way too fast, obviously. I think my ego got the best of me a little bit." Though, I’m sure for some, this performance will set off warning bells, it is worth noting that Ritz is preparing for the New York City marathon that will take place a month and a half from now. He acknowledged he had some calf issues that might have arisen from an overly minimalist shoe and it is likely the early pace exacerbated any shortfalls in both his overall fitness and calf support. Undoubtedly, Ritz will need a better day to compete with some of the best in the field that will line up to race the five boroughs course in six weeks. Headlining that field? Who else but Sunday’s star, the incomparable Haile Gebresalassie.
Philly: The king and queen of the road race circuit in the 2010, Ethiopian Geb Gebremariam (undefeated in the Healthy Kidney 10K, Peachtree, Beach to Beacon, and Falmouth) and Kenyan Lineth Chepkirui (5 road wins and a runner-up) were toppled by two athletes who have done most of their work on the track in Meseret Defar and Matthew Kisorio. Both races started out swiftly with the hot pace inevitably simmering down by the finish.
In the women’s race, Teyba Erkesso brought the field through in a suicidal 15:39 for the 5000, and paid the price as she dropped back steadily before eventually dropping out entirely. Meanwhile, Defar and Chepkirui lurked at the front with Werknesh Kidane while American Shalane Flanagan hung on as long as she could manage. She came detached in the time between 10 kilometers and 10 miles, but continued to run strongly. At the front, the race shifted into a two woman race with Kidane falling off the pace. In the closing stages, Defar defeated Chepkirui with her trademark sprint finish. Defar earned a nice road victory, just weeks after her Continental Cup win at 3,000 meters exhibiting her impressive range from 3,000 meters to 21,000 meters+. As for Flanagan, she finished in a solid 1:08:36 and her preparations for the New York City marathon appear to be right on schedule as she described the race as "a glorified training run" beforehand.
In the men’s race, Kisorio won it in the third mile throwing down a 4:24 mile and holding the lead from there. Gebremariam kept the gap at around 10 to 15 seconds, but was unable to close on Kisorio who won in a solid time of 60:25. Gebremariam was nonetheless satisfied with his second place, and channeled his inner Austin Powers with this quote to race announced Carrie Tollefson: “Yeah it's a good performance for me. I'm ready, baby.” He plans to take on the other, aforementioned Geb at New York in his marathon debut.
Meanwhile, for Hall the race is discouraging as he is only about a month away from the Chicago Marathon, which he is keying on. True to his custom, Hall decided to lay off the early pace, but his conservatism paid no dividends as he slowed down and lost ground constantly, even after going through the first 5K some 43 seconds behind the leaders. His time was a dreadful 63:55, which even if doubled (2:07:50) would likely place him well out of contention in most full marathons. Given the incredible depth of Kenyans and Ethiopians in any major event nowadays, a strategy of running one’s own race and bridging the gap on fast-starting or unevenly-paced competitors seems unlikely to result in victories or podium finishes. Sure a few guys may come back, but it’s unlikely all of them will come back. I’ll echo what many Hall fans and critics feel, and hope that he tries to mix it up a bit more with the protagonists and maybe even does some tune-ups before his races, so as to be race-sharp. If Hall’s training is going as well as he generally says it is, there’s no reason that he should be losing races in the first 5 kilometers.
On that somber note, I hope everyone had a great weekend!
[Thanks to letsrun.com and their race reports, where I culled a lot of information]
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