London Marathon
Taken from iaaf.org. Sigh, Haile finished in 9th position. From the little that I watched on Eurosports, it looked like they were really hammering the pace. I would think Haile needs more time to get himself used to the marathon. Well done to Deena. She looks damn hardcore and from what I've read about her, she is pretty hardcore with her training. Trains with Meb Keflezighi. You can tell from her physical appearance- which is similar to Paula Radcliffe's- very very very very lean, toned, muscular. Borderline skinny.
******************************************************************************
Limo wins ‘brain game’, Kastor fourth fastest ever - London Marathon
Sunday 23 April 2006
London, UK - On a rainy spring morning 25-years-ago, an American and a Norwegian crossed the finishing line of the first London Marathon hand-in-hand to establish the spirit of the event to this day. But when two Kenyan team mates turned the final corner of the 2006 Flora London Marathon shoulder-to-shoulder on another typically cool and damp London morning today, there was little chance that Felix Limo or Martin Lel would spontaneously engage in a mutual non-aggression pact over the final strides.
Brutal early pace
They had already endured more than 25 miles of a gripping race which for more than half the distance had been fought out at better than World record pace, but which in the later stages had slowed into a tactical encounter between possibly the finest collection of distance runners ever seen.
"When everyone started to watch one another, I knew it would be a brain game," said Limo.
"And I used my brain," said the 25-year-old, $105,000 richer for having sprinted off the final bend into the flag-draped Mall to win the race in 2:06:39, beating the defending London champion, Lel, by two seconds, with South Africa's Hendrik Ramaala third and also inside 2:07, with 2:06:55, as seven men broke 2:08.
Yet the carnage of the brutal early pace could be seen in the state of some of the world-class performers as they finished. For Evans Rutto, the 2004 winner, every stride appeared to be an agony as he jogged down Birdcage Walk, while Haile Gebrselassie, numerous World records to his name, was reduced to a walk across the finishing line after being dropped by the leaders by nearly three minutes in the last two miles, as he finished a well-beaten ninth in 2:09:05.
US record, as everything goes to plan
Although Gebrselassie's race went far from to plan, Deena Kastor's worked just about perfectly.
The American became the fourth fastest woman of all-time with her 2:19:36, as she set out at the pace she had requested and came back even quicker, simply running away from all opposition. Russia's Lyudmila Petrova, having run more patiently than some, came through in the last two miles to snatch second place in 2:21:29, like Kastor's time, also a national record, from Kenya's Susan Chepkemei (2:21:46).
Berhane Adere, the 2003 World champion and 2005 silver medallist at 10,000 metres, on her serious debut at the marathon, produced an Ethiopian record 2:21:52, just catching another Russian, Galina Bogomolova (2:21:58).
Sixth was Mara Yamauchi, becoming the second fastest Briton of all time, her 2:25:13 being more than 14 minutes better than she managed in this same race just two years ago.
The outcome of both men's and women's races had been strongly influenced by pacemakers, who in both cases were male.
MEN's race
In the men's race, which had seen a leading group of a dozen, including Khalid Khannouchi, the former World record holder, zip across Tower Bridge and turn right out towards the Isle of Dogs, 20km was reached in 59:20, some 25 seconds quicker than Paul Tergat at the equivalent point on his World record-setting run in Berlin in 2003.
Halfway was reached in 62:33. Gebrselassie was tucked in just behind the pace setters, Fabiano Joseph and Paul Kimugul, and looked comfortable, clocking 1:29:21 at the officially timed 30km mark.
But by this stage Morocco's double World champion, Jaoud Gharib, had already dropped off the pace as the miles were clicking past in 4:45 to 4:48. Khannouchi, in his first marathon for 18 months, was the next to see daylight develop between himself and the leaders.
But when Joseph and Kimugul stepped off the road, with the leaders by now heading back westwards towards the City and Westminster, it was as if someone applied the handbrake to the lead group.
It was now that what Limo called "the brain games" began. Mile splits dropped, down to 5:07 for the 22nd mile, and Khannouchi managed to get himself back among the mix. In the space of a few miles, we had gone from watching a World record attempt to a kickers' race.
Rodgers Rop, Lel and Limo rolled down the slope at Tower Hill, and suddenly gaps started to appear again. Gebrselassie's tell-tale distress signal went out, as his right hand began to flap. He would play no further role in this race as a contest, instead being reduced to the role of most of the 35,000 runners, as someone for whom survival and finishing was all that mattered.
After the first surge downhill, there was brief respite in the leaders' pace, but then Lel took charge going into the final 5km of the race.
Approaching the last, stiff climb out of the Blackfriars Underpass, it looked like the decisive move. Ramaala, a past winner of the New York City Marathon, tried to bridge the gap, but could not. Rop lost contact and started to drift back. But Limo, after seeming beaten at first, steadily worked his way back to Lel. The 25th mile was run in 4:33, as these two eyeballed each other before their final effort.
Organisers of the World Marathon Masters series, with its $1 million jackpot for the best distance runners over a two-year period, must have been thrilled as they watched the 2005 London winner duelling with last year's Chicago champion as they passed Big Ben.
Again, Lel tried to get away, and seemed, again, to get a stride's advantage. But Limo, who has also won both Berlin and Rotterdam in the past, was far from done. As if it were a track race, he waited until he had turned the final bend and kicked one last time. Lel could not respond and the race was won.
WOMEN's race
For Kastor, she had not seen any rivals since before the 30km point, which she had passed in her first US record of the day (1:39:08). Like clockwork, the women's pacemakers Henry Targus and Kastor's regular training partner, Mike McKeeman, had gone through halfway in 1:09:48 - Kastor had asked for 69:45 to 70:15, with the intention of running a negative split.
Only Chepkemei managed to stay with Kastor, and then only as far as 25km. Salina Kosgei had also tried, but she was not helped when she slipped and fell into one of the tables at a drinks station in Greenwich, close to the six-mile mark. Kosgei, who took the 2002 Commonwealth Games 10,000m title, quickly made good the lost ground, but was able to stay with her two more experienced rivals only temporarily.
Kastor, too, had a slip betwixt cup and lip, the wet roads seeing her bang her hand at a drinks station at around 35km. But by then it seemed only a major catastrophe could stop her winning the race. The real questions were becoming: by how far? And how fast?
Possibly her two biggest rivals, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, the World Half Marathon champion from Romania, and Margaret Okayo of Kenya, were disappoinments today. Neither made much of an attempt to go with the early pace. Tomescu-Dita had promised to run a patient race and play catch-up in the closing stages. But there are few who can make good a deficit of more than four minutes to the leaders at 30km, as was the case here.
While Kastor had the benefit of the constant attentions of two pacemakers, and the chasing group with the two Russians and Adere also had the benefit of a male "minder", Chepkemei might have cause to feel a little aggrieved, since for the tough final 10km section of the race, she had only herself for company.
At 35km, the Kenyan woman was 61 seconds down on Kastor (1:55:43), but 67 ahead of Bogomolova and Petrova, with Adere going through her own bad patch a further seven seconds behind.
As Kastor kept up her relentless pursuit of her sub-2:20 goal, seemingly glancing at her wristwatch every other stride as she forced herself through a 5:12 24th mile, and 5:27 for Mile 25, behind her, Petrova had set off in sole pursuit of the runners-up prize, and as she passed under Waterloo Bridge with a mile to go, the Russian caught Chepkemei.
Thus Kastor has added the London title to her win in Chicago last autumn, although this time she achieved victory in a much more convincing manner. Despite her professed desire to forget about marathon running from Monday morning, she may be made some very tempting offers to defend both titles in the next 12 months.
"I was very happy with that," Kastor said. "The weather was perfect for marathon running.
"I'm sure I didn't look that good, but that was a real sprint from me at the finish - I was determined to get under 2:20."
Steven Downes for the IAAF
Flora London Marathon - Results
Men
1. Felix Limo (KEN) 2:06:39
2. Martin Lel (KEN) 2:06:41
3. Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:06:55
4. Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 2:07:04
5. Stefano Baldini (ITA) 2:07:22
6. Rogers Rop (KEN) 2:07:34
7. Hicham Chatt (MAR) 2:07:59
8. Jaouad Gharib (MAR) 2:08:45
9. Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 2:09:05
10. Evans Rutto (KEN) 2:09:35
Women
1. Deena Kastor (USA) 2:19:36
2. Lyudmila Petrova (RUS) 2:21:29
3. Susan Chepkemei (KEN) 2:21:46
4. Berhane Adere (ETH) 2:21:52
5. Galina Bogomolova (RUS) 2:21:58
6. Mara Yamauchi (GBR) 2:25:13
7. Constantina Dita (ROM) 2:27:51
8. Salina Kosgei (KEN) 2:28:40
9. Margaret Okayo (KEN) 2:29:16
10. Eri Hayakawa (JPN) 2:31:41
******************************************************************************
Limo wins ‘brain game’, Kastor fourth fastest ever - London Marathon
Sunday 23 April 2006
London, UK - On a rainy spring morning 25-years-ago, an American and a Norwegian crossed the finishing line of the first London Marathon hand-in-hand to establish the spirit of the event to this day. But when two Kenyan team mates turned the final corner of the 2006 Flora London Marathon shoulder-to-shoulder on another typically cool and damp London morning today, there was little chance that Felix Limo or Martin Lel would spontaneously engage in a mutual non-aggression pact over the final strides.
Brutal early pace
They had already endured more than 25 miles of a gripping race which for more than half the distance had been fought out at better than World record pace, but which in the later stages had slowed into a tactical encounter between possibly the finest collection of distance runners ever seen.
"When everyone started to watch one another, I knew it would be a brain game," said Limo.
"And I used my brain," said the 25-year-old, $105,000 richer for having sprinted off the final bend into the flag-draped Mall to win the race in 2:06:39, beating the defending London champion, Lel, by two seconds, with South Africa's Hendrik Ramaala third and also inside 2:07, with 2:06:55, as seven men broke 2:08.
Yet the carnage of the brutal early pace could be seen in the state of some of the world-class performers as they finished. For Evans Rutto, the 2004 winner, every stride appeared to be an agony as he jogged down Birdcage Walk, while Haile Gebrselassie, numerous World records to his name, was reduced to a walk across the finishing line after being dropped by the leaders by nearly three minutes in the last two miles, as he finished a well-beaten ninth in 2:09:05.
US record, as everything goes to plan
Although Gebrselassie's race went far from to plan, Deena Kastor's worked just about perfectly.
The American became the fourth fastest woman of all-time with her 2:19:36, as she set out at the pace she had requested and came back even quicker, simply running away from all opposition. Russia's Lyudmila Petrova, having run more patiently than some, came through in the last two miles to snatch second place in 2:21:29, like Kastor's time, also a national record, from Kenya's Susan Chepkemei (2:21:46).
Berhane Adere, the 2003 World champion and 2005 silver medallist at 10,000 metres, on her serious debut at the marathon, produced an Ethiopian record 2:21:52, just catching another Russian, Galina Bogomolova (2:21:58).
Sixth was Mara Yamauchi, becoming the second fastest Briton of all time, her 2:25:13 being more than 14 minutes better than she managed in this same race just two years ago.
The outcome of both men's and women's races had been strongly influenced by pacemakers, who in both cases were male.
MEN's race
In the men's race, which had seen a leading group of a dozen, including Khalid Khannouchi, the former World record holder, zip across Tower Bridge and turn right out towards the Isle of Dogs, 20km was reached in 59:20, some 25 seconds quicker than Paul Tergat at the equivalent point on his World record-setting run in Berlin in 2003.
Halfway was reached in 62:33. Gebrselassie was tucked in just behind the pace setters, Fabiano Joseph and Paul Kimugul, and looked comfortable, clocking 1:29:21 at the officially timed 30km mark.
But by this stage Morocco's double World champion, Jaoud Gharib, had already dropped off the pace as the miles were clicking past in 4:45 to 4:48. Khannouchi, in his first marathon for 18 months, was the next to see daylight develop between himself and the leaders.
But when Joseph and Kimugul stepped off the road, with the leaders by now heading back westwards towards the City and Westminster, it was as if someone applied the handbrake to the lead group.
It was now that what Limo called "the brain games" began. Mile splits dropped, down to 5:07 for the 22nd mile, and Khannouchi managed to get himself back among the mix. In the space of a few miles, we had gone from watching a World record attempt to a kickers' race.
Rodgers Rop, Lel and Limo rolled down the slope at Tower Hill, and suddenly gaps started to appear again. Gebrselassie's tell-tale distress signal went out, as his right hand began to flap. He would play no further role in this race as a contest, instead being reduced to the role of most of the 35,000 runners, as someone for whom survival and finishing was all that mattered.
After the first surge downhill, there was brief respite in the leaders' pace, but then Lel took charge going into the final 5km of the race.
Approaching the last, stiff climb out of the Blackfriars Underpass, it looked like the decisive move. Ramaala, a past winner of the New York City Marathon, tried to bridge the gap, but could not. Rop lost contact and started to drift back. But Limo, after seeming beaten at first, steadily worked his way back to Lel. The 25th mile was run in 4:33, as these two eyeballed each other before their final effort.
Organisers of the World Marathon Masters series, with its $1 million jackpot for the best distance runners over a two-year period, must have been thrilled as they watched the 2005 London winner duelling with last year's Chicago champion as they passed Big Ben.
Again, Lel tried to get away, and seemed, again, to get a stride's advantage. But Limo, who has also won both Berlin and Rotterdam in the past, was far from done. As if it were a track race, he waited until he had turned the final bend and kicked one last time. Lel could not respond and the race was won.
WOMEN's race
For Kastor, she had not seen any rivals since before the 30km point, which she had passed in her first US record of the day (1:39:08). Like clockwork, the women's pacemakers Henry Targus and Kastor's regular training partner, Mike McKeeman, had gone through halfway in 1:09:48 - Kastor had asked for 69:45 to 70:15, with the intention of running a negative split.
Only Chepkemei managed to stay with Kastor, and then only as far as 25km. Salina Kosgei had also tried, but she was not helped when she slipped and fell into one of the tables at a drinks station in Greenwich, close to the six-mile mark. Kosgei, who took the 2002 Commonwealth Games 10,000m title, quickly made good the lost ground, but was able to stay with her two more experienced rivals only temporarily.
Kastor, too, had a slip betwixt cup and lip, the wet roads seeing her bang her hand at a drinks station at around 35km. But by then it seemed only a major catastrophe could stop her winning the race. The real questions were becoming: by how far? And how fast?
Possibly her two biggest rivals, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, the World Half Marathon champion from Romania, and Margaret Okayo of Kenya, were disappoinments today. Neither made much of an attempt to go with the early pace. Tomescu-Dita had promised to run a patient race and play catch-up in the closing stages. But there are few who can make good a deficit of more than four minutes to the leaders at 30km, as was the case here.
While Kastor had the benefit of the constant attentions of two pacemakers, and the chasing group with the two Russians and Adere also had the benefit of a male "minder", Chepkemei might have cause to feel a little aggrieved, since for the tough final 10km section of the race, she had only herself for company.
At 35km, the Kenyan woman was 61 seconds down on Kastor (1:55:43), but 67 ahead of Bogomolova and Petrova, with Adere going through her own bad patch a further seven seconds behind.
As Kastor kept up her relentless pursuit of her sub-2:20 goal, seemingly glancing at her wristwatch every other stride as she forced herself through a 5:12 24th mile, and 5:27 for Mile 25, behind her, Petrova had set off in sole pursuit of the runners-up prize, and as she passed under Waterloo Bridge with a mile to go, the Russian caught Chepkemei.
Thus Kastor has added the London title to her win in Chicago last autumn, although this time she achieved victory in a much more convincing manner. Despite her professed desire to forget about marathon running from Monday morning, she may be made some very tempting offers to defend both titles in the next 12 months.
"I was very happy with that," Kastor said. "The weather was perfect for marathon running.
"I'm sure I didn't look that good, but that was a real sprint from me at the finish - I was determined to get under 2:20."
Steven Downes for the IAAF
Flora London Marathon - Results
Men
1. Felix Limo (KEN) 2:06:39
2. Martin Lel (KEN) 2:06:41
3. Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) 2:06:55
4. Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 2:07:04
5. Stefano Baldini (ITA) 2:07:22
6. Rogers Rop (KEN) 2:07:34
7. Hicham Chatt (MAR) 2:07:59
8. Jaouad Gharib (MAR) 2:08:45
9. Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 2:09:05
10. Evans Rutto (KEN) 2:09:35
Women
1. Deena Kastor (USA) 2:19:36
2. Lyudmila Petrova (RUS) 2:21:29
3. Susan Chepkemei (KEN) 2:21:46
4. Berhane Adere (ETH) 2:21:52
5. Galina Bogomolova (RUS) 2:21:58
6. Mara Yamauchi (GBR) 2:25:13
7. Constantina Dita (ROM) 2:27:51
8. Salina Kosgei (KEN) 2:28:40
9. Margaret Okayo (KEN) 2:29:16
10. Eri Hayakawa (JPN) 2:31:41
posted by pm19 at
12:35 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home