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Apr-13-2008
Lel Takes London Record in History Making Race
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Like a bull at a rodeo, the men's field at the 28th Flora London bolted out of the gate with reckless abandon. The athletes who were strong enough to hang on were rewarded with personal and national records, while others were thrown to the street, their hopes of victory incinerated by the fast pace.
But when the dust had settled at the grand finish line on The Mall, race director David Bedford's bold experiment in aggressive pacemaking yielded --by several measures-- the fastest men's marathon of all-time, with three men cracking 2:06:00, and six men breaking 2:07:00, for the first time ever in a single race. Those times came after a breathtaking 62:12 first half which left some of the world's best marathoners well off the pace.
"It was crazy," said last year's runner-up, Abderrahim Goumri, of the 14:21 (downhill) first 5-K.
But the fast pace, coupled with a cold and drenching rain which fell from the 18th through the 23rd miles, did little to knock defending champion Martin Lel off of his game. Sticking to his pre-race plan of simply following the pace and waiting for the right time to strike, the Race Results Weekly #1-ranked marathoner for 2007 was never more than one stride from the lead through the entire race.
"I was feeling comfortable," said Lel, despite the fast early pace. "It was really in my mind to go for the world record."
Pacemakers Cuthbert Nyasango of Zimbabwe and Dieudonné Disi of Rwanda, took the field through ten miles in a head-spinning 47:12, and nine contenders were undeterred by the electrifying pace. Lel was joined by last year's runner-up Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, 2006 London champion Felix Limo of Kenya, perpetual threat Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, world half-marathon record holder Samuel Wanjiru, American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall, and 2007 Fukuoka Marathon runner-up Deribe Merga of Ethiopia amongst others. Hall, running only in his third marathon, was doing his best to stay in contention, despite all the little surges.
"I've improved a lot in being able to handle the surges, but I need to practice more," said Hall whose coach, Terrence Mahon, decided it was best to go with leaders even if the pace was very fast.
After half-way passed in 62:12, Ramaala found himself falling off the pace in the next mile, and pacemaker Nyasango dropped out. Disi made it almost to the 17th mile, before stepping aside and leaving Lel, Wanjiru, Merga, Yonas Kifle, Goumri, Hall and Emmanuel Mutai still in contention, running at a projected 2:04:14 finish time.
Then the rain started to fall, and the miles began to slow: 4:48 for 19, 4:56 for 20 and 5:05 for 21. That breather was long enough to allow Hall to catch back up, having fallen back in the 17th mile. Then, in the 22nd mile at 35 km, Wanjiru pushed, dropping both Hall and Mutai. The lead group was down to four: Lel, Wanjiru, Merga and Goumri. Lel was most worried about Goumri.
"Goumri is my great friend so I know I had to use my experience," said Lel who lost this race to Felix Limo in 2006 in the final meters. He had adjusted his tactics last year and defeated Goumri in the final sprint.
The rain stopped in the 24th mile, and Merga finally cracked. Goumri took up a following position behind Lel and Wanjiru, hoping that he could prevail in the final sprint to the line. But Wanjiru upped the pace again, Lel covered the move easily and Goumri was dropped. The two Kenyans, likely selections for the Beijing Olympics, came into the final 400m together.
Although the pace had slipped a little, they were well under Khalid Khannouchi's course record.
Lel had begun to shake out his arms like a boxer just before delivering the decisive blow. He surged before the final straightaway, executing the finishing speed which had delivered him two previous victories here. Covering the final 385 yards in 57 seconds (similar to a 60 second 400m), Lel overwhelmed Wanjiru to win here for the third time in four years, smashing Khannouchi's record in a personal best 2:05:15. Wanjiru followed nine seconds later, and Goumri set a Moroccan record of 2:05:30 to fill out the star-studded podium.
Just behind, Hall and Mutai were battling for fourth place and personal best times. The Kenyan held off the American, 2:06:15 to 2:06:17, but Hall was elated to become the second-fastest American of all-time, and he felt prepared to take up his preparations for Beijing.
"I really learned a lot in the race today, more than the other two marathons that I had done," said Hall who revealed that he had wanted to break 2:06. "It's great to be compared to some of those guys," he added, referring to American record holder, Khalid Khannouchi.
MIKITENKO SURPRISES IN WOMEN'S RACE
While Bedford's team deployed four groups of pacers for the men's race, the women ran championship style with no rabbits. Predictably, they had a leisurely start --a 2:43:00 predicted finish after the first mile-- but German Mikitenko soon took charge of the pace, running 5:21 for the 8th mile. A pack of 13 contenders formed, including Romanians Constantina Dita
and Adriana Pirtea; Ethiopians Gete Wami and Berhane Adere; Briton Liz Yelling, Kenyans Salina Kosgei, Everline Kimwei and Emily Kimuria; Algerian Souad Aït Salem, and Russians Ludmila Petrova, Svetlana Zakharova and Silvia Skvortsova.
Mikitenko, running in only her second marathon despite being 35 years-old, was clearly the aggressor, and was part of a four-woman group which gapped the field after a 5:13 15th mile. A mile later, Petrova and Zakharova caught up, joining Mikitenko, Wami, Aït Salem, and Adere. Mikitenko was feeling strong.
"I had so much energy left," she said through a translator after the race. "I knew I could run much faster."
Then, at the 30 km fluid station disaster struck Wami. Aït Salem tripped trying to retrieve her bottle, and Wami fell over her, striking the pavement directly on her face.
"I was reaching for the bottle," said Wami through a translator. "A girl fell in front of me. I fell on my face."
Both athletes managed to get up and rejoin the race, but precious time had been lost. Mikitenko didn't know what had happened to Wami.
"No, I didn't realize it when I was running," said the soft-spoken German. "She was behind me."
In the 21st mile, Kosgei and Petrova were dropped, leaving Mikitenko with just Wami and Zakharova to overcome. Grimacing as the rain began to fall heavily, Mikitenko settled the affair with a 5:13 24th mile. She surprised herself with how quickly she took control of the race.
"I didn't see who was behind me at 40-K," she said. "I realized nobody was behind me."
Splashing her way to the finish, Mikitenko became only the second German to win here (Katrin Dörre won three times), scoring a personal best 2:24:14. A resurgent Zakharova, 38, finished second (2:24:39) while Wami --who limped badly just as soon as she finished-- came third (2:25:37).
In the race for the guaranteed slot on the British Olympic team, Liz Yelling prevailed over Hayley Haining, 2:28:33 to 2:29:18. Both women set personal best, but only Yelling will make it to Beijing, her second Olympic Games.
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