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Oct-19-2007
Observing Ramadan, Khannouchi Became Night Runner
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
An observant Muslim, Khalid Khannouchi has faced some unique challenges as he prepares for the USA Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon scheduled for Nov. 3, in New York's Central Park.
During Ramadan, Muslims fast between sunup and sundown. In observance of that tradition, Khannouchi would not begin his training until late at night after he had fully digested his dinner, sometimes finishing his training as late as 2:00 a.m.
Khannouchi, who with wife and coach Sandra, live in Ossining, N.Y. north of New York City, had to change training venues from the Rockefeller Preserve near his house to Central Park. The Preserve, which boasts a lovely network of carriage roads, is pitch-black at night, while the paved Central Park Loop road is well lit, like most of Manhattan This has at least given him the benefit of being able to train on the Trials course.
The former world record holder in the marathon, Khannouchi is still the only man to break the 2:06 barrier three times. Although he has not earned any international championship medals, only appearing in one IAAF World Championships in 2001 and never in an Olympic Games, his victory at the 2002 Flora London Marathon over Paul Tergat and Haile Gegrselassie is considered one of the greatest marathon triumphs of all-time. It was in that race that he set his second marathon world record of 2:05:38. He set his first world record in Chicago in 1999 (2:05:42) when he defeated Kenyan Moses Tanui in a brilliant late-race charge.
The USA Olympic Trials in New York will be Khannouchi's first. He was first eligible to compete in 2000 USA Trials, receiving his citizenship just days before the Trials, but a left hamstring injury and a strained groin kept him out of that race. In late 2003 he abandoned his plans to run the 2004 Trials because of persistent foot and knee injuries.
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