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BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday, September 25: Preview of Men's & Women's Races
From the BMW Berlin Marathon
September 23, 2011
Berlin, Germany
Women's race: It should be a match made in heaven, the women’s marathon world record holder finally running on the universally recognised fastest marathon course in the world. But it’s been two years since Paula Radcliffe ran a 42.195k race, finishing fourth in New York 2009, and, on her own admission, “I was hurting”.
Her only race since then was, again in her own words, “a bit of a disaster”. That was a 10k in London in May, when she finished third, in 33.17, the sort of time that she did for each 10k section of her world record 2.15.25 in London 2003.
The fact that the IAAF is proposing (just two days ago) that that record now be considered a ‘world best,’ since it was paced by men, has not pleased her, although she still holds the ‘world record’ 2.17.52 from London 2005. But with two Olympic disappoinments behind the most accomplished women’s distance runner in history, and a need to run close to 2:20 here in Berlin, both to qualify her for London 2012, and to give her the springboard to a potential Olympic victory, it is not untoward to suggest that Sunday’s 38th BMW Berlin Marathon is going to be a (long) moment of truth for the 37 year old Briton.
Radcliffe cited injury and a then undiagnosed thyroid condition, following the birth of her second child Raphael a year ago, as reasons for her poor 10k in May, and has privately admitted to training to do 2:20 here. And on the evidence of previous events here – six world records in a dozen years – the course is the kindest that any marathoner is likely to encounter; the best example being Tegla Loroupe’s run in 1999 when, having reached 30k two minutes down on a really fast time, she astonished herself by taking seven seconds off her own world record.
At Thursday’s pre-race press conference, Radcliffe and Berlin race director Mark Milde reciprocated that they were both top of each other’s wish list. And given that Radcliffe spent some of her university year abroad in Germany, and is more than adequate in the language, she has already endeared herself to the population by fielding press and TV questions in the local lingo.
Victory on Sunday would only make things better on all fronts. “I’ve watched the race on television,” she said, “and I’ve run a little bit in Berlin in the past, so I’m really looking forward to the experience.”
With no mention of pacemakers, Radcliffe’s principal opponent here on Sunday morning is likely to be Kazakh born German Irina Mikitenko, who won both London and Berlin in 2008, and won again in London the following year. An injury forced her out of London last year but after struggling with injuries, she managed a time of 2:24:24 in London in April. Because of the extraordinary field that was only good enough for seventh.
But, like Radcliffe, she says that recent training has gone well, and at a year older, admits that the Briton had been an inspiration for her. “Seeing how Paula developed from the track to the marathon encouraged me to do the same, because we had raced on the track as youngsters.
“I’m really looking forward to running on Sunday since I always wanted to run against Paula in a marathon. Having Paula in the marathon will give the whole event a different atmosphere”.
The other contenders are all Russian – Lidiya Grigorieva, a winner in Boston and Los Angeles in the last five years, and Tatyana Petrova, who also won Los Angeles two years ago.
On the ‘world record-world best’ debate, which is bound to run far longer than any marathon, Mikitenko came out a clear winner, when she said, “When I heard this, I thought it was a joke. How can you achieve something, then it is taken away from you years later?”
Radcliffe said that when she was accompanied by men in London 2003, she made a point of running beside them, and even competing with them, rather than following. “I honestly don’t think that running with men makes any difference. I would still have finished in 2:15.
“It doesn’t matter much to me. You come for a race, and you don’t know how it’s going to go, but you just get on with it”. And as a preview of Sunday’s race, Radcliffe could not have been more positive.
Men's race: All roads lead to Berlin. On Thursday, the German Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Berlin for an official visit, and drove part of the marathon course en route to say mass in the Olympic Stadium. On Friday, two stars of men’s marathoning appeared at the pre-race press conference– world record holder Haile Gebrselassie, and last year’s Berlin winner Patrick Makau.
At 38 years of age, Gebrselassie is by far the more experienced. He mentioned at the press conference that he first ran in Berlin (in an ekiden, a marathon relay) in 1992, the same year that he won a world junior championships double, 5000/10,000m on the track. Subsequently, after two Olympic track golds, a series of world titles and records, he turned to the marathon, and after a hesitant start, third in London 2002, he went on to eight victories in nine completed marathons, including four wins and two world records here in Berlin, the second one, in 2008, being the ground breaking 2:03:59.
Kenyan Patrick Makau is one of the younger generation of East African runners, who have gone directly to the marathon (since prize money on the track is at such a premium, with so many good rivals). 26 year old Makau has built a brief but superlative marathon career, two wins in four completed races with, like Haile, an average of under 2:06.
Note: At the Berlin Marathon in 1998, Belayneh Dinsamo’s world record was lowered by Ronaldo da Costa of Brazil from 2:06:50 to 2:06:05.
It’s fitting that this anticipated duel on Sunday should be between representatives of Ethiopa and Kenya, the East African highland nations who have come to define distance running in recent decades. Both men summed up the rivalry succinctly, with Gebrselassie saying, “We need each other,” while Makau added, “One wins one day, the other wins the next”.
In their most recent marathon races, Gebrselassie dropped out of last autumn’s ING New York City Marathon with knee trouble, while Makau suffered a bad fall in the Virgin London Marathon in April, although he did rally to finish third in 2:05:45.
It is telling that Geb has kept saying that his time on Sunday is more important than the victory. “This is part of my plan for the London Olympics. I have to qualify for London, so I’ve come here, not necessarily for the win, but for the time."
Makau replied, “I’m not under pressure, because I’m running with the champion. I’ve done just a few marathons, Haile has done many marathons with fast times. It’s an opportunity for me to learn and get more experience."
“Last year, conditions were not favourable. This Sunday looks as if the weather will be good, so I’m hoping to do better”.
Patrick Makau won last year in heavy rain, which bunched his sodden socks inside his shoes within ten minutes of the start; but he still prevailed in the final kilometre over colleague Geoffrey Mutai, in 2:05:08. [Six months later, Mutai won the Boston Marathon with an incredible 2:03:02 performance.] If Patrick Makau is as good as his word, then it will take Gebrselassie at his best to beat him on Sunday.
Geb responded to a question about last year's ING New York City Marathon post-race press conference comments about quitting the sport, “It was not in my plan. I was upset [about dropping out of the race], I didn’t plan to retire. New York was complicated [emotion-filled]”.
Geb was also asked why, when he already had two Olympic golds at 10,000m, he wanted to win a marathon gold.
“The marathon medal is the most important,” he replied, “especially for Ethiopians, historically, ever since Abebe Bikila won in 1960 [Rome Olympic Games]. If you go home to Ethiopia after a race, and say you won, people will say, was it a marathon? You say, no, it was a 10k, and they say, oh. . .”
Well, it’s a marathon on Sunday in Berlin, and there are a half dozen pacemakers, prepared to go to 30k or more in pursuit of a 2:05 or faster.
There is an outside chance that one of the other leading entrants could win. But realistically, the race is between Geb and Makau.
And may the better man win.
The BMW Berlin Marathon will be broadcasted live in more than 150 countries. In Germany n-tv will start its 4 hour live coverage at 8.30 am. International coverage is provided by Eurosport, BBC 2, Supersport, Al Jazeera, Sport 5 (Israel), Fuji TV (Japan), CBC (Canada), Sky Mexico, Globosat (Brasil) and by Universal Sports via cable as well as Webstream in the US.