Today in Berlin, he laid the smack down on his own marathon world record (2:04:26) by running a crazy fast 2:03:59. Not too shabby for a 35 year old eh?
Check out the splits:
5 km 00:14:35
10 km 00:29:13
15 km 00:44:03
20 km 00:58:50
half 01:02:05
25 km 01:13:41
30 km 01:28:27
35 km 01:43:05
40 km 01:57:34
Let me break that down for you. This incredible athlete averaged a 4:43/mile or 2:56/km for the entire 42.2 km. Now go out your door and try to run 1 km or mile at that speed.
I guess skipping the Olympic Marathon paid off. But would he rather have an Olympic Gold medal or a world record? The hot and humid conditions of Beijing definitely would have made a world record attempt not possible though. The conditions on Berlin today was perfect for running a marathon. Sunny, 9 degrees Celsius to start and 13 degrees by the end of the race.
As great as Gebrselassie is, I think that Kenenisa Bekele could even be better. He holds the world record in the 5km (12:37.35) and 10 km (26:17.53 ). If he makes the move to the half and full marathon the world better watch out.
Congrats go out to a few buddies of mine who ran the Scotiabank Half and Full Marathon today (a race I was supposed to be a pace bunny at for the 4th time -- but couldn't due to my wonderful Achilles injury). Special mention goes out to a few former students who finally stepped up to the plate. Both were first timers and one did 1:53 half, and the other completed his first marathon. Way to go dudes.
Til next time, thanks for reading.
RH
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