Gebrselassie Sets World Marathon Record and Wami Defends Her Berlin Title
New York Times, United States - September 30, 2007
Cruising alone for the final seven miles on the Berlin city streets lined with damp, golden leaves Sunday morning, Haile Gebrselassie shattered the world record in the marathon by 29 seconds, securing a mark he has coveted since he was a teenager in Ethiopia.
The rain and wind had stopped by 9 a.m. after a soggy three days, and, along with a flat course and five pacesetters flanking him, the conditions were ideal for Gebrselassie’s record run of 2 hours 4 minutes 26 seconds for the 26.2 miles.
It was 29 seconds faster than Paul Tergat’s previous world record on this same course in 2003. To the 34-year-old Gebrselassie, this world record, his 23rd in distances ranging from two miles to 5,000 meters to the marathon, this record was the most satisfying ...
As Gebrselassie repeated as champion (besting his 2:05:56 time of last year), his friend and neighbor, Gete Wami, defended her Berlin title by leading from start to finish and winning in 2:23:17. Irina Mikitenko of Germany finished far behind her in second, in 2:24:51.
This victory may have been eight minutes off world-record pace, but Wami had a different goal, establishing plenty of intrigue for a women’s duel in New York five weeks from now. Wami, 32, will attempt to win the New York City Marathon, hoping to capture the $500,000 prize for the first World Marathon Majors series that concludes on Nov. 4.
Wami moved into first place with 65 points, ahead of the two-time defending New York champion, Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka, who has 55 points. A victory in New York would give Wami 25 points; second place is worth 15 and third place is worth 10.
Wami acknowledged that she eased up the pace in the final seven miles. “Yes, I was thinking about New York,” she said. Running with a male pacemaker the entire distance had aided her victory, she said.
“Now I can prepare for New York,” she said ...