Thursday, April 9, 2009

Last Weekend: 13 Kenyans under 2:09, 2 ran 2:04:27, and 18 year old runs 2:06

(I grabbed all this text from www.letsrun.com . All credit goes to them.)

- On Sunday, Rotterdam had a race for the ages as James Kwambai, the guy who pushed Gebresellasie late in his world record run in Berlin, and Duncan Kibet waged an epic duel all the way to the finish line.

Twice Kwambai had Kibet on the ropes as he opened up a gap between 35 and 40k and then in the last 500m. However, both times, just when it looked like it was over Kibet was able to respond. In the end, Kibet led the race for maybe 5 steps - but he led for the only five steps that mattered - the last five as he got the win as both men ran 2:04:27 - a time only bettered by Haile G. Abel Kirui ran 2:05:04 for 3rd and Patrick Makau ran 2:06:14 in his debut for 4th. The winner, Kibet, is not your normal Kenyan running success story. He grew up in a city, got a late start to running and is now a marathon star. 30-years old, he only ran his first marathon last year when he ran 2:08:33 for 2nd in Austria and 2:07:53 for the win in Milan."

Check out the last 2 mins. Look at this crazy finish!:


Remember, these guys are running 4:40min /miles or FASTER at this time!!

Here's his post marathon interview, where he predicted a 2:05 or 2:06, and says his goal is to break Haile's world record:


- In Paris, the winning times weren't as fast (Vincent Kipruto's 2:05:47) but the depth was unreal as the race set a new record for most sub 2:09s in a single race (11) and tied last year's London with most sub 2:07s (6).

- So taken all-together, 13 different Kenyans broke 2:09 in a single day. One way to really show how incredible this is, is to ask this question:
How many Americans have run under 2:09 in history? The answer..... Six. (wow!)

- To see the revolution in running look further at the Paris results. The winner
Vincent Kipruto-23 years of age, the runner-up, Bazu Worku Hayla, 18 years of age. Yes ladies and gentleman an 18 year old ran 2:06:15.


Boy do I wish the US had better sports channels.

2 comments:

brownie said...

Yeah, I'm gonna hafta watch Boston on the internet.

Shorey said...

those fasties don't sweat & those crowds? Gee, the Austin crowd this year was a huge dud.