Monday, February 20, 2006
2/20/05: GERESALASSIE'S WORLD RECORD HALF MARATHON: the scene, details, interview and amazing splits!
By Larry Eder, Publisher Cal Track & Running News and President of Running Network
On Saturday, January 14, 2006, I met with Mike Long, the elite coordinator for the Elite Racing team. Mike was setting up the world record attempt by Haile Gebresalassie on Sunday morning over 20k and the Half marathon. Mike had organized this event for the Emperor, as Haile is called, to go after world records number 19 and 20.
The record attempt required nearly a hundred support people. Think about it, the course has to measured, remeasured and each kilometer has to be officially recorded. There were timers at 15k, 10 miles, 20k and the half marathon.
The attempt would be done over the second half of the PF Changs Marathon course. Gebresalassie would have four of his training partners, all elite runners, pacing him and there were several other local runners in the event as well.
*******
Runners and media were required to be at the media bus for the special half marathon by 6.30 am. I got there early as I wanted to see if Mr. G was like most mortals-did he seem to be nervous, as he was going to have to run 13. 1 miles in 4 minutes 30.5 seconds a mile to break the record?
When I got to the elite meeting center, Haile was playing pool with some of his training partners. He was laughing, relaxed and having a good time. His game of pool was good, I do not believe that Mr. G will become a pool hustler soon, but he was amazing relaxed.
Then I remembered, every time I have seen him race, since 1995 in Goteborg, in 1996 in Atlanta, in 1999 in Seville, in 2001 in Edmonton, Haile Gebreselassie, the Emperor has been relaxed and gracious.
******
The nature of excellence. No one runs thirteen miles and one tenth miles in four minutes and thirty seconds per mile without having spent years, upon years mastering the craft of distance running. While the effort may look effortless, that comes from hard work, grueling interval sessions, hard training efforts and the ability to focus on the present at the same time gauging when the exact last ounce of effort will be used.
Think about it. Sergei Bubka clearing 6 meters was a genius. Jonathan Edwards, his brilliant triple jumping over a decade and his two world records in 1995, after years of hard work, moments of complete brilliance. Bubka trained in an unheated, poorly lit facility in Donetsk. It made him strong, focused and brilliant in the pole vault for over a decade.
*****
Haile Gebresalassie is a genius at distance running. He has huge talent, and an amazing ability to withstand the training and fast paced work needed to be king of distance running. Each and every time Mr. G toed the line in a World Championships, Olympic Championships or a Golden League meeting, over twelve years, there would be someone new to compete against.
Genius does not make the effort easier, it allows the runner however, with the proper work, training, and focus to reach amazing levels. Running 10,000 meters on the track, with twenty three other challengers, and lap after lap, dropping off the pretenders, until with about sixteen hundred meters to go, it is down to four, then three, then with 200 meters to go, it is down to two...one runner pulls ahead, by inches, a hundred meters to go, Haile takes one more breath, and in the last three meters he makes one last effort, and wins...this would be amazing if it happened one time, but when you spend your entire career running against the best runners in the world, and each championship is determined by inches, then you must be Haile Gebresalassie.
******
The race morning was cold and clear. The Elite Racing team had put the starting line at the mid way of the course. As Haile and his training partners were warming up, the real running geeks began to show up. First, it was two kids who asked Haile to sign posters, which he did. Then, it was a crew of runners, many who had been part of the distance running scene for years.
The race got off to a fast start, as the pack of four with Gebreselassie tucked into third place. The first kilometer was hit in 2.35!, There were three pace cars, plus the media vehicle and a group of twenty bicyclists. The weather was chilly, high 40s, and a bit windy, but Gebreselassie looks relaxed. Two kilometers is hit in 5.28, three kilometers is hit in 8.18. Four guys running by themselves, as they pass band stands-each mile, and teams of cheerleaders cheer the runners as they go by. There is a young athlete holding the kilometer signs so Mr. G and team knows where they are at on the course.
Already at three kilometers, they are six seconds over the race pace of 2.48 per kilometer, and 4.31 per mile. The media truck has about twenty of us in the back, holding on as the driver speeds up, slows down, speeds up, slows down. There are a few turns on the early part of the course, and the wind is picking up. Can Mr. G does this?
One of the pace makers fell off at 4k, which was passed in 11.09, a 2.51 fourth kilometer. By five kilometers, hitting in 14.05, a 2.56 kilometer, heading right into the wind, with the second pace maker in trouble. Mr. G is running in the middle of the street, right on the shoulder of the first pacer. His stride is clean, and he has a bit of a swirling motion with his right arm as he runs, but his clean track stride looks even cleaner on the road--everyone else around him looks like plodders!
The second pacer falls off, and at 6k, hit in 16.53, a 2.48 kilometer, the first pacer is having trouble. By seven kilometers, Mr. G is all alone, and he hits seven kilometers in 19.43, and this is where the race begins. Haile throws in a ninth kilometer in 2.45 ( 25.16),a tenth kilometer in 2.45, and you have the first 10 in 28.01--the easiest ten kilometers this writer has even seen on the road.
But, my friends, Mr. G was just getting started. Now, please remember, the weather is in the mid 40,s and it is windy and we are beginning to have a bit of an incline. It is here, on the most challenging, most unprotected parts of the course, where the Emperor has to make his decision, he must run hard here or loose the attempt for the records.
As this writer begins to doubt, Mr. G begins his race. His eleventh kilometer is in 2.43 (30.44), his twelfth kilometer is in 2.43 (33.27), his thirteenth in 2.45 (36.12), his fourteenth kilo in 2.44 (38.56) and his fifteenth in 2.49 ( 41.45). The last five kilometers, run in 13.44 just gave Mr. G the U.S. All comers record for 15 kilometers in 41.45. And the race is on!
The next kilometer, in 2.50, gives Mr. G the All Comers record at 10 miles in 44.35-under 4.30 a mile! And this was on the incline and into the wind!
Each time Mr. G passes a mile standard, he is cheered by the water table volunteers, and the cheerleaders and bands who will later greet the marathoners.
Mr. G, running relaxed, and focused, is starting to show the effort, he hits the 17th kilometer in 2.43, for 47.18, 18k in 2.44 for 50.02, and the 19k in 2.40 for 52.51. He is in the hunt now for the world record at 20 kilometers.
By this time, the media truck is gone, and we are watching his efforts on a large video screen, with the splits being announced by Ian Brooks, the race announcer, and the crowd at the finish is enormous.
The wind is unrelenting, and Haile Gebresalassie is getting tired, but his race is near its end. 20 kilometers gives him a 2.57 kilometer, and his nineteenth world record, as he hits 20k in 55.48!
The runner struggles, onward, where is the finish line? The twenty first kilometer is hit in 2.55, or 58.43 and it is 12 seconds of sprinting to the finish! The crowd is screaming, the Ethiopian flags are flowing and Ian Brooks is announcing a new world record as Haile Gebreselassie hits the finish in 58.55 for 21.1 kilometers and the world record, the 20th for Mr. G is a reality. The effort in this race can be seen in the face of the lone runner, as he focused on the last kilometers.
Consider this, a first 10k in 28.01 and a second 10k, by himself in 27.40!
How great of an athlete is Haile Gebreslassie? After providing the following interview for ATF, Mr. G spent over two hours signing autographs and taking pictures with the thousands of fans that surrounded him after this amazing race.
*********
Haile Gebresalassie: Chasing Paavo Nurmi
ATF: Well, Haile, Congratulations. You now have 20 world records, two short of Paavo Nurmi. Is that important to you, to beat his records?
HG: Of course, I want to reach the twenty two world records of Nurmi. But, today is something special, not just two world records, this is fantastic. Another time I broke the ten miles, and also a fifteen kilometers, but there were no timers at the fifteen kilometer.
ATF: What was your favorite world record of the twenty world records that you have set?
HG: Well, you remember, my first five kilometer record in 1995, that was special...and these two, I liked running on the roads today, but they were very, very tough.
ATF: Have you changed your training, now that you are racing on the roads?
HG: My training is different, because I almost concentrate on speed in training, I am trying to...study the endurance training, top end road running is a different thing..It is hard, but I am training well.
ATF: With all of your success on the roads, will we see you race the 10k on the track this year?
HG: Ah, maybe, I am thinking of running one or two 10,000s in Europe, I am happy staying with on the roads...
ATF: What do you think about road racing?
HG: Running the marathon is fantastic, the people, the bicycles are fantastic, I love running marathons.
ATF: I do remember seeing you run in Boston several years ago over the 3,000 meters indoors. The number of Ethiopians in the crowd was amazing, do you enjoy seeing your countrymen in the stands?
HG: Of course, but, there are not many Ethiopians in Arizona. But when I run, they come, and I like that.
ATF: Do you feel pressure when you race, how do you deal with it?
HG: When I race, people expect something, from the beginning, they wanted something, imagine what people are supposed to feel if I did not get records today..I feel pressure, and if I do not perform, I am not happy when I do not run well.
After 1995, 1994, no body cares if Gebresalassie wins, but if he breaks the record. Nobody cares if I win, but record. Records are something special, I like records, but it is pressure.
ATF: Can you say something to American youth about your country, and about
fitness?
HG: Especially in America, something very important, kids are overweight, that will affect the rest of their lives, when you are getting alot of problems, ah, I think that in North America that they know the hard life, you see... it helps to exercise.
ATF: Tell us about your training group.
HG: We train with twenty. I like being with a group, that is why I do ran well today, I like my group.
ATF: Did you expect your pacers to stay longer? What did you say to them?
HG: I expected them to be with me until 10 kilometers, I said don't worry, be with me and do not worry about the time.
ATF: You drew a big crowd today, and you seem to enjoy road racing, how do you see this part of the sport?
HG: I enjoy just running on the road, this thing is that is very special, track, compared to this, track is something boring, you do not see everyone.
ATF: So, getting records 21 and 22 is pretty important to you, what distances do you think you should do?
HG: ( Smiling now) I do not know, what do you think I should do?
ATF: I think you should go after the 25 kilometer and 30 kilometer! You can get Seko's ( Toshihiko Seko) records on the roads.
HG: Mmmm, I like that.
ATF: You have run well today, and your training is going well for London, what will you do there?
HG: ( Broader smile) Ah, London, will be something special! It will be a great race!
*********
We will finish up with the actual official splits for the World Records at 20k and Half marathon, run by Haile Gebreselassie on January 15, 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Haile Gebrselassie's half-marathon world record 1K splits
DIST Split OVERALL
1K 2:35 2:35
2K 2:53 5:28
3K 2:50 8:18
4K 2:51 11:09
5K 2:56 14:05
6K 2:48 16:53
7K 2:50 19:43
8K 2:48 22:31
9K 2:45 25:16
10K 2:45 28:01
11K 2:43 30:44
12K 2:43 33:27
13K 2:45 36:12
14K 2:44 38:56
15K 2:49 41:45 U.S. All-Comers record
16K 2:50 44:35
10MI 44:53 U.S. All-Comers record
17K 2:43 47:18
18K 2:44 50:02
19K 2:49 52:51
20K 2:57 55:48 world record
21K 2:55 58:43
21.1K 3:07 58:55 world record
DIST Overall 5K split 10K split
5K 14:05
10K 28:01 13:56
15K 41:45 13:44 27:40
20K 55:48 14:03 27:47 ¶ 7:53 PM
By Larry Eder, Publisher Cal Track & Running News and President of Running Network
On Saturday, January 14, 2006, I met with Mike Long, the elite coordinator for the Elite Racing team. Mike was setting up the world record attempt by Haile Gebresalassie on Sunday morning over 20k and the Half marathon. Mike had organized this event for the Emperor, as Haile is called, to go after world records number 19 and 20.
The record attempt required nearly a hundred support people. Think about it, the course has to measured, remeasured and each kilometer has to be officially recorded. There were timers at 15k, 10 miles, 20k and the half marathon.
The attempt would be done over the second half of the PF Changs Marathon course. Gebresalassie would have four of his training partners, all elite runners, pacing him and there were several other local runners in the event as well.
*******
Runners and media were required to be at the media bus for the special half marathon by 6.30 am. I got there early as I wanted to see if Mr. G was like most mortals-did he seem to be nervous, as he was going to have to run 13. 1 miles in 4 minutes 30.5 seconds a mile to break the record?
When I got to the elite meeting center, Haile was playing pool with some of his training partners. He was laughing, relaxed and having a good time. His game of pool was good, I do not believe that Mr. G will become a pool hustler soon, but he was amazing relaxed.
Then I remembered, every time I have seen him race, since 1995 in Goteborg, in 1996 in Atlanta, in 1999 in Seville, in 2001 in Edmonton, Haile Gebreselassie, the Emperor has been relaxed and gracious.
******
The nature of excellence. No one runs thirteen miles and one tenth miles in four minutes and thirty seconds per mile without having spent years, upon years mastering the craft of distance running. While the effort may look effortless, that comes from hard work, grueling interval sessions, hard training efforts and the ability to focus on the present at the same time gauging when the exact last ounce of effort will be used.
Think about it. Sergei Bubka clearing 6 meters was a genius. Jonathan Edwards, his brilliant triple jumping over a decade and his two world records in 1995, after years of hard work, moments of complete brilliance. Bubka trained in an unheated, poorly lit facility in Donetsk. It made him strong, focused and brilliant in the pole vault for over a decade.
*****
Haile Gebresalassie is a genius at distance running. He has huge talent, and an amazing ability to withstand the training and fast paced work needed to be king of distance running. Each and every time Mr. G toed the line in a World Championships, Olympic Championships or a Golden League meeting, over twelve years, there would be someone new to compete against.
Genius does not make the effort easier, it allows the runner however, with the proper work, training, and focus to reach amazing levels. Running 10,000 meters on the track, with twenty three other challengers, and lap after lap, dropping off the pretenders, until with about sixteen hundred meters to go, it is down to four, then three, then with 200 meters to go, it is down to two...one runner pulls ahead, by inches, a hundred meters to go, Haile takes one more breath, and in the last three meters he makes one last effort, and wins...this would be amazing if it happened one time, but when you spend your entire career running against the best runners in the world, and each championship is determined by inches, then you must be Haile Gebresalassie.
******
The race morning was cold and clear. The Elite Racing team had put the starting line at the mid way of the course. As Haile and his training partners were warming up, the real running geeks began to show up. First, it was two kids who asked Haile to sign posters, which he did. Then, it was a crew of runners, many who had been part of the distance running scene for years.
The race got off to a fast start, as the pack of four with Gebreselassie tucked into third place. The first kilometer was hit in 2.35!, There were three pace cars, plus the media vehicle and a group of twenty bicyclists. The weather was chilly, high 40s, and a bit windy, but Gebreselassie looks relaxed. Two kilometers is hit in 5.28, three kilometers is hit in 8.18. Four guys running by themselves, as they pass band stands-each mile, and teams of cheerleaders cheer the runners as they go by. There is a young athlete holding the kilometer signs so Mr. G and team knows where they are at on the course.
Already at three kilometers, they are six seconds over the race pace of 2.48 per kilometer, and 4.31 per mile. The media truck has about twenty of us in the back, holding on as the driver speeds up, slows down, speeds up, slows down. There are a few turns on the early part of the course, and the wind is picking up. Can Mr. G does this?
One of the pace makers fell off at 4k, which was passed in 11.09, a 2.51 fourth kilometer. By five kilometers, hitting in 14.05, a 2.56 kilometer, heading right into the wind, with the second pace maker in trouble. Mr. G is running in the middle of the street, right on the shoulder of the first pacer. His stride is clean, and he has a bit of a swirling motion with his right arm as he runs, but his clean track stride looks even cleaner on the road--everyone else around him looks like plodders!
The second pacer falls off, and at 6k, hit in 16.53, a 2.48 kilometer, the first pacer is having trouble. By seven kilometers, Mr. G is all alone, and he hits seven kilometers in 19.43, and this is where the race begins. Haile throws in a ninth kilometer in 2.45 ( 25.16),a tenth kilometer in 2.45, and you have the first 10 in 28.01--the easiest ten kilometers this writer has even seen on the road.
But, my friends, Mr. G was just getting started. Now, please remember, the weather is in the mid 40,s and it is windy and we are beginning to have a bit of an incline. It is here, on the most challenging, most unprotected parts of the course, where the Emperor has to make his decision, he must run hard here or loose the attempt for the records.
As this writer begins to doubt, Mr. G begins his race. His eleventh kilometer is in 2.43 (30.44), his twelfth kilometer is in 2.43 (33.27), his thirteenth in 2.45 (36.12), his fourteenth kilo in 2.44 (38.56) and his fifteenth in 2.49 ( 41.45). The last five kilometers, run in 13.44 just gave Mr. G the U.S. All comers record for 15 kilometers in 41.45. And the race is on!
The next kilometer, in 2.50, gives Mr. G the All Comers record at 10 miles in 44.35-under 4.30 a mile! And this was on the incline and into the wind!
Each time Mr. G passes a mile standard, he is cheered by the water table volunteers, and the cheerleaders and bands who will later greet the marathoners.
Mr. G, running relaxed, and focused, is starting to show the effort, he hits the 17th kilometer in 2.43, for 47.18, 18k in 2.44 for 50.02, and the 19k in 2.40 for 52.51. He is in the hunt now for the world record at 20 kilometers.
By this time, the media truck is gone, and we are watching his efforts on a large video screen, with the splits being announced by Ian Brooks, the race announcer, and the crowd at the finish is enormous.
The wind is unrelenting, and Haile Gebresalassie is getting tired, but his race is near its end. 20 kilometers gives him a 2.57 kilometer, and his nineteenth world record, as he hits 20k in 55.48!
The runner struggles, onward, where is the finish line? The twenty first kilometer is hit in 2.55, or 58.43 and it is 12 seconds of sprinting to the finish! The crowd is screaming, the Ethiopian flags are flowing and Ian Brooks is announcing a new world record as Haile Gebreselassie hits the finish in 58.55 for 21.1 kilometers and the world record, the 20th for Mr. G is a reality. The effort in this race can be seen in the face of the lone runner, as he focused on the last kilometers.
Consider this, a first 10k in 28.01 and a second 10k, by himself in 27.40!
How great of an athlete is Haile Gebreslassie? After providing the following interview for ATF, Mr. G spent over two hours signing autographs and taking pictures with the thousands of fans that surrounded him after this amazing race.
*********
Haile Gebresalassie: Chasing Paavo Nurmi
ATF: Well, Haile, Congratulations. You now have 20 world records, two short of Paavo Nurmi. Is that important to you, to beat his records?
HG: Of course, I want to reach the twenty two world records of Nurmi. But, today is something special, not just two world records, this is fantastic. Another time I broke the ten miles, and also a fifteen kilometers, but there were no timers at the fifteen kilometer.
ATF: What was your favorite world record of the twenty world records that you have set?
HG: Well, you remember, my first five kilometer record in 1995, that was special...and these two, I liked running on the roads today, but they were very, very tough.
ATF: Have you changed your training, now that you are racing on the roads?
HG: My training is different, because I almost concentrate on speed in training, I am trying to...study the endurance training, top end road running is a different thing..It is hard, but I am training well.
ATF: With all of your success on the roads, will we see you race the 10k on the track this year?
HG: Ah, maybe, I am thinking of running one or two 10,000s in Europe, I am happy staying with on the roads...
ATF: What do you think about road racing?
HG: Running the marathon is fantastic, the people, the bicycles are fantastic, I love running marathons.
ATF: I do remember seeing you run in Boston several years ago over the 3,000 meters indoors. The number of Ethiopians in the crowd was amazing, do you enjoy seeing your countrymen in the stands?
HG: Of course, but, there are not many Ethiopians in Arizona. But when I run, they come, and I like that.
ATF: Do you feel pressure when you race, how do you deal with it?
HG: When I race, people expect something, from the beginning, they wanted something, imagine what people are supposed to feel if I did not get records today..I feel pressure, and if I do not perform, I am not happy when I do not run well.
After 1995, 1994, no body cares if Gebresalassie wins, but if he breaks the record. Nobody cares if I win, but record. Records are something special, I like records, but it is pressure.
ATF: Can you say something to American youth about your country, and about
fitness?
HG: Especially in America, something very important, kids are overweight, that will affect the rest of their lives, when you are getting alot of problems, ah, I think that in North America that they know the hard life, you see... it helps to exercise.
ATF: Tell us about your training group.
HG: We train with twenty. I like being with a group, that is why I do ran well today, I like my group.
ATF: Did you expect your pacers to stay longer? What did you say to them?
HG: I expected them to be with me until 10 kilometers, I said don't worry, be with me and do not worry about the time.
ATF: You drew a big crowd today, and you seem to enjoy road racing, how do you see this part of the sport?
HG: I enjoy just running on the road, this thing is that is very special, track, compared to this, track is something boring, you do not see everyone.
ATF: So, getting records 21 and 22 is pretty important to you, what distances do you think you should do?
HG: ( Smiling now) I do not know, what do you think I should do?
ATF: I think you should go after the 25 kilometer and 30 kilometer! You can get Seko's ( Toshihiko Seko) records on the roads.
HG: Mmmm, I like that.
ATF: You have run well today, and your training is going well for London, what will you do there?
HG: ( Broader smile) Ah, London, will be something special! It will be a great race!
*********
We will finish up with the actual official splits for the World Records at 20k and Half marathon, run by Haile Gebreselassie on January 15, 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Haile Gebrselassie's half-marathon world record 1K splits
DIST Split OVERALL
1K 2:35 2:35
2K 2:53 5:28
3K 2:50 8:18
4K 2:51 11:09
5K 2:56 14:05
6K 2:48 16:53
7K 2:50 19:43
8K 2:48 22:31
9K 2:45 25:16
10K 2:45 28:01
11K 2:43 30:44
12K 2:43 33:27
13K 2:45 36:12
14K 2:44 38:56
15K 2:49 41:45 U.S. All-Comers record
16K 2:50 44:35
10MI 44:53 U.S. All-Comers record
17K 2:43 47:18
18K 2:44 50:02
19K 2:49 52:51
20K 2:57 55:48 world record
21K 2:55 58:43
21.1K 3:07 58:55 world record
DIST Overall 5K split 10K split
5K 14:05
10K 28:01 13:56
15K 41:45 13:44 27:40
20K 55:48 14:03 27:47 ¶ 7:53 PM
