The World Marathon Majors series continues tomorrow with the 33rd edition of the real,- Berlin Marathon, and Haile Gebrselassie and Sammy Korir are the overwhelming favorites for victory in the men's race.
Gebrselassie, the two-time Olympic gold medalist at 10,000m and the winner of eight IAAF world track titles, will be running in only his fourth marathon, and his first at Berlin. In his last outing at the 42.195 km distance in London last April, he was bothered by the rainy and slippery conditions and finished a disappointing ninth in 2:09:05.
"The conditions in London didn't suit me," Gebrselassie explained in a press conference in Berlin yesterday. "It was raining and when the road becomes slippery it affects my running style which is to land on the forefoot. Wet conditions can give me injury problems."
Gebrselassie, who set his marathon personal best of 2:06:20 at the ING Amsterdam Marathon last year in his only victory at the distance, is hoping to lower his time, and perhaps threaten the world record of Paul Tergat set on the flat Berlin course in 2003. He's also hoping to win, and he'll have to beat Korir, the man who finished one second behind Tergat in his world record run and who still remains the second fastest marathoner of all-time (2:04:56).
"As for Sammy Korir, Sammy and I don't see each other much away from races but I know he's going to be strong," said Gebrselassie. He added, "I know that Berlin is a very fast course, that’s why I'm here! As for talk of world records, we'll see. If the weather is warm like today, will that bother me? Well, I come from the track and I’m used to warm weather."
Korir has had an up and down marathon career, but has been mostly on form in 2006. Last February he finished third at the Tokyo International Marathon in 2:10:07, then came back just 56 days later to win the Fortis Marathon Rotterdam in 2:06:38, the fastest marathon time recorded this year. Korir has raced just once since then, finishing tenth at La Corsa Piu' Antica in Sicily last July.
"Last year I had problems with injuries now I am fine again," Korir told RRW after his victory at Rotterdam. "I felt strong and confident."
Gebrselassie has been active on the roads this year, first setting a world best for the half-marathon in Phoenix in 58:55, followed by a fast 60:08 half-marathon at Granollers, Spain just a few weeks later. In March he ran 1:11:37 for 25 kilometers in Alphen, Netherlands, but the mark was disallowed as a world record by the IAAF because Gebrselassie did not take a drug test for EPO and by the independent Association of Road Running Statisticians because of illegal pacing. The Ethiopian was supposed to run in the Memorial Peppe Greco on August 20 in Sicily, but never got to the race after his plane was forced to turn back to Addis Ababa because a rabbit got caught in one of the plane's engines.
Both Gebrselassie and Korir will be surrounded by rabbits tomorrow in Berlin. Race director Mark Milde has eight pacemakers listed on his entry sheet, backed up by dozens of athletes who are mostly hoping to improve their personal best times. Other contenders for the top-5 include Driss El Himer of France (2:06:48 PB), Joseph Ngolepus of Kenya (2:07:57), Jackson Koech of Kenya (2:08:02), Michitaka Hosokawa of Japan (2:09:10), Luis Novo of Portugal (2:09:41), Gudisa Shentama of Ethiopia (2:09:46) and Kurao Umeki of Japan (2:09:52).
The women's race, which took a big hit when Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi pulled out with an injury, still features a high quality field led by three-time Olympic medalist, Gete Wami of Ethiopia (2:22:19 PB). She'll be chased by Salina Kosgei of Kenya (2:24:32), Asha Gigi of Ethiopia (2:26:05), Sonja Oberem of Germany (2:26:13) and Shitaye Gemechu of Ethiopia (2:26:15).
In the World Marathon Majors, a two-year series leading to a $1,000,000 purse to be split by the top male and female point-scorers, the top-5 athletes in tomorrow's race will score 25, 15, 10, 5 and one point, respectively. Since none of the athletes currently on the leaderboard are entered in Berlin (see http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com for the complete listing of leaders), after tomorrow's race there will be a three-way tie for first place.
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