He's already the world record holder for the standard 42,195m marathon distance and has the two fastest times ever to his credit, but Haile Gebrselassie will be back at Berlin on Sunday hoping to shave yet another few seconds off of his world's fastest time of 2:04:26 set on the same course one year ago.
But Gebrselassie admitted today that his preparations for Sunday's real,- Berlin Marathon were not perfect. "I was in good shape until two weeks ago, when I started getting cramps," he told race organizers at a press conference today. "But when you reach such a high level, you always get problems. I'm confident now, but I can't predict a time."
In Berlin last year, Gebrselassie still had four pacemakers with him as he passed 25 km in 1:14:05: Rodgers Rop, Andrew Limo, Philip Serem (all of Kenya) and Eshetu Wondimu of Ethiopia. Both Wondimu and Rop were able to hold on through 30 km (1:28:56), leaving Gebrselassie alone on the pavement to fight the clock. He sealed his record when ran ran the 5 km between 35 and 40 km in a blazing 14:30, a time good enough to win a typical collegiate 5000m race. He won by nearly two and one-half minutes over Kenyan Abel Kirui.
Gebrselassie, 35, has a special affection for the German capital, and said he might run the IAAF World Championships there next August. "Berlin is my lucky city," he said. "I ran well in a junior Ekiden here years ago, and now I'm a marathon runner, I want to run in a world championships here."
His nominal opponent on Sunday is Kenyan Charles Kamathi, the 2001 world 10,000m champion who ran a very solid 2:07:33 personal best in Rotterdam last April. But Kamathi knows that Haile will be running his own race.
"It's a completely different event," said Kamathi. "I won't go with Haile and the pacemakers, I'll go for a 2:06, 2:07 pace. But, if I see that there's a chance to catch him, I’ll challenge."
Top-10 Times Ever at the real,- Berlin Marathon (courtesy of Alltime-Athletics.com):
2:04:26 Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 2007
2:04:55 Paul Tergat (KEN) 2003
2:04:56 Sammy Korir (KEN) 2003
2:05:56 Gebrselassie 2006
2:06:05 Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 1998
2:06:15 Titus Munji (KEN) 2003
2:06:44 Josphat Kiprono (KEN) 1999
2:06:44 Felix Limo (KEN) 2004
2:06:47 Raymond Kipkoech Chemwelo (KEN) 2002
2:06:49 Simon Biwott (KEN) 2001
PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Photo Run courtesy of the real,- Berlin Marathon; used with permission
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