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|  ATF Enewswire - 2006 Flora London Marathon
Volume 9, number 20 ****** From London, Tower Hotel Last fall, Deena Kastor won The LaSalle Bank Chicago
Marathon by a very small margin. Deena described those
last few miles as, "painful." Today, Kastor, running a
brilliantly paced race, destroyed her own American record
with a fine 2.19.36, eclipsing her former record
of 2.21.12. Her win at Flora London was decisive---nearly
two minutes separated Deena from second placer Lyudmila
Petrova in 2.21.29. The top six women all ran personal
bests, with five under 2.22! "I am very pleased, coming into the finish area is the most
spectacular finish . . . I suffered greatly at Chicago last year, I
had that fear as the race went on, in the marathon the 20
mile is the low mark, and I still felt great at that time, I kept
looking at my watch, kept doing the math, checking my
watch, 600 meters to go . . . 400 meters to go . . . 200
meters to go. I am not sure if it looked like a sprint to the
finish, but I was sprinting. I was running conservatively,
which is strange in a marathon. I ran without overexerting
myself." Kastor's agent Ray Flynn told us that Deena ran her plan the
entire race and recovered well afterwards, complaining
about some sore glutes. Deena's splits were quite
impressive: 16.32 at 5k, 33.09 at 10k, 49.41 at 15k, 1.08.12
at 20k, 1.09.48 at half, 1.22.36 at 25k, 1.39.08 at 30k,
1.55.43 at 35k, 2.12.12 at 40k! Deena's splits for the first
and second half were both 1.09.48! Deena's 5k splits were 16.32, 16.37, 16.32, 16.31, 16.24,
16.32, 16.35, 16.29, 16.32---the adjective "metronomic"
should apply here. Deena Kastor, Susan Chepkemei of Kenya, Salina Kosgei
of Kenya broke off by 5k and the
race was on, with group two consisting of Lyudmila Petrova
of Russia, Berhane Adere of Ethiopia, Galina Bogomolova
of Russia, Mara Yamuachi of Great Britain and Constantina
Tomescu-Dita of Romania in tow. The two male pacesetters kept a 2.20 pace, and the only
athlete who looked to be within herself was Kastor. First
Tomescu-Dita dropped off, then Salina Kosgei slipped and
fell just before 10k at the water stop. The course was
overcast, cool and drizzly on and off. The course was
slippery, but
all runners had the same conditions . . . Kastor continued, focused and her strides strong and
relaxed. Her competition fell off by 28 kilometers and after
that, it was Deena and the pacesetters. One of the
pacesetters, her training partner, fell off about 22 miles, and
Deena started to move . . . her miles, between 5.16 and
5.27, were amazing. Consider this: Running the marathon is hard enough.
Running the marathon, focusing on breaking the American
record, becoming the eighth women under 2.20, has got to
be a psychologically challenging situation. This writer
watched Deena from mile 1 to mile 26 and she was doing
the same thing---nice stride, good arm lift, clicking her watch
for each split, getting her drink bottle and staying focused on
the prize. This was the most mature and most challenging
race that Kastor could have run---perfectly paced, focusing
on her game and letting the other runners challenge her, not
she challenging them. Attrition was part of it. Deena's pace was not too hard, it
was, as some call it, just below the red line. She was
comfortable, but not too comfortable. Deena's brow furrows
a bit as she gets later into the race, and over the last four, it
looked like she might be finally human and be facing some
discomfort, but she persevered. And she was rewarded with
a superb American record. Kastor now is one of four women to win both The LaSalle
Bank Chicago Marathon and the Flora London Marathon. The others
include: Ingrid Kristiansen, Joyce Chepchumba and
Paula Radcliffe. Deena was asked what she will do next, her replay was
typical Deena: "I am going to take two weeks off, no training
shoes and relax . . . then, I will go and look at some track
races." In one week, American men showed their stuff in Boston,
and six days later, Deena Kastor showed again, who carries
the mantle on the American women's side. Deena's excellent adventure continues . . . The LaSalle Bank
Chicago, Flora London, and a new marathon AR to go with
her half marathon AR and entry into the exclusive club of sub
2.20 women. Top 10 Women Finishers at London
****** The state of marathoning is such that, in fact, it may be,
along with soccer, the most egalitarina of sports. Runners
from small countries and big countries do well. The only
thing that can be certain is that a new marathon talent will
show up every few months. This holds true for the women as well as the men. The Men's Race The competition in the men's marathon is such that any
one in the top ten can win, so the races become marathon
sprints. Pushing the pace through 40k, catching your breath
for 2k and a 200 meter kick. Today, the men's Flora London Marathon was like a
wonderful game of chess. Felix Limo called the race a
"brain battle." The London course is slightly downhill for the first half, and
the lead pack of Felix Limo and Martin Lel of Kenya, Hendrick Ramaala
of South Africa, Rogers Rop of Kenya, Hicham Chatt of
Morocco, Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, the two time World
Champ, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, Evans Rutto of Kenya,
Abdelkader El Mouaziz of Morocco and Stefano Baldini of
Italy. What a front pack and how could one pick a winner
from this? Yet, from his 2.06.20 at last year's Amsterdam to his world
records at 20k, half and 25k this past
spring, Haile G looked to play the part of the next marathon
deity---and he played the part well. The pack hit the 5k in 14.53, 10k in 29.39 (14.42), and 15k in
44.30 (14.51). The pack hit six, with Baldini holding back,
Gharib off the back and Limo and Lel, leading with not a
sign at all of discomfort. The pack hit the 20k in 59.20, and halfway in a scary
1.02.33--2.05 pace. The pack persisted, and Khannouchi
came back to the pack, with Haile G, easily striding in the
middle of the pack. Lel and Limo (2005 LaSalle Bank Chicago champion)
were right there working hard, but their tough pace was just
making all of the field. 25k was hit in 1.14.18 (14.48), 30k in
1.29.21 (14.33). The 5k between 30 and 35k, run in 15.45,
was where the race began to change. Lel and Limo
extricated themselves from the rest of the field, hitting 35k in
1.45.06 and 40k in 2.00.03. Just at 40k, Haile G had begun
falling back, as did Evans Rutto. After the race, Haile G. told the crowd that he was in super
shape, but that his lower left leg and his right for that matter
were cramping in the rain. "I had my worst result since I
started running internationally in 1991 . . . .I am not unhappy,
as I need to talk to my coach, try some track races and think
about another marathon." And then, there were two . . . Martin Lel and Felix Limo were in a real race. After nearly
25 miles, 40 kilometers, the race would come down
to an all out sprint but who would start, who would give the
other the advantage? Like two prize fighters, waiting for the final bell, both runners
who were exhausted from two hours of world class
marathon running, were faced with a conundrum: to win,
they must reveal their hand--sprinting was a necessity, but
sprinting at the wrong time and with the obvious chance of
running out of gas with 50 meters to go was a real
possibility. Limo and Lel ran together, at near 4.45 pace for the last 2
kilometers, and when the sign noting 200 meters was seen,
and the crowd was going insane, they both took off. At first,
Lel had a small lead, but Limo pumped his arms, head
starting to fall back and kicked like an 800 meter
runner and put two seconds on his adversary before the
finish. Felix Limo added the gold at Flora London to his
LaSalle Bank Chicago win, taking the premier position by
two seconds, 2.06.39 to 2.06.41. After the race, Limo told the crowd how hard he ran at the
end, and how he wanted to win Flora London. Felix Limo
has won The La Salle Bank Chicago and Flora London all in
the same year, duplicating the win of the Flora women's
winner. Limo lead three under 2.07, seven under 2.08, and
ran the second fastest marathon of the year! Top 10 Men's Finishers
******* As I am writing this, 5 hours, 56 minutes and 2 seconds into
the race, and 15,000 finishers to go, the Flora London
Marathon, version 26 is in the record books. The second
stop of the Five Major Marathons Tour has been completed
and the battle is on to be the world's best male and female
marathoner. ***** An aside: Thanks to Ian Stewart, I was able to see the
race
from several venues. The BBC coverage focused, in my
mind, a bit too much on the warm and fuzzy stories,
however, seeing the Flora
London finish line was something that I will always
remember. The finish line is within a short distance of
Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and St. James Park. Think of a
marathon in the U.S. with the finish line on the grounds of
the White House--- it will never happen. Yet, Dave Bedford was in full adidas regalia, watching the
finish area like a hawk. The covered grandstands were full,
with tea and jam sandwiches offered behind them and the
finish area was loaded with fans and well wishers. Jim Hogan, my new best friend, is a spry man with an Irish
brogue so strong I have to truly listen or ask for a translator,
got me from the finish line back to our hotel, the Tower, via
getting kicked out of a taxi, then heading onto the Tube and
making some new friends who were transfixed by Mr.
Hogan. Jim is all of 75, and still runs every day. He also has such a
use of vulgarities that this writer was trying to write some of
them down for future use. The fire in Hogan's eyes and the
stories that he tells, with colorful language and the love and
concern for detail of someone who has lived a colorful and
good life. A former world record holder at 30 kilometers, he held
second in the 1964 Tokyo marathon for 22 miles. Hogan
and Abeba Bekele both broke 1.40 for 20 miles, the first two
to do such a thing. It was not until 2 years later when Hogan,
wearing the vest of Great Britain, took the 1966 Euro
marathon title. His title race is the focus of Ron Clarke's
story on Hogan, and in the story, Hogan's wife, Mary, who
was ill at the time, watched Hogan's run on television at
home (a women of rare patience) the story is told of how
Hogan brought some friends home for tea and biscuits, and
as Mary placed the tray on the table top, she slipped, hurt
her finger and used the word, "Damn." Well, Jim Hogan (a
man who takes the use of vulgarity to level even this writer
has not heard, but is fascinated with), a man prone to well
timed and thought out foul language acted shocked to his
wife and said, " Mary, we do not say words like that in our
house." Trying to get though throngs of people with a 75-years-old
who is striding, going up sidewalks, down sidewalks,
searching for a break, for nearly an hour, was, how shall we
say, enlightening. A man of
immense energy, he flies over from Ireland each and every
year to watch the Flora London Marathon. ******* For a track geek, there is nothing better than coming to
England, watching the London marathon as seeing who
shows up in the Tower bar. In the protective custody of Ian
Stewart and his lovely daughter, Rachael, I met Wendy Sly,
Olympic 3k silver medalist, Charlie Spedding, 84 Olympic
marathon silver medalist, and enough former
internationalists to fill a few World Cross Country teams. What has struck me about London is that the race is part of
the tapestry of the city for a year. And like all successful
marathons, Flora London is a year-long endeavor. This
year, 34,000 plus runners will finish and Flora London will
begin to look at version 27. But don't tell the staff that, they
are preparing for a post race party tonight . . . see you on the
roads! ******* atf newswire is published by shooting star media,inc., proud
member of the runningnetwork, LLC. Copyright 2006 by Shooting Star Media, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
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