FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Frankfurt Marathon Follow-Up
Selectors are like politicians and, er, journalists - everybody hates them.
But pity the Kenyan Olympic marathon selectors; they have an almost
insuperable problem. Wilson Kipsang's 2.03.42 in the BMW Frankfurt Marathon
on Sunday is up there alongside Patrick Makau's 2.03.38 world record from
Berlin last month; Geoffrey Mutai and Moses Mosop ran 2.03.02 and 2.03.06
respectively, admittedly with a hurricane behind them on a slightly
downhill course in Boston in April; and Abel Kirui established his
credentials for pre-selection for London 2012, by successfully defending
his world title in Korea two months ago. And that's without the
much-missed, mercurial Sammy Wanjiru, who became the first Kenyan to win
the Olympic marathon gold in Beijing.
And the problem is...only three per country can run in the Olympic Games.
Nice problem to have, most countries' selectors might say. But given the
way that the Kenyan federation has comported itself in the past vis a vis
elite selection, this could be a recipe for disaster. That said, recent
events or, rather, selections have shown that a lot of the animosity
between Athletic Kenya and its elite brigade has been ironed out. The
federation wants the best to be at the Olympic Games, and the elites (and
their managers) can see that an another Olympic gold medal for a Kenyan
marathoner - as close to a 'cert' as you're likely to get in athletics – is
ultimately going to be worth far more than any one-off commercial incentive
that the big city marathons can offer.
But that problem could yet get worse. It just so happens that on hand in
Frankfurt this weekend was Peter Angwenyi, the public relations man for
Athletics Kenya. Angwenyi told us that the selection of the Olympic
marathon trio would not be made until after the London Marathon next April,
the final one of the big spring marathons, which also include Paris,
Rotterdam and Boston. So, who knows? Given the burgeoning talent coming out
of Kenya, ready to burn the tarmac off the road surfaces of the world's
marathon courses, there could well be another half dozen guys claiming
world record credentials, and clamouring for a place in that golden trio.
But, for the time being, let's concentrate on the man of the moment –
Wilson Kipsang. Unknown to the wider world of marathoning before he came to
Frankfurt last year, Kipsang, now 29, had nonetheless made an impressive
debut in Paris earlier in 2010, finishing third in 2.07.10. That did not
surprise his manager, Gerard van de Veen, who in a relatively brief
acquaintance, had become inured to Kipsang's capacity to shock.
"I got an email from one of my runners in Kenya saying he had a strong new
guy, and could I take him on. I didn't have space, so I said no. I'd
organised races in Europe for three young guys, and at the last minute one
of them got injured, so I said to Wilson, here is your chance. The first
race was a 10 miles in Germany, and he won and broke the record which had
stood for ten years.
"The next race was a 10k, and the record was 28.55, I said to him, look,
even if you break the record by one second, you get the bonus. He ran one
minute faster, 27.51. And that led up to his debut in the Paris Marathon".
Kipsang's second marathon was in Frankfurt a year ago, when he announced
the seriousness of his intent, with a win in 2.04.57, third best of the
year, and then the eighth fastest in history. His third marathon, in March
this year, may not have been as fast, but more impressive was the way he
disposed of Deriba Merga, who had finished fourth in the Olympic marathon
in Beijing. The two were together in the lead at 38k, then Kipsang took
off, and put exactly three minutes between himself and Merga in the last
four kilometres, winning in 2.06.13.
Now, but for a pre-race shower of rain, which made the Frankfurt course, on
his own admission, "a little bit slippery," Kipsang might be the world
record holder. He was certainly confident enough before the race to predict
that a world record was a real possibility. And afterwards? "I prepared
really well, I knew I'd be somewhere close to the world record. I was
fairly confident, I knew I could beat the other guys, and when we really
started to race, I had a feeling I'd either break the world record, or be
very close.
"The surface was a little bit wet, so it cost us something. There was less
friction, so you expend more energy. I saw we were a little slow at 35k,
and I felt strong, so I decided to go for it. But I'm pretty happy, it's my
personal best".
It's still a long way to that Olympic marathon, over nine months, but
Kipsang seems as confident of selection as he is of his talent. "Based on
today's performance, I think I will be selected, and I would really love to
be selected. That sort of competition, guys from all over the world. I
deserve to be there. When there's no pacemakers, it's different, it'll be a
tactical race, but I'll prepare. I have to run one more marathon, maybe in
the spring, because the Olympic marathon is a long way off".
Kipsang and his wife, on her first trip outside Kenya, cut a very happy
couple in the athletes' hotel after the race, the more so perhaps since
Doreen has become so involved in her husband's success that she has begun
serious training herself. Coached inevitably by hubby. "She's doing very
well," says Kipsang proudly. And Doreen is smart enough to say, "It will be
at least two years before I run a marathon". Which would be good advice to
your next door neighbour when (s)he proposes jumping on the fun-running
bandwagon, and decides to 'run' a marathon off the back of two months'
jogging.
But, of course, people like Kipsang, Makau, Kirui, Mutai and Mosop, and
dozens, if not hundreds of others in Kenya are as far away from joggers as
it is possible to get. And though they might benefit from being born,
nurtured and trained at altitude, they still have to start at the bottom.
"When I first started running," says Kipsang, "I didn't know if I could
make it, I was just hoping I could reach what guys like (Paul) Tergat were
doing. So I tried to work hard, and I could see it was coming". And now
it's arrived, in spades. And Kipsang, like Makau, is in the driving seat of
a latterday juggernaut, which is crushing the rest of the distance running
world like a heavy steamroller. Make that a fast, heavy steamroller.
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