News & Notes: Gebrselassie Chasing More Records at Berlin Marathon

Haile Gebrselassie comes to the 2008 real-, Berlin Marathon with one new significant marathon record almost certainly guaranteed and hoping to add more to his collection.

In each of the last three years, Gebrselassie has been the fastest man in the world: 2005 – 2:06:20, Amsterdam; 2006 – 2:05:56, Berlin; 2007 – 2:04:26, Berlin. For 2008 he has already run 2:04:53 at Dubai, the second fastest time in history. It seems improbable anyone else will run faster this year so Gebrselassie would become the first man in history to run world-leading marathon times for four consecutive years.

However, what Gebrselassie wants the most is to lower his world record of 2:04:26. His record was challenged at London last April when Martin Lel and Samuel Wanjiru went through 30 kilometres in 1:28:29, 27 seconds faster than Gebrselassie's Berlin 2007 split. However rain started to fall and the race slowed with Lel eventually winning in 2:05:15 and Wanjiru nine seconds behind. And Wanjiru followed with a 2:06:32 at the Beijing Olympics that could have been a 2:04 with much better weather conditions.

If Gebrselassie can break his record in Berlin, he would be the first man in 55 years to do it on the same course in consecutive years. Jim Peters of Great Britain in 1952 and 1953 ran world records at Chiswick, England.

Last April 18, Gebrselassie celebrated his 35th birthday and a month later he ran 26:51.20 for 10,000 metres to break Carlos Lopes' 24-year-old age-group world record by 26 seconds. Lopes ran 2:07:12 the following year at the 1985 Rotterdam Marathon, another age 35+ world record that is definitely in jeopardy at Berlin.

Another record within reach is combined total for two marathons in one year. The best is 4:11:34 when Khalid Khannouchi ran 2:05:38 (London) and 2:05:56 (Chicago) in 2002. Gebreselassie would need 2:06:40 or better to beat this.

Gebrselassie believes he can break two hours four minutes if the weather is good and the pace is correct. Unfortunately the latter was not the case at Dubai last January and as the chart below shows, his projected finish time ("pf time") from his early splits was much too fast. In fact, when he reached 10 kilometres Gebrselassie said, "When I saw that time I was discouraged."

The pace-makers at Berlin know how to do their job so history awaits another classic performance by the greatest distance runner in history.—Marty Post