New WR Setter Gebrselassie Eyes Dubai Marathon
Posted October 1st, 2007 at 4:30 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Twenty four world records, and counting. The Haile Gebrselassie road show moves on from the latest addition to that list, a world record 2.04.26 in the real,_Berlin Marathon on Sunday. His next dates with destiny?
The Dubai Marathon on January 18, 2008, then the Olympic marathon in Beijing in August. But hasn´t someone (Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru) recently ´stolen´ the half-marathon world record from him?
“I have plans for that, but this will be a secret,” said Gebrselassie, who can be as entertaining in press conferences as he can be in breaking world records. “I´m discussing it with my manager. It´s one of my aims (to retrieve the record)”.
Ever since 2hr 10min was broken for the marathon some four decades ago, talk has been of the two-hour marathon.
“Sure,” said Geb without hesitation, “it will be done, maybe in 20 years, maybe forty years, nobody knows. The more technology develops, the more athletes will run faster”. For himself, he is still stuck on the 2.03 prediction he first made three months ago, then repeated prior to this race. “I can run 2.03. I have that feeling. It is possible to run 2.03 here in Berlin, It will happen one day”.
After revealing that he celebrated his new record with a half-pint of beer, “mixed with apple juice, to make it sweeter. I didn´t finish it,” he was asked if he could design the Berlin course to be even faster. “If I designed it, I´d make it harder,” he joked.
“No, everything was perfect here. The course is fast, the weather was perfect, the rain the day before made everything fresh. And the pacemakers were good. You don´t often get all these things together”. He probably won´t run the Berlin Marathon again, but he does want to run a marathon in Berlin again. “I want to run the world championships marathon, so I want to come back here in 2009”.
Via: Dubai Marathon
PHOTO: Courtesy of the real, Berlin Marathon
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- Gebrselassie to Defend Dubai Marathon Title
- Gebrselassie Half-Way at Dubai Marathon in 1:01:27
- Gebrselassie Hoping for Perfect Race in Dubai
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- With Cautious Optimism, Gebrselassie Ready fo Another WR Attempt in Berlin
Tags: apple juice, beer, berlin marathon, berlin2007, dubai, dubai marathon, haile gebrselassie, real berlin marathon, record setting performance, Sammy Wanjiru, UAE, United Arab emirates, world half marathon record, world marathon record, world record
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