At long last Sammy Wanjiru, the Japanese-trained Kenyan, brought order to the marathon world by winning his nation’s first Olympic gold over the classic distance. But at the same time the tiny Kikuyu tribesman from the Central Highlands city of Nakuru might just as well have been an alien presence landing in Beijing. That’s how much a re-ordering his 2:06:32 victory in the Olympic Marathon in 85 degree heat and high humidity created. His run has completely altered the concept of what is possible over 42.2 kilometers. Now, for the first time, the idea of a sub two-hour marathon has come onto the horizon as a realistic possibility.
No longer an endurance event, the marathon has become no more than an extended 10,000 meters run in the wake of Wanjiru’s performance. His laughable series of splits and surges throughout the brutal day just add further disbelief to the historic performance. In both substance and style Wanjiru flew unperturbed through the zephers of every precept of marathon running. 4:41 for the first mile?! Are you nuts? Maybe in London or Berlin or Chicago, the flat, fast big city courses where pacers and cool weather create ideal record attempt racing. But in championship racing profligage spending of energy would come back to haunt the intrepid for sure in the final 5K. Except it didn’t in Wanjiru’s case.
1:02:38 through the half!? Only a handful of marathons had ever registered a faster opening half, and certainly none on an Olympic stage much less on a hot, humid day. They added no more than a mild irritant to the 5′4″, 112 pound dynamo who now casts his sight on the marathon world record to add to his half-marathon and world junior record over 10,000 meters.
Of the top ten marathon times ever run, Haile Gebrselassie’s 2:05:56 from Berlin 2006 stands out even more than his world record 2:04:26 from Berlin 2007. The temperature in Berlin `06 was 72 degrees, making it the sole top ten performance run in conditions greater than 60 degrees. Now add 10-plus extra degrees, high humidity, an Olympic field, no designated, hand picked pace setters, and wild surging. The mind reels.
Wanjiru entered the Olympic stadium not on his knees, but in full flight. He picked it up over the final lap!!! He wasn’t diminished, just out of territory to run. He had plenty of gas left in his unimagineable tank. Yonas Kifle of Eritrea, one of the intrepid five who formed the break away pack through halfway, faded like a real human being would be expected to in the second half. He completed his Olympic journey in 2:20:03, good for 36th place.
And let us not forget Morocco’s Jaouad Gharib, the two-time world champion and close runner up in the Chicago heat bath from last October. Gharib’s brave silver medal in 2:07:16 also shattered the long-standing Olympic record 2:09:21 set by Portugal’s Carlos Lopes in L.A. `84. Gharib was dropped at least five times throughout the course of the day, yet each time he managed to claw his way back into contention, except after Wanjiru’s final move at 35K when Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga also let go the tow line.
Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall both acknowledged the temerity of Wanjiru’s run.
“To run 2:06:32 in this is incredible,” said Ritz, whose left hamstring and calf cramped badly just past 30 kilometers, but who held on to finish 9th in 2:11:59.
“They went out really fast,” said Hall, tenth in 2:12:33, hoping for better after his 2:06:16 at the London Marathon earlier this year. “I thought it was way too hard, at least for me. I would have died if I went out that fast.”
Then, both Hall and Americ’a third Olympic marathoner, Brian Sell (22nd in 2:16:07) tempered the brutality of the conditions.
“It was definitely warm out there, but not as bad as I was expecting.” - Ryan Hall.
“It was not as bad as I had thought. It wasn’t stifling, but it wasn’t easy.” - Brian Sell.
So, was it the brutal 85 degrees we kept hearing on NBC or not? Either way, 21 year-old Wanjiru is the undisputed new king of the marathon world, if, that is, he’s even from this world.
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My friend told me he was in a bar the other night and saw a segment previewing the Usain Bolt-versus-Asafa Powell 100-meter race on ESPN’s pontificating talk show, “Pardon the Interruption” (PTI if you’re “with it”). Can anyone remember a time when any non-Olympic running event was featured on such a show? I certainly can’t.
Well, we’re one day away. “Four years from now” is almost here, and I’m giddy.