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News11 Apr 2002


Is a fast half marathon a sufficient condition for a fast marathon? 

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Is a fast half marathon a sufficient condition for a fast marathon? 
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
12 April 2002 - Two of the best distance runners of our era are making the marathon debut in London on April 14. Both Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) and Paula Radcliffe (GBR) excelled at the 10,000m and they have also triumphed at the half marathon too. Radcliffe won two consecutive World Half Marathon Championships, while Gebrselassie won the World Half Marathon Championships last year and followed it up with 59:41 half marathon in Lisbon on March 24. Yet is running a fast half marathon a sufficient condition for running a fast marathon? 

It is quite a complex matter to predict marathon performance from a runner’s 10000m record.  These events have different physiological as well as psychological requirements.  Only a few runners have been successful at both distances. 

Carlos Lopes (POR) who won the Olympic marathon gold in the 1984 Olympics, eight years after winning a silver medal at the Olympic 10000m, is one such example.  He also recorded the world best at the marathon distance, a year after recording the second fastest 10000m in history. 

Although she was not an instant success, Derartu Tulu (ETH), two time Olympic 10000m champion, is now a successful marathon runner, having won the 2001 London in 2:23:57 which she followed up with another win at the 2001Tokyo Ladies Marathon.  They were her fourth and fifth marathon, then having finished fifth in the 1997 Boston (2:30:28), sixth in the 2000 London (2:26:09), and third in the Tokyo Ladies marathon (2:26:38). 

Many top 10,000m runners fail to make a successful transition to the marathon.  Fernando Mamede (POR), Ron Clarke (AUS) and Arturo Barrios (MEX), all world 10,000m record holders failed to make impact on the marathon.  .

While on the other hand, the last four Olympic Champions - Gelindo Bordin (ITA), Hwang Young-Cho (KOR), Josia Thugwane (RSA), and Gezhange Abera (ETH) – were not known for their track performances. 

With more emphasis on half marathon in recent years, starting with an advent of the World Half Marathon Championships, one might think it is easier to predict marathon performances.  However, this is not necessarily the case as many top half marathon runners have also struggled at the full distance.

Moses Tanui was one of the top track runners in the early 90's.  He won the 10000m in the 1991 World Championships.  Two years later he finished second, and recorded a personal best of 27:18.32.  In the same year, Tanui also became the first man to crack an hour at the half marathon, when he recorded 59:47 in Milano.  However, his marathon debut, in 1993 New York Marathon, was not a sweet one.  He was ninth in 2:15:36, not what was expected from 27:18.32 10000m runner or 59:47 half marathon runner.  Tanui continued to struggle with the marathon distance, having only finished 10th in the 1994 Boston Marathon (2:09:40 under strong tail wind). 

However, Tanui did eventually progress at the marathon.  He finished tenth and second in the 1994 and 1995 Boston marathon, respectively.  He continued to excel at the shorter distances, having won the World Half Marathon Championships in 1995.  Tanui eventually became an accomplished marathon runner, winning the Boston marathon in 1996, and 1998.  He also recorded 2:06:16 in the 1999 Chicago marathon. 

Elana Meyer (RSA), 1992 Olympic 10,000m silver medalist, was not as fortunate as Tanui.  She too excelled at the half marathon, having recorded 67:59 in 1991, and 67:22 in 1993.  She also won the World Half Marathon Championships in 1994.  Judging from her debut marathon, 2:25:15 at the 1994 Boston Marathon, Elana Meyer was expected to be a top marathon runner.  However, although Meyer continued to excel at the shorter distances, having recorded 66:44 half marathon on the standard course, for example, she never improved her initial personal best or won a major marathon either.   

Another case in point is Kenya’s Paul Tergat, a four time 10,000m silver medallist at global championships who would probably, had Gebrselassie not discovered running be considered the world’s greatest distance runner.  Tergat was unbeatable at the half marathon in the late 90's.  He won the World Half Marathon Championships in 1999 and 2000, and recorded five sub one-hour half marathons.  However, he is yet to win a marathon, and though he was second in both the 2001 London (2:08:15) and the 2001 Chicago Marathons (2:08:56), his times have not quite matched the expectations we had for such a great runner.

Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) is another potential top marathon runner, excelling as he does at the half marathon.  Ramaala twice finished second in the World Half Marathon Championships, in 1998 and 1999.  He also recorded two sub 60 minute half marathon, 59:20 in 2000 and 59:42 in 2002.  However, the marathon has not come naturally for him.  He failed to finish his debut at the 1999 Chicago Marathon.  He finished fifth in 2:09:43 in the 2000 London Marathon and followed up with twelfth place finish with 2:16:19 at the Olympics. In 2001, Ramaala beated Tergat in the Lisbon Half Marathon, but three weeks later in London “only” finished ninth with 2:12:02.

Ramaala’s marathon career has followed a similar pattern both last autumn and this spring.  After finishing fourth at the 2001 World Half Marathon championships with 1:00:15 (Gebrselassie won in 1:00:03), just five weeks later Ramaala was “only” fifth at the New York City Marathon (2:11:18).  Then more recently after finishing close second to Haile Gebrselassie (and ahead of Paul Tergat) in the Lisbon Half Marathon with 59:42, Ramaala only finished sixth in 2:10:06 at the 2002 Paris Marathon. 

So will the marathon humble Gebrselassie and/or Radcliffe in London on Sunday?  Perhaps, but as we have seen there is no consistent formula to follow. If there is a certainty, neither runner lacks grit or determination and with that basic quality in abundance, they both have a huge asset to call on when they attack the marathon distance in London.  

NB. Rigorously speaking, London will not be the debut for Gebrselassie, who ran a c.2:48 marathon in 1988, but it will be his debut as an elite runner

 

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