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Former London and New York Marathon champion Martin Lel won in an impressive way the 17th edition of the Memorial Peppe Greco, held Saturday (19) evening in Scicli, a small city on the island of Sicily. Showing strong form, Lel won the 10km loop race with a time of 28:45.
A solo run
It would have been a beautiful clash between Lel and Haile Gebrselassie, who had won Scicli's race four times in a row from 1995 to 1998. Unfortunately, the plane from Addis Ababa to Rome had some problems on Friday and it wasn’t able to make the trip. Gebrselassie's shadow remained only with his 28:22 course record from 1997, one that Lel and his countrymate Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot aimed to improve.
A very hard task, as Scicli's course (1km repeated 10 times) is hilly, with a 300m uphill stretch on stones every lap. It was a very hot night as well (33 degrees), even if the start wasn't until 10 pm. Kenya's Robert Sigei Kipngetich was asked to set a fast pace from the beginning, about 2:50 every lap.
However the pack ran the first lap in 2:56 and Lel was forced to take the lead yet during the second lap, covered in a stunning 2:44. At the end of the fourth lap just Cheruiyot was able to follow him, while Hassan Mubarak Shami was fading behind the leaders. At halfway the split time was 14:07 - fastest than Geb's record pace - but Lel was already alone.
He was not able to maintain the fast pace without rivals, and went past the bell in 26:00 with one lap to go. He pushed hard in the last lap, covered in 2:45, but closed far from the record. Cheruiyot arrived 39 seconds behind, Shami 57 seconds. The first Italian was 21-year-old Daniele Meucci, who ran the 10,000m final at the European championships, in sixth place. Also Francesco Ingargiola, just six days after his fifth place at European Championships Marathon, was in the race and finished seventh.
Next for Lel - WR assault in Rotterdam, then New York Marathon
"It was a very good race, I'm very satisfied, I feel very strong," Lel said after the race. At the beginning of July he won the Peachtree Road Race, setting his PB for the 10 km distance with his 27:25. "Tonight it was too hot for fast times and the course was hard," Lel continued. "In the uphill the road was also a little slippery."
He is now training in Eldoret, coached by a young Italian Claudio Berardelli. His next goal is an ambitious one: to attack Gebrselassie's 58:55 World record in the Half Marathon in Rotterdam on 10 September. Then he will run the New York City Marathon, which he won in 2003. "I will go to New York to win," he said firmly.
"Martin ran very fast," said Olympic and European Marathon champion Stefano Baldini, a guest in Scicli.
In Cheruiyot's plans, the Chicago Marathon is the next major race. "Tonight I suffered from the heat very much," he said after the race. Three weeks ago he dominated the Giro di Castelbuono, another famous and tough race in Sicily. "I'm not well trained right now," Shami said. "I'm starting to train hard in order to win a medal at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in Debrecen."
Alberto Zorzi for the IAAF
Select results -
Men's race (10km):
1. Martin Lel, KEN, 28:45
2. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, KEN, 29:24
3. Hassan Mubarak Shami, QAT, 29:42
4. Robert Sigei Kipngetich, KEN, 30:15
5. Hillary Kipchumba, KEN, 30:34
6. Daniele Meucci, ITA, 30:36
7. Francesco Ingargiola, ITA, 30:39
8. Bibi Amhad, MAR, 30:51
