Paul Tergat crosses the finish line in Berlin (© Lisa Coniglio)
Less than two months after his 2:04:55 clocking in Berlin becoming the first ever runner under 2:05 for the Marathon, Kenya’s Paul Tergat will compete over 15km in Nijmegen on Sunday 16 November.
The selection of the 'Seven Hills' (Zevenheuvelenloop) race in Nijmegen by Tergat can point to only one thing given his recent form - an attempt on the world’s fastest ever time for the distance. It was on this course in 2001 that his compatriot Felix Limo set the present world best improving on Tergat's mark.
Limo’s time in 2001 was 41:29, an especially superb performance considering that in the process he also inflicted a rare defeat on Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie who finished second in 41:38. With Kenya’s Salim Kipsang finishing third in 42:01, this race remains both the fastest and the highest quality 15km podium finish in history. Incidentally, Limo will be making his Marathon debut on 19 October in Amsterdam.
Last year’s fastest 15km time in the world was the 42:04 set by 2001 World 10,000m champion Charles Kamathi (in the Zaandam 10 miles race), and the fastest run so far in 2003 is that of John Korir 43:23 in Utica on 13 July.
Taking all road courses into account, Tergat has a 15km personal best of 42:04 (1998) which he followed up a year later on the same course in Milan with a 42.11 finish (1999). Notably in 1994, he had also closked 42:13 in La Courneuve. His best ‘recent’ performance came during a Half Marathon, a 42:27 time for the intermediate distance, when finishing just one second behind Gebrselassie in Lisbon in 2002.
The Zevenheuvelenloop annually attracts 20,000 runners.
IAAF
