Martin Lel, triumphant at the Flora London Marathon (© Getty Images)
Martin Lel insists he is in shape to defend his Flora London Marathon title on Sunday (13 April) despite the political unrest in Kenya earlier this year that severely disrupted his training.
Lel, like many of the Kenyan runners, lives and trains in the Rift Valley, the region at the centre of the political violence that tore through the east African country in the wake of last December’s elections.
But he and his large training group, including the 2007 World Marathon Majors champion Robert Cheryuiot, was forced to de-camp to a tea plantation and later left Kenya altogether to train in Namibia.
“It wasn’t ideal,” said Lel, who is aiming to win his third Flora London Marathon title this weekend. “We tried to carry on training but it wasn’t good for us with the fighting that was going on. We had to escape to a tea plantation in Kenya, and then in February we went to Namibia.
“Namibia wasn’t so flat. We were able to train but it was not as usual,” he added. “But it’s great to be back here again in London as defending champion. I know I will have a tough time defending my title but I will do my best. I am in good shape.”
Indeed, despite his hampered preparations, Gabriele Rosa, Lel’s coach and manager, insists his charge is in the best condition of his life and ready to run close to his best of 2:06:41.
London as tough as World Champs and Olympics – says Lel
Lel, though, prefers not to make any predictions as he prepares to take on his young compatriot Sammy Wanjiru, the World Half Marathon record holder, Abderrahim Goumri, the Moroccan who was runner-up behind Lel in both London and New York last year, and Felix Limo, who beat Lel in a sprint finish for the London crown two years ago.
“The guys will see me as defending champion so I know it will be a tough race for me,” he said. “This race is always very competitive. I think it is as tough as a World Championships or Olympics because all the athletes are at their strongest and at their peak.”
At 29, Lel is already one of the most successful distance runners in the world. As well as his two London Marathon titles he has also won two New York Marathons, and last year became the first man to win both the London and New York races in the same year, victories which put him at the top of the men’s World Marathon Majors leader board and in sight of the half million dollar prize.
Money isn’t the only motivation, of course, and Lel, like many in Sunday’s race, has his eyes on this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Indeed, with Lel, Wanjiru, Limo and 2007 Amsterdam winner Emmanuel Mutai the four quickest in the field, the men’s race in London has been dubbed an unofficial Kenyan Olympic trial.
But it won’t all be about the Kenyans. Goumri, the great American hope, Ryan Hall, Deriba Merga of Ethiopia, and Hendrick Ramaala, the South African who’s running his seventh London Marathon, will all be among the leading group.
Then there’s the Olympic champion, Stefano Baldini, and the World champion, Luke Kibet, who are likely to feature in the chasing pack and seek to come through late as the fast starters begin to wilt in the expected headwind over the final 10 miles or so.
For a race that lost the former World record holder, Paul Tergat, and the former World champion, Jaouad Gharib, from the line-up, it’s set to be every bit as exciting as last year when Lel won by just three seconds, with only six seconds separating the top three.
Redemption time for Wami?
Despite, or perhaps because of Paula Radcliffe’s withdrawal, the women’s race is likely to be just as open. Radcliffe pulled out last month with a toe injury, leaving Ethiopia’s two-times Chicago champion Berhane Adere as the quickest entrant.
With a best of 2:20:42 from Chicago in 2006, Adere is the only athlete to have run sub-2:21, but four others have run quicker than 2:22, and seven of the field have sub-2:25 clockings to their names.
After her remarkable performances in Berlin and New York last autumn, there are great expectations of Gete Wami, the World Marathons Majors champion. Wami suffered a recurrence of her old hamstring problems after finishing second to Radcliffe in New York, but insisted on Thursday she has fully recovered and feels ready to claim her first London Marathon title.
Wami was bitterly disappointed to finish runner-up last year when she was surprised by the Chinese winner, Zhou Chunxiu. There are unlikely to be any unknowns of that sort this time, although it won’t only be between the two Ethiopians.
Three seasoned veterans of the London marathon will also be in the hunt. At an average age of 38 you could say they are the three wise old women of marathon running, but Constantina Dita, Ludmila Petrova and Svetlana Zakharova insist they are not in the field merely to make up the numbers.
With a combined total of 16 London races between them, more than 75 career marathons altogether, they will certainly bring a wealth of experience to the race. Dita, 38, finished third last year, while the 39-year-old Petrova was second in 2006 but dropped out a year ago with an injury.
Zakharova, at 37, the youngster of the trio, is a new mother making her way back into international racing after an absence of two years. She returned to finish second in Frankfurt last October and is keen to make her mark on a race she last contested in 2004. Twice runner-up, in 2001 and 2002, we can expect her to play a waiting game on the heels of the Africans.
After finishing fourth last year, Salina Kosgei is eager to be among the podium places this year. The Kenyan missed three weeks training in January when she was trapped in her house in Eldoret while tribal violence raged through the streets outside.
“I couldn’t train at all and had to stay in my house,” explained the mother of two this week. “We couldn’t go out, not even for a walk, and we had to eat and drink what we already had inside. It was chaos outside. We couldn’t drive to the shops.”
But the 31-year-old, a former winner of the Paris Marathon, was determined to get back in shape, training with a group of male runners. After significant victories the Zayed and Lisbon half marathons earlier this year, she will stand on Sunday’s start line knowing she’s in form to lower her personal best of 2:23:22 and clinch a place in the Kenyan team for the Olympic Games.
Irina Mikitenko may not be at the top of most people’s shortlist of favourites, but with one World Marathon Majors medal to her name and a solid track career behind her, the German is in the mood to spring a shock in Sunday’s race.
The 35-year-old former Kazakhstani snatched a surprise second place on her marathon debut in Berlin last September when she finished runner-up to Wami in a highly respectable 2:24:51. She may have been more than three minutes behind the Ethiopian but she claims her husband, Alexander, prevented her running a quicker time in the German capital when he kept telling her to slow down.
“I had a lot left in the tank after Berlin,” she said. “I want to improve my best on Sunday because I know I didn’t run as well as I could have done in Berlin. I definitely aim to improve my PB in London.
“This time I can run my own race. He won’t be in front of me where he slowed me down a little bit last time.”
Mikitenko also believes her status as a relative newcomer will be a distinct advantage.
“Being less experienced is my advantage,” said Mikitenko. “I want to stick behind them in the race. I know them well, but they don’t know me so well, and that’s to my advantage.”
Whoever grabs the advantage on Sunday morning, one thing seems certain, the London Marathon is again set for two enticing races.
Matthew Brown for the IAAF
