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UjENA FIT Club "They Said It"

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Best Road Races - They Said It...No 5
Posted Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
WELL PLAYED, MR. BEKELE“London is a bit tougher because so many athletes are going there. If I’m getting the same... Read They Said It
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Best Road Races - They Said It ... No 3
Posted Tuesday, December 17th, 2013
Compiled and edited by David Prokop, Editor of BestRoadRaces.com  (photo 2013 CIM marathon)HE’S LOVIN’ IT“(The Double) is a very good... Read They Said It
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Best Road Races - They Said It...No 4
Posted Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Compiled and edited by David Prokop Editor of BestRoadRaces.comKEY TO THE DOUBLE?“The fitter you are, the quicker you recover.”-- Agreeing... Read They Said It
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Best Road Races - They Said It... No 2
Posted Thursday, October 31st, 2013
Compiled and edited by David Prokop,Editor of BestRoadRaces.comTHAT’S ENCOURAGEMENT – AND COURAGE! “You can do this, and you will do this.”--... Read They Said It

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Best Road Races - They Said It...No 5
Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
Compliled and editor by David Prokop Editor of Best Road Races
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WELL PLAYED, MR. BEKELE

“London is a bit tougher because so many athletes are going there. If I’m getting the same offer, same invitation, why would I go to London?

“There are very strong competitors there, tougher maybe than Paris, and I wanted to run an even pace. It was very important for me to win on my debut as well and maybe London is more difficult for that.” 

-- Kenenisa Bekele, 32, the superlative and tactically brilliant distance runner from Ethiopia, after winning the 2014 Paris Marathon, April 6, explaining why he chose to make his marathon debut in Paris rather than in the more heralded London Marathon as  originally expected. When Bekele, who holds the world records in the 5000 (12:37.35) and the 10,000 (26:17.53), had beaten Britain’s Mo Farah, the current Olympic and World Championships gold medalist in those two events, at the 2013 Bupa Great North Run Half-Marathon in England, Sept, 15 of 2013, all the media hype was that the two would square off again in the London Marathon where both of them would be making their marathon debut. Not quite. Bekele, having been given the same financial offer by the Paris Marathon and rightly concluding that Paris offered a gentler introduction to the marathon, opted to run there, winning in 2:05:03, which bettered the course record and the debut marathon times of past legends Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat and Samuel Wanjiru. Farah, on the other hand, ran the London Marathon where he struggled home eighth in 2:08:21. Apparently Bekele, one of the greatest distance runners in history, has now officially made the switch from the track to the road as a competitor.

AGE OF SPECIALIZATION

“No, no, no, no, it’s not possible. The marathon and 10K and 5K (on the track), you cannot do it (win both at the highest level). You automatically lose (if you try to focus on both), because the training for a marathon and the training for a 10K on the track is totally different. The rhythm, how you have to run, is totally different between track and road racing. You’ll be disturbing the body so much.

“I don’t think it is good for him (Mo Farah) to go back (to the track). It’s not the best idea. If he prepares and focuses (totally) on the marathon, he can really improve his time.

“If he wants to go back to the track, maybe during that season he doesn’t have to do a marathon and thereafter he can try to prepare for the marathon.”

-- Wilson Kipsang, Kenya’s world recordholder in the marathon (2:03:23), after winning this year’s Virgin London Marathon in a course record 2:04:29, in comments addressed to Mo Farah, who finished almost four minutes behind Kipsang in 2:08:21. Kipsang was offering a cautionary note to Farah that at today’s level of competition it is impossible to balance running the marathon and competing on the track at the highest level. The Kenyan’s bottom-line message: There was absolutely no chance for Farrah or any runner to win both on the track and on the road in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. You have to choose – the road or the track? Trying to do both was a recipe for failure. Surprisingly, Kipsang was suggesting that Farah, who’s 31, should now concentrate on the road. Of course, as the London Daily Mail has editorialized: “It would surely be far too great a gamble (for Farah) to give up a stellar track career on the off chance he could end up being just as good at the marathon.”

REMEMBERING AL GORDON

“It’s a great concept. The big races are fantastic, but to have a race like this gives a nod to history while also allowing (the NYRR) to progress. (My grandfather Al Gordon) would be thrilled to be remembered along with Fred Lebow and Joe Kleinerman – the giants of the sport in New York.”

-- John Roberts, grandson of Al Gordon and President of the Central Park Track Club New Balance, speaking about the Al Gordon Classic in New York City. The Al Gordon Classic 4-Mile, Feb. 22, launched the New York Road Runners “Classic” series of races in response to a 2013 survey that showed NYRR members would like to see more grassroots races like the ones in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s when road racing seemed less commercial and the fields were smaller. In other words, they wanted to see trimmed-down, no-frills events with an entry fee of just $10. Thus no T-shirts, no postrace festivities, no awards – just a road race, plain and simple. Al Gordon, the man memorialized in this inaugural race, came to running late in life and passed away in 2009 at the age of … 107!

BACK TO THE  BASICS

“Who cares about T-shirts and awards. We’re just here to run.”

-- Michael Cassidy, a 2:18 marathoner, in a pithy comment after winning the Al Gordon Classic 4-Mile, Feb. 22, in 20:42. Cassidy said the “Classic” aspect serves to underline what makes running great. Although he said he loves the big races, too, and was training for one of the biggest, the New York City Marathon in March, he emphasized that there’s value in competing just for the sake of competing. Almost 2000 runners turned out for the first Al Gordon Classic.

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IT’S ALL IN THE PREPARATION 

“Our preparation (went) very well. That’s why I ran this fast. (The course was) hilly, up-down.”

-- Ethiopia’s Gebo Burka, 26, through an interpreter, after he won the 2014 Asics L.A. Marathon, March 9, in 2:10:37. Burka ran away from his last adversary, Kenya’s  Lani Rutto, 24, about 5½ miles from the finish line, but he was not able to overtake his countrywoman Amane Gobena in the L.A. Marathon Gender Challenge competition. The elite women had started 17 minutes, 41 seconds before the elite men at this year’s L.A. Marathon, and Gobena, 31, in winning the women’s race in 2:27:37, finished 41 seconds ahead of Burka, thus pocketing an additional $50,000 for winning the Gender Challenge. Apparently she had prepared well, too.  Gobena and Burka also received $25,000 each for winning their respective divisions.

TUNNEL VISION  

“For me, it’s my own 13-mile race, and I focus on it from the beginning.” 

-- Kenyan marathon great Geoffrey Mutai, 32, two days before the New York City Half-Marathon, March 16, acknowledging that Olympic and World Championships 5- and 10,000-meter winner Mo Farah was in the race, but Mutai was more concerned about his own performance and strategy. The anticipated showdown with Farah fizzled when Farah took a bad fall five miles into the race and Mutai went on to win by more than a minute in 1:00:05.

A RUNNING STAR SEEING STARS   

“It did take quite a lot out of me. I was pretty much seeing stars (after I fell).” 

-- Mo Farah, talking about the fall he took in the New York City Half-Marathon, March 16, about five miles into the race. However, the Olympic champion showed true grit and made a remarkable recovery after he had cleared his head, ultimately finishing second to Geoffrey Mutai as he ran 1:01:07. Farah passed out at the finish line and was treated by paramedics before being wheeled away in a wheelchair. Fortunately, he recovered quickly, and afterwards said he would resume training almost immediately for the London Marathon the following month.   

FIRST PLACE, FIRST RACE

“For me, as I was continuing alone, I tried to push it, and I know I was testing my body because this was my first race (of the season).”

-- Geoffrey Mutai, after winning the New York City Half-Marathon, explaining that after dropping his last challenger, fellow Kenyan Stephan Sambu, eight miles into the race, he wanted to break one hour for the half-marathon distance despite the slow early start. As it turned out, he missed breaking the hour by a mere five seconds, but was very happy with his race nevertheless. Mutai, who has a personal best in the half-marathon of 58:55 (as well as a personal best of 27:19 for the 10,000 meters on the track!), pocketed the $20,000 first prize for his victory and became the first man to win both the New York City Marathon and Half-Marathon.

THAT WASN’T SO BAD     

“The race turned out to be better than I expected, or at least what I thought it was going to be like. I thought I was going to be in so much pain the last two miles or so. Yes, I was feeling pain, but (it was) not as extreme as I thought it would be.”

-- Sally Kipyego, 28-year-old Kenyan now living in Eugene, Ore., after she finished almost half a minute ahead in the New York City Half-Marathon, March 16, as she ran 1:08:31. She set a course record for the race in her debut at the half-marathon distance.

A FULL HAND

“To win here for the fourth time is very special. After the first mile, there was wind and I could not push. Bernard (Lagat) is a 1500-meter runner, that is his specialty and he has a good kick. I knew I could not sprint with him, so I had to go (well before the finish line).”

-- Dejen Gebremeskel, 24, of Ethiopia, after running 13:13 to win his fourth consecutive Carlsbad 5000 in Carlsbad, Calif., north of San Diego, March 30, over a stellar field that included Bernard Lagat. Gebremeskel, who has run 12:46 for the 5000 on the track, raised four fingers in the air as he hit the finish line. He had put in two hard, sustained surges in the last kilometer of the race to leave the great Bernard Lagat in his wake. It was payback time as Lagat had finished ahead of him in the 3000 meters at the World Indoor Track Championships earlier this year in Sopot, Poland, where they placed second and third.

FAMILIARITY BREEDS SUCCESS

“It was a big advantage (for him). I knew from history that this course would be a challenge. It’s not that easy even though it looks flat. I went in with the mindset to have fun, stay relaxed as much as possible. Dejen was right there pushing the first mile, and at halfway I couldn’t even see him, but he was right behind us. He was basically taking a breather at the back, he was waiting. And when he took the turn, he just unleashed it, so experience matters a lot on this course."

-- Bernard Lagat, after finishing second in the Carlsbad 5000 to Dejen Gebremeskel, who outkicked him by six seconds over the last 600 meters. They would finish in 13:13 and 13:19 respectively. Lagat was running the Carlsbad course for the first time; in fact, it was his first road 5K ever!

NO CRYING OVER SPILLED CHANCES

"I won’t really cry too much about it. Dejen is a great runner; 21 days ago I beat him in the 3,000 meters in Sopot and I knew he wasn’t going to rest until he beat me in this race. He’s a strong runner. And, well, I got the (American) record, that’s another consolation. If I had won today it’d be great. If I won and got the record, that would be a double win for me. But I did not do that, I got second, people celebrated, I was happy with it.

"I’m glad it went the way it did because I’m going to be hungry for even more next year and the year after that. It was a lot of fun, really fun, the people lining up along the street to watch us; that was special. And I wanted to come and give them something to cheer about."

-- Bernard Lagat, summarizing his feelings about finishing second to Dejen Gebremeskel but setting an American 5K road record in the Carlsbad 5000.  Lagat is now the first runner to simultaneously hold the American 5000-meter record on the track and the 5K record on the road. The previous American 5K road record had been 13:24, set by Marc Davis way back in 1996.

GIVING IT A BIT OF A GO

"I haven’t raced in four months so it was good to get back on the racing scene. I just wanted it to be a good, honest, hard race. One mile in I was surprised it was that fast, it felt pretty easy. After two miles, I wanted to give it a bit of a go and see what I could do because I knew that there were some big kickers in the field and knew that I would be out-kicked if they were still with me."

-- Great Britain’s Julia Bleasdale, 32, after running 15:06 to win the women’s race in the 2014 Carlsbad 5000 by 15 seconds over Betsy Saina, 25, of Kenya. For Bleasdale, who had finished eighth in both the 5000 and 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Olympics, it was her second trip to Carlsbad. She had finished sixth in Carlsbad in 2012. This year’s women’s race at Carlsbad started out fairly fast (4:44 first mile, 9:36 at two miles), but over the last mile Bleasdale was much better than anyone else as she pulled away to win convincingly.

Dbl
Double Road Race