Run Bulldog Run » world record

Haile Gebrselassie Sets New Marathon World Record

Steve — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:33:56 +0000

Haile Gebrselassie broke his own world record as he won the Berlin Marathon for the third time in a row.

The 35-year-old Ethiopian became the first man to run under two hours, four minutes as he clocked 2:03:59.

His time was nearly half a minute quicker than his previous record, set over the same course last year.

I am so, so happy, everything was perfect, the weather was perfect, the spectators were perfect, everything – I am so happy.

said Gebrselassie.

World’s Oldest Competitive Runner?

Steve — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:00:35 +0000

Working plumber Buster Martin ran Sunday’s Roding Valley half marathon in Essex in five hours 13 minutes. Nothing special you might think. Well, what if I mentioned that Mr Martin, who lives in London, is a staggering 101 years old!

Buster now has his sights on the London Marathon in a bid to become the world’s oldest competitive runner.

On finishing the run, his first words were: “Where’s my beer?” The amazing runner drank a tankard of ale before signing autographs and chatting to fans near the finish line of the Essex race.

Mr Martin is trained by Harmander Singh, who helped Fauja Singh break the London marathon record for the over-90s.

Full story: BBC News

Second Fastest Marathon Of All Time For Gebrselassie

Steve — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:10:19 +0000

Yesterday, Haile Gebrselassie ran the second fastest marathon in history [2.04.53], to win the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, 27 seconds shy of his own record set in Berlin three months ago.

A suicidal early pace, however, shows that even the very best athletes sometimes get it wrong. Gebra made the halfway mark in 61.27, a massive 61 seconds ahead of world record schedule, and a potential finishing time of well under 2.03.

After the last pacemaker Kenyan Abel Kirui dropped out at 30km, the pace continued to slow, and Haile could do nothing to stop the million dollars prize for a new world record slip away.

After the race Gerbrselassie admitted that the start was too fast: “I wanted to do 62 minutes for halfway, and I paid the price in the final stages, but I’m happy to run this time. You know, everything needs to be perfect, and today, I missed one little thing.”

For what it’s worth, the top 10 finishers in both the mens and women’s marathon were all from Kenya or Ethiopia. Sign of the times eh?

Gerry Lindgren – Most Talented US High School Runner Ever?

Steve — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 02:31:24 +0000

I’m lucky enough to be reading “Gerry Lindgren’s Book on Running” at the moment – an inspirational story about the rise of Gerry Lindgren from a last-place runner on his high school cross-country team to arguably the best high school distance runner of all time. Growing up in the UK, I must admit I’d never even heard of Gerry Lindgren until recently, when a good running friend offered to loan me the book and briefly explained who he was. Thanks Tim for enlightening me

Lindgren was a self-described “high school wimp”, but his front running, pace setting style helped inspire a generation of runners and led to the distance running revolution in America. In 1964, in his senior year at Rogers High School, Lindgren ran 5000 meters in 13 minutes 44 seconds, setting a U.S. high school record which would stand for a staggering 40 years!

Gerry would routinely log huge mileage weeks. According to the book he would think nothing of racking up 200+ miles a week – quite unbelievable considering this was over 40 years ago.

If you get a chance to read “Gerry Lindgren’s Book on Running“, I’d highly recommend it. It’s written in Gerry’s own words (or rather in the words of his shadow) and you can follow how a small, wimpy boy became a great runner among giants!