Men’s race
Women’s race
Men’s wheelchair race
Women’s wheelchair race
The men’s race
Lel takes third in thriller
The 100th anniversary of marathon running was marked in the most fitting way in 2008 when Martin Lel won his 3rd London Marathon title and led three men under 2:06 in what was hailed as the greatest men’s marathon in history.
In the city where the modern marathon distance was first established at the 1908 Olympics, Lel joined Mexico’s Dionicio Ceron and Antonio Pinto of Portugal as a triple London winner, retaining his crown and breaking the 6 year old course record in 2:05:15.
In the closing stages of one of the quickest races in history, run at world record pace for 20 miles, Lel somehow found the energy for a flying sprint finish. He needed it, for his young compatriot Sammy Wanjiru and Abderrahim Goumri, the Moroccan who’d finished 2nc last year, had stuck with him through the final wet and gruelling miles.
The Kenyan proved again that he has the strongest finish in marathon racing as he pulled away over the last quarter of a mile to break his personal best by almost 1.5 minutes. In only his second full marathon, Wanjiru finished 2nd in 2:05:24, clipping 75 seconds from his best, while Goumri was 3rd in 2:05:30, a massive 2 minutes 14 seconds inside his personal best.
With another Kenyan, Emmanuel Mutai, clocking 2:06:15 in 4th, USA’s Ryan Hall 5th in 2:06:17, and the Ethiopian Deriba Merga 6th in 2:06:38, it was the first time six men have run under 2:07. All six set new personal bests.
“To win this race you have to work extra hard”, said Lel afterwards. “There were lots of runners in the field who could come 1st. So the chance of winning two in a row is very long. This is one of the best races I have done. Now I want to come back next year and make it three in a row.”
With five Kenyans in the elite field, the race was dubbed an unofficial Kenyan Olympic trial, and afterwards Lel learned that he’d sealed selection for Beijing while Wanjiru’s performance was an ominous sign of what he would produce in China.
For Goumri, 2nd in 2007, there was ample compensation in knowing he had broken Khalid Khannouchi’s Moroccan record.
The men set off at a pelt in near perfect conditions – 11°C and sunny. Dieudonne Didi of Rwanda and Cuthbert Nyasango from Zimbabwe led through mile 1 in 4:44. They’d been asked to run at 2:05 pace (62:30 at half way), and already seemed intent on living up to that promise.
As the leaders sped through miles 2 and 3 in 4:39 and 4:27, Lel, wearing a hat, must have wondered what was happening. They passed 5km in 14:21, already inside world record pace. Luke Kibet, the world champion, was already 5 seconds down on the leading group, while Stefano Baldini, then the Olympic champion, was 40 seconds adrift.
Up ahead nine of the world’s best, plus the two pacers, continued to steam through the sunny streets of south east London. Wanjiru was prominent alongside Lel, with Hall, Merga, Goumri, Mutai, Felix Limo of Kenya, Yonas Kifle of Eritrea and Hendrick Ramaala, the South African, struggling slightly at the rear.
They clipped through 10km in 29:10 and at eight miles were still on course for an incredible time of around 2:03. No one had gone this quick before.
Hall sensibly stalked the Africans as they passed 15km in 44:00 and 10 miles in 47:12. Despite the blistering speed, Lel never looked troubled; indeed, he even seemed to be holding back.
They passed half way in a spectacular 62:14, one of the quickest first halves ever seen. But then the numbers began to dwindle as first Ramaala, then Limo struggled to hold on. The pacemakers slipped away at 30km (1:28:29) and Hall began to wilt.
Wanjiru took up front-running duties, reducing the leading group to five with Lel, Mutai, Kifle and Goumri on the young Kenyan’s heels. At 18 miles they were still 7 seconds inside Haile Gebrselassie’s 2007 world record pace, with 4:45 miles needed to beat the Ethiopian’s mark.
But the long run for home from Docklands to Westminster would be into a headwind and cold rain clearly had an effect. The 21st mile was the first to slip outside 5 minutes (5:05), allowing Hall to rejoin the leaders. With the rain in their faces the pace slowed further to 35km (1:43:54) as the runners slipped below world record schedule for the first time.
Hall’s efforts were to no avail. He and Mutai lost touch as Goumri, Lel, Merga and Wanjiru powered on along the rain-sodden Highway towards the Tower and down onto the Embankment.
The two Kenyans ran stride for stride with Goumri and Merga tucked in behind. Merga was the first to crack as the rain eased, while Lel, his hat long-since discarded, looked around him, checking his opponents.
He must have been licking his lips. He had defeated Goumri in a sprint finish twice in 2007 and he out-sprinted Wanjiru to win the previous year’s Great North Run. Remarkably, the champion still looked for all the world like a Sunday morning jogger dodging the puddles.
In Birdcage Walk Goumri lost 2 metres as the Kenyans geared up for the sprint. Lel led round the corner past Buckingham Palace and struck for home. Wanjiru was finished as Lel blasted for the line like a fast-finishing miler to break Khannouchi’s course record.
His last 385 yards was timed at 57 seconds. The first three home set the 5th, 6th and 7th quickest times ever. Lel, already well-known as a champion racer, is now one of the world’s quickest, sitting fourth behind Gebreselassie, Paul Tergat and Sammy Korir on the world all-time list.
Further back, world champion Kibet finished 11th in 2:12:13, and Baldini out-battled Britain’s Dan Robinson to finish 12th in 2:13:06, a bad day for the Italian.
Robinson, 13th in 2:13:10, a new personal best by 43 seconds, clinched his spot in Britain’s Olympic team.
“As the champion I was under pressure to do something today”, said Lel later. “They asked for something and I gave something. We had a chance to break the world record. A chance.”
“The guy is just faster than me”, said the beaten Goumri. “But it was a great race.” Indeed, it was.
The women’s race
Mikitenko makes them pay
Irina Mikitenko sprung a shock to win the women’s race in only her second attempt at the marathon, beating the much-fancied Ethiopian pair of Gete Wami and Berhane Adere and lowering her personal best by 37 seconds.
After starting in calm, cool sunshine, Mikitenko battled through wind and rain in the closing stages to become the first German winner in London since Katrin Dorre took the third of her trio of titles in 1994. Leading for much of the race, the 35 year old shrugged off the challenge of Wami, the reigning World Marathon Majors champion, and Russia’s Svetlana Zakharova over the last 3 miles to cross the line in 2:24:14.
The 37 year old Zakharova finished 2nd for the third time in 2:24:39 in her first London Marathon for four years, while Wami overcame a dramatic fall at 30km to finish third in 2:25:37.
“I was in such good shape I knew I could do it”, said Mikitenko, a former Kazakhstani, who ran an aggressive race from the start. “I am so happy to win my first marathon and I know I have much more to show at this distance.”
Zakharova, in only her second race since giving birth just a year before, was rewarded at the finish with a phone call from the Russian federation confirming her selection for the Olympic Games.
“This is the start of a new career after two years off”, she said. “I am very happy to know I have a place at the Olympics.”
Wami, who defeated Mikitenko in the Berlin Marathon the previous September, had to be satisfied with third after her 2nd place in 2007. “I have never fallen before”, she said. “If I hadn’t fallen I would have run much better. I am disappointed but pleased that I recovered to finish 3rd.”
Despite the perfect conditions the first mile was exceptionally slow, 6:14, but it was no surprise that Constantina Dita led them out in the early stages. Wearing white gloves, the tall Romanian adopted her usual position at the fore of the large group, with Mikitenko, Souad Ait Salem of Algeria and another Romanian Adriana Pirtea alongside her.
The pace picked up through the downhill 3rd mile with the British pair Liz Yelling and Hayley Haining at the front. A group of a dozen passed 5km in 17:36, before Mikitenko joined Dita at the front with Wami and Adere sheltered in the pack.
The fluctuating pace settled down as they passed 10km in 34:49, before Mikitenko began to stretch the field, the tiny figure of Kenya’s debutant Everline Kimwei pattering along behind her. They clicked through 10 miles in 55:29 with Mikitenko and Kimwei shadowed by more experienced Africans including Wami, Adere and Kenya’s Salina Kosgei, as well as the veteran Europeans – Dita, Zakharova and Ludmila Petrova.
Mikitenko and Dita led nine over Tower Bridge just as news came through of a gas leak on the Highway. Danger was averted, however, as the athletes were skillfully directed to the far side of the carriageway for a couple of hundred metres.
Wami, wearing long white socks, made the first move of the day as the runners strode through Wapping. Shadowed by Adere and Ait Salem, and matched by the ever-present Mikitenko, she struck out for the Docklands running 5:13 for mile 14, the second quickest of the race.
It looked significant, but misfortune was waiting just around the corner. As the runners approached the 30km drinks station near Canary Wharf, Ait Salem fell in front of Wami and the Ethiopian tripped, hitting her face, hands and knee on the tarmac. She lost 100 metres and about 30 seconds on the leaders as Petrova, Mikitenko, Adere, Kosgei and Zakharova pushed on.
“When I got up the first thing I did was check my teeth,” she said later. “It felt as if they had fallen out.”
Her recovery was anything but toothless, however. Slowly Wami made up the ground and joined the leading five as the runners turned east and headed back towards the centre of London. Now the race was on and Wami, remarkably, began to push the pace.
Kosgei dropped off the back and both Adere and Petrova started to struggle. Zakharova, defying her 37 years, stuck to Mikitenko and Wami as they passed 35km together in around 2:00:26. These three were clear, the medallists decided if not the order.
Now they faced the long push for home with a breeze in their faces. As the rain began to fall Mikitenko put in yet another effort. Running 5:13 for mile 24 she finally got away leaving Zakharova and the bruised and battered Wami in her wake.
Zakharova did her best to make up the gap, but Mikitenko was too strong. With the Thames on her left she grimaced through the rain, visibly buoyed by her growing lead. She strode on through Parliament Square, up Birdcage Walk and past Buckingham Palace to The Mall, sprinting to the line like the former track runner she is.
“I had so much energy left at the end”, she said. “I knew I could run much faster in the last 5km because at the beginning we were so slow.”
What effect the fall had on Wami’s chances we will never know but she was clearly in pain as she limped across the line.
When Mikitenko finished second behind Wami in Berlin her husband had told her to slow down. This time the German ran her own focused race, unaware of Wami’s fall.
“I always felt that I could do it”, she said. “But I didn’t realise I was alone until 40km. That’s when I knew.”
Kosgei was 4th for the second year in a row, with Petrova 5th, while Ait Salem recovered from her trip to beat Adere in a sprint for 6th.
Yelling, who had run alone for most of the second half, finished 9th in 2:28:44, a personal best by exactly 2 minutes and, more importantly, a ticket to China in Britain’s Olympic team. Haining also broke her personal best in 12th, clocking 2:29:18.
The men’s wheelchair race
Weir sprints to hat-trick
Britain’s David Weir triumphed in the most competitive London Wheelchair Marathon to become the first male athlete to win three titles in succession. He had to fight off six competitors in The Mall to win the fourth London Marathon of his career.
There was a large pack from the start as Weir was joined at the head of the field by the Australian Paralympic champion Kurt Fearnley, world record holder Heinz Frei, former winner Denis Lemeunier, Ernst Van Dyk, the world’s fastest, plus London debutants – South African Krige Schabort, American Joshua George and Japan’s Choke Yasuoka.
Yasuoka’s challenge ended near the Cutty Sark when he tangled wheels with Fearnley. The Australian has lots of experience with crashes, punctures and falls and he quickly extricated himself to sprint back to the pack.
From then on the magnificent seven stayed together although Weir tried to escape on the inclines. As they reached The Mall Weir unleashed his explosive finish, grabbing a 10 metre lead that he increased by the line to win by a full 4 seconds, crossing in 1:33:56.
Fearnley finished 2nd as he did in 2007 with Lemeunier 3rd only a second behind. Schabort and Frei followed at 1 second intervals but Van Dyk and George crashed spectacularly into the advertising hoardings just short of the finish. They recovered to take 6th and 7th respectively while Britain’s rising star Brian Alldis was next in 1:37:23, a personal best.
“This was the hardest of my victories as it was a tactical race with a bigger pack than previously”, said Weir. “I tried to break a number of times but the headwind was too strong and they always came back to me. I just stayed with them and got them in the end.”
It was a great comeback for Weir after a serious bout of glandular fever in the winter followed by what he called ‘man flu’.
The women’s wheelchair race
Graf breaks course record
Sandra Graf of Switzerland took the women’s race apart on her London debut and significantly enhanced her growing reputation by breaking the course record in 1:48:04, more than a minute quicker than the time set by the respected Swede Monica Wetterstrom in 1997.
Graf made her intentions clear after 15km with a break that she extended to the end. She finished almost 4 minutes clear of Amanda McGrory, with the British title holder Shelly Woods third, a full 10 minutes behind.
Woods was hampered by a puncture suffered in the early stages and finished in her slowest time since 2006. “I was feeling good and ready for a quick time but got a puncture at 3 miles”, said Woods. “This made it very hard to hold on to the others as I couldn’t change the tyre until 20 miles.”
