Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie doesn’t need to make a New Year’s resolution, in order to break another World record. For a start, the Ethiopian New Year begins on September 11, “so we don’t celebrate the European New Year,” said the man himself yesterday, by phone from his home in Addis Ababa.
And, although the World records have come with the same metronomic regularity that he applies to his marathon running, he won’t be drawn just yet on whether next week’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, on Friday, January 16, will be his 27 (world best or record).
But he says he is in better shape than when he won Dubai last year, in 2:04:53, then the second fastest on record. “Last year, I had a little injury two weeks before Dubai, but this year everything is OK, I feel fine. And I won’t make the mistake of going too fast, like last year.”
Aiming for a first half in 62 minutes in 2008, the pacemakers seared through the 21.1km in 61:27. It probably made the difference between breaking his then World record of 2:04:26, set in Berlin 2007, by half a minute instead of ending up a half a minute outside it, as was the case.
Geb proved that when he went back to Berlin last September, ran the first half in 62:04, and came back in 61:55, to become the first marathoner under 2:04.
If he breaks that record in Dubai, he will win a one million US dollars bonus, in addition to the first place prize of $250,000.
After Berlin, he said he thought he could do “2:03 something” in Dubai. But, “everything has to be perfect for another record, weather, pacemakers. If I don’t get injured, maybe 2:02:59, but considering my shape and my age, 2:03:30, or 2:03:20.”
It is a tribute to his consistency that even aged 35, with a workforce of hundreds in half a dozen businesses in Addis, Gebrselassie still concentrates on running. “It’s my top priority, because without running, I wouldn’t have everything else. I get up at 5.30 every morning, and go training. And it’s cold here in the morning now. At Entoto (hills outside Addis), it’s about plus one (degree centigrade). I go to the office at about 9.30 or ten o’clock, and work until four. Then I train again. I go to bed about 9.30, ten at the latest.”
So there you have it, the ultimate recipe for success. Not forgetting that you needed to have been born and nurtured at altitude, run thousands of kilometres a year for the last 20 years, have endless willpower and a great finishing sprint.
By Pat Butcher for the IAAF