Gebrselassie lowers marathon world record at age 35

Don’t trust anyone under 35. If you really want to be a serious runner, wait till you’re 35. Although I hesitate to discuss roadies on a masters track blog, I can’ resist crowing about the latest masters superstar: Haile Gebrselassie, who broke the 2:04 barrier today in the prednisone Berlin Marathon. Check out the IAAF report on the race. In the women’s race, 36-year-old Irina Mikitenko became the fourth-fastest ever at the distance with her winning time of 2:19:19. Nice runs, guys! I think Geb is now the oldest WR setter on the current books.

The listed masters WR for the marathon is 2:07:12 by Portugal’s Carlos Lopes at the 1985 Rotterdam Marathon.) Irina also bettered the listed women’s WR in W35 — 2:21:29 by Russia’s Lyudmila Petrova in 2006.
Pat Crandall, a masters jumper and hurdler in Florida, noted this on the T&F News Message Board:

2:03:59 is
26 x 1 mile in 4:44 each – zero seconds rest in between
52 x 800 in 2:22 each – zero seconds rest in between
104 x 400 in 71 seconds each – zero seconds rest in between
208 x 200 in 36 seconds each – zero seconds rest in between
How many of you can run ONE 400 in 71 seconds? Not I.

Hey, I could have rabbited Geb for the first 400! Woohoo!