Running legend Haile Gebrselaisse retires after Great Manchester Run

Haile Gebrselaisse...one of the most successful athletes in the world has retired from competitive running today Sunday the 10th May 2015. In his last race at the Great Manchester Run 10km, he finished 16th in a time of 30m 05s. After finishing his race with the elites, he then went on to run with the mass field who started later.
 
The 42-year-old Ethiopian has won two Olympic gold medals, eight world championship victories and set 27 world records over his 25-year career.

He is one of the most recognised and famous athletes in the world and in more recent times is best known for having set a new marathon record of 2h 03m 59s in Berlin in Sept 2008.

This 25 minute video clip below shows his career...




(To skip the the two advert segments, move forward to 9:35 and 19:25 when they appear)

The great Haile Gebrselassie wins the Vienna Half-Marathon in 61:14...

The great Ethiopian distance runner Haile Gebrselassie has won his third consecutive Vienna half marathon on Sunday, timing one hour one minute and 14 seconds. This was his third consecutive Vienna half marathon win.

Gebrselassie, a double Olympic 10,000 metres champion who turns 40 next week, took control of the race at the midway point. After crossing the line ahead of Kenya's Hosea Kipkemboi (1hr02.21) and Ethiopian Mekuant Ayenew (1hr02.21) he reflected: "It was a magnificent festival, with a golden public who didn't stop encouraging me."

In March, Gebrselassie stated he was still in love with running and had no intention of retiring. "As long as I enjoy it so much I will keep running and I don't know how and when this will finish," he said.

He is scheduled to take part in a race in Bern on May 18 before defending his Great Manchester 10km Run title on May 26.

Haile Gebrselaisse posts DNF at Fukuoka Marathon...Sun 2nd Dec 2012

At the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship in Japan today, the great Haile Gebrselaisse alas posted a DNF. After being with the leaders up to at least 30 kms before pulling out just after the 32 km mark. In a post race interview, he said..."I couldn't lift my leg any more. At first I was feeling good so I thought I would just take it easy and run relaxed, but...."

Here are his splits below...

GEBRSELASSIE,Haile ETH...15:08 (5k)...30:13 (10k)...45:15 (15k)...1:00:25 (20k)...1:03:48 (Half)...1:15:38 (25k)...1:30:38 (30k)...Pulled out

Haile had previously won the Fukuoka Marathon back in 2006 in a time of 2:06:52

The race was won by Joseph Gitau of Kenya in a time of 2:06:58. Citizen runner Yuki Kawauchi who works full time and trains in his spare time managed to finish in an impressive 6th place in a time of 2:10:29. Post race, he said..."All of a sudden I started having trouble following the pace, and then it got hard to stay optimistic.  I just started to slip away. To put it simply, I wasn't strong enough. I'm thinking about adding workouts with club teams and universities, maybe some corporate teams, to my training".

1. Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel)...2:06:58
2. Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei)...2:08:24
3. Henryk Szost (Poland...2:08:42
4. Arata Fujiwara (Miki House)...2:09:31
5. Bunta Kuroki (Team Yasukawa Denki)...2:10:08
6. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.)...2:10:29
7. Mohamed Trafeh (U.S.A.)...2:11:41
8. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.)...2:11:45 
9. Cuthbert Nyasango (Zimbabwe)...2:11:48
10. Kota Noguchi (Team Toyota)...2:12:24
11. Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine)...2:13:23
12. Tim Nelson (U.S.A.)...2:14:09
13. Scott Overall (GBR)...2:14:15
Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)...DNF

Haile Gebrselassie and the Olympic 10k final in Sydney

The year...2000.
The venue...The Olympic stadium in Sydney, Australia.
The race...The 10,000m final.

Having sustained an achilles injury with just three week to go, the defending Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie lined out with some of the fastest runners in the world including the Kenyan Paul Tergat. In a closely contested race, the Ethiopian won in the end by less than one second.

In this recent BBC interview for the Sporting Witness series, they interview Haile Gebrselassie about the race. You can hear it HERE

You can see the race below...

Haile Gebrselassie finishes a disappointing 7th in Hengelo...

In the mens 10,000 metre race in the FBK-Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands, the former Marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie ran 27:20 to finish in a dissapointing 7th. Even though this was faster than the 27:39 that he ran to win the Great Manchester Run the previous Sunday, he still finished behind five other Ethiopians in what was an official trial for their Olympic team.

Rank     Athlete    Nation    Result
1     BEKELE, Tariku    ETH WL    27:11.70
2     DESISA BENTI, Leleisa    ETH PB    27:11.98
3     SIHINE, Sileshi    ETH 27:12.60
4     GEBREMARIAM, Gebre    ETH 27:13.66
5     MEDHIN, Teklemariam    ERI  PB    27:16.69
6     REGASSA, Tilahun    ETH PB    27:18.90
7     GEBRSELASSIE, Haile    ETH 27:20.39
8     KUMA, Abera    ETH 27:25.20
9     MERGA, Imane     ETH 27:42.39
10     BEKELE, Azmeraw    ETH PB    27:49.16

This now draws Haile's Olympic bid to a close.

In a post race interview, he said..."The Games in London, is over for me. That's life. I am not disappointed...I tried to qualify for my fifth Olympics. And I don't regret trying to do so...I simply came up against stronger rivals on Sunday."

Gebrselassie also indicated afterwards this would be his final track race. It was his first track race since the 2008 Olympics.

Haile Gebrselassie wins Great Manchester Run 10k - Sun 20th May 2012

In a race with 40,000 runners and a top class field including the current Marathon record holder, the great Haile Gebrselassie won in a time of 27:39. After some recent disappointing Marathon performances, there were many articles in the press about whether it was time for the 39 year old Ethiopian to retire. He gave his answer in Manchester on Sunday with the fastest 10k time in the world this year.

In an interview after the race, he said......."For me it was just great that I ran so quickly and it reflected on what my training suggested I might do. For a change the Manchester weather was good and I felt very good from start to finish." When asked whether he plans chasing a 10,000m position in what will be the official Ethiopian Olympic trial at the FBK-Games in Hengelo (Netherlands) next Sunday, replied: "I wanted to run fast today and next week my goal is to run sub-27 minutes in Hengelo. There will be a lot of stars running in the Olympics. It will be difficult to beat them. So I don’t know what would be possible. To get into the top three and win a medal that would be wonderful.""

Looking at Gebrselassie's time of 27:39, it is faster than the 27:47 that fellow Ethiopian and current Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele set in the Great Ireland Run in Dublin last month. It would be fair to say though that the course through the Phoenix Park may not be as fast as it has a few hills.

Will Gebrselassie make the Olympics? No matter what nationality you are, I think most people would love to see the 39 year old there in the 10k final going head to head with the current Olympic champion Bekele and the Kenyans. Time will tell.

The BBC has a piece on the 2012 Great Manchester Run HERE

Gebrselassie To Chase Radcliffe In Vienna Half-Marathon

This unique Half-Marathon race is coming up in Vienna on Sunday, the 15th of April. The holder of the womens Marathon record, Paula Radcliffe, will race against the great Haile Gebrselassie, the former holder of the mens Marathon record.

In a press release, the organisers said.....
"The British world marathon record holder had been announced earlier as a competitor in the half marathon. She will now start the race with a time advantage and Haile Gebrselassie will chase her. We are absolutely thrilled to be able to present our spectators a race of which you could only dream of. Haile running against Paula – two inspiring personalities and may be the two best runners of all times up against each other – this is something unique in the world of road running."

Haile Gebrselassie won the race in 2011 with a course record of 60:18 minutes. A year ago he received a tremendous reception by the spectators, politicians from the city and even the President of Austria had invited the two time Olympic 10,000 m Champion for a reception. 

The time advantage for Paula Radcliffe will be determined nearer to the race. She will start her race on her own while Haile Gebrselassie and the whole field will be chasing her on the way to the finish.

Tokyo Marathon leaves trail of disappointment...

The Tokyo Marathon last Sunday was a bitter disappointment for at least two runners...

First of all, the great Haile Gebrselassie finished in 4th place in what was for him a disappointing time of 2:08:17. He was leading the race with just three miles to go but got into trouble over the last few kms. Despite the fact that he is well inside the Olympic qualifying time of 2:15, he is only the 14th fastest Ethiopian over the Marathon distance this year while at least three other Ethiopians ran under 2:05 in Dubai recently. With that in mind, it really puts a huge question mark over whether he can qualify for the Olympics now.

The other disappointed athlete was Yuki Kawauchi...........(see Derek O'Keffe's guest article last week). Otherwise known as the 'Citizen Runner' because he actually works for a living and trains in his spare time, he was hoping to run close to 2:07. Instead, he missed his drinks bottles at the 5 km and 10 km mark and got into trouble before half-way. He finished up in 14th-place with a time of 2:12:51. That was still within the A standard to qualify for the London Olympics but there were other Japanese runners who were faster.

In an interview, Kawauchi said..."I'm disappointed in myself that I let my confidence get shaken by not being able to get my drink bottles at 5 km and 10 km. Maybe it was a lack of preparation, or a lack of experience.....It was disgraceful. If you're not good enough to be internationally competitive then you don't need to go to the Olympics. I tried, and it's over.  Selection is based on results, and I do not think I will be picked."

After the race, Kawauchi shaved his head in atonement for his performance.  "I felt that I had to give everyone who supported me a sign of my remorse," he said.  "It's better that my shame be exposed for everyone to see."

Just as well he didn't pull out of the race! ;o)

Still though, when you consider that he works full time, does half the amount of training of a professional athlete and then still has a 'bad run' of 2:12! If someone had run that time 50 years ago, they would have set a world record.

The talent and brief career of Daniel Komen...

Many of you may be wondering who Daniel Komen is? Growing up in poverty in rural Kenya, he ran everywhere as a child and when he burst upon the athletics world in the late 90's, his training and natural ability saw him produce some remarkable times.

As well as setting several records, he is probably best remembered today for 2 events...

He is the only person ever to have run 2 miles in under 8 minutes. He ran the 1st mile in 3:59.4, exactly the same time that Roger Bannister ran when he broke the first sub 4 minute mile back in 1954. He then however continued and ran the 2nd mile in under 4 minutes as well to set a new record of 7:58.61 for 2 miles.

He also ran a time of 7:20.67 for the 3000 metres in Italy in 1996, beating the previous record by a huge 4.5 seconds. What makes this even more remarkable is that he had run a 5 km race in 13:02 in Berlin just 2 days earlier. That 3000m time still stands to this day.



After the initial flush of success and the wealth that came with it, he eased off on the amount of training believing that natural talent would suffice. Soon however, his times dropped and he faded away from the international athletics scene.

One interesting sidenote is that back in the late 90's, Daniel Komen raced against another noted runner....a certain Haile Gebrselassie. In contrast to Komen, Gebrselassie continued with the arduous training regime year after year to become one of the greatest athletes of all time.

A more comprehensive article on Daniel Komen can be found on this website.

Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya wins Boston Marathon in 2:03:02...

Only last week, I put up a post about a BBC article that asked if a sub 2 hour Marathon was possible and sure enough, there was a hint of it in Boston on Monday. The Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai won the Marathon in a time of 2 hours 3 min and 2 seconds.

While this was 57 seconds faster than the current Marathon record of 2:03:59 set by Haile Gebrselaissie in Berlin in 2008, it won't count because the route doesn't qualify.

It does however suggest that the current record may be broken soon?

Is a sub 2 hour Marathon possible???

There was a recent article on the BBC News website which asked this very question. Over the years, the record has been edging down towards the 2 hour  barrier and it currently stands at 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

This was set by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in 2008 and he believes that a sub hour Marathon may be possible some time in the distant future, perhaps in 20 years time. Others however believe that the record of 2 hours 2 mins is possible after which it will plateau.

To set the current record, Haile had to run at an average of 4m 43.7s per mile whereas someone would have to run an average of 4m 34.6s per mile to break the 2 hour barrier. That's an incredible speed to maintain over 26.2 miles. Is it possible though???

The full article can be seen HERE

Haile Gebrselassie calls off retirement

From the BBC News...
Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie has announced he will compete again after reversing his decision to retire from athletics. The 37-year-old initially stated he was quitting after dropping out of his first New York Marathon at the 16-mile mark with a knee injury on 7 November.


However, Gebrselassie revealed on his Twitter page: "Running is in my blood and I decided to continue competing."When my knee is better again I will start focusing on my next race."


Gebrselassie, who won the Olympic 10,000m titles in 1996 and 2000, added: "My announcement in New York was my first reaction after a disappointing race."


He holds the marathon world record of two hours, three minutes, 59 seconds and has said that he wants to compete over the distance at the 2012 London Olympics.

Haile Gebrselaisse - Video - Part 3 of 3

This 3rd and final clip which is just over 7 minutes long covers the build up to the 2007 Berlin Marathon when Haile Gebrselaisse broke the Marathon world record by running 2h 04m 26s. He would return to Berlin one year later in 2008 to set the current record of 2h 03m 59s.

After the New York Marathon on the 7th of November, he announced his retirement from competitive running. The big question now is 'Has he?'. In a recent post on Twitter, he announced that he was considering taking part in the London Olympics in 2012 so he may change his mind yet.



Part 1 of this video can be seen HERE

Part 2 of this video can be seen HERE

Haile Gebrselaisse - Video - Part 2 of 3

This 2nd clip covers his humble origins and his early career.



The first part of this video can be seen in a previous post HERE

Haile Gebrselaisse - Video - Part 1 of 3

After pulling out of the New York City Marathon last Sunday at the 16 mile mark, Haile Gebrselaisse announced his retirement from competitive running.

This 8 minute video clip os the first of 3 clips from CNN as they follow him during his build-up to the Berlin Marathon in 2008 when he ran 2:03:59 to set a new record for the Marathon distance.

Haile Gebrselassie announces his retirement...

One of the true greats of running has just announced his retirement from competitive running.

In the New York City Marathon on Sunday, the great Haile Gebrselassie had to pull out around the 16 mile mark with a knee injury. In the press conference afterwards, he made the suprise announcement that he was retiring from competitive running.


Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Besides his many victories in the Olympics and other races, one of his finest performances was surely in the Berlin Marathon in  September 2008 when he set a new world record for the distance by running in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

That works out as an average of roughly 4m 44s per mile!!

Truly, one of the greatest runners of all time...