Records fall as spring marathon season hots up

ATHLETICS:And it's likely to get even hotter with tomorrow's 30th London marathon

THIS IS turning out to be one of the hottest spring marathon seasons since records began. And I’m not talking about the weather. Until recently, if you could run in and around two hours and seven minutes for 26.2 miles then you could be fairly confident about winning any one of the big city runs, and collect the nice little paycheque that comes with that.

Things have changed, and – not surprisingly – we have the Kenyans to blame.

Last Monday, in the 114th Boston marathon, 21-year-old Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot was first home in 2:05.52. This may be shy of Haile Gebrselassie’s world record of 2:03.59, but Cheruiyot had, in fact, run the fastest marathon without the use of pacemakers. They like their traditions in Boston, and they see pacemakers as a cheap, unnecessary scourge. Boston is a race, not an exhibition.

Anyway, Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot is not to be confused with Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, another Kenyan who won Boston four times, and held the course record of 2:07.14, set in 2006.

Nor should either be confused with Robert Kiprotich Cheruiyot, another Kenyan who hasn’t been as successful as his namesakes yet still has a best of 2:08.13.

At just 21, Kiprono Cheruiyot – or “Robert the Younger”, as he has become affectionately known – is the just latest product to come off Kenya’s ever-quickening conveyor belt of marathon talent. Kenyans have now won 17 of the last 20 Bostons, and although the Ethiopians do occasionally get a look in, no other nation can rival them at the classic distance.

The story of why this is so has been well documented, and the story of Robert the Younger articulates it perfectly.

Two years ago, at age 19, he was desperate to make his marathon debut. He managed to secure an invitation to Frankfurt, but the organisers would pay his expenses only provided he ran under 2:14. Cheruiyot begged and borrowed the money, eventually made it to Frankfurt and won the race in a course record 2:07.21. When Kenyan marathon runners get their chance, they literally can’t afford not to maximise it.

On Monday, he earned himself $175,000 (€130,000): the winner’s top prize plus a $25,000 bonus for the course record.

He was worth every cent. Running 2:05.52 in Boston takes considerable effort, even more so considering Cheruiyot faced a stiff headwind inside the last three miles, during which he made his decisive break. He also had the notorious Heartbreak Hill to contend with.

In the end, his 2:05.52 was well inside the previous fastest marathon without a pacemaker, the 2:06:32 fellow Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru ran to win the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Yet as impressive as his 2:05.52 is, it barely stands out in what has been an exceptional season. Patrick Musyoki of Kenya ran 2:04.48 to win in Rotterdam – and the next three finishers, two from Kenya, ran inside 2:05.30. Gebrselassie of Ethiopia ran 2:06.09 to win in Dubai; his countryman Tadese Tola ran 2:06.41 to win in Paris; while another Kenyan, Sylvester Teimet, ran 2:06.49 in Seoul.

So where does this leave the rest of the world in their efforts to make a mark on the season? We are not entirely without hope. The American Ryan Hall proved once again he’s not far off, finishing fourth in Boston on Monday in 2:08:41. Not only was that the fastest by an American at Boston, and faster than last year’s winning time, it would have won all but eight previous Bostons.

John Treacy’s Irish record of 2:09.15 is 22 years old this week, given he ran it in Boston, finishing third back in 1998. Treacy would be the first to admit that record is due breaking. Yet the closest any Irish runner has come is the 2:14.06 Martin Fagan ran in 2008, to qualify for Beijing. As it happens that’s the only marathon Fagan has finished, as injury has curtailed his ambitions.

Watching Fagan win the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park last Sunday underlined he is our best prospect in years. Possibly since Treacy. He’s 26, yet for a marathon runner still only coming into his prime, and the key to Fagan’s success is staying injury free. In marathon running, there’s a fine line between training hard and training smart. Fagan definitely trains hard, and, when he’s not injured, usually clocks up to 130 miles a week at his high-altitude training base in Flagstaff, Arizona. He’s learning to train smart too, and is considering the marathon at the European Championships in Barcelona in July. The problem is he doesn’t have the qualifying time, although that may not be an insurmountable problem.

The way big city marathons have gone you need to be running around two hours and five minutes to have any chance of collecting the pay cheques. Fagan may never run 2:05, but he could run 2:09 – and could be fairly confident about winning a medal in Barcelona. That’s really where his focus should be.

In the meantime the spring season is sure to heat up further tomorrow with the 30th London marathon. Like most of the big city runs, the growth has been staggering – from 6,255 finishers in the inaugural year, to 35,375 last year. There were 162,000 applications for tomorrow’s race limit of 36,000.

Many of the best are in London, including Kenyan’s Duncan Kibet, second fastest ever with his 2:04:27, along with Wanjiru, the defending champion, and Abel Kirui, the World champion.

There is every chance London will prove the hottest spring marathon since records began.