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Radcliffe
breaks WR; Khannouchi wins at Chicago
CHICAGO – Each completing the greatest year of individual marathoning
in
history, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain broke the women’s world
record
with a time of 2:17:18 Sunday at the 25th LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon,
and
American Khalid Khannouchi ran 2:05:56 to post the fourth-fastest marathon
of all time and the fastest ever on North American soil.
Khannouchi crossed the finish line and broke into tears, celebrating
his
second major success of 2002 and his fourth Chicago crown, having won
in
1997, ’99 (when he ran a world record 2:05:42) and 2000.
On April 14 of this year, Khannouchi broke his own world record at the
London Marathon with a time of 2:05:38. Radcliffe also won at London in
her
debut at the distance, running 2:18:56 for what was at the time the
second-fastest women’s marathon ever. With their performances in
London and
Chicago, Khannouchi and Radcliffe had the two fastest men’s and
women’s
races, respectively, ever in a single calendar year. Khannouchi now has
run
three of the top four fastest marathons of all time, while Radcliffe owns
two of the three fastest women’s times.
The Chicago wind that gusted up to 20 miles per hour on a 40-degree day
was
perhaps the only factor that kept another world record out of the slightly
built Khannouchi’s reach in Chicago, but he asserted his dominance
by
relegating Toshinari Takaoka of Japan to second (2:06:16) and Daniel Njenga
of Kenya to third in 2:06:16. Paul Tergat of Kenya finished fourth in
2:06:18, Abdelkhader El Mouaziz of Morocco was fifth in 2:06:46, and
American Alan Culpepper turned in an outstanding marathon debut, placing
sixth in 2:09:41.
Khannouchi ran a controlled race with the lead pack, taking advantage
of the
taller runners surrounding him to avoid the Chicago breeze. The strategy
paid off when the lead pack strung out at mile 17 after a blistering first
half run in 1:02:22, Khannouchi hanging back in 1:02:29. He surged at
24
miles, erasing the 13-second lead of Takaoka and dropping El Mouaziz and
Tergat. By mile 25, he was firmly in the lead and charging toward the
finish.
Radcliffe seized the lead from the start and came through the half-way
point
in 1:09:01, running with the strength and determination that has become
her
trademark and that propelled her to annihilate Catherine Ndereba’s
world
record of 2:17:47, set last year at the Chicago Marathon. Nderaba finished
second on Sunday in a time of 2:19:26. Japan’s Yoko Shibui was third
in
2:21:22, and Deena Drossin
was the top American, placing sixth in a
personal-record time of 2:26:53.
U.S. ATHLETE QUOTES – 25th LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
Sunday, October 13, 2002
Men
KHALID KHANNOUCHI, 1st, 2:05:56: “This is a magical place. When
you come
here, you know you’re going to compete against the best. I was emotional
because you don’t imagine how many times I heard my name. It was
42
kilometers, and I probably heard my name thousands of times of there.
“I wasn’t happy with the pacing today because the guys took
it out faster
than we thought. When we got to the 22nd mile, the Japanese athlete took
off. But I wasn’t worried about him. Paul Tergat is one of the greatest
athletes and he knows how to win. At 23 miles, I thought, I must make
a
decision, and I took off. You have to make the decision and have the
confidence in yourself. I have confidence. The last three miles is the
hardest of the race.
“I looked back (after making his break) and saw an opening (the
gap on his
competitors), and I said wow. I was feeling good and said I think I can
keep the pace. I didn’t pay attention (to his competitors) after
that.”
ALAN CULPEPPER, sixth, 2:09:41: “This is really awesome. The course
was
perfect, the crowd was awesome the whole way. It was really a special
occasion. I ran in the 1:04:15 (halfway) group. It was actually a little
faster than I had planned, but Rod (DeHaven) and Godfrey (Kiprotich) did
a
great job in bringing us through.
“At no part of the race did I feel taxed in my breathing. At 20
miles, my
legs just ran out of fuel. I think the one thing I would change in the
future is I would do more of my long runs on the pavement. My legs were
feeling the pavement early on. I was a little disappointed with how my
legs
felt at the end, but I was happy with the way I finished. I didn’t
have any
really bad miles – my slowest mile was 5:07, and that was into the
win. In
terms of my expectations, this is exactly what I wanted to run.”
Women
DEENA DROSSIN, sixth,
2:26:53: “Although I would have liked to have run a
lot faster, I tried my hardest out there. That’s the nature of the
beast of
the marathon, and that’s why we respect the distance so much. I
came through
the half in 1:11:04, which is exactly what I wanted. I just didn’t
run the
second half as I wanted to. With six miles to go, my calves and feet were
starting to cramp – it was just a sub-par day out there. The effort
was out
there, although the performance wasn’t where I’d like it to
be.”
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