|
DESPITE CONTROVERSY, GEBRE IS HONOLULU MARATHON CHAMPION
Published by
Dec 13th 2010, 12:25am
DESPITE CONTROVERSY, GEBRE IS HONOLULU MARATHON CHAMPION By David Monti (c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
HONOLULU
(12-Dec) -- When Belainesh Gebre, an Ethiopian athlete based in
Flagstaff, Ariz., was unable to gain invited status for the 38th
Honolulu Marathon here this morning, she and her boyfriend, Ezkyas
Sisay, decided to sign-up for the race on their own. Race organizers
were tipped off that she planned to compete by another competitor, and
Honolulu Marathon Association president Dr. Jim Barahal allowed her and
Sisay into the invited athletes staging area in the predawn darkness
this morning.
"Because, you know, she tried to enter (as an)
elite athlete, they didn't accept her," Sisay explained to reporters
after the race.
Wearing bib number 9670, Gebre tucked in behind
Sisay right from the gun, hitting the first kilometer in 3:25, and the
first mile in 5:33, several seconds faster than course record pace.
With the exception of designated pacemaker Kaori Yoshida of Japan, who
ran close behind the Ethiopian couple through 15 km, no other women were
in sight.
Because Gebre, a 1:09:43 half-marathon runner who has
won her last five road races, was not part of the invited field, she did
not have her own energy drinks at the eight official aid stations like
the other top women. To compensate for that, she drank PowerBar energy
drink from bottles which ringed Sisay's waist on a belt.
That's where all of the trouble started.
USA
Track & Field rules 144 and 241 address unfair assistance to
athletes, and Sisay's pacing Gebre, supplying her with drinks several
times from his belt, bringing her sponges and drinks from the aid
stations, and providing information to her about her pace and the
whereabouts of her rivals was over the line as far as three-time
champion Svetlana Zakharova of Russia was concerned. After closing the
gap on the slowing Gebre late in the race to about 40 seconds, Zakharova
was unable to catch the Ethiopian who ran the last kilometer of the
race alone after Sisay ducked off of the course. The 40 year-old
Russian, who has won both the Boston and Chicago Marathons, filed a
protest after Gebre clocked 2:32:13 to win in her marathon debut.
Zakharova finished 48 seconds back.
Minutes later in a rambling interview, Sisay said he didn't understand what all the fuss was about.
"We need to drink PowerBar," he said referring to the energy drinks he carried. "Then, we shared our drink."
He then insisted that he was not in the race to pace Gebre, but was trying to compete in the men's division, instead.
"I came here, I wanted to finish top-3," he said. "This is my liquid. She asked me then, I gave her."
After
investigating the matter with a local USA Track & Field official,
Barahal told reporters that he was unhappy about what Sisay had done,
but that his offense didn't rise to the level where Gebre should be
disqualified.
"After careful review of photographic evidence,
eyewitness accounts, and some discussions with the runner and her
running companion and coach, we have made the decision to affirm the
results and declare (her) the winner of the race. The results stand as
determined on the course."
Barahal reasoned that since Gebre did
not have access to the special fluid service provided to the invited
athletes, her taking the drinks from Sisay essentially leveled the
playing field.
"Because she entered on her own and was not an
elite athlete, she was not able to access our elite aid stations, which
there are eight on the course," Barahal, a cardiologist, said. "Since
she wasn't an elite athlete, she didn't have that. By eyewitness
accounts, we have reliable reports that she received assistance six
times. Even if that's true, that's still less than the eight (stations)
the other athletes had."
Barahal said that he spoke to the
Ethiopian couple sternly and expressed his displeasure, and that if she
decided to return next year to defend her title such conduct would not
be tolerated.
"We don't think there was any question that the
coach acted inappropriately," Barahal intoned. "Whether that reached
the standard for disqualification is something reasonable people could
probably disagree on." He added: "Let's face it, at the end of the day
she did run 26.2 miles."
Gebre earned $40,000 in prize money,
compared to $16,000 for Zakharova. Third place went to Japan's Yoshida,
who decided to finish, in 2:39:02.
In the men's race, there was
no such controversy. Despite having Patrick Makau, the fastest
marathoner of 2010 in the lead pack as a casual pacer, the tempo in the
men's race was slow. Makau didn't push the pace, and retired near the
11 mile mark (18 km). A pack of five Kenyan contenders --Gilbert Kirwa,
Nicholas Chelimo, Jimmy Muindi, Richard Limo and Solomon Bushendich--
then waltzed through the halfway mark in 1:07:40. Chelimo, who was
second her last year, didn't mind the slow pace.
"You know, I was
not worried because, you know, the weather," Chelimo said after the
race. "The weather was a little bit humid from last year."
Indeed
the 79% humidity was clearly a factor in the sluggish tempo, but so was
a lack of leadership in the lead pack. Without a designated pacemaker,
the athletes were all looking at each other like gamblers at a poker
table.
"I was watching all of the guys, because everybody was
very strong," Chelimo commented. "Today, I think everybody was very
strong."
Muindi, a 6-time winner here, was the first to fall off
of the pace in the second half. The pack stretched and contracted
several times, but after the 21 mile mark (34 km) Limo, a world 5000m
champion, surged dropping Kirwa. Chelimo stayed with Limo, and
Bushendish fell back a few steps. Then Chelimo saw his chance to win
the race.
"About 35-K," he replied when he asked when he knew he
would win the race. "Because I surged. I surged again and I got about
50 meters and I say, I think nobody will follow me again."
As the
sun rose over the Pacific behind Chelimo, his lead went unchallenged
over the final climb up Diamond Head Avenue, then down to the finish in
Kapiolani Park. His winning time was modest --2:15:18-- but like Gebre
his payday was big: $40,000.
"I feel very happy, very happy,
wonderful," said Chelimo who has a 2:07:38 personal best. "This is the
best marathon of my life, this one. I am very happy."
Limo
finished a distant second, exactly two minutes back, and Busendich
finished third in 2:19:54. The top American was 45 year-old Mbarak
Hussein of Albuquerque, N.M., who finished sixth in 2:22:37; 29 year-old
Nick Stanko of Haslett, Mich., was seventh in 2:27:25.
This
morning's race had 22,806 entrants, and runners will be coming in to the
finish line until dark. Unlike most big marathons, Honolulu does not
enforce a time limit for finishing.
PHOTOS: Nicholas Chelimo
celebrates his 2010 Honolulu Marathon victory. Belainesh Gebre and
boyfriend Ezkyas Sisay explain to reporters after the 2010 Honolulu
Marathon whether Sisay had provided Gebre with unfair assistance (Photos
by Jane Monti).
ENDS
|