Tirunesh Dibaba to run her first marathon in London

April 10, 2014

Tirunesh Dibaba, the greatest female track and cross-country runner of all time, will run her first marathon at the London Marathon on Sunday. 

For the global running audience, the queenly Ethiopian’s presence in London is news as enthralling as Mo Farah’s debut is for the British public. What will this wondrous runner, who has won five Olympic gold medals with such silken fleetness (and with last laps sub-58 seconds), make of the marathon’s 26.2 arduous miles?

“I’m intensively trained. I received help with the longer runs from my husband, Sileshi Shihine [an Olympic silver medalist at 10,000 meters in 2004 and 2008], and advice from Haile Gebrselassie. I have worked with a marathon training group. I will try my best,” she said Thursday, through an interpreter.

Dibaba, 28, handled the media Thursday with smiling adroitness. Asked why she had not run last year’s London Marathon as originally announced, she responded in apparent earnestness, “my flight was delayed by one year.”

Unbeaten on the track at 10,000 meters, Dibaba has already met some of her opponents on the roads. Since winning her fifth Olympic gold medal, she has beaten world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) in a half-marathon in 2012, and was behind London’s defending champion Priscah Jeptoo (Kenya) at the same distance in 2013, in a PR 66:56.

Dibaba has the unusual incentive that her aunt once won the London Marathon. Derartu Tulu, her nearest rival for the title of history’s greatest track female track runner, won commandingly here in 2001.

If she relies on her famous blazing finish, Dibaba could meet competition in fellow Ethiopian Tiki Gelana, who took the 2012 Olympic title on London’s streets with a sub-70 second-half split, and a pulsating finish that surprised Jeptoo. In the 2013 London Marathon, Gelana was struck from behind and injured by an elite wheelchair racer, an incident that has forced a major (and belated) scheduling change. She has returned to London with undented determination.

“I have prepared myself and am in good shape and ready to run sub-2:20 if God helps me,” Gelana said.

Jeptoo also predicted sub-2:20, and said she sees even Paula Radcliffe’s women’s-only world record of 2:17:42 as within reach.

“If we help each other we can manage,” Jeptoo said. “I cannot say that it will be on Sunday.”

Jeptoo, with five marathon wins from nine starts, has been dominant for the last two years, and probably starts as the favorite despite having only the fourth-fastest time. She will long be remembered in USA for her astounding second half at the New York City Marathon last November, when she pulled back Buzunesh Deba’s 3:22 lead for the victory.

The elite women’s focus seemed intently on the racing, with any one of five runners capable of winning. Edna Kiplagat and Florence Kiplagat (both Kenya, but unrelated) both come in on an upward trajectory.

Edna Kiplagat unexpectedly retained her world championship title in Moscow last year. Her first gold medal in 2009, and 2010 wins at Los Angeles and New York, had been followed by a period of high placings but no victories.

“Now, I’m a lot stronger, after running for three years without winning,” she said.

Florence Kiplagat, after leading much of last year’s London Marathon, finished only sixth, but went on to take her second victory at Berlin. After a planned recovery phase, she built toward Sunday’s race with a sensational world record half marathon of 65:12 at Barcelona on February 16.

“Last year I was not confident, but this year, after the world record, I am confident. I’ll try to win,” she said.

The proven power of Jeptoo or the refreshed challenge from Gelana and both Kiplagats? The Olympic or the world champion? Can Dibaba carry through the long rigor of a marathon her unique combination of elegance and deadliness?

And those are not even the full cast.  The field has three woman with times under 2:20, eight sub-2:25, and twelve sub-2:30.

Here is a look at the sub-2:30 elite women’s field (arranged by personal best times):

Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) was the Olympic champion in 2012, in an Olympic record of 2:23:07, after wins at Amsterdam (2011) and Rotterdam (2012). She had a down year in 2013. She was knocked to the road in a collision in London, and dropped out of the world championship marathon. PR 2:18:58, Rotterdam 2012.

Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) is the world record holder at the half marathon. She has won Berlin twice, the first time defeating Paula Radcliffe. PR 2:19:44, Berlin 2011.

Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) is a double world marathon champion (2009, 2013), and a New York City Marathon champion (2010). Her London record in the last three years is third, second, second.  PR 2:19:50, London 2012.

Priscah Jeptoo (Kenya) won London and New York in 2013, was second to Gelana in the 2012 Olympics in 2:23:12, which would have won every previous Olympics. PR 2:20:14, London 2012.

Aberu Kebede (Ethiopia) has wins at Berlin (2010 and 2012), and Tokyo (2013). Best London place is sixth, 2012. PR 2:20:30, Berlin 2012.

Feysa Tadesse (Ethiopia) won at Shanghai (2012), Seoul (2012), Paris (2013). She DNF’d at the world championships in 2013. This is her London debut. PR 2:21:06, Paris 2013.

Tetyana Gamera-Shmyrko (Ukraine) was fifth at 2012 Olympics, and has two wins at Osaka (2012, 2013). PR  2:23:58, Osaka 2013.

Jessica Augusto (Portugal) was seventh at the 2012 Olympics, and eighth at London in 2011 and 2012. PR 2:24:33, London 2011.

Kim Smith (New Zealand, based in Rhode Island) may have been a few calf muscle fibers away from world fame when she was slowed to a limp while leading the wind-aided 2011 Boston by a minute. Her best finish in a major marathon is fourth at New York in 2010. Smith is versatile in track and cross-country, outstanding at the half-marathon, and consistently one of the world’s best non-Africans for the last decade. PR 2:25:21, London 2010.

Ana Dulce Felix (Portugal) her best major marathon placing was fourth at New York in 2011. She is outstanding at cross-country and shorter road racing. PR 2:25:40, New York 2011.

Nadia Ejjafini (Italy), formerly of Morocco and Bahrain, her best finish is sixth at Frankfurt in 2011. PR 2:26:15, Frankfurt 2011.

Diane Nukuri-Johnson (Burundi) is married to an American and living in Iowa City. Consistently improving, including PRs at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 Boston marathons. PR 2:29:54, Boston 2013.

Source: Runner’s World