With Olympic Marathon Champion Sammy Wanjiru unexpectedly out of the picture, Martin Lel did what we all expected and surged to the Lisbon Half Marathon win in the final meters.
Emerging from a pack of four men's runners that included World Marathon Majors Champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Lel and Moroccan Jaouad Gharib sprinted to the line with no more than 500m left. Gharib took the lead, hoping he could win in a prolonged kick, but Lel was immediately stuck to his side and back. Heading into a 90-degree turn with about 150m to go, Lel beat Gharib to the inside track and raised his speed considerably, powering home for one of his trademark road wins.
Lel's time, approximately 59:54, was well off Wanjiru's world record of 58:33 set in 2007, but may have reflected what looked to be relatively humid and warm conditions on the course.
Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru was well-beaten, dropping from the lead pack relatively early in the race. We believe Emmanuel Mutai was the other Kenyan in the lead pack of 4 that was together for almost the entire race before the final kilometers separated the leaders.
Women's Race: Goucher Dominates ... Until The Final 5k
American Kara Goucher was alone for much of the day, well, except for three male pacemakers surrounding her almost the entire way. Goucher was almost exactly on pace for an American record in the half marathon through 15k (~48:20, shooting for Deena Kastor's 67:34), but she began to show signs of distress in the final kilometers. Goucher's pace slowed considerably, especially in the final 1,000m, as her grimace became more pronounced. She finished in ~68:29.
Coming into the race, Goucher sported the 9th-best half marathon personal best of all time. Her 66:57 from 2007, set on a net downhill course in Great Britain, established her as the race's clear favorite. However, it did not look like a fun day out on the course for Goucher, who along with coach Alberto Salazar had remarked on her fantastic fitness heading into the race, even hinting at a possible world record attempt on Lisbon's IAAF-certified course (Lornah Kiplagat's 66:25 stood as the mark to best).
The wheels came off, so to speak, for Goucher in the final kilometers (we think her last 1,000m may have been 4:10). In fact, though it appeared she had the race easily won from the early stages, Goucher was fortunate to win the race as Kenyan Alice Timilili came into the picture just in the final moments. Had the race been just another 400m, Goucher may have finished lower down in the standings.
MY TAKE ON IT: WOW... THIS DIDN'T GO ACCORDING TO PLANS... WANJIRU/GOUCHER (ALTHOUGH YOU DID WIN, PROPS FOR THAT) WHAT HAPPPPEEENNNNED. I'D LIKE TO CALL OUT ALBERTO SALAZAR, SPECIFICALLY... I SEEM TO REMEMBER YOU SAYING HOW GOUCHER WAS FOR SURE GOING TO THREATEN THE AMERICAN HALF-MARATHON RECORD AND MAYBE EVEN THE WORLD RECORD.... uhhh yeah, no... atleast this is an excuse to put up another picture of Kara Goucher!!
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