Last month, I wrote a commentary in which I asked “where have all the athlete heroes gone?” It seemed to me, and many others, that our heroes of sport had been swallowed by the scandals of drugs, the allure of sponsorship dollars, and the cult of personality. One month later, I can declare: the athlete heroes are back!

The Fall marathon season provided us some astonishing reminders that our sport heroes are out there. I nominate five performances as the greatest performances of the Fall:

1. Haile Gebrselassie – what do you do to top a career that includes 22 running world records and Olympic medals. If you’re Haile Gebrselassie you set your mind to breaking the marathon world record. Gebs had set his mind to setting the new world record in the Berlin Marathon and that’s exactly what he did. But what was amazing about this performance was the manner in which he did it. He forged out alone with his pace-setters, leaving a world-class field to fumble around in his dust, running as they were at near world record pace themselves.

The crucial moment came at 35KM, when the last of his pacers dropped away. From that moment on, it was Haile against the clock, all alone. Imagine that: you’re running alone on the closed streets of a major city, helicopters hovering over-head, a truck full of photographers in front on you. You are utterly exposed at this make or break moment to deliver or fail. In the ultimate moment, when it counted, what did Haile do? He put his foot back on the gas and accelerated toward the finish, blowing away the world record. He knocked half a minute off a world record, where we would have been impressed by just a second or two. And he did it by himself, showing that there was no one in the world that can even come close to matching his performance.

2. Paula Radcliffe – imagine taking 22 months off of your job and then coming back to work, only to have to compete in the Superbowl of whatever it is you do. That’s what Paula Radcliffe did at the ING New York City Marathon. With all the world speculating about her health and fitness, Paula tore off the line and left the best women’s field in the world in her wake. She ran the ING New York City Marathon as if it were a time trial. Yes, she did have company, but she led every step of the race, with the exception of maybe five steps that came at the crucial moment in the race.

The crucial moment came with 800 meters to go, when Paula took perhaps her only look at her competition of the day. She glanced over her shoulder at Gete Wami as if to say, “it’s now or never friend.” Wami took the bait and passed Radcliffe for the first and only time during the race. But Paula answered right back with a sucker-punch of the highest order. She stamped on the gas and left Wami in her dust. It was a declaration of power: “I’ve been leading this race for almost 26 miles and I’ve got more in the tank,” she must have been thinking. Her dominance has never been placed into more clear relief than at that very moment. As she cruised toward the line, she increased her speed and then smiled from ear-to-ear, knowing that she was back on top of the world.

3. Ryan Hall – It’s the US Men’s Marathon Trials and you’re running in only your second marathon. Not only that, but in the field are Olympic medalists and even a former two-time marathon world record holder. What do you do? If you’re Ryan Hall, you blow away the field, finishing more than two minutes ahead of your nearest competitor and break the Olympic Trials record in the process. And that would be enough of a story, but there’s more than might at first meet the eye.

The crucial moment comes one day later when the winner of the ING New York City Marathon finishes in 2:09:04. That’s a great time, set down by one of the great runners in the sport. But if we look at Ryan Hall’s time in the US Marathon Trial the day before: 2:09:02. Excuse me! (Double take!) Now, I’m not directly comparing the two races. Hall did perhaps run on a tougher course, but the men in the New York City Marathon also seemed to be sleeping through first 17 miles of their race. So although Hall may not have actually won the marathon with his time, it could be argued that he at least had the power to stay with the leaders and be there to fight it out for a victory. Hall has showed us that there is something new on the horizon. He represents the next generation of great American runners and they may be the stuff of legendary heroes.

4. Gete Wami - You don’t always have to win to be a hero. Although Gete Wami won one of her two adventures in heroism, she lost the other, the one that truly made her great. When Wami ran uncontested to victory in the Berlin Marathon, she could have called it a season. But the diminutive runner made a decision, perhaps sometime along the way to her victory in Berlin, to tackle another race in New York just a month later. In New York, Wami lined up alongside the world’s best runners to race the ING New York City Marathon. When Paula Radcliffe tore away from the field everyone expected a runner to be at her side, but the runner we expected to be there should have been Catherine Ndereba. It wasn’t. It was Wami instead. Wami ran stride-for-stride alonside Paula through the entire race, as Paula seemed bent on a time trial to test her speed.

The crucial moment came with 800M to go, when Paula Radcliffe, the world record holder, gives her a look and then it is Wami that hits the pavement and jumps into the lead. This moment showed that Gete Wami had the nuts to take on the world record holder to the last breath. It turned out that Paula had something more in her tank, but Wami’s move was the stuff of which heroines are made. And what’s more incredible is that Wami was on just 34 days rest, which is nothing for elite marathon runners. She challenged the world record holder after 25 3/4 miles of the New York City Marathon on 34 days rest. It’s alright that she lost. She is a hero for taking it to that level.

5. Ryan Shay – When a person gives their life for something they love, they become a hero in my book. Ryan Shay died in the US Men’s Marathon Olympic Trials. While tragic, he died doing what he loved. If put in the position to sprint for the line, he would have taken it. He didn’t get that chance, but he did get a chance to toe the line against the best marathon runners from his country. I’m sure it was an honor for him to have been there. We should honor him by seeing him for the hero that he wanted to be, the hero that he indeed has become.

As the Fall marathon season comes to a close, all I can say is that the athlete heroes have returned. We have a new hope to look forward to next year and in the future. And it will be another exciting year indeed. Next year, we have the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and Gebs has already said that he wants to bust that world record again in Dubai next January. Perhaps we’ll see the world record drop into the 2:03’s next year. And now we’re getting so close to that two hour mark. . . Oh, but I get ahead of myself. I’ll be there to guide you through it. Join me when the racing season gets going again next Spring and we’ll see if there are more athlete heroes to be found!

In the mean-time, I’ll continue dispensing training advice and answering your questions, so please keep them coming!

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA