LONDON — In a race that saw scorching pace from wire to wire, Martin Lel wins the Flora London Marathon in a new course record of 2:05:15. Lel and the other leaders were well under world record pace for much of the race and for the first time in history, three runners finished a marathon under 2:06:00.

Joining Martin Lel under 2:06:00 were the sensational young Sammy Wanjiru and Abderrahim Goumri finishing in 2:05:24 and 2:05:30 respectively. American Ryan Hall finished a strong fifth in 2:06:17.

On the women’s side, Irena Mikitenko of Germany won a surprise victory in 2:24:12. Mikitenko beat a crowded field of elite women in just her second marathon. One of the pre-race favorites, Gete Wami took a fall in an aid station, leaving her injured. Although Wami challenged into the last miles, she didn’t have her trademark closing speed and she finished third in 2:25:35 behind Mikitenko and Svetlana Zakharova (2:24:38). Liz Yelling ran a stellar race to finish as the top British female athlete in 2:28:33.

The story of the day was the pace of the men’s race. Pace setters took a small lead group of about 10 men out for a speedy joy ride that led to the trio of sub 2:06:00 times. In early running, the leaders were on 2:03:00 pace. At the half-marathon, the leaders were still ahead of Haile Gebrselassie’s world record pace, clocking 1:02:13 here. Haile had run 1:02:29 in Berlin when he set the world record back in September in the Berlin Marathon. This blistering pace should have been suicide, but for the strength of the leaders in today’s race.

At mile 21, we saw a strategic slow-down in the pace that allowed Ryan Hall to briefly rejoin the lead pack. At that point, we saw the world record slip away. But a small lead pack of Martin Lel, Sammy Wanjiru, Abderrahim Goumri and Deriba Merga decided that they wanted to make this a record-setting day after all. The foursome heated the pace back up into the sub 5:00 per mile range, going through the 40KM mark in 1:58:53 (vs. Gebrselassie’s 1:58:07 in Berlin).

As we came into the closing mile, it was down to just three men: two-time champion Lel, along with Sammy Wanjiru and Abderrahim Goumri. Lel has been on a hot streak, winning both London and New York in 2007. Goumri has been his shadow, finishing second in both of those races, but unable to match Lel’s closing speed.

Wanjiru was the new face in the bunch. The 21 year-old Kenyan set the world record in the half-marathon twice last year and then ran 2:06:39 in his debut at the Fukoka Marathon in December. He had said before the race that he wanted to run a 2:05 time make sure he’d get a spot on the Kenyan Olympic Team. So the question became, would Wanjiru be the new wild card that could overtake Lel?

As the men approached the finish, it was clear that Lel looked the stronger of the two. Wanjiru’s arms seemed to come down for the first time all day. At 200M, Lel put his foot on the gas and closed out the race for the victory. Lel becomes just the third man to win the London Marathon three times. He has now won London in back-to-back years, with New York in between.

Lel’s 2:05:15 is a new course record for London. This is also the first time that three men have broken 2:06:00 in the same marathon. And the results show the amazing strength of today’s young runners, such as Wanjiru, Hall and Gourmi — all of whom are relatively new to the distance — and are running times in the 2:06:00 range or less. World records be on alert: you’re likely to fall a lot in the coming years.

2008 London Marathon Men’s Elite Results (unofficial)
1. Martin Lel 2:05:15 (course record)
2. Sammy 2:05:24
3. Abderrahim Gourmi 2:05:30
4. Emmanuel Mutai 2:06:14
5. Ryan Hall 2:06:17

2008 London Marathon Women’s Elite Results (unofficial)
1. Irena Mikitenko 2:24:12
2. Svetlana Zacharova 2:24:38
3. Gete Wami 2:25:35
4. Salina Kosgei 2:26:30

You can read the complete play-by-play of the day by reading my live update posts 1, 2 and 3. To start with post 1, click here.

For complete results, visit the London Marathon web-site.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon, USA
Running Advice and News
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