Haile Gebrselassie cruised to victory in a brilliant finishing time of 1 hour 1 minute and 29 seconds at the Bupa Great Birmingham Run Half Marathon on Sunday October 23rd 2011 in Birmingham, UK over a magnificent field of contenders.
Gebrselassie didn’t stick to the pace set by Essa Rashed in the initial time of the race and went on with long strides between the seventh-eighth miles and broke out from the leading pack for a staggering finish.
The legendary athlete sealed his dominance at that point when he inserted a speedy one mile split of 4:23 before he got progressively quicker and opened a huge gap ahead of Rashed. Gebrselassie didn’t have any problems throughout the course and showed no
signs of breathing problems which had caused him demise in Berlin.
In the final miles Gebrselassie powered out everyone in the field and went on to win the race. Though peerless, he did admit the fact of facing some problems when approaching for the steep hill towards the end.
The second spot in the race was secured by Rashed who finished at a decent time of 1 hour 2 minutes and 28 seconds and he was followed by Bouramdane of Morocco with a finishing time of 1 hour 3 minutes and 57 seconds.
After the race, the Ethiopian athlete said “It was a fantastic race for me except for the wind and it was really hard between 11 and 12 miles. It reminded me of where I do my training back home in Addis Ababa.”
He added “This helps me in my preparations for next year’s Olympic Games where of course I still have to get the qualifying standard. That means to get one of the three places in the Ethiopian team I will have to run around 2:05. I am totally focused on
getting the qualifier. Today was kind of a training run towards doing that. The three fastest will go to London.”
Women’s category was won by Gemma Steel who concluded the course in a time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 21 seconds to score a lifetime best as well as the title. She was followed by Damen with a finishing time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 51 seconds. The third
spot went to MacAlister for a decent finish in a time of 1 hour 15 minutes and 30 seconds.
The race event turned out to be a sheer entertainer for the fans all over the world and if Gebrselassie stays healthy then he would certainly be adding more to his long list of accolades.