Gebrselassie prepares to rock desert

Door Jeff Metcalfe

The music is pumping in the Little Emperors home gym in Addis Ababa, so loud that he apologizes for the noise to a caller from the United States.Its 6:30 p.m. Ethiopia time. Haile Gebrselassie is finishing his second workout of the day. The first was a 44K (27.2-mile) run at a place that the locals call 4,000 feet, meaning 4,000 above Addis Ababa, which sits at a Flagstaff-like elevation of 7,000 feet. Thats like running a marathon at the African training pace above the timberline of Humphreys Peak, where most hikers are winded. Fellow Ethiopian Millon Wolde returned from such an endeavor with foam and blood flecks on his lips, begging for water. Hes the 2000 Olympic 5,000-meter champion. advertisement

Voorbij Zatopek
“Thats what hes doing,” Elite Racings Mike Long said of Gebrselassie. “Thats how motivated he is. Its amazing when you see his house. Its the nicest Ive ever been in. He has a beautiful family and successful businesses, but the first thing in the morning hes out the door for hellacious training sessions.”By the time he gets to Phoenix next month, the 5-foot-3 Gebrselassie expects to be in world-record half-marathon shape. If he runs faster than 59 minutes, 16 seconds on the back half of the P.F. Changs Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon course on Jan. 15, hell set his 19th world record. That would push him past the great Emil Zátopek, the Czech legend who won triple gold at the 1952 Olympics in the 5,000-meter, 10,000 and marathon; and within three of Paavo Nurmi, who won nine Olympic gold medals for Finland in the 1920s. “Its good for the collection,” Gebrselassie joked. “World records are something special. Its a pride thing. I like to do something special. One thing I want to tell you about breaking a world record: You have to be in shape and have the right weather and a good course. Then its easy to do something special.”Long first met Gebrselassie seven years ago when Long began traveling to Africa to recruit runners for Elites music marathons. To sign Gebrselassie for just his fourth appearance ever in the United States and first road race is a coup for Elite and for Phoenix, which is without a running world record since Arturo Barrios 1986 mark for a 10K loop course.

Ethiopie helpen
“Weve gotten him all the information on weather patterns and wind direction in January,” Long said. “Hes pored over it. This is a serious, serious attempt at the record. Hes left nothing to chance and didnt pick this race lightly. It really legitimizes Phoenix as a big-time event.”Anybody that knows the sport knows that hes an icon. Hes not only in my mind the greatest distance runner in history, but hes a great, great man whos done so much for his country.”Gebrselassie, 32, founded the Great Ethiopian Run and uses the event to partner with UNICEF in combating AIDS in his country. He supports famine relief and Ethiopian orphans. His family-operated construction company builds schools. Some believe the boy who grew up as one of 10 children in a one-room mud hut eventually will rise to become president or prime minister of Ethiopia.
“When I help people, I help myself,” Gebrselassie told the New York Times in 2004. “I cant change a country as a single person, but I have to do my part.”What Gebrselassie still can do is galvanize his country – such as after his first Olympic 10,000 gold medal in 1996, when an estimated million people greeted his return and airport proposal to his wife, Alem.

Londen duurt nog lang
Gebrselassie is chasing Kenyan Paul Tergat, who holds the world marathon record (2:04:55). Wind knocked down Gebrselassies chance to better that in Amsterdam Oct. 16, but he still ran the best time of the year (2:06:20).Tergat has run 59:17 in the half-marathon, the existing world record until the international track federation (IAAF) ratifies Kenyan Samuel Wanjirus 59:16. “I am not so happy,” Gebrselassie said after Amsterdam, a remark that started Long thinking about pitching a try at the half-marathon record. Long knew that Gebrselassie was contractually bound to run in the London Marathon in April, but that “was a long time to wait. He was just chomping at the bit to go and get something else done.”

Aparte startlijn
Jos Hermes, Gebrselassies agent, and Long began talks about the P.F. Changs Rock n Roll Arizona 1/2 Marathon. The course, however, is not IAAF world-record eligible, so Elite Racing will set up a separate start line near 44th Streetand Thomas.”Wed like to have 12 to 15 people in this race,” Long said. “We especially want to get some Americans, so they can say I was there when.”Some who train regularly with Gebrselassie will be here, and other Africans are asking to participate. “Its a big thing in the athletics world,” Long said.Gebrselassie, whose only U.S. race since the 1996 Olympics was at the Boston Indoor Games in 2004, must average faster than 4 minutes, 32 seconds per mile over 13.1 miles to succeed. “Since I start road racing, its a possibility to run many competitions in the U.S.,” said Gebrselassie, who plans to race at least through the 2008 Olympic marathon. “This is the beginning. When I come to Phoenix, Ill be perfect.”

Haile Gebrselassie
Pronunciation: HI-lee GEB-ra-sal-lah-see.
Age: 32
Country: Ethiopia.
Career highlights: 1996 and 2000 Olympic 10,000-meter champion; 1993, 95, 97, 99 World Championships 10,000 winner; 2001 World Championships half-marathon winner.
2005 highlights: World-best marathon time (2 hours, 6 minutes, 20 seconds); world-best 15K (41:57); world-best 10-mile (44:24). Third in IAAF road running rankings.
Personal: Father of three daughters and a newborn son, Nathan, who was to have been nicknamed Amsterdam if Gebrselassie set the world marathon record in October at the Amsterdam Marathon. He was on pace at the half-marathon but slowed by wind over the final half to miss the record by 85 seconds. His story through the 1996 Olympics is told in the Disney movie Endurance. Runs with a crooked left arm because of carrying books while running six miles to and from school as a child

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