Distance Running 2015 issue 4 by Distance Running

Issue 86 路 2015 Edition 4 aimsworldrunning.org iaaf.org

Munich Marathon Runners in traditional dress in the Trachtenlauf

Contents 2015 Edition 4

Jungfrau-Marathon, 12 September 2015 Switzerland

FEATURES Local advantage

Ladakh Marathon, India Local runners continue to dominate at the Ladakh Marathon. Katharina Leuthner from Austria was the only non-Ladakhi to earn a podium finish at the fourth edition of the event. Leuthner had run 10 marathons before but this was her first at altitude. She finished third among women, saying: “This is the toughest race I have run so far.”

AIMS Headquarters, Olympic Athletic Center of Athens — OACA Olympic Aquatics Center, Spyros Louis Avenue Maroussi — Athens 15123, Greece www.aimsworldrunning.org

Running into history

Opinion

17 rue Princesse Florestine BP 359, MC98007 Monaco iaaf.org

20 Drug runners At one time distance running was one of the cleaner disciplines under the athletics umbrella but when significant prize money arrived on the scene with the big city marathons it greatly intensified the incentive to cheat, says Hugh Jones.

NEWS

IAAF News

5 Scandinavian summers 11 Helsinki City Marathon, Finland

WMRA News

IAU News

AIMS News

World leading times

7 Sunshine Coast Marathon & Community Run Festival, Australia The Sunshine Coast lives up to its name – and not least with its world-class Marathon and Community Running Festival which has been voted among the six ‘Most-Loved’ marathon events in Australia.

The top times for men and women at Marathon,

A special spirit

Planning ahead Official listings for AIMS events

Half Marathon and 10km

Podium placers Worldwide race reports and pictures

Making contact AIMS member races with full contact details

PATRON

At 60 degrees North the clear sun and long hours of daylight generate a special atmosphere. At this year’s Helsinki City Marathon it again proved so as Finland’s largest marathon more than met the expectations of runners.

Making the dream a reality

REGULARS

Munich Marathon: Hope turns into happiness 41 Bavaria’s largest marathon offers a scenic and fast route that takes runners past Munich’s most famous landmarks. Countless highlights follow one after another during the 42195m before reaching the finish line in the Olympic Stadium. The finish is an emotional place as runners cross the line to the cheers of the crowd.

Danske Bank Vilnius Marathon, Lithuania Lithuania welcomes runners to its capital city of Vilnius in the first month of autumn every year. The weather is perfect for distance running at this time. This year was typical: the temperature was 10C and there was no rain. Runners coming from warmer countries found it a bit cool but objectively, with due preparation, it is possible for them to maximise performance in these conditions.

Looking ahead

Yi Lan Chiang Wei Shui Memorial Freeway Marathon, Chinese Taipei; Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon, Thailand; Maratón Cabberty Málaga, Spain; Maratón Powerade Monterrey, Mexico; Neujahrsmarathon Zürich, Switzerland; Marathon Bahamas, Half & Relay, Bahamas

SPORTS PARTNER

PHOTO PARTNER

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

Distance Running is an official publication of AIMS and IAAF. It is produced four times a year, in January, April, July and October, and distributed at races worldwide. Publisher: Frank J Baillie bailliefrank@aol.com Editor: Hugh Jones aimssec@aol.com Production & Advertising: Gary Friar gary@distancerunning.co.uk Production & Design: Robbie Pickering robbie@distancerunning.co.uk Production, Design & Advertising Address: Distance Running, MSC Publishing & Design, 1 Ellangowan Court, Glasgow G62 8PH, Scotland. Telephone: +44 141 956 2051. For advertising enquiries, please contact the Glasgow office. All material is copyright and may not be reproduced without permission. Printed in the UK on paper from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources. www.distancerunning.co.uk

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

AIMS News

AIMS Children’s Series July – Zimbabwe (final event)

The Asuncion event, with the help of the daily paper ABC Color, drew children from the outlying areas to the venue at the Parque Ñu Guasú. Children from two to 15 years ran distances from 500—2000m with all receiving medals at the finish along with a breakfast of yoghurt and cereal, juice and biscuits.

The third and final AIMS Children’s race in Zimbabwe was held at Featherstone for the second year running writes Aichi Jane Banjo. Ordinarily we would have selected a new venue but we saw that last year’s race had created such momentum, good will and inspiration that we needed to build on it if we were to achieve a meaningful and lasting impact on the schools. The organising body, the Women’s International Foundation, partnered dollar-for-dollar with the school in raising money for a water borehole. We raised more than anticipated and are providing a borehole for both of the two schools. WIF’s interaction with the Schools through the organisation of the AIMS races last year inspired the Secondary School to admit eight orphans from the SOS village in Harare and more will be done in future. This year we rewarded 7km and 3km winners with trophies to encourage personal effort and greater meaning to the races. The excitement of the school children, teachers and the surrounding communities has been the biggest reward to us as race organisers.

New race members ■ The JCP Swansea Half Marathon (GBR) will be held for the third time on 26 June next year. Over 3100 runners took part in the last edition (1800 men, 1300 women) of whom 14 were from abroad, coming from 14 different countries. Fastest times so far have been by Dewi Griffiths (GBR) with 1:06:47 and Emma Wookie (GBR) with 1:17:51’. ■ The Granollers Half Marathon (ESP) or Mitja Marato Granollers has been held for 30 years and will next take place on 7 February. It has had some of the world’s fastest runners including Haile Gebrselassie and the late Sammy Wanjiru who remains thwe course record holder with 59:26. Ethiopia’s Gete Wami holds the women’s record at 1:10:24. 12,000 take part, split 80–20 between men and women, with 300 foreign runners coming from 50 countries. ■ The Media Marathon de Lima (PER) has a history stretching back to 1909 but has been a half marathon only since 2008. Best times for the course have been run by Peruvians Jose Luis Rojas with 1:04:23 and Wilma Arizapana with 1:12:25. 2000 men and 1000 women take part including 200 foreign runners from 50 countries. ■ The Verona Marathon (ITA) has been held for 14 years with the next race on 15 November. 800 men and 300 women participate with 200 foreign runners coming from 22 countries. Course records stand to Albert Matebor (KEN) with 2:09:16 and Etaferahu Tarekegne (ETH) with 2:35:43. ■ Just this year revamped the Trento Running Festival Half Marathon (ITA)

This year the Paraguay Marathon Club and the Paraguayan Athletics Federation put on simultaneous races in the cities of Santa Rosa Misiones, Ciudad del Este, Paraguarí, San Pedro del Paraná, Villarrica, Puerto Guaraní (Chaco) and Encarnación. The races brought the schools and communities together in a day of fun and athletic competition. All the children wanted the prized AIMS tshirt. We had printed 450 but a lot more children flocked to the event. Some had to do without but all the longer distance runners received one. As organisers we were extremely pleased with the outcome: the joy and laughter, the dance and song. The entire community were drawn in as cheerleaders. Our interaction has has challenged the schools into wanting to become standouts. They were wowed by being one of three locations worldwide where AIMS is sponsoring children’s races: it was will be held on a later date of 11 October. 600 men and 150 women run with 25 foregin participants coming from 14 countries. David Kiplagat and Kumeshi Sichala hold the course records with 1:03:04 and 1:15:06. ■ The Bengaluru Midnight Marathon (IND) includes a 5km, 10km, and Half Marathon and is next held on 5 December, for the ninth time. 5000 men amd 1800 women take part, including 350 foreign runners from 15 countries. Course records were set by Ethiopians Regasa Mindaye Bejiga with 2:18:02 and Alenteshay Mesfin Demse with 2:49:37. ■ The Big Five Marathon (RSA) will be next run on 25 June 2016 and has been held for the past 11 years. Of 250 runners, split evenly between men and women, 160 of them come from 24 countries. Johannes Oosthuizen (RSA) and Inez-Anne Haagen (NED) hold the course records with 3:16:01 and 3:47:07. ■ The Polar Circle Marathon has been held on the eastern coast of Greenland for 11 years with the next event on 24 October. Currently about 90 men and 40 women participate of which 125 are foreign runners from 26 countries. Andrew Shaw (GBR) and Marianne Delcomyn (DEN) hold the course records with 2:576:19 and 3:41:37 respectively. ■ The Bagan Temple Marathon (MYA) includes a Half Marathon and 10km in its programme and will be held for the third time on 28 November. Of the 120 entrants, split 50–50 between men and women 98 of them came from 24 foreign countries. Fastest have been local runners Wai Lin

thought prophetic of what the schools are meant to become. The races have generated a legacy and it is highly likely that they will continue as part of the school calendar in future years.

August – Paraguay (final event) The third edition of the AIMS Children’s Series in Paraguay took place on 16 August with the participation of more than 2000 children. As well as in the capital, Asuncion, races were held in seven other cities throughout the country in celebration of the Day of the Child. Tun (MYA, 2:53:34) and Thida Cho (MYA, 3:27:20). ■ The Petra Desert Marathon (JOR) & Half Marathon will be held on 16 September next year for the fourth time. 24 men and 24 women took part in the last race, with 45 of them coming from 18 foreign countries. Fastest times to date are by Salameh Al Aqra (JOR) in 3:15:03 and Victoria Hughes (GBR) in 4:06:49. ■ 3-Sjoerslopet Half Marathon (NOR) will be held in the town of Stavanger on 7 November for the 10th time. 2500 runners compete (1600 men, 900 women) including 200 foreign runners for 34 countries. Course records are held by Frew Zenebe Brkineh (NOR) with 1:06:58 and Susanne Wigene (NOR) with 1:15:44. ■ The Saitama International Marathon takes the place of the Yokohama Women’s Marathon which had been held for the last six years – itself a successor event to the Tokyo Women’s Marathon. This year’s race will be on 15 November. The field comprises on average 360 women, including 20 foreign elite runners invited from eight other countries. The event record of 2:23:07 was set by Lydia Cheromei (KEN) in 2012. ■ Held for the first time on 17 May the associate member Banja Luka Half Marathon (BIH) had 1000 runners (750 men and 250 women) with 290 of them coming from 24 other countries. Moses Masai and Agnes Chebet set the inaugural records of 1:05:35 and 1:18:50. The 2016 date is yet to be confirmed. ■ The new associate member Toyama Marathon will be held in Japan on 1 November 2015.

In Ciudad del Este 344 children took part in the race held Parque Mbarakaju with the assistance of the local athletic association. In Encarnación more than 200 took part, with similar numbers in the cities of San Pedro del Paraná, Paraguarí and elsewhere. The races enjoyed support from UNICEF, the National Anti-Drug Council and the Secretariat for Children and Youth along with sponsorship from Coca Cola, Diario ABC Color, Credicentro, Kellogg´s, Vida Sana Trébol, Mazzei, Bimbo y ASISMED. The greatest assistance was derived from the hundreds of volunteers from all over the country who delivered the events.

November – South Africa (second event) Then second AIMS Children’s race to be held in Pietermaritzburg will be on 15 November starting and finishing at the FNB Wadley Stadium in Edendale — a vibrant township in the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg. The 5km Run will see around 2000 children, ranging in age from 9 to 15, from schools in and around Edendale taking part. The two schools fielding the most finishers will be awarded. For many of the children this will be the first time that they take part in an event like this and share the camaraderie and excitement of a big road-running event. Each child who finishes the race will get a medal, t-shirt and a drink. The event will be organized by the Comrades Marathon and will take place on the same day as the Greater Edendale Race, a 10km road race organized by the Comrades Marathon as part of its Corporate Social Investment Initiative.

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

AIMS News ®

Ron Clarke 1937—2015 Multiple world record breaker Ron Clarke died on 17 June in his native Australia, aged 78.

Ron Clarke #1 of Australia prepares for a race at the White City Stadium, London in 1960. Photo: Allsport UK/Allsport/Getty

At the next Games in Mexico in 1968 Clarke went into the race as world record-holder (with 28:15.6) and favourite but suffered in the thin air at 2200m. Trying to press the pace over the last 2km he later recalled feeling as if he had run into a brick wall: “I had difficulty even in seeing,” he said “but I had to finish.” He did, almost in a state of unconsciousness, in sixth place. He recovered consciousness after an hour during which he received 60 litres of oxygen but had ruptured a valve controlling the heart muscle.

aimshq@aimsworldrunning.com Tel: +30 21 0683 2550

Clarke was regarded as the best distance runner of his era as he rewrote the record books in the 1960s at every distance from two miles to 20km. Although he broke 17 world records in all he never won an Olympic or Commonwealth gold medal. At his peak in 1965 he set nine world records within three weeks on various tracks in Europe, reducing the 5000m record by 18 seconds and the 10,000m record by 39 seconds. Championship success eluded him. National Service disrupted his preparation for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and he failed to qualify. Committing himself to a career in accounting for the next few years he re-emerged in impressive form at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth to finish as runner-up to New Zealander Murray Halberg in the three miles. In the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo he set a fierce early pace in the 10,000m to which others latched on with two of them passing him on the final lap.

AIMS Headquarters OACA Olympic Complex Av Spyros Louis, Athens, Greece www.aimsworldrunning.org

EXECUTIVES PRESIDENT:

Paco Borao (Valencia)

borao@correcaminos.org PRESIDENT EMERITUS:

Hiroaki Chosa

H O N O R A R Y V I C E -P R ES I D E N T S :

Allan Steinfeld, Carlos Moya H O N O R A R Y S T AT I S T I C I A N :

Dr. David Martin

V I C E -P R ES I D E N T S :

Martha Morales (Tangamanga) maratontangamanga@gmail.com

Dave Cundy (Great Wall) cundysm@ozemail.com.au SECRETARY:

Hugh Jones

aimssec@aol.com TREASURER:

Al Boka (Las Vegas)

aimstreasurer@aol.com DIRECTORS:

Gary BE Boshoff

gary8boshoff@gmail.com Ron Clarke in 1970. Photo: Allsport UK/Allsport/Getty

Bruno Boukobza (Nice-Cannes) bruno@zapsports.fr

Andrea Eby (Vancouver) andreaeby@shaw.ca

Fernando Jamarne (Santiago) fjamarne@alessandri.cl

Mark Milde (Berlin)

mark.milde@scc-events.com

Mitsugi Ogata (Fukuoka) m.ogata@jaaf.or.jp

A I M S H Q (AT H E N S ):

Theodosis Livitsanos (Administrator)

aimshq@aimsworldrunning.org C O N S U LT A N T S :

Frank Baillie (Magazine & Website) bailliefrank@aol.com

Peter McLean (Press & Public Relations)

Clarke returned to his business career after his retirement from the track in 1970. He introduced top running brands into Australia and set up a chain of gyms. From 2004 to 2012 Clarke served as Mayor of the Queensland city of Gold Coast in which capacity he helped to secure the right to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

petermclean@pmpr2000.fsnet.co.uk

Horst Milde (AIMS Marathoneum, Berlin) horst-milde@t-online.de

International Measurement Administrators: AMERICAS:

Bernie Conway

measurer@rogers.com

Road measurement course The next edition of Distance Running will be published in January 2016. The advertising and editorial deadlines will be on 9 December.

Following the Athens Marathon – the Authentic, held on 8 November, an instructional course on the measurement of road races will be held from 9–13 November, based at the AIMS Headquarters in the OAKA Olympic Marathon Complex in Athens. The places on this course have been prebooked by those expressing interest during the last year but if any runner is interested in measurement, can ride a bicycle and use a pocket calculator then they should enquire of the AIMS Secretary about training possibilities.

E N G L I S H -S P EA K I N G E U R O P E & AFRICA:

Hugh Jones

aimssec@aol.com

F R E N C H & S P A N I S H -S P EA K I N G EUROPE & AFRICA:

Jean Francois Delasalle jf.delasalle@aliceadsl.fr ASIA & OCEANIA:

Dave Cundy

cundysm@ozemail.com.au

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

1000km Promotions, South Africa Email: Km1000@mweb.co.za Tel: +27 12 541 2515 Emergency: +27 82 807 6810 www.1000km.co.za

AIMS News

Shoe price spike

Left to right: Roger Bannister, Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher All photos: Getty

he running spikes worn by Sir Roger Bannister when he broke the four-minute mile on 6 May 1954 were auctioned at the Christie’s sale in London on 17 June and fetched £266,000 ($410,000). Bannister was paced on his record run at Iffley Road track in Oxford, UK by Chris Chataway, later a minister in the 1970–1974 Conservative Government, and Chris

Brasher, founder of the London Marathon and founder member and the second President of AIMS. Brasher took the pace for the third lap, launching Bannister towards the finish line and the historic time of 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

served me great purpose,” said Bannister, who went on to become an eminent neurologist. Brasher also set great store by purpose-made lightweight shoes which served him well when he went on to win the 3000m steeplechase at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

The shoes were made by GT Law and Son at their workshop at Wimbledon Park, London. “They

Athens hosts 9th AIMS Marathon Symposium

Best Marathon Runner Awards Gala The AIMS ‘Best Marathon Runner’ Awards Gala will be held for the third time in Athens on the evening of 6 November. The following awards will be made during the evening:

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Made according to the decision of the AIMS Board of Directors to a person who has contributed significantly to the sport of Distance Running over a sustained period.

BEST MARATHON RUNNER AWARDS: Leading contenders for the award in both male and female categories will be nominated during the first week in October. These will be based on performances between 01 October 2014 and 30 September 2015. AIMS member races will be asked to vote for one contender in each category before 31 October. The result will be declared for the first time during the Gala evening.

GREEN AWARD: Made by decision of the AIMS Board of Directors to the AIMS member event showing best environmental practice in the conduct of their event, on the recommendation of a specialist advisory panel. SOCIAL AWARD: Made by decision of the AIMS Board of Directors to the AIMS member event showing greatest commitment to broader social objectives in the conduct of their event

Carlo Capalbo ‘knighted’ Founder of the Prague Marathon and former AIMS board member Carlo Capalbo has received L’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (the ‘Order of the Star of Italy’), one of the state's highest honours, for his contribution to promoting Italy abroad and strengthening mutual ties and friendly relations. The decoration grants him the honorary title of knight.

The 9th AIMS Marathon Symposium will be held in Athens during the morning of 7 November. Specialist speakers will address the topic of Doping in Distance Running in two sessions as relating to: i) “Anti-doping organisations, policies and instruments” – including case studies by marathon organisers ii)“Race organisers, coaches & athletes’ battle against doping” – Preventive action plans towards doping threats”; — Preparing for and reacting to doping incidents in your race”; — Personal perceptions from elite athletes. Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

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Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

IAAF News

Men’s Marathon

Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty

In the opening competition of the Championships 19-year-old Ghirmay Ghebreslassie became the youngest ever winner of a road event at the World Championships and the first Eritrean athlete to win a gold medal at the championships writes Diego Sampaolo. Ghebreslassie had built a solid reputation at previous major championships, finishing seventh in the World Cross Junior race in 2013 and seventh at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships. Despite that he exceeded all expectations — including those of his manager Jos Hermens: “I expected top-five because I knew he was in good shape but the win was totally unexpected.” Although Eritrea has a proud history in distance running, no Eritrean before Ghebreslassie had managed to win at the World Championships. Only his illustrious compatriot Zersenay Tadese had taken a silver medal in the 10,000m in 2009. Ghebreslassie started running seriously just three years ago. He ran the first 35km as a pacemaker at the Chicago Marathon last October as a learning experience but he decided to finish the race and placed sixth in 2:09:08 when he was still a junior. He ran 2:07:47 in Hamburg earlier this year. “My parents wanted me to be a great university student, but I wanted to become a good athlete,” he said. “When they saw that I had the potential they started supporting me. My victory will be a great surprise for them.” As it was to almost everyone. The race started slowly with 60 runners bunched into a 50-metre file at 5km (16:06). The pace increased modestly in the next section as 36 runners passed through 10km within 5

RESULT 1 Ghirmay GHEBRESLASSIE 2 Yemane TSEGAY 3 Munyo Solomon MUTAI 4 Ruggero PERTILE 5 Shumi DECHASA 6 Stephen KIPROTICH 7 Lelisa DESISA 8 Daniele MEUCCI 9 Amanuel MESEL 10 Jackson KIPROP

ERI 2:12:28 ETH 2:13:08 UGA 2:13:30 ITA 2:14:23 BRN 2:14:36 UGA 2:14:43 ETH 2:14:54 ITA 2:14:54 ERI 2:15:07 UGA 2:15:16

IAAF World Championship in Athletics, Beijing

22 August 2015

Ghebreslassie: the new kid on the block seconds of the leader (31:51). Things remained much the same at 15km (47:48). From 15-20km (1:03:23) was the fastest split yet in the race but still modest at 15:35 and it slowed again to 25km (1:19:16/15:53). The leader ran the next 5km in 15:46 (30km:1:35:02) but this was Lesotho’s Tsepo Mathibelle who had carved out a 13-second lead over Italy’s Pertile Ruggero, himself another six seconds ahead of the main group.

By 40km his optimism was proving well-founded as he led Yemane Tsegaye by 12 seconds, having 2km earlier repulsed an attack from the Ethiopian, with Solomon Mutai a further 27 seconds back. In the final stages Ghebreslassie pressed home his advantage to win by a convincing 40-second margin.

Mathibelle still led at 35km (1:50:38), but only by 10 seconds from Ghebreslassie who had broken from the main group a kilometre earlier and was now chasing him down. “I realised that I could win the race at 34km when I decided to leave the rest of the group” he said.

“I am not surprised that the Kenyan favourites did not finish the race” he said. “These things can happen. Even strong athletes can face challenges. It’s so different from the city marathons when you have pacemakers until 25km or 30km and you only have to run 12km alone.”

Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

IAAF News Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty

IAAF World Championship in Athletics, Beijing

30 August 2015

Dibaba digs in Mare Dibaba set the 2015 world leading time of 2:19:52 back in January at the Xiamen Marathon and returned to China for the World Championships as race favourite writes John Mulkeen. She was among the 20 runners who made up the early lead group which also included defending champion Edna Kiplagat and her fellow Kenyans Helah Kiprop, Jemima Sumgong and Visiliine Jepkesho. They passed 5km in 17:51 with the Japanese trio of Mai Ito, Risa Shigetomo and Sairi Maeda always present at the front of the pack. Passing 10km in 35:32 and 15km in 53:21 a couple of athletes managed to catch the lead group. As Turkey’s Sultan Haydar and Algeria’s Souad Ait Salem fell behind their places were taken by America’s Serena Burla and China’s Ding Changqin and Wang Xueqin. The 19-strong lead group passed half way in 1:15:16. After 25km (1:29:16) gaps started to appear at the head of the race and one by one runners dropped behind until 12 remained at 30km (1:46:50). Defending champion 12

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

Kiplagat moved to the front of the pack shortly after; the pace increased slightly and more dropped back so that only six remained at 35km (2:04:04). Of these Dibaba’s team mate Tigist Tufa soon fell back. Kiplagat drifted behind before 40km was passed but as they approached the Bird’s Nest Stadium four remained to fight it out. Eunice Kirwa, running for Bahrain, moved up on to Dibaba’s shoulder as they entered the stadium tunnel but as they emerged from it onto the track it was Helah Kiprop who looked ready to strike on the home straight. Rising to Kiprop’s challenge the diminutive Dibaba dug in and sped towards the finish for a more commanding victory than the singlesecond winning margin implied. She had covered the second half of the race three minutes faster than the first half, in 1:12:18. to win Ethiopia’s first ever world title in the women’s marathon. With seven seconds separating the first four home it was the closest ever World Championships finish.

Photo: Michael Steele/Getty

RESULT 1 Mare DIBABA 2 Helah KIPROP 3 Eunice KIRWA 4 Jemima SUMGONG 5 Edna KIPLAGAT 6 Tigist TUFA 7 Mai ITO 8 Tirfi TSEGAYE 9 Hye-Song KIM 10 Serena BURLA

ETH 2:27:35 KEN 2:27:36 BRN 2:27:39 KEN 2:27:42 KEN 2:28:18 ETH 2:29:12 JPN 2:29:48 ETH 2:30:54 PRK 2:30:59 USA 2:31:06

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Distance Running | 2015 Edition 3

IAAF News Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty

IAAF EXECUTIVES Headquarters 17 rue Princesse Florestine, MC 98000, Monaco Tel: 377 93 10 88 88 Fax: 377 93 15 95 15 Email: headquarters@iaaf.org

IAAF Council Members IAAF President: Sebastian Coe (GBR)

Senior Vice President: Robert Hersh (USA)

Vice Presidents: Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad (QAT) Sergey Bubka (UKR) Sebastian Coe (GBR)

Honorary Treasurer: Valentin V. Balakhnichev (RUS)

Area Representatives:

Coe elected IAAF President Sebastian Coe (GBR) was elected as the sixth IAAF President at the 50th IAAF Congress in Beijing, China, on 19 August. Of 207 votes cast 115 went to Coe; the other 92 to Sergey Bubka (UKR).

Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty

“I am deeply honoured that our sport has placed its trust in me. There is no job I want to do more – nor with greater commitment,” said Coe. Among the first to congratulate him were the outgoing IAAF President Lamine Diack and Sergey Bubka, who was later re-elected as an IAAF Vice President. Coe took office on 31 August, after the end of the IAAF World Championships. “It has been a long road.” said Coe “I joined an athletics club when I was 11, I had the joys of Olympic competition and I had the joys of being able to put on one of the greatest sporting events ever, but this for me is the pinnacle: it's my sport, it's my passion, it's the thing I always wanted to do.” Coe became an IAAF Council Member in 2003 and a Vice President in 2007. “It has been an apprenticeship that has helped me understand better the balances and nuances within the sport,” he said. “I will devote full-time attention to the management and the direction of the IAAF. I would not have thrown my hat into the ring if I

Zhaocai Du (CHN) Geoff Gardner (NFI) Roberto Gesta de Melo (BRA) Hamad Kalkaba Malboum (CMR) Victor Lopez (PUR) Hansjörg Wirz (SUI)

Council Members: Ahmed Al Kamali (UAE) Bernard Amsalem (FRA) Sylvia Barlag (NED) Pauline Davis-Thompson (BAH) Helmut Digel (GER) Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR) Frank Fredericks (NAM) Abby Hoffman (CAN) Alberto Juantorena Danger (CUB) Isaiah Kiplagat (KEN) José Maria Odriozola (ESP) Jung-Ki Park (KOR) Anna Riccardi (ITA) Irena Szewinska (POL) Katsuyuki Tanaka (JPN)

General Secretary Essar Gabriel (FRA)

felt that I would be short changing this organisation.” Born on 29 September 1956, Coe won four Olympic medals including unprecedented successive 1500m golds in 1980 and 1984. He set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events. That he set for 800m in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. After retiring from athletics he became a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1997, and became a Life Peer, 'Lord Coe', in 2000. He headed the successful London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Deputy General Secretary and Communications Director Nick Davies (GBR)

IAAF Road Running Commission David Bedford (GBR) Paco Borao (ESP) Hugh Jones (GBR) James Evans (RSA) Katsuyuki Tanaka (JPN) Pierre Weiss (FRA) Bernard Amsalem (FRA) Mary Wittenberg (USA) Carlos Cardoso (POR)

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

Opinion ou can be excused for being dumbfounded by the recent rash of commentary that has broken out over doping. The nature of the debate is designed that way. Each side has its experts hauled in to support or demolish the contentions of attention-grabbing headlines. The shouting match masquerading as debate is moved on by anything that can be portrayed as a new development. The frenetic pace dictated by the need to push the story inhibits any consideration of how we got into this sorry mess in the first place.

Martti Vainio (FIN) leads Alberto Cova in the 1984 Olympic 10,000m Photo: Steve Powell/Getty

At one time distance running was one of the cleaner disciplines under the athletics “umbrella”. Why? Because there was nothing much that could be taken to enhance performance. The early cases of doping in distance running, just over 100 years ago at a time when it was temporarily cash-rich, were decidedly performance-inhibiting: consuming brandy or strychnine as a ‘pick-me-up’ more often had the effect of a ‘put-me-down’. An ashen-faced Thomas Hicks won the 1904 Olympic Marathon in St Louis after being administered with strychnine sulphate (a common rat poison) mixed with brandy. At the next Olympic Games in London one of the race favourites, Tom Longboat, was apparently going well at 17 miles but forfeited the race immediately after receiving the ministrations of his trainer. A dazed Thomas Hicks receives assistance from his minders in the final stages of the 1904 Olympic Marathon

g u Dr s r e n n u r By Hugh Jones

In the wider sport athletes in the sprints, jumps and throws could clearly boost their performance through the use of stimulants and anabolic steroids. These were events in which Soviet bloc countries performed well, especially on the women’s side. Yet the only standout distance runner was Waldemar Cierpinski. Steroids build muscle and aid recovery from hard training so should yield benefits to distance runners as they do to those in the more explosive strength-based events. Yet it seemed not enough to really upset the form book. It was not until 1968 that a distance runner chanced upon a form of doping that vastly boosted his performance. It should have been obvious: the limiting factor in endurance running is the delivery of oxygen to the The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of AIMS or IAAF

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muscles. The bearers of oxygen are the red blood cells. More red blood cells equals more oxygen getting to the muscles.

After disappointing performances a Finnish steeplechaser was diagnosed as suffering from anaemia and received a blood transfusion. Soon afterwards he set a world record; blood doping was born. When blood is withdrawn the body quickly replaces it. Meanwhile the extracted blood is centrifuged to extract the red blood cells and these are stored and then reinfused before competition to achieve a higher concentration of red blood cells and an enhanced ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles. Tom Reilly, Professor of Sports Science at John Moores University in Liverpool, cited research which showed that: “[male] runners over 10km

displayed improvements of over one minute… the characteristic change is that runners do not slow down in the later parts of their races”.

From the early 1970s Finnish runners enjoyed remarkable success, and there were those at the time that regarded them as having “suspicious profiles” not in today’s terms relating to their blood samples but in terms of their performances. Alberto Cova, World 10000m champion in 1983 and Olympic Champion in 1984, testified to participating in a systematic programme of blood doping prior to these performances. But blood doping was not against IAAF rules until 1985. That it became so was in part stimulated by the performances of members of the US cycling team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, who were reported as openly boasting of having received transfusions.

Opinion Wang Junxia (left) poised to take the lead in the women’s 10,000m in the IAAF World Championship in Stuttgart, 1993 Photo: Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty

surge of interest in doping matters it was the performance profiles that raised suspicions – although without ‘hard evidence’ these could not be acted upon. There were runners against whom I competed in my marathon career (1981—1994) who showed elements of such a profile: those who had levelled out as 2:11 performers but who suddenly jumped to 2:08; those who trailed by 100m at 35km but suddenly made it up within the next kilometre. As a career athlete you can’t afford to dwell on your doubts but have to suspend disbelief simply in order to maintain a competitive attitude. What has fuelled competition throughout the last three decades and more has been the coming of professionalism to what was supposedly an amateur sport. When significant prize money arrived on the scene with the big-city marathons it greatly intensified the incentive to cheat.

To blood dope requires laboratory facilities and the connivance both of those who operate them and those who pay the bills. Because of this it tended to be the athletes of certain nations that fell under suspicion in the 1970s and 1980s. In the late 1980s an injectable synthetic hormone became available, recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO), which stimulates the

and harder for the heart to pump around the body. Between 1987—1990 19 Dutch and Belgian cyclists died in circumstances that indicated possible abuse of rEPO. Deaths generally occurred while the body was at rest and the heartbeat at its lowest so that the heart was unable to do the work of pushing the blood around the body. In later years cyclists would use heart monitors linked to an alarm which would indicate when their heartrate was slowing to a dangerous low. They would then jump out of bed and pedal their turbo trainers to restore a ’normal’ heartrate. They would also learn what dosages could be directly life-threatening. The world governing body of cycling set a haematocrit level of 50% above which they would refuse to allow a cyclist to compete on health grounds. Normal levels of endurance athletes are around 46% but can be raised slightly by sustained training at altitude. Runners and their managers came to the party later but benefitted from the hard-won knowledge of the cycling community. Despite the IAAF’s 1985 ruling against blood doping there was no effective test for rEPO and hardly any danger of being caught out by testing. In the absence of ‘blood passports’ and blood profiling so much talked about in the latest

Wang Junxia (3154) in the Atlanta Olympic 10,000m final, where she finished second to Fernanda Ribeiro (POR). Wang had by this time left Ma Junren's training group. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Allsport/Getty

At the time there was also a naïve media acceptance of the performances of Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes as ‘natural’, without need of enhancement through doping. Just as professionalism in athletics had been resisted so were the consequences of globalisation denied. Runners might emerge from rural Kenya but they soon passed through the hands of agents and handlers who all stood to gain substantially from the athletes’ success. And within their own countries emerging runners hoping to get themselves noticed would quickly realise that they would need all the enhancements they could get hold of, by whatever means. In the post-Lance Armstrong era the media have finally woken up to what was known 20 years earlier but, with one or two notable exceptions, it’s just to spin the story rather than to uncover the facts. No one has yet plumbed the depths to which we have sunk, and it’s hard to identify anyone who might have the incentive to do so. In the Tour de France it took policemen kicking doors down to get a glimpse of the extent to which doping had penetrated the sport, yet Lance Armstrong’s long dope-assisted dominance started after this had happened. Federations, race organisers and athlete managers are caught in the middle of the morass. Of course they want to clean up the sport, as much as they want to sustain the geese that lay the golden eggs.

bone marrow to produce more red blood cells. Originally developed for kidney dialysis patients it was quickly taken up by endurance athletes, primarily cyclists, to boost performance. But in the early stages this was done more or less by trial and error and tending towards the presumption that “if it’s good, more must be better”. A higher concentration of red blood cells (“haematocrit”) makes the blood thicker

Twenty-two years ago the athletic world was stunned by performances of a small group of Chinese women who emerged under the tutelage of a ferociously disciplinarian coach. They broke all track distance world records from 1500m to 10,000m* with a recipe for success purportedly based partly on ingesting such exotic nutrients as caterpillar fungus and turtle blood. Such was the credulousness of the western media that this was reported on front pages of national newspapers. These stories served as a smokescreen against questions over what dietary aids might really produce such a uniformly dramatic improvement in the performances of that particular training group.

Coach Ma Junren pictured in 2000, shortly before six of the athletes from his group were dope tested by the Chinese Federation and denied places at the Sydney Olympics.

* The top 6 women’s times ever at 3000m were run on 12–13 September 1993 by members of this group, and the 10,000m record established is still more than 20 seconds faster than any other woman has ever run.

Distance Running | 2015 Edition 4

Helsinki City Marathon, Finland Sat 15 August 2015

Scandinavian summers It is no accident that Scandinavian marathons are all held during the summer. At 60 degrees North the clear sun and long hours of daylight generate a special atmosphere. At this year’s Helsinki City Marathon it again proved so as Finland’s largest marathon more than met the expectations of runners.

Photos: Juha Saastamoinen/Onevision

he new route received good feedback from runners. During the event 4800 runners took to the streets of Helsinki with 1000 of them coming from 59 other countries. Markku Haverinen, race director and Recreational Sports Manager at the Finnish Amateur Athletic Association, thought that from the organisers’ point of view it could have been the best ever. He was also pleased with the growing number of participants in the kids Chiquita Minimarathon and with the popularity of the new Perskindol Helsinki Street Run, a 17-kilometre race that was inaugurated this year. There were 7500 participants spread over all events.

“We were anxious to receive feedback on the new HCM route” said Haverinen. “Based on the comments I heard at the finish line runners were positive and many were happy with the large number of spectators. Judging by the results the new route may well be faster than the old one: more runners finished the race in under three hours or under four hours compared to previous years.” Runners’ wishes were central in planning the new course for the Marathon which celebrated its 35th birthday this year. The new scenic twolap course is faster and keeps close to the city centre. Everyone runs in the same direction the whole time which makes running smoother and safer. The number of showers and service points has been doubled. The pedestrianised street Baana that splits the Helsinki city centre and the Töölönlahti Bay area were both lined with spectators cheering the runners on. Havarinen’s 24

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only reservation was that: “at certain points the route could have been marked more clearly but all minor flaws like this will be corrected next year. I want to thank the runners for their valuable feedback.” Every year, more and more runners from other countries discover the appeal of the Helsinki City Marathon. One of the international participants, Damian Quiroga from Argentina’s second city Cordoba, admired the beauty of the city: “All attractions are within a walking distance and the city centre is small and cosy. I liked the

Helsinki City Marathon, Finland variety of the route: we ran in the city centre, along the shoreline and in the cool woods of the park. There were more hills than I’m used to but I liked the race nonetheless.” Sanna Norokorpi who lives in Milan could not stop smiling after the finish line: “My marathon went really well. After all the problems I encountered, I am happy that I was able to finish. I like the new route better than the old one. Mentally I found it easier to run the same lap twice instead of running only one big lap. The atmosphere and spectators along the route were exceptional. For Henrik Sinisalo and Iiris Reikonen, a young couple living in Helsinki, HCM was their first marathon. “Our target was to finish the race in under five hours and to run the whole distance. We met our target although the final 10km felt pretty tough. It was well organised — at least from the point of view of first-timers. Before the marathon I swore I’d never run again after the race but I might have to eat my words” said Henrik.

RESULT Marathon

Men 1 Hiroki NAKAJIMA

JPN