Bekele takes race at pace
THE Gold Coast Marathon has enhanced its reputation as one of the world’s elite races after Ethiopia’s Abebech Bekele took the women’s race into new territory with her 2hr 25min 34sec win.
Bekele’s time was the fourth fastest all-time in Australia, with only the Sydney Olympic medallists bettering her effort.
Bekele and Kenya’s Mercy Kibarus went through the halfway mark locked together but Bekele made her decisive move soon after and had established a 20sec lead by the time the runners passed 25km.
Bekele had hoped to finish in 2:24 but used every ounce of energy to win, becoming physically ill after the finish and taking several minutes to recover before addressing the media.
“I was well prepared to win this race and I’m happy I won today and I’m so glad,” Bekele said of her ability to make the pace for so long.
“The conditions were good but I was well prepared and had done a lot of training and that made me win today.
“I was planning to finish in 2:24 but I’m happy.”
Bekele snared $30,000 for her efforts – $20,000 for the race win and another $10,000 for breaking Misato Horie’s 2016 race record.
While Erico Asai’s record of 2:29.29 stood untouched for 20 years before Yukiko Akaba (2:27.17) broke it in 2013, the re- cord was bettered again last year by Horie before Bekele broke it again yesterday, smashing a five-year stranglehold by Japanese women.
But it’s not the end for Bekele, who hopes to push further towards the 2:20 barrier.
“After this I will do the best training and then I’m trying to be successful with 2:20-2:21, that’s my aim,” she said of a mark that would put her among the world’s best.
Bekele finished ahead of Kibarus and Japan’s Risa Takenaka, whose husband Takuya Noguchi won the men’s title yesterday.
Takenaka was thrilled when she learnt post-race that Noguchi had broken the 2:09 barrier, although she was aware before she crossed the line that he had won.
“Part way through, somebody shouted: ‘Your husband just won’ and I was like, ‘really?’ And my coach told me, ‘You’re both going to be on the podium’, so I was very happy about that.”
In an outstanding result for Australia, Virginia Moloney finished fifth, setting a Commonwealth Games qualifier with her 2:29.14 effort.
The result leaves her ninth on the Australian all-time list but Moloney is not talking up her chances of wearing green and gold on the Gold Coast next year.
“At the moment there’s so many girls faster than me, I’ve got to be realistic, but (sub 2:30) was our goal,” the Victorian said.