NEW YORK -- Haile Gebrselassie already showed he can make it
anywhere. He can add New York to his list.
Running in the Big Apple for the first time, the 34-year-old
Ethiopian won the New York City Half Marathon in 59 minutes, 24
seconds Sunday -- the second-fastest time in the United States and
his eighth win in eight half marathons.
"I was dreaming just to run in New York City. The dream has
come true this morning," said Gebrselassie, probably the world's
greatest distance runner. "Wow, I'm so happy!"
Abdi Abdirahman of the United States was second, more than a
minute behind. Two-time Boston Marathon champion Robert Cheruiyot
of Kenya was third in the second running of the race.
Hilda Kibet of Kenya won the women's race in 1:10:32,
outsprinting defending champion Catherine Ndereba by 1.15 seconds.
Nina Rillstone of New Zealand, a surprise leader until the final
quarter-mile when the two Kenyans passed her, was 2.60 back in
third.
Gebrselassie, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, emerged from
Central Park after the 7-mile mark, along with Cheruiyot and
Abdirahman. Gebrselassie and Abdirahman dropped Cheruiyot when the
Kenyan went for water, and before the American knew it, he was in
Gebrselassie's wake, too.
"I thought I was going to recover my surge and then just
maintain the pace but it wasn't that way," Abdirahman said. "I
didn't give up, no way. We know Haile's the greatest, but at the
same time, this is sports."
Gebrselassie didn't see it quite the same way.
"Right after the park, I just said 'OK, this is my race," he
said.
All that was left was a Sunday morning jog. He took a moment to
gawk at Times Square, like any tourist would, as he breezed
through, then he trotted down the West Side of Manhattan to Battery
Park, occasionally looking back to see if anyone was gaining on
him.
Of course, no one was, even though Abdirahman's time of 1:00:29
was a personal best. Cheruiyot, who finished in 1:00:58, was taken
to a hospital after he felt weak and confused.
"He was there about an hour," his agent Federico Rosa told the
New York Road Runners. "Everything OK."
In October, the Kenyan slipped while crossing the finish line of
the Chicago Marathon and spent two days in the hospital with a
concussion.
The women's race wasn't decided until Kibet turned it on at the
finish. The Kenyan, who said she will probably compete for the
Netherlands in the 2008 Olympics, discovered her finishing kick
this year in a race when she had to beat her sister over the final
100 meters or so.
"You know when it comes to sprinting, when you're just a few
meters from someone, then you feel very strong," Kibet said.
"You're just fighting to win."
Ndereba was confused by marshals pointing to different routes at
the finish for men and women, and didn't see a sign indicating how
close the runners were until 200 meters remained. It wasn't enough
to catch Kibet, who also beat Ndereba by more than 30 seconds in a
10-kilometer race in July.
"I didn't know who to go with," Ndereba said. "I'm not
disappointed. I never get disappointed for this kind of thing. ...
I count it as something to work on."
The temperature was a comfortable 70 degrees after a week of
oppressive heat and humidity, helping Gebrselassie set the course
record.
Gebrselassie, who holds world records in the 10K and 20K, won
gold in the 10,000 meters in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.
His time Sunday (a half-marathon is slightly more than 21
kilometers) was second-best in the U.S. only to his own 58:55 in
Tempe, Ariz., last year. It was the 16th-fastest half marathon.
In the days before the race, Gebrselassie soaked up the bustle
of the city. On Sunday morning, he ran through mostly deserted
streets.
"Yesterday, I was in Times Square. I was there," he said. "It
was very busy. Today, nobody. Amazing."
Does this mean he'll run the New York City Marathon?
"Not this year," Gebrselassie said. "I'm thinking 2008 or
2009. I'm thinking I'll run the New York Marathon before I stop
running, surely."