Berlin marathon

Last week’s BMW Berlin Marathon drew more buzz and controversy than the acclaim it deserved after producing the fastest men’s marathon of the year.

Hyped as a world record attempt by Geoffrey Mutai, focus was on the set up of the fastest legal time ever in the marathon to erase the current best of Patrick Makau’s spectacular run last year in the same venue.

Mutai made a brave attempt at the record winning in a time of 2:04:15, a blistering time, but slightly behind the world record of 2:03:38, which was set by Patrick Makau last year in this very race. It is no coincidence that these fast times are produced in this race. The Berlin course is flat and custom made for fast times. 

Coming off a phenomenal 2011 where he ran the fastest ever marathon in Boston that unfortunately did not count for an official record due to significant elevation drops and tailwinds, there were high expectations of Mutai to further reduce the current record to new lows.

Mutai also won the New York marathon last year, which had most pegging him as the best marathoner on the planet. However, that status took a big hit after he withdrew from this year's Boston Marathon and then was not included on the Kenyan Olympic team. 

Well, Mutai is definitely back on track. While he was gunning for a world record in this event, his performance was still impressive. This was the fastest time at a marathon this year, and the sixth fastest ever.

 Athletics Kenya must rue its decision not to select Mutai as part of the Olympic team to London because he is certainly the strongest marathon runner at the moment.

 Mutai edged out his training partner Dennis Kimetto at his debut marathon by one second and the two ran neck and neck for much of the later stages of the race.

It isn’t the close finish that had people talking; it’s the manner in which both men crossed the line. There was no sprint to the finish by both athletes and Kimetto never attempted to pass Mutai.

Some race commentators even suggested that Kimetto didn’t put up a sprint at the end in order to enable Mutai win because there was less at stake for him, which I found rather callous.

But most viewers didn’t realize that these two were running at well under world record pace in 3^rd quarter of the race that neither had the energy for a final sprint, especially the debutant who was operating in new territory.

The lackluster finish drew more buzz when Mutai was awarded the World Marathon Majors title with his victory in Berlin. In order to win the World Marathon Majors title, an athlete must win 3 out of 5 major marathons in the sports 2-year cycle. In 2011, Mutai won both the Boston and NYC marathons, making Berlin his third major marathon.

Nonetheless, it was a great day for Kenyan runners who completely dominated the Berlin Marathon taking the top nine spots in the race.

Setting the Pace TV Show

Athletics in Kenya hasn’t had quite the profile it should over the years given its tremendous success globally.  In comparison, other sports such as football and rugby and to a certain extent, cricket command a huge following locally.

While interest has been building in athletics lately, peaking with the recently ended London Olympics, there is much more to learn about Kenyan athletics that could easily propel it to highest platform and status that it deserves.

This column has been instrumental in engaging and informing readers on print, on the various nuances of athletics, both local and global. However, it is just a start.

Coming soon and for the first time ever, Setting the Pace, a TV magazine show solely focusing on athletics in Kenya will take a look into past and or current events, profile past and current Kenyan athletes, feature success stories of past Kenyan athletes and provide highlights on what is to come in the world of athletics.

The aim of the show is to provide audiences with relevant and much sought after information around athletics celebrate our athletes whilst giving them a platform to speak about their journey into the world of athletics.

Setting the Pace, a half hour show, will air every Friday starting on October 19^th on Zuku Sport on Channel 300.

Apart from reviewing and highlighting local and international events with Kenyan athletes’ participation, I will be hosting prominent athletics personalities and others in the industry in a studio setting to discuss exciting and sometimes controversial issues in the sport.

The show will also feature an exciting segment that highlights Kenya’s future athletics stars. This will give viewers a glimpse into Kenya’s potential champions and indications of our very promising prospects on the global scene.

I am very excited about this transition of “Setting the Pace” from print to television because it provides an exciting opportunity to showcase, highlight, raise the profile and prominence of athletics and athletes in East Africa. Equally important is raising awareness and promoting the athletics properties that are available on Zuku.

The show aims to provide to its target audience; everyone from aspiring athletes to elite athletes, coaches, administrators, potential sponsors and fans, unique insights into the sport that were previously unavailable on local television.