Haile Gebrselassie wins Almería Half Marathon in 61:46 (© Carlos Barba)
Ethiopian distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie, the former four-time World and double Olympic 10,000m champion, clinched a clear victory in the ‘8th Media Marathón de Almería’ held today in the city which will host the next Mediterranean Games (29 Jun- 2 Jul).
‘The Emperor’ ran the first half of the race in the company of the Kenyans Alex Kirui and Abraham Aiyabei and broke away from them with incredible ease in the 12th kilometre. From then on (13km covered in 39:24) Gebrselassie dramatically increased his pace to finish in a course record of 61:46 (average pace of 2:55/km), some 1:07 ahead of Kirui while a fading Aiyabei came third in 64:57.
Today’s race marked Gebrselassie’s return to competition after a 5-month lay-off period due to injury following the Athens 10,000m Olympic final when he placed fifth. He had undergone an Achilles tendon operation in Finland immediately after the Olympics.
“I felt really good through-out the race and decided to run comfortably in the first half; then I pulled away to secure the win,” declared Gebrselassie.
At a pre-race press conference the Ethiopian star had declared “I underwent surgery on my left Achilles tendon five months ago (9 September in Helsinki, Finland) and after my recovery I’ve worked really hard to be in good shape in the future. I already knew the fantastic weather conditions here in Almería (south Spain) which are perfect in which to run; I chose this half marathon to make my 2005 opener because it suited me”.
“I’ll probably compete in Spain next Sunday again in another Half Marathon race in Granollers.”
Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
