Bekele to debut in Paris Marathon
Bekele to debut in Paris Marathon
The Mo Farah vs. Kenenisa Bekele London Marathon showdown officially will not happen. The 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter world record holder will make his marathon debut at the 2014 Paris Marathon on April 6. Earlier this week, former London Marathon race organizer Dave Bedford hinted that Bekele would not race in London.
Bekele is coming off a year in which he was left off the Ethiopian national team at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow. His last race on the track was the 10,000-meter run in Lier, where he won in 27:46.56.
He returned to action for the Great North Run, where he defeated current Olympic and World Champion Mo Farah by one second. The performance left fans hungry for a rematch in the streets of London. Even Mo Farah was quoted saying, "See you in London."
Bekele will compete in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country Championship this weekend against his brother Tariku and Olympic 1,500-meter gold medalist Asbel Kiprop. With less than 90 days until race day, Bekele has already started training for the marathon and includes a three-hour long run once a week.
"Of course, if I train hard I will do a fast time. But I can't say I will run 2:03, 2:05 or 2:06. I cannot say," Bekele told the IAAF. "The only thing is I have to prepare myself and train hard until I finish a marathon. I have to motivate myself to train hard to be ready to put myself in a good position. We will see in the end what the result will be."
The Paris Marathon course record of 2:05:12 set by Stanley Biwott in 2012 may be in jeopardy. With talks of running in the 2:03-range, Bekele could break the record for fastest debut marathon of 2:04:16 set by Dennis Kimmetto in 2012.
Back in 2010, current World Record holder Wilson Kipsang made his marathon debut in Paris as he finished third in 2:07:10. While Farah's name and a world record attempt have been linked in recent months, Bekele has been quiet on the matter. This race will be more of an indicator if road racing could be Bekele's event focus for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.