Mikitenko, Lel and Hall in London

What a cool experience, to watch the London Marathon — the whole thing (yes I sat here for three hours working & watching) — over my computer.  Husband quickly wearied of the British announcers’ voices and my cheering, grumpily turning the volume up on his TV to levels appropriate for a nursing home. No matter, I loved every minute of it, and reveled in being able to see those clutch moments of the race when athletes would break away or fall back from the pack.

Three men finished in under 2:06, which is amazing — it’s been a while since any runner’s finished in under 2:06 at all, forget three in one race!  And, they all broke the 2:05:38 course record set by American Khalid Khannouchi (man-on-deck for the Men’s 2008 Olympic Marathon Team). Lel won London for the third time, (he also won the NYC Marathon last year) in one of the most beautiful, smooth sprints to the finish I’ve seen in my few years of avid fandom.  In the women’s race, Mikitenko won in what is only her second marathon ever (she came in second in Berlin, after Wami, last year). Agan: amazing.  Wami finished third after taking a tumble a little over halfway through the race. 

And Ryan Hall ran an exciting race, hanging in the lead pack for the first half, when they were running at world-record pace.  He finished fifth, achieving a personal best time of 2:06:17 by nearly two minutes.  I was thrilled to see him race so strongly, and recognized his even stride from the Trials in Central Park this November. This USA Today coverage & post-race inerview with Hall is good reading.

And, all the athletes finished in the pouring rain.  Even through the pixilated video from WCSN.com I could see how slick and shiny their bodies were as they crossed the finish line and slowed to a stop. 

I’d love to run this race — maybe next year, as part of Team Fox.  The course looks fantastic, as you run through charming outlying neighbrohoods with small gardens, over the Tower Bridge (where they allow crowds to line the perimiter and cheer), passing Parliament, the London Eye, Cutty Sark, and Big Ben and finishing just past Buckingham Palace.