Dubai: Ethiopia’s three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele has the marathon world record at the back of his mind as he sets sights on bettering the course record debuting at next month’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.
Bekele is the holder of three world records for 5,000 metres indoor and outdoor along with the 10,000 metres outdoor. After his failed attempt at defending his 10,000 metres crown at the 2012 London Games, Bekele decided to concentrate on road distances.
In April, the 32-year-old Ethiopian set a new course record of 2 hours, 5.04 minutes while making his debut at the Paris Marathon. He followed this up with a second marathon in Chicago in a time of 2:05.51, and his presence at the Dubai Marathon on January 23, 2015 will only be his third long road event.
“I don’t have too many expectations as this is a completely different brand of running for me. Luckily for me the transition from track to road has been good and I can hope to at least set a new course record in Dubai when I come here in January,” Bekele told Gulf News.
“Running marathons is not easy especially in my case. Quick times and records are part of any sport, but my goal is to take things one step at a time. I want to win this race [Dubai] first possibly with a new course record and then perhaps I will have adequate experience to target the world record,” he shrugged.
Dubai has a flat and fast course that is similar to the Rotterdam Marathon. The current course record for the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon stands at 2:04.23 in the name of fellow Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie. The world record for the distance is 2:02.57 set at the Berlin Marathon by Kenyan Dennis Kimetto at the end of September this year.
“A world record is never out of reach, but it is just a question of getting the finer elements in place. There are so many things that need to be right so that an athlete can come and set a new mark. Dubai will be only the third marathon for me, so there is a long way to go. I would not put myself under pressure trying to break the world record. It is all a question of time. I will train hard and my efforts will show through my times,” Bekele said.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon will see runners compete in the full marathon, a 10km road race and a 4km fun run.
