Fireworks, Indoors and out Messe Frankfurt Marathon, Germany
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Fireworks, indoors and out Messe Frankfurt Marathon, Germany. 30 October 2005 By Pat Butcher the title sponsor is the Expo got off its mark with a bang this wave of four-hour marathoners venue in which the indoor finish is year, with a simulated murder on began before the cameras started Running a marathon is located. Until this year the race the start line. rolling. For extra shots, and in infernal enough for most was known as the Eurocity case of errors – getting several people; running it indoors Marathon but, in Europe’s biggest The German TV channel ARD has thousand people to turn round a would be like a modern ‘expo’ city, the organisers have a long running show, Tatort which do a retake being difficult - ARD version of Dante’s Circles of bowed to all-round pressure to anticipated the US popular series has advertised in the local papers Hell. Yet indoor marathons rename it the Messe Frankfurt Crime Scene Investigation. The for a thousand extras to turn up were all the rage a century Marathon. The noisy indoor haven producers of the popular weekly again in a few weeks’ time to re- of the finish line creates new ago. The nearest thing to it series chose the start of the shoot the start. The rest of the opportunities for race spectators marathon as the scene of the show will be filmed at leisure, but nowadays is the Messe who generate an entirely different latest crime. A fictional detective it will be a while before we find Frankfurt Marathon, where the atmosphere to that in the usual named Fritz Dellwo, wants to run out what happens. The show will last 100m of the race takes the outdoor locations. the Messe Frankfurt Marathon, not be broadcast until next year, runners off the pavement and but doesn’t know that, following a on the evening of the 25th into the ‘Gut Stubb,’ the city But that is at the finish. The race gaol-break, a man he put inside anniversary Messe Frankfurt centre Festival Hall. A runs 42.1km through the streets of intends to kill him. Unfortunately, Marathon. Frankfurt before it goes indoors. It fireworks display and brass a poor Swedish fun-runner, band await them, along with standing beside Fritz on the start- In the real race the action was line gets it instead. Perhaps it’s more conventional, if not 10,000 rowdy spectators not the best way to encourage particularly predictable. There lubricated (since this is foreign runners to your race, but a were course records and personal Germany) by the inevitable few years ago the Swedes bests for Wilfred Kigen of Kenya steins of beer. themselves played out a similar and Alvetina Biktimirova of scenario in a film called Russia, but for a long time, things In the 1908 Olympic Marathon in “Stockholm Marathon”. looked very different. When London, Dorando Pietri collapsed Leonid Shvetsov of Russia in the stadium, was assisted over The Frankfurt race starts with Fritz accelerated away from the the line and then disqualified. ignorant of the killing and that the pacemakers with less than 10km Johnny Hayes was declared the killer is still intent on plugging to run, it looked briefly as if a winner, but Dorando became him. The police try to persuade the non-Kenyan man might win a big- famous. And they both made a organisers to abandon the race, city marathon. In the women’s fortune from a series of and one of his colleagues keeps race, Marleen Renders of Belgium subsequent races in New York, missing him at various checkpoints had a lead close to four minutes which were held indoors, to entice – the show takes place in real time, at one stage. paying spectators. like the series “24”. When they retired, indoor Shvetsov’s dream lasted less than marathoning effectively died with The elite athletes in the real race five minutes. The Kenyans them. But it has had a minor were not hampered by the filming, regrouped, attacked, and left resurrection in Frankfurt, where since the crew waited until the Shvetsov behind - but he did 28 DISTANCE RUNNING January – March 2006 Result MEN 1 Wilfred KIGEN KEN 2:08:29 2 Jason MBOTE KEN 2:08:30 3 Wilson KIGEN KEN 2:08:34 4 Charles KIBIWOT KEN 2:08:36 5 Leonid SHVETSOV RUS 2:10:05 6Tesfaye DEREJE ETH 2:11:47 7 Philip TARUS KEN 2:12:33 contribute considerably to the “I only knew I had it when we The Russian flew past the Belgian 8 Matthew BIRIR KEN 2:12:41 third successive course record. came into the hall with about at 36km, and won by over a 9 Abraham TANDOI KEN 2:13:04 Charles Kibiwot made a similar 100m to run,” said Wilfred. The minute. Renders, 37, and having 10 Peter KORIR KEN 2:14:22 bid for glory with five kilometres first four all broke the course her first marathon in three years, WOMEN to go, but a sprint which took him record of 2:09:10, set last year by 1 Alevtina BIKTIMIROVA RUS 2:25:12 after two hamstring operations, 2 Marleen RENDERS BEL 2:26:26 rapidly away from the others Boaz Kimaiyo, who dropped out at denied that she had begun too 3 Tola ROBA ETH 2:29:30 looked suicidal, and so it proved. 33km with hamstring problems. quickly. She had certainly made 4 Mary PITKANY KEN 2:29:45 Brothers Wilfred and Wilson good her promise to attack the 5 Svetlana PONOMARENKO RUS 2:31:26 Kigen, along with compatriot, Russia’s Alevtina Biktimirova was record of 2:26:01, from Luminita 6Mindaye GESHU ETH 2:33:05 Jason Mbote pulled him back. It the race revelation. She knocked Zaituc in 2001. Renders was on 7 Tatyana ZHIRKOVA RUS 2:37:06 was Wilfred who won the sprint as six minutes off her personal best, 2:24 pace for long periods. “I 8 Olga GLOK RUS 2:38:06 the race went off the road, to end and was understandably elated at would have been OK, I think, but I 9 Tanith MAXWELL RSA 2:41:03 in the ‘Gut Stubb’. the finish. “I wanted to break 2:30 10 Veronika ULRICH GER 2:51:07 but I never expected anything like started to have hamstring this. I knew I was a long way problems at 30km,” she said, “and behind Renders at halfway, but when Biktimirova came past she when I began to see her at 30km, I went so quickly I could do felt stronger than I did at the nothing”. Even wilting badly at the start. I knew I could catch her at end she acquitted herself well. that point”. The race begins late for a European marathon, 11.00, but the weather was not as warm as anticipated - 12C at the start, and 18C at the finish. There was a record entry of 17,000 for all races, with another record of 11,000 starters in the marathon. Germany is the country where the second wave of mass-running really took Left: Finishers applauded to the hold at the turn of the century, finish line inside the Gut Stubb - and Frankfurt, with its the only indoor finish to any unconventional finish, is world-rated marathon benefiting as much as anywhere. 30 DISTANCE RUNNING January – March 2006.