Gebrselassie drops out of Japanese

Haile Gebrselassie has been beaten by Joseph Gitau of in the International Marathon on Sunday, the former world record holder pulled up at the side of the road after the 32 km mark with 10 km left in the race. The 24 year old Kenyan clocked a winning time of two hours, six minutes and 58 seconds (2:06:58). The odds were stacked against Gebrselassie on Sunday considering that Gitau is 15 years younger than him and has been running in Japan since high school. The environment was set for him to take centre stage and was accustomed to the conditions in Japan. Gebrselassie ran the Marathon in February in an attempt to launch his bid for an Olympic swansong in but could only manage a fourth place finish and eventually failed to make the cut. The 39 year old Ethiopian, twice Olympic and four times world 10 000m gold medallist has been dubbed the "Emperor" for his running heroics. However, Gebrselassie's latest failure is set to further fuel speculation over his future after another year of disappointment.

Entries for the 2013 edition of the Comrades Marathon between and Pietermaritzburg, which will be run for the 88th time, closed on Friday when the cap of 18 000 entries was reached. The annual ultra-marathon also known as the “The Ultimate Human Race” is attracting greater levels of interest from local and international runners according to the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA). However, the CMA can only accommodate 18 000 runners for the 90 km race due to safety and logistical concerns on the day. Runners who missed the dead-line for entries this past Friday still have an opportunity to enter for the race through the substitution process. The substitution process will be facilitated by the club system which is essential for entry into the Comrades Marathon. A signed copy of both the withdrawing athlete and the substitute’s ID documents must be attached to the substitution request form. The substitute will be required to pay an administration fee of R 100.00 to the CMA. The substitution process will not be available on-line and no refund will be made to the athlete withdrawing from the race. Both parties will be notified in writing when the substitution process is complete.

The Great Run Challenge Series presented by Global Running Club and Great Run Association (GRA) will take place in Pretoria West this coming Saturday at the Weskoppies Hospital. The event distances are 10 km and 5 km run on a flat and fast circular route. The Orlando , 10 km and 5 km event will take place this Sunday starting at the local police station opposite the Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

Menzi Ngcobo

Institute for Sports Research (ISR)

High Performance Centre

University of Pretoria [email protected] /[email protected]