I shall not easily forget Sunday's Women's Olympic Marathon. It was marked for the history books from the outset of the Games, primarily because it would be the first time women would tread the birthplace of the marathon, the path the Greek army's messenger, Phidippides, ran from Marathon to Athens to inform the city that they were victorious over the much larger army of Persians in the battle of Marathon.
It would be historical, too, that a good majority of these women runners from 40+ nations would finish this course in less time than it took Phidippides to run it. (This fact, though, is not really fair because just two days before the run to Athens, he had just completed a 280 mile mission to and from Sparta to seek more troops in the upcoming battle. It is written that he ran this course in 36 hours.)
The event was also slated for Olympic history for other significant facts.
1. The course running from the village of Marathon to Athens is the hardest in Olympic history. Routes for the usual marathon run flat, with little change in elevation. This route, however, is all uphill from miles 6 to 20; and nearly steep downhill into Panathinaiko stadium.
2. And probably most significantly, this historical path of Phiddippides was to be graced by the fastest runners in the world, especially Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, who has the women's world record for the marathon at 2 hours and 15 minutes. She had won every marathon she entered. She was known as the queeen of the marathon.
Radcliffe was joined with the likes of Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia, Mozuki Naguchi of Japan, and Deena Kastor of America.
It was an understatement to say Paula Radcliffe was favored to take the Gold medal. The buzz was was not that she would win the marathon but that she would rival the time of the best male runner.
In this land where drama were created, Radcliffe's journey to Athens befell a Greek tragedy of its own. With temps looming around 95 degrees, on an asphalt surface that even the cameras could pick up the waves of heat radiating upwards, Radcliffe took the lead early and tried burning out her competition. Even when the course turned up into the steep hills above Marathon, she was leading a pack of 12 runners. It seemed from these early miles, that Radcliffe's gait was odd, in comparison with the others in the lead pack. The commentators of the race explained that this was her natural gait, moving her head up to one side and then down to the opposite side with each stride. It seemed unnatural. It was as if she was pushing herself too fast up these hills and her head bobbling was the logical proof of it.
By mile 15, Japan's Noguchi took the lead and never looked back. Radcliffe quickly fell to a distant fourth. It wasn't until mile 21 that she seemed to be making a comeback, overtaking Elfenesh Alemu. But with less than four miles to run, Radcliffe suddenly stopped, bent over, and rested her hands on her knees. She stood straight and brought her hands up to her face. She was shaking and overcome with emotion. She started up again but after six or seven strides, stopped dead in her tracks. Losing herself in a wave of sobs, she withdrew from the tracks and crumbled onto the corner. The sign nearby read 36km.
Running a marathon takes strategy, perseverance, and preparation. Radcliffe never said why she took herself out of the race, though she made a comment that her legs grew weak around mile 16 and she couldn't regain any energy. Radcliffe also proclaimed that she would not blame her departure on the conditions, stating that she had prepared well for them. I wonder if Radcliffes departure had something to do with persevering to the end, knowing that she would not nor could not win the race. Having been called the queen of the marathon, perhaps she thought that she had let her country down and the emotion behind that thought sidelined her cold.
No matter her reasons, we cheered for her throughout the race. When she stopped running, we yelled at the television set "Don't stop. Finish the race." And we shed tears with her when she left the road.
Sometimes, races are not about conquering your opponents, they are about conquering your own self. And fans understand this. They don't only love their heros who win medals, they love them for giving it their all and crossing that finish line. Paula Radcliffe would have received a remarkable homecoming in Panathinaiko stadium.
Deena Kastor Wins the Bronze Because of Incredible Strategy
Her was an amazing feat of strategy. Kastor came from 28th place to take the Bronze medal.
With temps around 100 degrees just an hour before race time, Kastor sat in the waiting area with an ice vest on, trying to keep her body temp down. She chose to start conservatively. At race time, the temps were in the 90's and it would stay that way for 2/3 of the race until the sun went down. Kastor believed that those who started quickly in the first 20 miles of this race would lose it in the last six miles. Why? Because there were 14 miles of steep hills till mile 20. The final six are all down hill.
How conservative did she start? She was 28th after 3 miles. Moved up to 12th around mile 16. The lead pack had disintegrated by 19 miles. Kastor found herself in eighth position and picking of the runners in front of her. Here are some of her comments after the race:
"The smartest way to race is to pick off runners," said Kastor. "I started to get an adrenaline rush every time I saw girl in front of me."
With less that a mile to go, Kastor was on the heels of Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia, this year's runner-up in the Boston Marathon.
"Two different people told me that if I caught the girl in front of me I'd be in third, and then someone else told me I'd be in the fourth," said Kastor. "I didn't know until the announcer [in the stadium] said, 'Deena Kastor is going to get the bronze,' " she said. "I just cried my way around the track after that. ... When I heard that, I just lost all my emotions. I couldn't contain myself.
"My whole last lap I was just bawling hysterically," said Kastor. "I could barely push forward because I got so emotional. We may look like we are so alone out there, but I began to think of all the people who supported me in this."
