When the rabbit's achievement did not retreat, but saw the opportunity to act, rushed all the way to the finish line, and beat all the elite runners.
On October 9, on the same day as the 2016 Chicago Marathon, another all-horse race was fired in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven.
Although the fame of the Eindhoven Marathon is not the same as that of Shima, and the size of more than 2,000 people is only one-twentieth of Thatima, this year its championship performance is nearly 5 minutes faster than That of Shima, and the level is two notches higher: 2:06:26 vs.2:2:11:23.
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"Emma"! The rabbit stole the championship
What's more interesting is that the 21-year-old Kenyan champion Festus Talam is actually a rabbit hired by the event organizers. His mission was to take the First Group to 35 km – at a pace of 2 hours and 06 minutes per kilometer, 2 minutes and 59 seconds, and that was all it.
After the start of the race, under the leadership of Taran, the first group ran at a fairly uniform speed, basically maintaining a pace within 3 minutes, almost every 5 kilometers is less than 15 minutes. Halfway takes 1:02:59, arriving 1 second early.
After 25 km, there were still 5 people in the leading group, but after 1 km, the number of people began to be reduced: the Ethiopian deriba roba, who was the most optimistic before the race and declared that the target was 2:04, was the first to fall behind.
The time of 30 km is 1:29:32. At this point, Taran is still maintaining a pace within 3 minutes, and there are only two people left behind him: defending champion Stephen Chebogut (last year's 2:05:52) and Marius Kipserem, who won the Rotterdam Marathon 2:06:11 six months ago, both of whom are also Kenyans.
However, the two elite players soon lost their strength and watched as Taran walked away alone.
After 35 kilometers, Taran is ready to go. But at this time, he felt good, Yu Yongkejia, so he took advantage of the situation to continue to run the last 7 kilometers, and single-handedly advanced into the finish arch. He won the runner-up Kipserem at 2:08:00 and the third-place finisher, Nobert Kigen, who finished 2:09:19.
The unexpected victory made Taran extremely happy: "This victory made me overjoyed. It feels awesome to beat these masters! His best previous record was last year's runner-up in the first half of the Lago Maggiore in Italy, with a time of 1:00:56.
Race Director Edgar de Veer said: "At that time we understood what Festus had in mind. At 35 km, Marc Corstjens (another race leader) allowed him to continue racing and try his luck. Being able to run at 2:06:26 in the first horse at Eindhoven is an excellent springboard to the world's best. I believe he has a bright future. ”
After returning home, Taran told Kenyan media: "Last year I paced the Eindhoven Marathon and later led the Rotterdam Marathon, but I never finished. I found myself always motivated after completing the lead task, and this year I asked the organizers to allow me to finish the race because I wanted a marathon result. ”
He hopes to represent his country at the World Championships in London next year; if he is not selected, he will start the City Marathon next year.
Half-horse private rabbits have won two super first-class masters
On June 22, 2014, a half marathon was held in the eastern Czech city of Olomouc. This IAAF silver label event attracted two kenyan top players who entered 2 hours and 4 minutes.
One of them was the then-world record holder Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich. At the Berlin Marathon in 2013, Kipsang set a world record of 2:03:23. On 13 April of the following year, he set a new London Marathon record at 2:04:29.
The other was the 2013 Tokyo Marathon winner and dennis kipruto kimetto, who ran a 2:03:45 track record at the Chicago Marathon. He is also the world record holder for the 25 km run, with a time of 1:11:18. In Berlin in September 2014, he broke Kipsan's world record in 2:02:57.
To ensure victory, Kipsan hired a private rabbit: the little-known compatriot Geoffrey Ronoh.
Rono had only one professional race experience before: the January 2013 Ahmedabad Marathon in India, which finished 2:15:51 and finished sixth. Kipsang didn't ask much of him: he just had to lead the first 10 kilometres for himself.
Who knew that after completing the task, Rono was out of control, straight to the finish line and won the championship, his time was 1:00:17 faster than "boss" Kipsan 8 seconds, and at the same time set a new record!
After the game, he recalled: "Long before Olomouc, I trained with Kipsan. When I came here, he asked me to lead (the first 10 km) and run as fast as possible into 28 minutes and 20 seconds. I did it – ran 28 minutes and 15 seconds. After that, if I feel strong, I finish the race.
"Since I started training with him (Kipsan) last December, I've been giving him a strong challenge. When I'm stretching long distances, I usually run with him to the last kilometer, and that's when I'm afraid of him because he has a lot of stamina. But it also made me know that he was just an ordinary person like me. ”
Kipsang said of Rono to the BBC: "Through our training, I know that he is strong. ”
In the game, Kimeto was never in the first group. The three leading men are Kipson, Rono and first Kenyan bor. They reached the 5km mark with a half-horse time of 58 minutes and 10 seconds, enough to break the world record average pace, 18 seconds ahead of Quimeto.
By 8 km, only Kipsan and Rono were left in the First Group. As they ran to 15 kilometers in 42 minutes and 43 seconds, Rono slowed down slightly. "I gave Kipsang a chance to overtake me, but he kept a few steps slower than me. That's when I realized I could win. ”
So Rono widened the distance between the two to 40 meters. Although the pace of the last two kilometers has slowed down a lot, Kipsan has no time to catch up with him.
The generous Kipsan did not blame Rono for spoiling his good deeds: "In the end, I want to thank him for participating in the end. Because without him, we wouldn't have been able to achieve such a good result. ”
Kipsan was second with 1:00:25 and Kimeto third, 1:01:42. Winning the championship and running into 1 hour and 1 minute earned Rono 4,000 euros.
He said confidently: "This is Kipsan's time, but in the future I believe there will be its own era." I came here today as a frontrunner and I hope to be invited here as a runner in the future. By then I believe I will run my best. Running into 2 hours and 08 minutes is possible for me. ”
The master also wants the rabbit belt
Many marathon organizers will hire rabbits to control the rhythm of the elite runners to ensure the level of the event, hit the track and even the world record. Some masters also recruit private rabbits.
Today's marathon world records are mostly created in races with rabbits. When Britain's Paula Radcliffe set a women's world record of 2:15:25 at the London Marathon in 2003, several male runners led the race (a practice that is now banned – the women's record must be set in all-women's competitions before it can be recognized).
At the Berlin Marathon in September 2008, Ethiopian star Haile Grebrselassie (yellow vest wearer below) led four Kenyan rabbits to break the 2 hour and 4 minute mark at 2:03:59.
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister, a British medical student, ran a mile in just 3 minutes and 59 seconds, breaking the long-considered insurmountable human limit in one fell swoop.
That day at oxford stadium, Bannister (pictured below, left) hired two track and field teammates to be rabbits: the first one led the first two laps, the second led the first half of the third and final laps, and the last half lap was crossed by himself.
For running, air resistance is not as pronounced as in high-speed sports such as cycling, but according to a former 800-meter world champion, running with a runner saves 15% of effort. More important is the psychological benefit: most people would rather follow the runner than lead, and the runner is much more relaxed psychologically than racking their brains.
The official rabbits of marathon events are mostly runners like Taran: young; half-horse ability, able to run at a specified pace of about 30 kilometers; need to earn money and accumulate racing experience.
And the dramatic scene of the rabbit leading all the way to the finish line and winning the championship himself has long existed, including on the track and field field.
In 1981, in the famous bislett stadium "golden mile" competition in Oslo, Norway, american master Tom Byers was entrusted to lead the way for British celebrities steve ovett, steve cram and other runners.
On the last lap, Byers was supposed to back off, but when he looked back, everyone else was 70 meters away, so he simply rushed to the finish line and won the gold medal in one fell swoop.
At the 2000 Berlin Marathon, Simon Biwott, a Kenyan hired to lead the first 30 kilometres, ended up winning 2:07:42.
Ben Kimondiu, the 2001 Chicago Marathon champion, also a rabbit transformed into a dark horse, defeated his famous Fellow Kenyan Paul Tergat 2:08:52.
At the 2006 Dubai Marathon, joseph ngeny, who was entrusted with leading the first 30 kilometres, felt that he was in excellent condition and asked the agent sitting in the following car: Can I finish the race? After receiving an affirmative answer, he continued to run wildly, and finally crossed the finish line first at 2:13:02.
The rabbit's victory caused a storm
At the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon, Paul Pilkington, a 35-year-old American, was hired as the official rabbit for $3,000.
The first two paragraphs of the Los Angeles Times report read:
“he was paid to run fast, but not too fast.
he was paid to run far, but not too far.”
(He was hired to run fast, but not too fast.) He was hired to run far, but not too far. ）
When he finished 26 kilometres, Pirkington found himself two minutes ahead of Luca Barzaghi, the Italian in second place and with the highest pre-race bid-winning voice, and simply kept the advantage to the end to win the race 2-12-13.
After 39 seconds, barzaghi approached the finish line for the second time. He thought that the rabbit had long since retired from the race and was the champion himself, so he slowed down, raised his hands and ran towards the arch with a smile on his face. At this point, "he has chosen the color of his new car" — the championship prize is $15,000 plus a luxury car.
When the silver medal was hung around his neck, he was still wondering where the photographers had gone. After learning that he only finished second, he angrily said through the translator: "I thought the rabbit had quit, no one told me he was still running!" I thought I had won. ”
At a post-match press conference, the Italian's "jaw muscles are tighter than the tendons" protested: "The rabbit should have quit the game." It's not fair, and we'll take action. ”
He also insisted race director Anne Roberts had said at a pre-race technical meeting that the rabbits would exit after 25km. The latter retorted: "I have never said anything like that. Barzaghi: "You said it! "I didn't. This is not true. ”
Pilkington, the rabbit, also said he would never sign a contract that included such a commitment clause, but he admitted that he had worked as a rabbit for five marathons before, and he had retired from those races.
He certainly won't be humble about the winner: it was his first marathon in four years, and it was a national champion — the first time Loma became the U.S. Athletics Federation Marathon National Championships. His record was fourth in the history of the tournament up to the time.
At the Nanjing Marathon on October 16 this year, two black runners were far ahead. The elite players of the first group are too far behind them to make a mistake and eventually abandon the race.
Seeing that the last official rabbit rode to 30 kilometers in the dust and seemed to be in good shape, the author was wondering: if he could not see any opponents in the rear, would he run down like the rabbits mentioned above and directly pound the Huanglong Province?
Unfortunately, the rabbit chose to pull aside and leave. When he learned the result of the race, he must have regretted it: he ran to 30 kilometers at a pace of more than 3 minutes, and the time did not exceed 1 hour and 40 minutes. At this time, the pursuers were far behind, and the closest to him was also tens of minutes away: the first Mongolian player's performance was only 2 hours and 31 minutes.
Mr. Rabbit only needs to run the last 12 kilometers in more than 50 minutes , a pace of more than four points , which is not difficult for amateurs to do, and it is easy to get a double income: rabbit pay plus $5,000 championship prize.
It's a real punch in the chest – didn't you come all the way from Africa to be a rabbit just to make more money?