Rotterdam Bound - Mario Kadiks: 'A new world record is about to happen'

"A new world record is about to happen. My expectation is that this will be achieved in 2011. At this moment there are several athletes who are able to break the 2.03.59 barrier, which Haile Gebrselassie ran in Berlin in 2008."

That was Mario Kadiks' firm expectation, which he expressed at the ABN AMRO Marathon Rotterdam's New Year's reception in the Beurs-WTC building. "And Rotterdam is first in line where that can happen", he added.

Trend
"One must never be flippant about a world record. It doesn't happen without literally all the conditions being right. But it is evident that there is a definite trend: more and more athletes are running the marathon in 2.04 or 2.05. In the last two years, we in Rotterdam, came close to the record with winners' times just over the 2.04 mark," Kadiks remembered.

Wave
"Also at the half marathon, often the basis for the marathon, more and more athletes are running faster and the world record was recently broken. We're in the middle of a wave. Several athletes are able to break the world record. The jump to the record has become smaller. Not just physically, but also mentally. For an athlete the thought of running faster than 2.03.59 is no longer an impossible one."

Ideal conditions
That is why Kadiks is convinced that the world record will be broken in 2011. "Therefore it can also happen in Rotterdam. We always do our utmost to create ideal conditions in Rotterdam. It is therefore no coincidence that the last two year's season's best times were run here."

Elite athlete Feyisa Lelisa comes to Rotterdam
Feyisa Lelisa is the first international elite athlete to be booked for the 31st ABN AMRO Marathon Rotterdam on Sunday 10 April. Kadiks announced that during the New Year's gathering in the Beurs-World Trade Center.

The Ethiopian finished fourth on the Coolsingel last year, in the best time ever run by a 20 year-old: 2.05.23. In the whole year only five athletes were faster. Lelisa is known for his aggressive running style. Kadiks: "For faster times we need a few more of that kind of runners."