Wednesday, April 20, 2011

BAA wants 2:03:02 ratified by IAAF as WR

SI reports
One day after Geoffrey Mutai won the Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds - the fastest time ever for the 26.2-mile distance -- race officials said they will ask track's international governing body to certify his time as a world record even though the course is technically ineligible.
"Sure," Tom Grilk, the executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, said Tuesday. "Why wouldn't we?"
With temperatures in the 50s and a steady, significant tailwind -- perfect marathon weather -- Mutai ran almost a minute faster than the official world record of 2:03:59 set by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in 2008. But Mutai's mark is doomed to be recognized only as a "world best," not a "world record," because the Boston course is too downhill and too much of a straight line to meet IAAF standards.

READ ON...
 
ShareThis