European Athletics reportsGermany’s 2006 European Athletics Championship 10000m gold medallist Jan Fitschen has announced that he is going to move up the distances and is aiming to become Europe’s top marathon runner.
As part of his preparations for his debut over the classic distance, he will run the Köln half marathon on October 3.
“The legs are loose again and this year’s European Championships (where he finished 12th but after two years of serious injuries) was a great comeback for me. Now things get serious and the longer distances are beckoning,” wrote Fitschen on his web site http://www.janfitschen.de/
“The marathon is my new target, not immediately, but next year I want to attack this distance. I’m putting in more miles and finally cracking the 200km-a-week barrier. My first step, in the months to come, will be to do few road races, where I enjoy the atmosphere. Where and when I will go to a (marathon) starting line is not yet decided,” he added.
“I’m going to have to do some technical work as well because I know that my running style is not too economical for longer distances; it’s a leftover from my days as a middle distance runner,” joked the 33-year-old from Nordhorn in Saxony.
“But I'm looking forward to this new challenge and I’m hugely motivated and grateful I’ve now got a healthy body.”
He can look to Switzerland’s Viktor Rothlin, the 2010 European Athletics Championships marathon winner, for inspiration after being plagued by injuries in recent years.
Rothlin bounced back just 18 months after he could have died from a double pulmonary embolism to win in Barcelona, after suffering a thrombosis during a flight to the United Arab Emirates in February 2009, and he also had to recover from heel surgery earlier this year.
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