Posted: September 30, 2007

Athletics (RRW): 2:04:26 World Record For Gebrselassie In Berlin

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com By Bob Ramsak Running in near ideal conditions, Haile Gebrselassie shattered the World record in the marathon, clocking 2:04:26 at the real,-Berlin Marathon today. Defending his Berlin title, the 34-year-old Ethiopian knocked 29 seconds from the preview record, 2:04:55, set by Kenyan Paul Tergat over the same course in 2003. Gebrselassie, who had previously broken 23 world records or bests over his career, reached the half way point in 1:02:29. Kenyans took the next three spots, with Abel Kirui second in 2:06:51, Salim Kipsang (2:07:29) third and Philip Manyim, the 2005 Berlin winner, fourth (2:08:01). Gete Wami defended her women's title, winning in 2:23:17, well ahead of Germany's marathon debutant Irina Mikitenko, who took second in 2:24:49. Look for additional details later today.