Bekana Daba's 2:07:07 Dazzles
By David Monti
January 30, 2011
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
HOUSTON (30-Jan) -- Bekana Daba --all 58 kilograms of him-- was on a
roll. Running in just his second marathon, the 22 year-old Ethiopian
with sub-13:00 5000-meter speed, had long ago dumped all of his rivals
at the Chevron Houston Marathon, overcome the sometimes heavy rain and
high humidity, and was on pace to break 2:07.
Then nature called.
"He stopped to go to the bathroom," explained his manager Hussein Makke,
causing Daba to blush at the post-race press conference. "He just
drank too much."
In the 26th mile (42nd kilometer), Daba ducked into a portable toilet
along the course to get much needed relief, before lopping 33 seconds
off of compatriot Teshome Gelana's one year-old course record. His
finish time of 2:07:04 was the fastest marathon time run in the world
this year, and put him four minutes ahead of surprise runner-up Nick
Arciniaga of Flagstaff, Ariz.
"This competition is my second in marathon," said the English-speaking
Daba who made an uninspired marathon debut in Amsterdam last October in
2:14:40. "At that time I was not ready."
Daba, who recently switched his shoe company affiliation from adidas to
Nike, said he did two months of solid preparation for today's race under
coach Haji Adilo in Addis Ababa, whom he called "an honest man and a
good man." He ran comfortably through half-way in 1:04:17 in a pack of
six, which included Americans Arciniaga and Brett Gotcher, Kenyans
Wilfred Murgor and John Kales, and Ethiopian Hussen Adelo. After 25
kilometers, Daba and Murgor surged ahead, running a swift 14:22 for the
next 5 kilometers, a pace which Murgor soon found to be too much. That
left Daba to splash through Houston's streets alone.
"It was raining and cold," Daba said shaking his head. "Because the rain is not 2:06."
Maybe not. But after his bathroom break, he sprinted the final 200
meters along the Avenida de las Americas to resounding cheers from the
crowd gathered outside of the George R. Brown Convention Center. His
victory was worth $35,000, and Daba hoped that his performance here
today would earn him an invitation to another marathon, perhaps Paris in
April, he said.
Arciniaga, who had entered the race primarily to pace his Team USA
Arizona teammate Brett Gotcher, caught the flagging Murgor with less
than a kilometer to go.
"I caught him with 400 to go," said Arciniaga sitting barefoot in the press room. "I was saying, 'dig down, dig down."
Arciniaga, 27, was clocked in 2:11:30, breaking his personal best time
by 18 seconds and, more importantly, recording an Olympic Games
qualifying performance on an IAAF-recognized course. His reaction was
mixed, given that Gotcher struggled in the second half to finish sixth
in 2:19:30. Gotcher ran 2:10:36 here last year in his debut at the
distance.
"I feel really bad for him," Arciniaga said. "I'm disappointed for him
and Martin (Fagan)," who was forced to drop out because of an ankle
injury. "It's definitely bittersweet."
Women's Race: Daska Wins Battle With Kasim, American Stephanie Rothstein Breaks 2:30
The women's race came down to a two-woman battle between Ethiopians
Mamitu Daska and Ashu Kasim who, like Daba, are coached by Haji Adilo.
They followed male pacemaker Genna Tufa through halfway in 1:12:16,
then past 30 kilometers when he retired.
"The pacemaker left us at 31 km," said Daska, 27, through a translator,
the 2009 Bolder Boulder 10-K champion. "The two of us were running and I
took the pace."
Both athletes slowed, but Kasim, 26, couldn't keep up with her teammate.
Daska went on to win in 2:26:33, also winning $35,000. Kasim followed
next in 2:27:47, and less than two minutes later Team USA Arizona's
Stephanie Rothstein came home with a big personal best of 2:29:35. That
makes the former U.C. Santa Barbara athlete the fourth-fastest American
qualifier for next year's Olympic Trials Marathon here.
"Words can't really describe it," said the 27 year-old who spent two
years ill and injured until she found out she had celiac disease, got
treatment and changed her diet to avoid gluten and dairy. "Dreams
really became reality today."
Top Results
| Bekana Daba | 2:07:04 | $35,000 |
| Nicholas Arciniaga | 2:11:30 | $17,000 |
| Wilfred K Murgor | 2:11:41 | $7,000 |
| Rob Watson | 2:16:17 | $4,000 |
| Jesse L Davis | 2:18:47 | $2,000 |
Women:
| Mamitu Daska | 2:26:33 | $35,000 | |
| Ashu Kasim | 2:27:47 | $17,000 | |
| Stephanie E Rothstein | 2:29:35 | $7,000 | |
| Belainesh Z Gebre | 2:34:47 | $4,000 | |
| Selamie Getnet | 2:36:34 | $2,000 |
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