did he break 2.15?
did he break 2.15?
He came 13th in 2:14:06. He went thru the half with the chasing group far to hard, and ended up fading
Is this an official result, is there a website with this on?
That would be a very impressive time considering how crappy his training partners ran in Houston. Good job.
Have heard that he fell at the finish and may have damaged his hip....not confirmed though.
made..it wrote:
He came 13th in 2:14:06. He went thru the half with the chasing group far to hard, and ended up fading
That is great. He has done what Meb or Culpepper were unable to do this Olympiad. Neither of them have an Olympic A standard.
Martin Fagan Qualifies For Beijing Marathon
Superb Dubai marathon debut - PB for David Campbell in Tasmania
Martin Fagan yesterday battled through the pain barrier in the Dubai Marathon to achieve his target of an Olympic qualifying standard for Beijing. Fagan, finished in 2 hours 14 minutes 06 seconds, comfortably inside the Olympic A qualifying standard of 2.15.
The weather in Dubai was perfect for marathoners with temperatures down to 11C, rising to just 14C at the finish, with little wind. World marathon record holder holder Haile Gebrselassie ran the second fastest marathon in history, 2.o4.53 to win the men’s race, but a suicidal early pace by his Ethiopian pacemakers ruined any chance he had of breaking his own world record of 2.04.06, set in Berlin only three months ago.
This was an extraordinary battling performance by 24 year old Martin Fagan who, up to half-way, was on course for an even faster finishing time. “I was with the chasing group and I was feeling good at half –way,”Fagan said. “I had written my projected time splits on my hand and I had expected that there would be time clocks at certain points on the course and so I was not wearing a watch. However, there were no clocks on the course and I found that a bit difficult.”
Fagan then faced a much bigger problem between 25 and 35 kilometres as a troublesome hip injury flared up. “I was in agony for over ten kilometres and I had to stop and stretch a number of times so that I could get just a little bit of relief from the pain,” he said.
“I had been having a few problems in recent times with my back and hip, but I never experienced anything like the pain I had at that critical point of the race. However, I fought on and it was a huge relief to finish inside the Olympic Qualifying standard. That was my target and I was determined to make it.”
Fagan finished in much distress and was immediately taken away for medical examination. “The doctor said that I may have a stress fracture of my hip, but I am hoping that he is wrong, “Fagan said. “It was worth all the pain and discomfort to have made the Olympic qualifying standard. The conditions were good and it was a tough but very worthwhile experience.”
The Mullingar man will arrive back in Dublin early on Sunday morning and already Athletics Ireland High Performance Manager, Gareth Devlin has made arrangements for him to receive the best of medical care.
Fagan’s can now be confident of making the Irish track and field team for Beijing- the first time since 1992 that Ireland will have a representative in the Olympic Marathon. The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 saw three Irish runners in the marathon-John Treacy, Andy Ronan and Tommy Hughes.
The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon was Fagan’s second choice in his race for an Olympic qualifying standard. Fagan had hoped to run in the Houston marathon earlier this month, before he encountered visa difficulties which denied him re-entry to America. Ireland’s latest Olympic qualifier is now hoping that his US visa problem will soon be sorted out and that he will be able to complete some of his Olympic training preparations at his U.S training base where his coach resides.
“Athletics Ireland have been very helpful to me over the past several weeks and they organised accommodation for me in DCU during my training build-up for Dubai.,” Fagan said.
In Tasmania David Campbell opened his 2008 campaign in the best possible form with a second place finish in the 1.500m. His time of 3:40.25 was well inside his previous best of 3:41.81.
Briggs Athletics Classic Results
Men 1500 Metres Run
1, Mitch Kealey, QAS, 3:39.70. 2, David Campbell, Ireland, 3:40.25. 3, Lachlan
Chisholm, NSW, 3:40.44. 4, Nick Bromley, Nswis, 3:41.20. 5, Michael Shelley,
Queensland, 3:43.83.
Men 5000 Metres Run
1, Collis Birmingham, VIS, 13:38.11.
wow that sucks, definitely sounds like a stress fracture. hope not for his sake as it will take a good 3-4 months before he can get back to any real training.
he must be in at least 2:10 type shape if he stopped a few times and still ran 2:14.
Fagan is always such a man.
A couple of cortisone shots & supplementation will speed up the healing....
Not recommended at all but its the Olympics we are talking about.
also he will be able to start aquajogging (& X Trainer...) soon enough & he needs a break following the Marathon anyways so it could not affect him that much for Beijing if hes very serious until then.
Oh no! I hope his pelvis didn't snap ; that would take him out for qite a while.
It seems like a very common injury among Irish athletes.
Could it be a Genetic weakness ?