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24.08.2008
His time of 2hrs 27min 17sec isn't what he would have been dreaming of, but it was a phenomenal race, perhaps the most amazing in Olympic history.
Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru won the race, smashing the Olympic record, which was older than he. His time of 2:06:32 was almost 3min inside the previous record set in Los Angeles in 1984.
It was a scorching pace from the outset, " I ran 2.57km for the first km and I was at the back picking up t-shirts," Troop joked.
With much pre games hype surrounding the quality of the air in Beijing and the effect it will have on the marathon runners, a slow race was expected.
That is not the way the men's marathon turned out.
After the women had their outing over the course last Sunday, the men learnt that the conditions weren't as bad as first thought.
An opening 5km split of 14:52 was an electrifying pace for any event, not just a championship.
"One word to describe it was 'carnage'," Troop explained.
With no pacemakers on hand to help the field through the early stages, it was expected the runners would proceed with caution in the first half of the race.
However shortly after the 5km mark, a group of eight athletes formed a pack that was clear of the main bunch.
Troop looked relaxed in his gold hat and in contention with the main group. His first 5km split was 15:08, then passing through 10km in 30:42, had him in 44th place overall and on target for a solid performance.
After heading through the 15km mark, the lead pack was reduced to five as they were on track to run the fastest marathon in Olympic history.
"The pace was on, I felt fine. I was cramping up in the stomach before the race and I think it was just nerves.
"I didn’t feel as though I had any problems with the heat or humidity," Troop said.
Passing through the halfway mark in 66:12, Troop moved up into 35th place and was making ground on the others.
Going through the 30km checkpoint in 1:38:24, Troop had dropped back to 49th place overall.
The lead pack then consisted of three men, Merga Deriba (Ethiopia), Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) and Jaouad Gharib (Morocco).
Just past the 35km mark, Wanjiru dropped in a surge to break the Ethiopian and Moroccan. While Troopy was struggling, in 57th place, having gone through 35km in 1:58:22.
Clearly not his day, Troopy made it to the finish when 28 of the 108 starters didnt.
"I just started counting down each km, it was getting harder and harder.
"I thought to myself, this is it. I don’t make the sacrifices, the commitment, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially to put in a result like that. Its not fair on my wife, she has been unbelievble working full time and looking after Macey (his daughter).
The fifth fastest ever Australian over the distance said he plans to run another marathon in a few months time.
Results:
1 Samuel Kamau Wanjiru KEN 2:06:32 (OR)
2 Jaouad Gharib MAR 2:07:16 .
3 Tsegay Kebede ETH 2:10:00 .
4 Deriba Merga ETH 2:10:21 .
5 Martin Lel KEN 2:10:24 .
6 Viktor Röthlin SUI 2:10:35 .
7 Gashaw Asfaw ETH 2:10:52 .
8 Yared Asmerom ERI 2:11:11 .
9 Dathan Ritzenhein USA 2:11:59 .
10 Ryan Hall USA 2:12:33 .
60 Lee Troop AUS 2:27:17.
News
The Traditional Final Event
Lee Troop has finished 60th in his third Olympic marathon.His time of 2hrs 27min 17sec isn't what he would have been dreaming of, but it was a phenomenal race, perhaps the most amazing in Olympic history.
Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru won the race, smashing the Olympic record, which was older than he. His time of 2:06:32 was almost 3min inside the previous record set in Los Angeles in 1984.
It was a scorching pace from the outset, " I ran 2.57km for the first km and I was at the back picking up t-shirts," Troop joked.
With much pre games hype surrounding the quality of the air in Beijing and the effect it will have on the marathon runners, a slow race was expected.
That is not the way the men's marathon turned out.
After the women had their outing over the course last Sunday, the men learnt that the conditions weren't as bad as first thought.
An opening 5km split of 14:52 was an electrifying pace for any event, not just a championship.
"One word to describe it was 'carnage'," Troop explained.
With no pacemakers on hand to help the field through the early stages, it was expected the runners would proceed with caution in the first half of the race.
However shortly after the 5km mark, a group of eight athletes formed a pack that was clear of the main bunch.
Troop looked relaxed in his gold hat and in contention with the main group. His first 5km split was 15:08, then passing through 10km in 30:42, had him in 44th place overall and on target for a solid performance.
After heading through the 15km mark, the lead pack was reduced to five as they were on track to run the fastest marathon in Olympic history.
"The pace was on, I felt fine. I was cramping up in the stomach before the race and I think it was just nerves.
"When the race got under way I felt fantastic.
At 19km, I started cramping in the stomach, once I got to 20 km I had a gel that was strapped to my bottle and by 21 – 22km I felt ok again, then about a km and a half later my legs were smashed."I didn’t feel as though I had any problems with the heat or humidity," Troop said.
Passing through the halfway mark in 66:12, Troop moved up into 35th place and was making ground on the others.
Going through the 30km checkpoint in 1:38:24, Troop had dropped back to 49th place overall.
"There is nothing worse than when all of a sudden all that hard work you’ve put in starts coming unstuck. Its just shattering, after three Olympic games, I feel like I’ve failed three times, its as simple as that.
"After all the hard work I’ve put in after the last 2 ½ years and especially my preparation in the last 5 months, I didn’t really deserve that result. Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve and I’m just going to have to live with that now.
The lead pack then consisted of three men, Merga Deriba (Ethiopia), Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) and Jaouad Gharib (Morocco).
Just past the 35km mark, Wanjiru dropped in a surge to break the Ethiopian and Moroccan. While Troopy was struggling, in 57th place, having gone through 35km in 1:58:22.
Clearly not his day, Troopy made it to the finish when 28 of the 108 starters didnt.
"I just started counting down each km, it was getting harder and harder.
"I thought to myself, this is it. I don’t make the sacrifices, the commitment, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially to put in a result like that. Its not fair on my wife, she has been unbelievble working full time and looking after Macey (his daughter).
The fifth fastest ever Australian over the distance said he plans to run another marathon in a few months time.
Results:
1 Samuel Kamau Wanjiru KEN 2:06:32 (OR)
2 Jaouad Gharib MAR 2:07:16 .
3 Tsegay Kebede ETH 2:10:00 .
4 Deriba Merga ETH 2:10:21 .
5 Martin Lel KEN 2:10:24 .
6 Viktor Röthlin SUI 2:10:35 .
7 Gashaw Asfaw ETH 2:10:52 .
8 Yared Asmerom ERI 2:11:11 .
9 Dathan Ritzenhein USA 2:11:59 .
10 Ryan Hall USA 2:12:33 .
60 Lee Troop AUS 2:27:17.
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