22.08.2009

Berlin Day 8 - Men's marathon - LIVE

Martin Dent, Andrew Letherby, Mark Tucker and Scott Westcott take to the start line at the historic Brandenberg Gate for the men's marathon this morning, 11.50am Berlin time.

The 42.195km race will also include the World Marathon Cup, a teams race where the top three finishers per nation will count towards the teams title.

Australia has a great tradition in the gruelling event at the world championships. Rob de Castella created history in 1983 when he won the inaugural world title in Helsinki.

The lead group at 15km included, not unexpectedly, several Kenyans and Ethiopians going through in 44.57.

At 20km Kenya was leading the team Cup with their best two Emmanuel Kipchirchir and Abel Kirui in the lead pack going through in 59.42.

The time for the best of the Australians, Dent is 1.03.29. The three other Australians Tucker, Letherby and Westcott are not far behind in 53rd, 59th and 61st.

The great Victorian, Steve Moneghetti, has finished in the top 10 three times, with his best placing a fabulous bronze medal at Seville in 1997.

Letherby, Tucker and Dent have all recorded personal bests in the half marathon in 2009 so enter the race in good shape. Westcott placed fourth at Beppu-Oita in (JPN) 2.12.56 this year, which is one minute 20 seconds outside his personal best set on the same course in 2009.

At 30km the Australians have moved up through the field still being lead by Abel Kirui, Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Deriba Merga and Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai.

Martin Dent is the first of the Australians at 1:35:43 in 39th position, six minutes behind the leaders. The other Aussies are at 43rd Andrew Letherby - 1:35:57, 56th Mark Tucker - 1:37:02 and in 61st Scott Westcott - 1:38:59.

The hot conditions are taking their toll as there are several withdrawals already. Only five men have won medals more than once at the world championships to highlight the gruelling nature of the event.

The championship record, which is in danger today, is held by Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) at 2.08.31 when winning in Paris in 2003. The temperature that day was 18 degrees, a little milder than today's 21, although down here at the Brandenberg Gate it feels much hotter.

Letherby, who resides in Boulder, Colorado, and Westcott have each made a prior appearance at the worlds in 2002 and 2005 respectively.

At 35km Dent, still the best of the Aussies, is moving though the field into 25th place, 1.51.54 just under seven minutes behind the leader.

2.00.10 is the split for race leader, Kirui at 40km. The championship record is definitely in danger.

With 2km to go Australia is currently in 10th place in the teams race. Australia's highest placing is 7th in 1997 and 2003.

It's a new championship record for Kirui, shattering the previous best by one minute and 36 seconds, in the first major title race he has contested.

Teammate Mutai, who owns a personal best of 2.06.15, is across in second place. Tsegay Kebede from Ethiopia grabs the bronze medal.

The Canberran, Dent is the first Australian across the line in 21st in 2.16.05, 9:11 behind the winner. Only de Castella, Moneghetti and Lee Troop have finished in a better position. It's also the fifth fastest time by an Australian in world championships history.

Letherby is 30th in 2.17.30, Tucker is 47th in 2.21.57 and the fourth of the Australians is Westcott, 2.26.02 in 58th.

Kenya wins the teams title, surprisingly for the first time, with Ethiopia second followed by Japan, who fail to win for the first time since 2003. Australia's eighth place is just one short of our best ever.

Martin Dent was pleased with his performance, especially given the heat.

"It was damn tough out there. I felt alright through halfway. Just really tried to push it after 12km and I made up a few places," he said.

"The course was great and there were plenty of Aussies out there shouting. Running with the Germans gave us a lot of crowd support and I tried to funnel that into supporting me."

Looking forward to next year and beyond, Dent confirms the marathon is his focus.

"I'll stick with the marathon, especially with the positive experience out of this one.

"I'll look towards the Commonwealth Games and try to get a medal at that level."

Letherby's goal was a top 20 finish.

“(To) be a bit conservative and work through the field (was the aim). Marty did that, I just didn’t have the legs to go with him. He (Dent) made a bit of a move and I tried to go with him and I just couldn’t. If we’d had three of us around Marty it would have been really good for the team but we were a bit off that,” he said.

“The crowd’s amazing. I was running with a couple of the Germans and you couldn’t ask for a better atmosphere. To run four laps through this crowd was amazing. They’re one of the best crowds going around."

Mark Tucker, like the other Australians, found the heat a real battle

“With the cobblestones they started really feeling like mountains at the end. With the heat as well, I really like a marathon to be about 10 degrees Celsius, so in that heat it’s tough.”

Scott Westcott on a tough struggle: “It was the hardest marathon ever. I thought I was ready to go. I tacked myself on the back of that main group and got in the main group for the ride hoping I could get to 20 or 30km and I’d have a group to work with but it didn’t really go my way,” he said.

"I was off the back, I struggled whenever the group accelerated or decelerated, I lost my rhythm."

To watch Martin Dent's post-race interview click here

To watch Andrew Letherby's post-race interview click here

To watch Mark Tucker's post-race interview click here

To watch Scott Westcott's post-race interview click here