Monday, November 07, 2005
I can't say that I have any particular interest in running the New York Marathon, but I sure would liked to have seen this finish:
"After running 26 miles without deciding yesterday's New York City Marathon, Paul Tergat of Kenya and Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa began a grimly beautiful sprint to the finish.
"With grand desperation, the two men ran shoulder to shoulder for the final 385 yards in Central Park. Tergat, the elegant world-record holder, clenched his teeth in frantic determination, while Ramaala, the awkward defending champion, opened his mouth wide as if to shout or to gulp for oxygen to fuel his tired legs.
"Tergat drew ahead, then Ramaala, two exhausted men running at top speed, or whatever speed they could summon after more than two hours in the heat and humidity on a course made rugged by hills and bridges. Even with 25 yards left, there was no clear winner, only a great struggle between two men who would deliver the closest race in this marathon's 36-year history.
"It's not nice," Ramaala, 33, said later of the pained stretch run. "You don't enjoy it."
"On and on they ran, one man unable to separate himself from the other. In the final yards, Ramaala gave a hopeful lunge, leaning for the tape more like a sprinter than a marathoner, but he had begun to stagger, and in that last moment, after all those miles, Tergat crossed the line first in 2 hours 9 minutes 30 seconds. A stride behind, Ramaala reached the finish officially one second later and collapsed to the pavement in heartbreakingly narrow defeat."
"After running 26 miles without deciding yesterday's New York City Marathon, Paul Tergat of Kenya and Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa began a grimly beautiful sprint to the finish.
"With grand desperation, the two men ran shoulder to shoulder for the final 385 yards in Central Park. Tergat, the elegant world-record holder, clenched his teeth in frantic determination, while Ramaala, the awkward defending champion, opened his mouth wide as if to shout or to gulp for oxygen to fuel his tired legs.
"Tergat drew ahead, then Ramaala, two exhausted men running at top speed, or whatever speed they could summon after more than two hours in the heat and humidity on a course made rugged by hills and bridges. Even with 25 yards left, there was no clear winner, only a great struggle between two men who would deliver the closest race in this marathon's 36-year history.
"It's not nice," Ramaala, 33, said later of the pained stretch run. "You don't enjoy it."
"On and on they ran, one man unable to separate himself from the other. In the final yards, Ramaala gave a hopeful lunge, leaning for the tape more like a sprinter than a marathoner, but he had begun to stagger, and in that last moment, after all those miles, Tergat crossed the line first in 2 hours 9 minutes 30 seconds. A stride behind, Ramaala reached the finish officially one second later and collapsed to the pavement in heartbreakingly narrow defeat."
