Alright, so you know that the World Championships are going on right now in Berlin right? Well you should. As someone who loves individual sports, I love seeing the specialists come out and do their thang. My mouth dropped open in awe at the power and the grace, yes grace, of the men in the hammer throw competition. The combination of speed, power, and footwork were amazing to watch. I'd love to give it a go.
The event of the night was the men's 10K where Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele was going for his 4th consecutive gold medal in the World Championships. If you didn't watch the race, Bekele made it look easy. He stayed on the pace setter's heel the entire race matching his stride and answering every surge made. With one lap to go Bekele turned on the gas and walked away from the rest of the field. With 100 yards to go he had a big enough lead to start pumping his fist and enjoy the moment. His time was a smoking 26:46 just 15 seconds or so off the world record. Not a bad run.
Now, rewind to Sunday's ITU race in Great Britain. The winner of the race and currently undefeated champion for 4 straight ITU races was Alistair Brownlee. Brownlee, a triathlete, finished the race with a strong, strong 28:43 10K run. Just 2 minutes behind 4 time world champion Bekele's 26:46 time. Not too bad for a non-specialists. Oh, and did I mention that prior to running the 28:43 10K that Brownlee had swam 1500 meters and biked 40K? I'd like to see what Bekele could do after doing all of that. There'd be no comparison. Triathletes are amazing. Be proud of what you do. What a great sport.
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