BELFAST CITY MARATHON: Defeat never rests easy with Sonia O'Sullivan and there were no smiles after yesterday's World Half Marathon. Clearly the 14th place finish failed all expectations, though it was a courageous effort that simply fell short on the day.
There was always the risk, too, that the 13-mile distance would be an excessive journey, especially with her limited preparations this year.
O'Sullivan's thoughts of victory then were ended about three miles short of the finish, the result of a surge in pace from the African runners.
While Berhane Adere of Ethiopia was celebrating the victory and her first world title, O'Sullivan, a minute behind the winner, was wondering what went wrong. Dropped from the leaders so far from the finish proved fatal, and left her frustrated as much as disheartened.
"I'm disappointed I didn't run better, and I expected to run much better," she said. "But it just wasn't there today. I don't know where the gap happened, or how it happened. And I was frustrated then because I couldn't figure out how it happened so quickly."
The pace in the early stages hadn't been burning, but the rain and narrow, slippery course didn't help. O'Sullivan sat in front for the opening miles, then went to the back of the leading group as they headed out on the second of the two circuits around central Brussels.
Beyond halfway though she appeared to be hanging on, and she was passing the 16 kilometre marker the gap first opened. While a dozen runners pressed ahead she dropped around 25 metres behind. But even though her chance of actual victory had gone she still ran on hard, rewarded, too, by improving her personal best by a single second, clocking 70 minutes, four seconds.
"If I wasn't going to win I was still going to run as hard as I could. That was actually a point where I started to run really well again, and that was frustrating too, being on my own and seeing everyone ahead. You're wondering why you aren't up there.
"Earlier I felt really good as well around 10 to 15km. Just after the hill the second time something happened that I just wasn't ready for. But I knew all along that if I was going to be ready for every move, then I would have been on the shoulder the whole time."
Ahead of O'Sullivan a dramatic race for the title developed. Adere broke away from Kenya's Susan Chepkemei inside the final mile, but a foolish intruder almost knocked them both over when deciding to join the race for a while. Adere's time was 69:06, with Chepkemei clocking 69:13 for her third successive silver medal.
Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia held on for a surprising bronze, while Belgium's great hope Marleen Renders finished eighth. That was despite hitting her head off a lamp-post in the second mile while trying to avoid a crashing motorcycle carrying TV cameras.
O'Sullivan has beaten many of those runners in front of her on the track and in cross-country, but it's worth remembering also that no athlete in history has ever won world titles on the road, track and in cross-country. Her coach Alan Storey reckoned the demanding course was more suited to the marathon specialists, and O'Sullivan confessed her uncertainties about the distance.
"Most of those ahead of me have run a few serious marathons. I still don't know a lot about running long distances like that. And I think I could have had a couple more races before this, because I'm not really tuned into this level yet. And you do forget how to race when you're away for a long time.
"It was a good hard run but at times it felt harder than it should. And I didn't have that much training leading into it. I just wish I could have been up in the middle of everything, but it was something that got away from me."
There was no Irish interest in the race for the men's title, which, not surprisingly, turned out to be dominated by African athletes. Kenya's Paul Kosgei, the former steeplechaser, also took his first world title in 60:39, just out-sprinting Morocco's Jaouad Gharib. Africans filled eight of the top 10 places, with Belgium favourite Mohammed Mourit a long way back in 23rd (63:08).
DETAILS
WORLD HALF MARATHON: Women - 1 B Adere (Eth) 1:09.06, 2 S Chepkemei (Ken) 1:09.13, 3 J Prokopcuka (Lat) 1:09.15, 4 M Botezan (Rom) 1:09.24, 5 P Chepchumba (Ken) 1:09.30, 6 O Jevtic (Yug) 1:09.33, 7 L Cheruiyot (Ken) 1:09.39, 8 M Renders (Bel) 1:09.40; 14 S O'Sullivan (Irl) 1:10.04.
Men - 1 P Kosgei (Ken) 1:00.39, 2 J Gharib (Mar) 1:00.42, 3 J Yuda (Tan) 1:00.57, 4 Y Kifle (Eri) 1:01.05, 5 T Jifar (Eth) 1:01.11.
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