Martin Fagan Qualifies for Olympic Marathon in Dubai

Rineanna

Fantastic news from Dubai that Fagan ran 2:14.06 to finish 13th, and, in doing so, smashed the 2:15 A standard.

Gebrselassie won, but outside the World record due to an ultra-fast first half.

http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=2/newsid=42929.html#second+fastest+time+gebre+dubai+marathon

glennhysen

Great news about Martin. Heard him on Off the Ball last week and read an interview with him in the Tribune. Sounded like he was very unlucky to be not let back in to the U.S.

Hopefully he will get back in soon and focus on his training for the Olympics.

aburke

It might be my imagination,
but I seem to remember something about the Irish Olympic council rasing the bar for marathoners, and seeting their 'standard' to 2:12.

Can't find anthing about it now, and this document
http://www.olympicsport.ie/pdfs/Athletics%20Qualifying%20Agreement.pdf
doesn't seem to mention it.

Was I dreaming?

Rineanna

Don't say things like that!:D

Well, the report on the AAI website says he got the A standard, he says himself in the interview that "it was a huge relief to finish inside the Olympic Qualifying standard", and the official standards on the AAI website say it's 2:15:

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/Olympic%20Standards.pdf



Edit: If you go to the last page of that document that you posted a link to, the marathon A standard is set at 2:15 too.

Stupid_Private

aburke wrote: »

It might be my imagination,
but I seem to remember something about the Irish Olympic council rasing the bar for marathoners, and seeting their 'standard' to 2:12.

Can't find anthing about it now, and this document
http://www.olympicsport.ie/pdfs/Athletics%20Qualifying%20Agreement.pdf
doesn't seem to mention it.

Was I dreaming?

They did do that initally but in the end changed it back. They kept the bar raised for qualifying for the worlds and european championships at 2:11. Seems ridiculous to me - you get an athlete that can qualify for the Olympics but can't compete in major competitions to get experience.

Clum

That is super running. Knowing your own pace over 5K or 10K is one thing, but due to the lack of clocks on the course and not wearing a watch he'd have to guestimate his pace over 26 miles...including stopping to stretch a sore hip!!

Very impressed. I hope that hip injury isn't too bad.

hunnymonster

Congrats to Martin. Superb achievement.

deadlybuzz

Yeah, great achievement, considering how his altitude training plans, etc.. got messed up due to the visa issue. Good to see that Ireland will have an entrant in the Olympic marathon again. He's quite young for the event as well, so plenty time to develop at the event for future championships.

thirtyfoot

Legend, fair play to him. He is now the 13th to qualify for Beijing. He seemed to be flying at halfway but the injury hampered him, could be more to come.

yabadabado

an excellent performance and that was his 1st marathon .was told he shud be back in america in the next few weeks its being sorted out at the moment

TheRoadRunner

yeah great running indeed. Great time for a first timer and he definitely has youth on his side.

I just hope that hip injury gets sorted. If it is a stress fracture then there is big trouble ahead

run_Forrest_run

great news for the lad. Gebrselassie set a blistering pace...these guys never fail to amaze me.

myflipflops

Absolutely superb. good running martin.

martybike

aburke wrote: »

It might be my imagination,
but I seem to remember something about the Irish Olympic council rasing the bar for marathoners, and seeting their 'standard' to 2:12.

Can't find anthing about it now, and this document
http://www.olympicsport.ie/pdfs/Athletics%20Qualifying%20Agreement.pdf
doesn't seem to mention it.

Was I dreaming?

Great run by Martin. It's terrific to have a marathon runner make the qualification standard for the Games for the the first time in ages. By the way, it was Athletics Ireland that wanted to raise the bar above the A standard. I think the OCI were happy enough with the original 2:15:00

Clum

It's Martin's turn to post in the latest mcmillan elite training blog. You can read his own version of the experience here.

thirtyfoot

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=sport-qqqm=sport-qqqa=sport-qqqid=53207-qqqx=1.asp

Good news for Martin!

Its Olympic year alright, the dinosaurs in the green blazers are waking up and getting in on the action, hopefully they won't be choking on their G&T's if Martin runs a little below par in Beijing or doesn't medal despite getting an Irish record and be looking for their money back. All good for the athletes though at the moment if the old farts want to shower them with gifts.

Abhainn

Fair play to Martin, he completed the task in hand coming after difficult times in been deported from the US.
I believe he also had to stop on 3 occasions after 25km to stretch his legs and hip! He is only 24 so future is bright

However for the life of me I can't understand why he didn't wear a watch in the event.
As so much rested on this performance, I would have believed he may even have worn two in case one died during the race (which would have been unlucky).
Wonders never cease...

Stupid_Private

Abhainn wrote: »

However for the life of me I can't understand why he didn't wear a watch in the event.
As so much rested on this performance, I would have believed he may even have worn two in case one died during the race (which would have been unlucky).
Wonders never cease...

Granted I have no aims besides do the next marathon faster than the last but my coach told me to leave the watch at home before my last marathon. There's nothing a watch can do in the event but distract you - you'll find yourself looking at it every now and again, worrying that you're not doing the right pace. He'd have trained to do the race at a pace that he was able to maintain for 26 miles. Also he's probably used to racing as his body feels rather than being dictated to run a certain time.

Each to there own though, but I'm guessing he might start wearing a watch after there were no clocks on the course. You'd at least expect one at half way