Haile Still Seeking Records

Haile's 26:52 in Hengelo two weeks ago has proven to him that he still got it- speed, that is. Although he finished fifth in that the race, the sub 27 minute clocking is still very impressive. So, Haile is seeking to convert this speed in to some kind of record. And he is looking where aging track runners look on their way out- rarely contested distances or events.

Haile has announced that he will be attempting to set a world record for the farthest distance run in one hour. The current record is 16 years old and was set by the Mexican Arturo Barrios, who covered 21.101km in one hour.

Does that distance look familiar? It should because it is almost exactly half of a marathon (21.097km). And we all know that Haile set a half-marathon world record of 58:55 in Jan 2006 so the one hour record should be a walk in the park for him. But not so fast, Haile.

I think I see through Haile's thinking on this one. He is trying to get two records for the price of one. The one hour record is as sure as a guarantee based on Haile's 10K time two weeks ago. But I think Haile is also hoping that during his one hour run, he will pass through the half-marathon mark quicker than Sammy Wanjiru's 58:35 and get that record back through the back door. That is two for the price of one. After all, Haile had commented that he would like to get the half-marathon record back soon. Best wishes!