It's been reported that Haile Gebrselassie ran a very fast half marathon by starting at the halfway point of the Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon, and running to the finish.

Food for thought:

The USATF course certification map for the marathon (AZ03016GAN) may be found at:

http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=AZ03016GAN

The 20 km point can be located from this map.

The half marathon is located 1.1 km south of this point.

Fiddling with online maps produced:

Half Marathon elevation = 1198 feet
Finish elevation = 1150 feet
Drop = 48 feet = 14.6 meters = 0.7 meters per kilometer of course length.

Map scaling reveals a separation of 8.3 km or 39 percent of course length.

Drop is OK by US, IAAF and ARRS standards. It’s less than 1 m/km
Separation meets IAAF standard (50 percent or less)
Separation does not meet US or ARRS standard (30 percent or less)

The half marathon was certified as AZ04001GAN. A search for this map was unsuccessful, as it has been replaced by AZ05017GAN, and the map is not yet on file. It is listed, however as having a drop of -0.67 m/km (slightly uphill) and separation of 70.4 percent.

The timing and the conduct of the race has yet to be determined. Did Gebrselassie run in a bona fide race or a staged time trial?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pete Riegel,

Pete & all,

This was a race within a race. They were measured again and issued new cert numbers on Jan 14,2006(AZ06006GAN-20k; AZ06007GAN-half). Both were pre-validated and I believe approved by Neville Wood. The drop were .65 m/km(20km) and .62 m/km(half), while the separation were 41.2%(20km) and 39.1%(half). Both races had a common start about the midpoint of the marathon and different finish lines.

Gene