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IAAF.org: Gebrselassie breaks 25km World record
2006-03-13
Haile Gebrselassie clocked 1:11:37 for 25 kilometres today. The Ethiopian wonder man in the process bettered the World record* of Kenyan Paul Kosgei who ran 1:12:45 on 9 May 2004 in Berlin, Germany, by 1:08 minutes.
On a clear sunny day in wintery temperatures which varied from minus one Celsius to plus two, the African was far too strong for his opponents.
The 25 kilometres was incorporated in the normal 20 kilometres of Alphen, one of the most famous road races in The Netherlands. Gebrselassie and six others ran the first five kilometres on an extra loop before passing the start line of the 20 kilometres race. In the first kilometres of the 20km some runners like Dutchman Kamiel Maase and Kenyan Salim Kipsang were able to follow Gebrselassie but soon the Ethiopian was on his own. With his fine stride he seemed to fly on the flat roads in the sunny polders around Alphen aan den Rijn in central Holland.
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