by Larry Eder
This is RunBlogRun’s feature on the exciting Men’s marathon in Munich, Germany!
2022 Munich Diary, Men’s Marathon all happened in the last 100 meters! Richard Ringer won the marathon with a last hundred-meter sprint!
Over forty years ago, the late writer and Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore ran a marathon in the then Soviet Union. He wrote about how close the finish was at the Spartakiad marathon, where it all came down to a final sprint.
Over the years, we have seen some incredible finishes. Remember Rod Dixon overcoming Geoff Smith at the 1983 NYC Marathon, where 1972 Olympic bronze medalist (at 1,500m) Rod Dixon caught Geoff Smith, who had led for 26 miles of the race of Five boroughs.
Well, you have not seen anything until you watch the EA Marathon Champs on August 15, 2022.
The streets were lined with fans who adored the marathoners, but especially the German ones. The Germans were desiring to win the team title for both marathons ( I think that they won the women’s second in the men’s).
Now, let me introduce the main protagonist, Richard Ringer. I have observed afore mentioned German, who took bronze at 5,000 meters in European Champs in 2016 and bronze in Belgrade at European Indoors in 2017. In 2018, I believe Richard ran 30k of the Frankfurt Marathon.
The first marathon of note was the Tokyo Marathon, where he placed 26h in the Olympic race in 2:16.08.
To say Richard Ringer believes in himself is hyperbole. I believe my German friends have been saying, for at least half a decade, that Ringer was the real marathon thing.
Isreals’ Maru Teferi looked to be the winner of the EA Marathon, as announcers Steve Cram and Paula Radcliffe, both covering the event for BBC, noted.
Richard Ringer had come up from way back, hitting the half in 1:05:18 and running his second half in 1:05.03.
It was not until 39k that Ringer took the lead for a bit, but Tefari, who had just finished 11th at the World Champs marathon in Eugene, Oregon last month, still was focused on taking gold for Isreal.
In the last hundred meters, Richard Ringer mounted a charge to overcome Tefari, and he did just that, winning in 2:10.19 to 2:10.23. Behind Tefari, Geshau Ayale, also of Isreal, took bronze in 2:10.29!
The German crowd went bonkers with the win by Richard Ringer, and no German LOC could have planned a better way to capture all of the headlines in German media the very next day!
So, how did Richard Ringer, who improved almost six minutes on his old marathon PB, speak to the media:
“Although this is an individual event, the great motivation was the team because we were going for a team medal, and the chances were good to get one. I would have never thought that this team spirit could be so strong and help so much, like at the 35K or 37K, with all the pain you feel. Every marathon is a surprise, and now I am the champion of Europe. I started as a 5K runner; this is why I finished strong. The heat was not a problem for me today. Before I used to train in St. Moritz, but you do not get used to the heat there. So I started to train in a training group in the US with the 28 degrees. So when I came here, I ran with the long trousers. I guess this was the decisive move. The people around me, my friends, they gave me wings today. When I ran, I remembered all the nice guys in my life. And the spectators here were like the third leg to me. They helped a lot with their cheering.”
