by Larry Eder
Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworer wins IAAF Half Marathon, March 2014,
photo by PhotoRun.net
Justin Lagat has started a new series for RunBlogRun on the the athletes racing the Fall World Marathon Major events. Here is his first piece on Geoffrey Kamworer, who will be racing the BMW Berlin Marathon.
One mission for Geoffrey Kamworor at the Berlin Marathon, by Justin Lagat
The reigning world half marathon champion, Geoffrey Kamworor, is focusing on one goal ahead of this year’s Berlin Marathon. He won’t be going for a PB time, a WR, a podium finish, or any other record.
“My aim will be simply to win the Berlin marathon; the rest will follow,” said Kamworor after RunBlogRun caught up with him at his training camp in Kaptagat, Kenya. “If I win, perhaps the time may then likely end up becoming my personal best time, or even a world record, but that is not in my mind now.”
His training, so far, has been going on very well and he hasn’t experienced any setbacks since he started his preparations. He also feels that his body is in good shape.
“I have run the Berlin course 3 times, have mastered the course well and have finished in third place two times. Now that I know the course very well and have learned more tactics on how to run the marathon, I believe that my performance and position this year will be better,” he said.
After winning the world half marathon championship title in March, he had gone ahead to win a number of other great races that included the TSC Bangalore 10km race, followed by a half marathon in Czech Republic and another half marathon in Colombia. All these have helped boost his morale and confirm to him that he is definitely at a different level of running this year and hence raise his confidence to tackle the rest of the elite field at the Berlin Marathon.
Unlike other runners who spent some years on track before moving up to the marathon distance, Kamworor ran track only between 2010 and 2011 where he set his PB times of 27.06 in the 10, 000m and 13:12 in the 5000m.
But it was not for long before he moved up to road running. “I still continue to represent the Kenya police in the 10,000m during the national championships here in Kenya, but I do not do track running anymore out of the country,” he said.
His training is tailored for the marathon and half marathon distances. On a typical day of training, he covers between 30km to 43km depending on the program of the day.
“For example, on Monday I could do around 18km in the morning and another 12km in the evening. The following day could be a day for intervals and I could go for an easy 7km run in the morning, do another 3km mid-morning as a warm up before the intervals that average 15km, then another 3km to cool down and another 10km easy run later on in the evening. Long run days, I could do a distance of 38km to 45km in the morning,” he said.
Although he is now focusing on an upcoming marathon event, he still has plans for the half marathon distance. He still wants to still lower his PB of 58:54 to something closer to the world record or even break the record itself. He also plans on defending his world half marathon championship title in 2016.
“The half marathon distance is actually where I am comfortable running,” he said.
What motivates him to wake up each day to train is his passion for the sport.
“Running is part of my life, just like farming is to a farmer or as any other profession is to someone else,” he said. “I enjoy the competition and I always train and aim to do better the next time. Waking up every morning to train may sound like some kind of a punishment to others, but to me, it is something that I enjoy and always feel happy doing,” he added.
Kamworor will be running against a strong field that will include Dennis Kimetto, Tsegaye Kebede and Emmanuel Mutai among others on the 28th of this month on the streets of Berlin city and it will be very interesting to watch how the event will unfold.
