Haile unlikely

Unreasonably sad today after reading that uber-runner Haile Gebreselassie has chucked it after having to pull out of the NY marathon at mile 16 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/9165068.stm). He's one of the few runners that lots of non-runners would recognise, if only by name, and he's about the only distance runner on the planet who starts and finishes every race with a smile. He just seems like such a lovely little dude and he's clearly one of the best runners that has ever lived - and that is not hyperbole. He has 27 world records and countless winners medals to his name over distances from 1,500 metres to the marathon. Freakish. Nobody else would even contemplate trying to be competitive over both the 1,500 and the marathon. And he's been on top of the world since 1992 when he won the 5k and 10k golds at the Junior World Championships in Seoul. That's almost 20 years at the top!
In both 2002 and 2005 he went through the entire year without losing. Not even once. And this isn't a Joe Calzaghe-style undefeated claim - he wasn't up against yesterday's men and second raters - he was up against world record holders like the legendary Paul Tergat and other awesome athletes in their own right.
His marathon record of 2hrs 3mins and 59secs remains unbeaten and he added the Great Northern Run half marathon title to his list of victories at the first attempt this year in under an hour. That's a few months after winning the Great Manchester 10K in well under half an hour. Unless you run a bit, it's hard to appreciate just how fast these records are - but his marathon record breaks down to about 4.7 minutes per mile. Non stop. For more than 26 miles. That's a full-on sprint for me and you. In fact, go and try to run one mile in 4.7 mins one Saturday morning, next time you're feeling a bit fresh. And even if you do manage to complete a mile in under 5 minutes, imagine what that pace would be like if you had to do it 25 more times. Christ, it wasn't that long ago that Roger Bannister managed to break the 4 minute mile and he was breathing through his arse by the time he finished. That was over a single mile. Wee Haile managed to keep up a pace not that far behind for over 2 hours. Just plain awesome.
Gebreselassie is a loveable wee smiley, once-in-a-generation freak and I hope he changes his mind because everything about him is inspirational for a pavement plodder like me. His running style is awful (he breaks all the rules set down for 'the perfect form'), he has asthma (unbelievable, but true), he is really quite short for a runner, he is humble and he is happy. What's not to like?