Cruising alone for the final seven miles on Berlin streets lined with damp, golden leaves Sunday morning, Haile Gebrselassie shattered the world record in the marathon by 29 seconds, securing a mark he has coveted since he was a teenager in Ethiopia.
The rain and wind had stopped by 9 a.m. after a soggy three days, and, along with a flat course and five pacesetters flanking him, the conditions were ideal for Gebrselassie's record run of 2 hours 4 minutes 26 seconds for the 26.2 miles.
Paul Tergat of Kenya had set the previous world record, on this same course, in 2003. To the 34-year-old Gebrselassie, this world record, his 23rd in distances ranging from two miles to the marathon, was the most satisfying.
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