Sunday, October 10

Khalid Khannouchi: Chicago Marathon, Ryan Hall and a new world record

Khalid Khannouchi and Ryan Hall,
Khalid Khannouchi knows a lot about the Chicago Marathon. He should. He's won the race four times, setting what was at one time a world-record on the course.

Khannouchi is also the current American record-holder in the marathon, a 2:05:38 set in U.K. London in 2002. He's struggled with injuries for the last several years, and hasn't run a marathon since the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2007, where he placed fourth.

After having foot surgery in 2009, the 38-year-old Khannouchi is ready for a comeback and possibly a spring marathon. Right now he's in Chicago to meet fans, sign autographs and do a test at the mobile Gatorade Performance Lab.
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I caught up with Khalid shortly after today's test, to discuss the Chicago Marathon, fellow American marathoner Ryan Hall and his surprising thoughts about the validity of the current world-record.

Marathon Examiner: First of all, how does it feel to be back in Chicago? This is a very special place for you.

Khalid Khannouchi: It’s very special. It’s great. I will always think about all the great memories here including world records, American records and all of that.

Marathon Examiner: You're in Chicago at the mobile Gatorade Performance Lab to have your body analyzed during a treadmill test. Did you learn anything during the test about the proper way to fuel both during and after training?

Khalid Khannouchi: Yes. I sat down with the person who did the test and actually I learned a lot from her. It’s very important to understand that fat and carbohydrate is the fuel of energy, and they explained to me the way my body was functioning during that five minutes of running.

The good thing about professional athletes, as they saw today, is that the more you train the more you teach your body to use the fat.

Marathon Examiner: Chicago is known for being a very flat and very fast course. Before he dropped out, Ryan Hall said that he was out to beat your American record at this event. How did you feel when you heard that?

Khalid Khannouchi: I’ve done it. I’ve broken out a world-record and an American record. I don’t have anything to lose. That’s nice for an American to think about breaking the American record. Records are made to be broken so I don’t have anything against that.

Sometimes you feel like, 'I wish I could race in the race that he wants to beat the record in.'

I think Ryan has a lot of potential. He’s definitely a great runner and I was surprised that he’s not running tomorrow because I thought he was going to be going for that. We’ll see. Maybe next year.

Marathon Examiner: It sounds like Ryan might have ended up dropping out because he was overtraining. Have you ever felt that way before?

Khalid Khannouchi: Not overtraining. I think that’s one of the things people admire me for is when I step up to the starting line I’m always ready. I think I have a great coach who never had to pull me out because I’m over-trained. But that’s something that can happen to anybody so I hope Ryan can get over it quickly and get rid of that feeling and be ready for next year.

Marathon Examiner: How do you feel about tomorrow's race? Do you think it's possible that one of the elite men could set the new world-record in Chicago?

Khalid Khannouchi: You know when you talk about the world-record here in Chicago, you know I broke the world record here, so it’s feasible. The quality of the people that they have here is good so you never know, but it’s going to be a little warm.

When you hear that the forecast is going to be warm that plays on your mind so I hope that they’ll be ready. If they’re going for the world-record I hope they can go in with that mentality and not be scared.

Marathon Examiner: You’ve held the world-record in the marathon. Haile Gebrselassie has the new one, a 2:03:59 set in Berlin. Some athletes have said it's possible to go below 2:02. What do you think?

Khalid Khannouchi: Right now I don’t think that’s possible, under 2:02. Maybe on a short course probably.

Marathon Examiner: You mean one that they don't measure properly?

Khalid Khannouchi: (He laughs) Well you have to keep in mind that the people who run it in Chicago or London and broke the world-record they have more credentials than the people who ran it in Berlin so I think that’s the key. There’s still a lot of questions about the Berlin course believe it or not. A lot of experts still doubt if that’s a real course or not.

But talking about under two hours and two minutes, that’s pretty fast right now. I don’t see anybody doing that right now. Maybe breaking Gebrselassie’s world-record, which still would be 2:03. It’s possible, but below that I don’t know.

Marathon Examiner: What have people said about the Berlin course?

Khalid Khannouchi: Just a lot of people think that’s a short course because you look at the people who run there and they never got close to their personal best so there's a lot of doubts about that course. I’m not sure about that. I’m not 100 percent, but there are a lot of doubts about the certainty of the course.

Marathon Examiner: Do you have your sights set on making the U.S. Olympic Team in the marathon in 2012?

Khalid Khannouchi: That’s what we’re working for. The Trials are going to be in 2012. I still have a lot of high hopes. Maybe I can first qualify for the Trials and then from there try to make the team. We’ll see.



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(source:examiner.com)
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