By Peter Hanlon
THE morning after Britain's golden night before was ominously dark, and soon very, very wet. But no amount of rain could dampen the local mood; so inspired is the host nation, it would not have surprised if a rambler from Scunthorpe caught an early train to London for the women's marathon, slipped on her Dunlop Volleys, and streeted every fleet-footed African, Japanese and European in the field.
As it happened the Olympic title went to 24-year-old Ethiopian Tiki Gelana, who powered on through driving rain, over cobblestones and around hairpin bends on a course that looked great for sightseeing but not so good for marathon running. Gelana and the breakaway bunch she eventually left behind debunked that notion, too; her time of two hours, 23 minutes, seven seconds broke the Olympic record.
The fortunes of Australia's three representatives covered the spectrum: Lisa Weightman became the third woman after Kerryn McCann and Lisa Ondieki to record a top-20 Olympic finish, coming in 17th in a personal best time; Jess Trengove learned plenty and finished 39th in only her second crack at the distance; Benita Willis hurt like hell, as she knew she would, and was fighting back tears at the end.
An Australian making 100 in London has generally been cause for celebration, but it was not where Willis had envisaged finishing when she steeled herself for these Games after a lengthy post-Beijing sabbatical. A hip tendon tear five weeks ago had destroyed her preparation; she awoke on Sunday morning feeling nervous, knowing it was going to be painful, both of body and outcome.
Marathon effort ... a top-20 finish for Lisa Weightman.Credit: Iain McGregor
"It was a really stressful time," Willis said of a lead-up in which she was able to run only four or five times, and not on solid ground until the day before flying from Colorado to London. "It's tough when you see that sort of time on the board, not to get really upset and emotional."
Her 2:49.18 was more than 26 minutes outside her best, but every agonising step built a resolve to finish. "I knew I wasn't going to be at the front with the leading girls and I knew I was going to be in a lot of pain. (But) it would probably take a broken leg to cause me to DNF."
Weightman had targeted a top-20 finish, and was chuffed to meet her goal — especially after a stint of warm-weather training in Queensland geared around the notion that summer might drop by during the Games. In Beijing she had been off the pace early and feeling lonely; on Sunday's course of one small and three large laps of a veritable Monopoly board, a drinks station attendant told her she was well placed, and it powered her to a strong finish.
"My dad always tells me to just focus on gobbling up the next person, don't worry about who's behind you," Weightman said. "That was all that I had in my head. It was nice to get each one, and sometimes a couple at a time. I'm just over the moon with the performance."
Australia's Jessica Trengove after the women's marathon.Credit: Getty Images
The crowd — close, loud and plentiful — blew her away. Trengove likewise; she called the race "one of the best things I have ever done in my life".
While her brother Jack was recovering from Melbourne's win over Gold Coast on the other side of the world, the 24-year-old was running along the Thames, past Nelson's Column, St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London, and along a cobblestoned road through a 14th century market. She thought she'd passed eight runners on the run home, and even fitted in some sightseeing.
"I did notice Big Ben and had a bit of a smile when I saw it," said Trengove, adding that it doubled as a means of checking her time.
When three Kenyans and three Ethiopians made the decisive breakaway after 24km, the race seemed Mary Keitany's for the taking. No Kenyan has won the women's marathon, a glaring hole in the CV of this supreme running nation. But favourites don't find winning marathons easy either, as the likes of Paul Radcliffe in Athens, Steve Moneghetti in Barcelona, and Robert de Castella in Los Angeles have discovered.
Russia's Tatyana Petrova somehow surged back up to the leaders, who dropped away one by one, with Keitany the last casualty within two kilometres of the finish. Approaching Buckingham Palace for the fourth time, Gelana took off and brought home Ethiopia's first female marathon gold since Fatuma Roba in Atlanta 16 years ago.
"As soon as the rain started I said to myself, 'Thank God'," Gelana said. "I love running in the rain, I have been doing that since I was a small child."
As she knelt and kissed the road, many landmarks and kilometres behind her Willis was in a world of pain. She lived in London for 10 years; this felt almost like a home Olympics, and she wasn't about to stop. "It was tough, but I'm going to look back on this in 20 or 30 years and just be happy I competed here."