Pune: Herself an accomplished marathon runner, US Olympian Janet Cherobon Bowcom is in awe of distance runners who break barriers.
In her definition of God, reigning Olympic champion and World Record holder, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, perfectly fits the bill.
“When we started running in Kenya—Janet was born there before moving to the United States for better career prospects—we used to think people who run marathon distance in 2:10 (2 hours and 10 minutes)…they are God,” exclaimed Janet when asked to reflect on Kipchoge’s achievement.
Just over two months ago Kipchoge ran the marathon distance at a special event in Vienna achieving a time of 1:59:40.
The run did not count as a new marathon record, as standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed and it was not an open event.
“I am definitely in awe that somebody could run under two hours. We were astounded by those who ran 2:10, but now people are running 10 minutes faster.. even though the conditions were controlled, he still did it.
It also depends on where you come from. I will say it is very impressive,” said Janet, who was part of the US Olympic team at the 2012 London Olympics where she ran 10000m on track.
Janet at Olympics
Having earned the tag of being three-time US road running champion in 2011, Janet was quite lucky to get through to Olympics where she was placed 12th in the 10,000 meter event. Her time of 31:12.68 improved her personal best by more than 20 seconds.
“It was fantastic,” she remarked of the experience. “I couldn’t be any [more] proud to represent such a country with so much support. It’s a great opportunity for me to wear the uniform and do the best I can,” is how she had reflected on her London achievement.
Breaking barriers
Asked if women were to be part of the kind of experiment that Kipchoge was part of and actually broke the 2-hour barrier in Vienna on October 12, what would she put the “breaking time for women”, Janet said she would leave it to the scientists to decide.
“I am 42 now, but yes such kind of experiments where you have controlled environment are nice to check human limits.”
“Scientists are better equipped to decide what is good for women. If for men it was 2-hour, but I would say 2:10 is a good mark to aim at,” said Janet.
“Science behind running needs a lot of research and it is completely a team effort, but whether to go below 2:10 is something very much a dream, but yes science can do a lot of things,”
“I am not saying if men are running 2:00 is equal to women running 2:10.”
Tokyo calling
Whether she would make it to next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo is something that Janet has left it to her preparations.
She is here in India on a break as such, she said.
“I am taking this trip to India as a vacation to get away from work and try and get as fit as I can. I just want to try and have fun at the trials. This is going to be my third one and I am excited about it,” she expressed.
Janet will fly out to Kenya from here as she has planned to spend next two months in her country of birth.
“It is warmer there and Kenya is in high altitude so that helps in getting distance runners to prepare,” explained Janet.
Before coming her she had been doing only base runs while attending to her job as nurse in Grand Canyon. But these month being very cold in the US, the visit to Pune came as an apt break to take from work.
“I am using this as an escape from snow and cold,” said Janet, who then intends to give full focus on her preparations for the next two months before the US Olympic trials.
“Though chances are very minimal for sure since US distance running is very strong, but I will run my heart out and do the best I can because you can’t say you are out of contention until that very day even though I know US is going to send very strong team to Tokyo,” she said.
