Chapter 351 Back for the Sophomore Year 5
"And why do you think that?"
"It's because he broke the current world record in Chicago last year, it's a path he knows well and has run twice and is much better for him, here in Berlin is the first time he's going to run this marathon and I think hard for him to try to break the world record."
While the commentators talked about him and this marathon, Jake was already running the first few kilometers, he found groups of athletes to run along and ran with them while the other athletes ran at the same pace as him.
Jake was already well known in the marathon world and everyone knew that his pace was very strong at the beginning of the race, so only amateur athletes and those who didn't think of winning ran with him in the beginning.
The other athletes who hoped to perform well watched Jake not to run faster than him in the first few km of the race, after all, if Jake who had a fast pace was behind them it was because these athletes were running far above the pace they intended.
Jake didn't care about that and already expects him to have to run alone in this marathon again, after all, he wasn't running in America and it was hard to find athletes who wanted to run at such a strong pace since the start of the race.
Most usually wanted to start slower and then increase their running pace over the last few km of the marathon, but for Jake who could run the entire marathon at a fast pace if he wanted to, he would rather take advantage of his opponents before finally controlling his final time would have in the marathon.
After 5 km of the marathon, there were still some people trying to run in the same group as Jake, but they were not elite athletes and these people might not even finish the marathon, but at least in the first 5 km, they were in the lead.
Beyond the first 10 km of the marathon, Jake could already feel that this marathon was actually easier to run at a faster pace, had not many turns and was flatter as well as the running track where he trained.
The weather on this day was also very good and Jake could feel that even running alone he was not as tired as in other marathons, of course, he had gained more statistic points since the last marathon, but Jake felt it was really the marathon that was better to run faster.
Seeing marathon conditions this year Jake felt that he could break his world record in this marathon and then if he wanted to break his own record again in the Chicago marathon where he intended to run several times over the next few years.
After running the 20km marathon Jake could feel that it really was better to race in Berlin and he could easily break his running record at a faster pace without getting too tired.
"We have reached almost half of this Berlin marathon and we see Jake again in the lead, this is the racing style he has been doing in various marathons and almost every time he runs at this pace with that advantage of the other runners he wins."
"True, this is the style of running he created as a great stamina athlete like this at the end of the marathon so he can control his energy expenditure by slowing down and winning comfortably."
"He ran that 20 km in less than an hour as he always does in other marathons, it's amazing how much he has control of the running pace, even stopping a few times to hydrate he still keeps up the pace, and as many have noticed Jake didn't even know wears a watch in the marathons he participates in."
"I don't know if he's being a basketball player who has a different training interferes with his running style, but if it's like other marathons Jake can win again today and be the first American athlete to win this Berlin marathon."
Jake went on like this at a strong pace and passed the 30km marathon without slowing down, just after passing the 35km Jake began to slow his running pace slowly, Jake already had a time of 1 hour 41 minutes 40 seconds If he continued at the pace he was running he could finish the race while training which was far below his world record.
Commentators were seeing how Jake came from a fast time, but as they tracked several marathons he ran they knew that at this point in a marathon he slowed his running pace and ended the marathon well below his world record.
"Up to 35km from this marathon Jake has kept up the great pace since he started this marathon, but now as well as in the other marathons he's slowing down and we'll see how soon he will finish this Berlin marathon."
"See how the runner-up Elijah Lagat and the other athletes are also running at a great pace and yet they are not even close to Jake and are over 1km behind him in this marathon."
"This is his racing style, I personally think that if he pushed harder he could finish a marathon at a time well below his world record, but he's the one who knows best the energy he has and how he gets tired in those marathons."
"I've heard some expert theories on athlete mentality that Jake can always slow his marathon pace even though he's doing well in the marathon for what happened in the second marathon he ran in New York."
"He was at first running at a great pace below the world record that was not his at that time and well after the 30 km I don't remember exactly how far he suffered an injury and so this was the only marathon he ever lost in his career coming up in second."
Jake had heard about these theories and found it just funny, he had no trauma and if he wanted to could run at the pace he always ran in training, but he knew it would be at a time far below his world record and Jake thought not It was time for that.
He planned whenever he could improve his race time in training to improve his official marathon time by breaking his own world record, he just thought of improving his record now because he feared that someone would break his current record.
And also because on his next vacation Jake intended to improve his training time after getting all the statistics points in the major marathons, he wanted to run as fast as he could without getting exhausted.
Jake's goal for marathons was to break the 2-hour barrier and to be the best marathoner in the world for many years, Jake thought he was very capable of achieving this with the system helping him.
But one thing about this theory was true because it was after the New York marathon that Jake decided to run the entire marathon at a very fast pace and only in the final km of the race slow down so as not to tire and risk any injuries.
Jake slowed his pace for this marathon, but not much and continued fast because he wanted to break his world record in this marathon, he wanted to be the first American athlete to win in Berlin and mark this marathon breaking the world record and getting the best of this marathon for a few years.
Running in this marathon he personally realized that it was indeed true that this marathon made it easier for athletes to run faster, Jake was starting the time for marathon athletes who would only run faster until the running time was less than 2 hours and 4 minutes would be normal.
After passing the 40km with a strong running pace and a few kilometers to go before the Berlin Marathon was over, commentators finally realized that Jake intended to break his own world record in this marathon, and by the time he ran, it was quite possible that he would succeed.
Almost reaching the 42km race it was almost certain that Jake would break his world record and the commentators and the cheering crowd were celebrating because they also realized what was going on.
"Jake has been running at a very strong pace on the last few meters of this Berlin marathon, it looks like he wants to break his own world record here in this marathon this year."
"It's really amazing to see such a talented athlete, we were talking about how Jake had the ability to break his world record if he wanted to and keep his pace strong, right now slowing down his race is still breaking the world record."
"True, Jake had not been performing very well this year, even though last year broke the world record by running in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 2 seconds this year despite having won the three marathons he ran this year his best time was 2 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds."
"It's more than 1 minute longer than his best time, of course, he made it after running in the London marathon being tired after finishing his first season in college basketball, then winning less than 10 days later in Boston even slower time."
"Last month he won the World Championships in Athletics marathon with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 2 seconds which was 2 minutes longer than his best time last year and today we are seeing Jake running over 2 minutes faster than last month and breaking the world record itself."
"And Jake just won the 1997 Berlin Marathon, he broke his own world record, that's amazing!"
"He finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes 55 seconds, 7 seconds faster than his best time at the Chicago Marathon last year, it's the new marathon world record."