Given the choice of running a quick pace from the start or saving it for the mad dash to the finish, Geoff Martinson would rather have pushed the limits of his endurance for the entire length of his 1,500-metre semifinal.
But that was not an option for Martinson Thursday at the IAAF world track and field championships in Daegu, South Korea. The lightning pace the 25-year-old Prince George Track and Field Club runner had hoped for failed to materialize. Instead, the faster runners in the 12-runner race chose to hang back at the start, then turn it over the last 600 metres, and Martinson was unable to match their finishing kick.
"I ran hard tonight but it wasn't enough to advance to the finals," said Martinson, on his blog www.runmartinson.ca. "I finished ninth in my heat in a brisk 3:48.8 [the winners were 3:46]. I knew the race would go one of two ways: hard from the gun, attempting to secure time-qualifiers; or a slow sit-and-kick tactical bout allowing only the top five finishers to advance. The race was the latter.
"I was up near the front for the first 800m, but when people began to move I quickly found myself hanging off the back. Once the pack got away, there was no bringing them back."
Matt Centrowitz of the U.S. won Martinson's heat in 3:46.66. The top five in each semifinal, as well as the runners with the next two fastest times, qualified for the final.
"I was certainly hoping [the pace] was going to go faster," Martinson told Paul Gains of CBC Sports. "There were only two spots that qualify on time and I was hoping I might get one of those or at least be dragged to a new personal best.
"I'm not surprised -- it's hard to understand how good these guys are when you just see it on paper. Some of these guys have personal bests six seconds faster than me right now. It's hard to imagine what that's actually like until you're out there racing them and they're pulling away from you in the last 100 metres."
In the second semifinal, 12 of the 13 runners ran in 3:45 or less. Reigning Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya won it in 3:36.75.
"Unfortunately, the second heat went out hard and both time qualifiers came from that heat," Martinson said. "It's luck of the draw though; it worked in my favour in the heats, but not so in the semis."
Having never competed at the world level, Martinson now has a better idea of what he might be up against next summer if he makes the Olympic team.
"I am certainly pleased with my performance," he said. "I think I would have been disappointed if I hadn't got out of the heats. It was a learning experience, seeing how those guys run and the strength they have out there. It gives me something to aim for, something I can actually set my sights on.
"I'm still digesting the race in my mind; it's hard to accept that the season is over. As I was walking up the backstretch towards the line, prior to the starting of tonight's 1,500m, I looked around and tried to take in the moment. To walk the track among the best 1,500m runners in the world, to be in a big, packed stadium, and to be wearing the Canadian singlet; it was literally a dream come true."
If he does punch his ticket for London in 2012, his Prince George family (mother Maureen, father Brian and sister Melissa) have promised they will be there to see him run. They were up at 4 a.m. to watch the race live on the IAAF website.
"We've got our fingers crossed for the Olympics next year," said Brian Martinson. "We're really proud of him. There are an awful lot of world-class runners who didn't make it to that final."
