At the Berlin Marathon last weekend, Patrick Makau, the 26 year old Kenyan long distance runner, achieved two things most marathon runners can only dream of doing in an entire career.
Patrick Makau celebrates his new marathon world record
One of those things was beating the legendary athlete Haile Gebrselassie in a top flight marathon; the other was breaking Gebrselaisse’s own world record in doing so.
This was Makau’s second consecutive Berlin Marathon victory and sets a new world record time of 2 hours 3 minutes and 38 seconds, a full 21 seconds faster than Gebrselaisse’s previous world record.
Makau’s breakthrough to the very top flight of marathon racing this year is clear when you consider his previous best was over a minute slower than his Berlin performance at 2 hours 4 minutes and 48 seconds.
How do you think Makau’s achievement ranks with some of the other breakthrough sports stars this year? Are there any other’s that you think should be up for next year’s Breakthrough of the Year?
Let us know your suggestions in the box below and on Twitter @LaureusSport
To suggest social project spending cuts in Britain are to blame for the problems on the streets seen here over the past few days is at best inaccurate or, at worst, opportunistic and misleading.
Clearly countless contributing factors go toward social problems of this kind.
As difficult as accounting for all these factors might be, by looking at one at a time, some light may be shed on how society can stop this from happening both in the future and for the future.
This is why Laureus is passionate that governments should invest in social projects that focus on a country’s youth. For it is through such projects that children and young adults will learn the values that will turn them away from violence and anti social behaviour.
Laureus champions the use of sport as the unique and near universally engaging tool through which these goals can be achieved.
And a report Laureus published just a few months ago demonstrated how this belief is already showing itself to be true.
Before I show you the evidence the report offers, however, the anecdotal evidence proposed by our Academy Member Daley Thompson is convincing in itself, and not to mention pertinent considering the gang violence across England in recent days.
At the report’s release, Daley said:
“The key lies in the similarities between sport and gangs; both present a sense of belonging, status and excitement.”
For the benefit of my blog today I’ll look at two of the projects that the report looks in to: The Boxing Academy in Tottenham and the Kickz project in Elthorne Park; both of these are in London.
The Boxing Academy in Tottenham, for example, costs half as much as what is known as a ‘Pupil Referral Unit’ and has lower re-offending rates amongst the youngsters it works with.
The Boxing Academy in Tottenham, London was found to offer a £7 return for every £1 invested
A Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) is a centre for children who, through their behaviour, have been deemed unable to attend a mainstream or special school.
In addition to the project’s documented success over PRUs, the report also found that for every £1 invested in The Boxing Academy, society benefits from a return of £3. This comes from a higher average of future earnings for participants but also from reduced crime rates in the area too.
The Kickz project, however, can boast even more remarkable success from our report’s findings.
The Kickz project, which uses football to work with troubled youths, demonstrates an incredible £7 value for every £1 invested.
Quite simply, this means that if that £1 funding was to be cut from their budget, it would actually end up costing government a huge £6!
This is because, by cutting crime rates, the project helps save the costs to victims, costs to police and subsequently costs to the courts and prisons.
There are 75,000 new entrants into the youth criminal justice system each year. This ended up costing government a staggering £4 billion last year alone.
Laureus believes that maintaining funding in sports projects, such as those I’ve talked about here, can not only offer some of our most troubled youngsters a brighter future, but also significant financial return at a time when countries across the world are in such desperate need of it.
This is just a brief introduction to the report’s findings but you can have a look at the entire document at the Laureus website here.
This year’s 4 Deserts series kicks off in March with the Atacama Crossing 2011, the world-renowned, 250km endurance footrace across the driest desert on the planet. (The one we are participating in.)
Competitors will spend seven days, from 6 – 12 March, moving through the stunning landscape of Chile’s Atacama Desert, on a grueling course that spans salt lakes, sand dunes, canyons and oases.
Read more
DAY THREE: Wednesday December 8, 2010
Mawenzi Tarn (4,330 metres)
Mount Kilimanjaro behind clouds
Hi All,
Well, no one prepared me for this. As we headed for Mawenzi Tarn, we have had to fight our way through blizzards and cope with unexpected bitter cold. The snow is not settling on the ground, thank goodness, but still the conditions are very difficult and unpleasant.
Martina and the brave Laureus fundraisers are climbing at over 4000m
The guides tell me this is most unusual, but that is not much consolation. I brought my sun-block with me, but clearly that’s not going to be needed. We have sent a message down to out base camp to bring up thicker gloves, hand warmers and more heavy clothing.
I was expecting it to be cold and snowy, but not so soon. One thing is clear – it’s going to add to the difficulty of the climb, but we are all in good spirits and the difficult conditions have brought us even more together as a group.
Martina's still having fun
We should have been walking above the cloudline at increasingly high altitude, but we really have no idea what is around us. There are no views, we are walking through thick mist unable to see more than a couple of metres ahead.
After four hours of trekking, we reached Mawenzi Tarn campsite, situated right underneath the dramatic and jagged spires of Mawenzi, in a protected hollow and next to a tiny lake. There were supposed to be superb views across the saddle to Kibo, but sadly we have not been able to enjoy that.
After our lunch we were supposed to be going on an acclimatization walk where we went up and down the mountain to get a taste of an even higher altitutde, but we have had to cancel that. It would just be too difficult and too dangerous.
Lunch in the tent
Climbing high and then returning lower to sleep is an important part of allowing our bodies to get used to the altitude, but we are not going to be able to do that now. We have been playing charades to keep our spirits up. It’s not what I expected, but you have to get on and cope with whatever you find.
Dont forget to sponsor the team and help us reach our fundraising target, at www.laureus.com/get-involved/kili
Thanks
Martina
Martina Navratilova on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
Latest update from Martina as the team makes their way towards the summit via the Rongai Route:
DAY TWO: Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Kikelewa Caves (3,600 metres)
Martina and the group on the way to the summit
Hi All,
Day two of the Mount Kilimanjaro climb, and the team and I are enjoying a well deserved rest at camp after an intense day of trekking.
We were woken this morning at 6.30am for breakfast, before departing camp at 8am. Today’s route was quite steep from the outset, but as we crossed the heather moorland, we had the chance to take in breathtaking views of the summit, and with it the realisation of how far we have got to climb!
We can also see that there is LOADS of snow on the summit. We were warned about this, but now we can see the reality. It means it’s going to be very, very cold at the top.
Mount Kilimanjaro
After a break for lunch, the walk became increasingly difficult, as we trekked towards the jagged peaks of Mawezi, Kilimanjaro’s second peak. We were warned that we may start feeling the effects of altitude at this point, as we climb beyond 3,000 metres. The porters are right, most of us are beginning to get out of breath and finding the walking more difficult.
The porters are keeping us going by singing lots. We’re trying to pick up the words to join in, but we don’t have the lung capacity that they do. They are used to the altitude.
Paralympic cyclist Michael Teuber is amazing, he keeps walking past me at a great pace, and he doesn’t stop smiling.
Michael Teuber
After what feels like a long afternoon of walking, eventually the tents at Kikewela caves are spotted in the distance, a relief for all of us after a hard day of trekking!
Martina
The team need all the help they can get to reach their fundraising target, so show your support and sponsor them at www.laureus.com/get-involved/kili
