CNN :
Kenya's Patrick Makau set a new world record for the marathon in Berlin Sunday as previous record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia failed to finish.We are not the fast animal; we are the lasting animal. If we were merely fast, we would never have left Africa. Human globalization was so rapid because we are so slow. Speed would have locked us in the cradle of our kind. This cradle shaped us: our uprightness (knuckle-walking is far more costly than walking on two legs), our hairlessness, our big brain that needs cooling, the moisture in the nose, the sweat on the skin, the barrel chest, the stamina. But once the system for endurance was in place, we were ready for the world. Speed is all about youth. The sprinter is finished by 30. The long-distance runner is still winning at 38. And this lateness, again, is essentially human.
Makau led home a Kenyan 1-2-3 in a time of two hours three minutes 38 seconds, shaving 21 seconds off the record set in the corresponding race in the German capital three years ago by Gebrselassie.
Stephen Kwelio Chemlany took second with Edwin Kimaiyo taking third.
Gebrselassie, 38, was prominent until the 35km mark before dropping out, just as he had done in New York last November. He was trying to gain an qualifying time for the 2012 London Olympics and will now target the Dubai marathon early next year to achieve his aim.
