Kuzin, the runner who came in from the cold – The 32-year-old has twice set a national record over the classic distance and he has represented the Ukraine at several major events

Aleksandr Kuzin stunned athletics fans by running 2:07:33, the fastest time by a European this year, at the Linz Marathon on April 15 but perhaps the most surprised person was the Ukrainian himself.

It would be unfair to give Aleksandr Kuzin the tag of being the Unknown Ukrainian in the wake of his outstanding run of 2:07:33, the fastest time by a European this year and the second fastest in the world, at the Linz Marathon on April 15.

The 32-year-old has twice set a national record over the classic distance and he has represented the Ukraine at several major events, including finishing a creditable 18th at the 2001 IAAF World Championships. He could also point to a previous best of 2:10:09.

Nevertheless, few pundits would have expected him to slice nearly three minutes off his mark in the Austrian city. Even Kuzin, who knew he was in good shape before the race and had said that he had come to Linz to win, was caught off-guard by what the clock said when he crossed the finish line.

„The time came as a huge surprise to me, not least because I had some small injuries during the winter which hindered my preparation. That was one of the reasons why I chose to run in Linz. I know that it doesn’t quite have the standing of some of the other big city marathons in Europe and I just wanted a good run in a relatively low-key race.

„At the pre-race press conference I said that I thought I was going to run 2:09 and that was my genuine belief, especially as the organisers had got some ‚rabbits‘ in to supposedly take us through the halfway point in 64:30. They were then to take us through to 30 kilometres.

„However, the pacemakers didn’t do a good job. We went through 5km in 14:52, which was far too fast,“ commented Kuzin, well aware that would the tempo would have lead to a run under 2:05:30!

„I tried to get them to slow down several times but all my attempts seemed to fail. I was really struggling to hang in those early stages but eventually things calmed down a little by about 10km.“

Kuzin passed through the halfway point in 63:36, nearly a minute faster than he had envisaged.

„Just after the 21km mark, the pacemaker suddenly faded and I was alone. There was no one else with me and so I realised I wasn’t going to get any help to 30km. Well, that wasn’t part of the plans!

„I also struggled a bit just after the halfway point mentally. I was looking at the clock and thinking I can’t carry on at this pace and I was thinking that I was going to start slowing down myself.

„In fact for a few kilometres I thought I was going to be in the embarrassing position of fading badly myself but the kilometres kept going by and I kept on feeling strong. I was not having too many problems producing kilometre splits in just over three minutes and even managed to speed up a little bit in the closing stages. My biggest problem was that the warm weather was giving me a headache. I’d been training at altitude for several months before hand and it was much colder there.

„The fact that I had run so fast really didn’t sink in until I was after the finish line. Until that point I had been concentrating on my rhythm, making sure it was steady,“ added Kuzin, who finished nearly five minutes ahead of his nearest rival in Linz.

Kuzin attributed his improved form to a change of approach and a change of coach last year. He sought out Leonid Shevtsov, who is still the Russian marathon record holder with the 2:09:16 he ran in 1997, for advice.

He was spurred on to examine what he had been doing after losing his Ukrainian national record to compatriot Dmytro Baranovsky, who ran 2:08:29 at the 2005 Fukuoka Marathon and who subsequently improved it to 2:07:15 at the same Japanese race last December.

„I felt needed to make some changes if I was going to improve so now I’m looked after Leonid Shevtsov. He changed my training around and I now do a lot more speed work. Because of the injuries, although they were not serious, I have also cut out quite a lot of my longer distance work.

„When we first started working together, Leonid said that I was capable of running as fast as Baranovsky. I didn’t believe him at first but obviously now I do.

„The question that I’m now asking myself is, what I would have run in Linz if I had others for company? I’ve thought about the race Dymtro Baranovsky did in Fukuoka in December, where he ran 2:07.15. He was with other good people until close to the end and I am sure strong company helps you run faster even if it is a tactical race and you are watching what others are doing.“

The question others are now asking is whether he will make his second appearance at the World Championships, when they are staged in Osaka this summer.

Kuzin doesn’t know yet. He has sometimes passed over the opportunity to compete in big championships. Last year he won the Ukrainian 20km title but chose to compete in the Dublin Marathon in October, where he finished second, rather than at the World Road Racing Championships in Hungary.

„But the one race I do want to compete in is the New York Marathon. I would like to run there with my wife (Tetyana Hladyr) who finished second there last November. Last year, there wasn’t the money for me in their elite budget but hopefully this year, I can run there with Tetyana,“ added Kuzin.

Source:
European Athletics (EAA)
https://www.european-athletics.org/
EAA