Even the flu can't stop Sefli going faster

IT wasn't a golden run, but Sefli Ahar had a satisfying outing in Hong Kong on Sunday.

Brunei's half marathon man once again had to battle the flu during his Hong Kong trip, but still managed to improve on his previous time clocking 1:15:26 to finish sixth overall in the Senior Division of the half-marathon (21.1 kilometres) event of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2011 on Sunday.

Sefli clinched the gold medal in the Master 1 Division last year with a time of 1:15:39 to finish fourth overall.

"After my arrival in Hong Kong, it just felt different as my body failed to adapt to the cooler weather (13-16 degrees Celsius). I ended up getting the flu," said Sefli during an interview upon arrival at the Brunei International Airport yesterday.

"It became hard to breathe after the third kilometre. I couldn't keep my rhythm and my throat was really dry," he added.

"To make things worse it also rained midway through the race and my arms started cramping then. But I just kept pushing myself till the end," continued the 36-year-old policeman.

Despite not being able to defend his crown or better his overall position, the Temburong native was delighted with the time set in Sunday's event considering his lack of preparation for the competition.

"This is a better result since I'm competing against the elite runners of different countries. It was more challenging as well and I'm happy with my position," said Sefli with a smile.

"Now I'm looking forward to training harder to achieve my target of representing the country in the full marathon (42km) event at the upcoming SEA Games in Indonesia this November," he added.

However, he felt that he was behind schedule.

"I need to keep improving and double my efforts but I'm losing out on training time due to work commitments. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the support needed to make up for lost time," added the policeman.

"But, I must thank Ridah Sports Enterprise for its support and my runners in the SEF (Sport Endurance Fitness) team," added Sefli.

The Sultanate's top long distance runner also invites more runners to join his team.

"I'm hoping to get more people to come and join us. I'm looking to pass down my knowledge especially to the younger runners so that they too can run for the country one day as they are the future," concluded Sefli.

Kiprotich Thomas of Hong Kong clinched the gold in the division crossing the line with a time of 1:07:14 while compatriot Gi Ka Man took the runner-up spot with his time of 1:09:05.

American Barclay-Grundler Curtis would round up the top three with his time of 1:13:18.

Meanwhile, Nelson Kirwa Rotich of Kenya needed a photo finish to edge compatriot Julius Kiplimo Maisei with his time of 2:16:00 in the men's full marathon event and win the US$34,000 prize money. Maisei timed 2:16:06.

Ethiopia's Tesfaye Girma Bekele came in third at 2:16:31.

Over in the women's full marathon event, Kenya's Janet Jelegat Rono claimed the top prize with her time of 2:33:42 beating Samira Raif of Mozambique who finished second at 2:33:51.

Bifa Yeshimabet Tadesse of Ethiopia came in third at 2:34:14.The Brunei Times