Whelan confident in half marathon

Brendan Whelan of Australia is confident that he will win the half marathon event of the 2008 Oceania Championships which starts bright and early this morning along Beach Road.

The event’s defending champion, Whelan predicted that he will win the 13.1-mile run following his gold-medal winning performance Thursday in the men’s 5000m.

“If I give a prediction, I will win it. If there will be a winner, it will be me. It’s also nice that I have a day rest before the half marathon,” he said.

Whelan said the course will not be a problem because he ran parts of it during his record-setting triumph in last weekend’s 15th Annual Tom Picarro Memorial Fun Run.

“The course will be in the same area in Beach Road I ran during the DFS. So it’s nice and flat. It should be OK. The humidity would be a problem but I heard that they will be starting it early. The earlier the better.”

Asked who among his eight competitors will challenge him in the race, Whelan said the runners from French Polynesia are always competitive.

“I think the guys from Tahiti will give me the toughest challenge. They’ve got good seed times. One actually has a better seed time than me. So will see. I’m defending in that so I want to try and win it again.”

The Tahitian runner Whelan is referring to is 34-year-old Tutea Degage who has a seed time of 73.35 as against the Aussie’s 74 flat.

Other competitors in the half marathon are Australia’s Tony Gordon, Tahiti’s Teiva Izal, NMI’s Chang Jang, Tamio Nishikito, Louie Tenorio, and Roland Villafria, and Papua New Guinea’s Skene Kiage.

Saipan’s heat and humidity forced Whelan to change the way he raced the 5000m and he expects the same adjustments in the half marathon. He said he is already thinking about increasing his intake of water for the event and wants to change his diet a bit as well prior to the race.

“I would probably have six litters of water the day before. I’ve also been living on bananas so I’ll try to get something more substantial to eat before the half marathon.”

On a lighter note, Whelan said he is enjoying his stay in the capital of the Northern Marianas and is already planning a return trip under more relaxing circumstances.

“ I absolutely love Saipan. I’ve actually done all the tourist things. I already seen Banzai Cliff, Suicide Cliff, and the Grotto. I hope to come back for a holiday on my way from Japan.”