Whelan wins Silver Streak, pulls out of 5,000m

Australia’s Brendan Whelan was leading Tahiti’s Teiva Izal in the men’s 5000m before inexplicably pulling out as the 2008 Oceania Grand Prix began Saturday at the Oleai Track and Field.

In an interview after Day 1 of the Grand Prix, the 34-year-old Aussie said he took himself out of the race after completing the first 3000m of the event because the French Polynesian runner was clipping his heels.

“He was clipping my heels and I got annoyed, so to speak, and I just switched [it] off. I was only running the 3,000m [anyway] because I [already] did the 4.2-mile race this morning, the Silver Streak.”

Whelan, who won the gold in the half marathon and the 5000m in Apia, Samoa two years ago, said he would pick up the pace only for Izal to clip him again. At one point, he said, he decided to slow down and let his competitor pass him, only to get clipped again.

“He just wouldn’t pass me. He clipped me four times…I warned him. In the first 200m he clipped me and I sort of stumbled a bit and a couple of laps later he clipped me down the back straight. I told him to run wide and I warned him,” added Whelan.

It was not the kind of bookend performance Whelan was expecting after the Aussie topped the 15th Annual Tom Picarro Memorial Fun Run in record fashion early in the day.

Whelan gave local runners—including Eli Torgeson—a neat lesson in running the 10-kilometer event by taking 3:20 off the old record.

He admitted that he was merely coasting in the Silver Streak and said he actually ran a 4-mile race in just over 11 minutes recently.

The Aussie also said despite his pullout from the Grand Prix’s 5000m, he will definitely not attempt the same stunt in the 2008 Oceania Championships.

He said Australia and New Zealand are not awarded points in the Grand Prix and thus the event only serves as a practice round for them.

“I’m defending champion in the half marathon and the 5,000m so I’m hoping to defend. In the last [Oceania] Championships in Samoa I got silver in the Cross Country. So I got two golds and a silver last time and I’m hoping to go one better and get the three golds this time,” he said.

As for Izal, Whelan said he doesn’t see him as a serious challenge in the events that actually count for him later this week.

“I think he ran a 16:40 today, I ran the 14s so there’s a big difference. In the Championships I will finish and [if he clips me again, I] will file a protest.”