Want to Win a Marathon?

Gabriela Rosa, Jos Hermens and Volker Wagner share their training tips

Anyone who follows distance running knows that today's marathon world is dominated by African athletes. Yet though these athletes come from Kenya or Ethiopia, the majority are trained by European coaches and often live part of the year in Europe. Running Times asked three of the most prominent of these coaches to share their marathon training philosophies and their thoughts on African distance runners.

Volker Wagner’s most famous protégés are Tegla Loroupe and Joyce Chepchumba. Loroupe ran the world’s fastest marathon for women, 2:20:43, in Berlin last year, breaking her own world mark. Chepchumba’s 2:23:22 at London in 1999 is the third-best ever in a women-only race. Wagner also coaches men such as Simon Lopuyet, who boasts a 2:08 PR. Wagner lives in Detmold, Germany, where his runners are based most of the year and train in rolling farmland and forest reminiscent of Iowa.

Gabriele Rosa’s roster of athletes looks like a Who’s Who of Kenyan stars: Olympic gold medalist and two-time Boston marathon champ Moses Tanui, 1999 Boston and New York City winner Joseph Chebet, world half marathon record-holder Paul Tergat and 1999 Rotterdam champion Japhet Kosgei are just a few. Based in Brescia, Italy, Rosa trains nearly 90 Kenyan athletes and conducts the Fila-sponsored Kenya Discovery program.

Jos Hermens is best known for coaching multiple world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie. German Silva, Anuta Catuna and Liz McColgan are other standouts among the 140 athletes represented by Hermens’ Netherlands-based agency, Global Sports Communication. A former world record holder himself, Hermens does not directly coach any of these runners. He shared his opinions based on his experience as an athlete, agent and race director.

Mileage:

Rosa: Mileage depends on the goal the athlete sets himself. However, it will have to be increased gradually so as to run an average of between 150 to 160 and 180 to 200 kilometers [93 to 99 and 110 to 124 miles] per week. In the two months leading up to a marathon, the work load is increased in quantity and above all quality, peaking at 180 to 200 kilometers per week, and remains stable up until about 10 days before the competition. This period is dedicated to refining—building up rhythm—and to "unloading" by easing off and decreasing the mileage during the final week.

Wagner: Because my athletes are still young, I mix things, speedwork and endurance, so we don’t do very high mileage. It is better to stay healthy and have no injuries, no muscle problems, even to take one, two or three days rest if necessary. For Tegla and Joyce, we start with 140 kilometers [87 miles] per week and move up over 10 weeks to a maximum of 200 to 210 kilometers [124 to 130 miles]. We hold this maximum for two weeks, then come down during the final three weeks before the marathon. On days with speedwork we run once, and twice a day if there is no speedwork.