DISTANCE runner Nathan Hartigan is rueing a “disappointing outing” at the Hamburg Marathon in which he failed to post an Olympic A-qualifier.
Hartigan posted a time of two hours, 24 minutes, five seconds in the event on Sunday morning in Germany.
The Olympic qualifier to beat is set at 2:12.
Hartigan has been based in Switzerland the past month with fellow Victorian long distance runner Clint Perrett to prepare for his London bid.
The Ballarat Harrier took to social media website Twitter to thank everyone who had supported him, saying it meant the world.
Hartigan said he was “very, very sad” with his performance but he would pick himself “up off the canvas in time”.
Ethiopian Shami Dawit won the men’s Hamburg Marathon in 2:05:05 while Australian Jeffrey Hunt put himself in consideration for London, just outside the qualifier, with a run of 2:14.19.
Hartigan started strong clocking 32:02 at the 10km mark and was on pace for a 2:16:21 finish by the halfway point.
His pace then dropped slightly by the 30km mark, on track for a 2:18.41 finish.
Hamburg marked Hartigan’s second overseas marathon.
He contested the Vienna Marathon last year.
Hartigan launched his domestic campaign this season with a bronze medal at the Australian Half-Marathon Championships in Sydney in September.
