Mumbai: This season&rsquo;s Mumbai Marathon boasts of a high-quality men&rsquo;s elite athlete field with 16 athletes having personal bests of below 2:10. This, apart from favourable weather conditions, has raised expectations that the course record for men (2:09:32 set by Jackson Kiprop last year) may be broken, come Sunday.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/jan/17Jos-Hermens.jpg" alt="Jos Hermens" /> Jos Hermens
And the man the organisers should thank for the super-fast men&rsquo;s field is Jos Hermens, who besides being the elite athletes&rsquo; coordinator, is also a manager and agent for runners.&nbsp;So what is an athlete&rsquo;s agent and what does he do? &ldquo;It (a players agent) is different than a football agent as in football the team organises everything for the players. But in athletics, everybody is an individual. And we (agents) are much closer to the athletes &mdash; we are their friends, we are their coach and sometimes we are their fathers. So, our relationship is very intense, very close and very friendly,&rdquo; Hermens told MiD DAY yesterday. &ldquo;We also try to educate the athletes because some of these guys in long-distance running, especially those from African countries, have not had a lot of schooling. Some have only finished primary school. So, you&rsquo;re trying to coach them and give them lessons about life, sports and everything in between. An athletes&rsquo; agent is much more involved with their life,&rdquo; he added.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/jan/17Mumbai-Marathon.jpg" alt="" /> With the curse of doping becoming more widespread in athletics, Hermens, a 10,000m runner himself, asserted that it was their job to warn and inform athletes, especially those who are not well educated. &ldquo;You talk about these things (doping) with the athletes. You warn them about the harm doping causes.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very important that every time they go to the hospital, they need to let us know because sometimes they get the wrong medicine and they can have a problem. So, you speak openly with them, warn them and also explain to them the concept of dope control.&nbsp;&ldquo;Luckily, in the case of distance runners from Africa they have so much talent that there is no need for doping,&rdquo; he&nbsp;signed off.&nbsp;

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The elite athletes&rsquo; coordinator at the Mumbai Marathon explains the relationship he shares with runners

Meet Jos Hermens, the go-to man for elite athletes

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Meet Jos Hermens, the go-to man for elite athletes

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