He might not yet be a household name, but Wanjiru can change running forever

[Andrew A.]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/he-might-not-yet-be-a-household-name-but-wanjiru-can-change-running-forever-20091127-jwyd.html

[Ed]

I wonder what happened Sammy took 4th.

[Ryan]

He might not be a household name but he should be in any running household.

As for breaking 2 hours, I'll still stand by my usual statement. That's still quite a few years, if not at least a couple of decades, away. He might get the record closer than I would normally expect anyone to in the next decade or so but I'd be very surprised if he actually went sub-2.

[Andrew A.]

I wonder what happened Sammy took 4th.

Was not an important race for him and perhaps not peaking?

[Ryan]

Just what I was thinking. He collected his appearance fee, trained through, and possibly even used it as not much more than a hard tempo run.

[Ed]

Paid to train - what a dream.  Although that could possibly take some of the joy out of running in that you are obligated to go at certain times even if you are not fully into it at the moment.

[Andrew A.]

Not every sports team, even the best of all time, gets up for every single game on its schedule.  The best teams do elevate their game when it counts the most, though.  While not completely equal, there is no reason to believe that top runners do not do the same.  Wanjiru has shown consistently that he can perform with the best when the greatest accolades are at stake.  Charlie Spedding shares some fascinating insights regarding what he found in his own running, between placing well at the Olympics (3rd & 6th) and major marathons (his debut in Houston and in London) and being an also-ran at much lesser competitions, in his book From Last to First.

[Ed]

I fully agree that is a possibility. I tend to think that could possibly hurt his appearance fees for next year.  I wouldn't pay as much for an athlete to trot the course.

I bet that book could be a good read.

[Ryan]

It shouldn't hurt his appearance fees. Nobody can be at the top of their game as often as those guys race. Everyone knows this and understands it. RDs know a guy like him is going to be saving himself for the biggest events and are usually paying as much for the name and the attention that comes with it as for the performace.

[Andrew A.]

Right, Wanjiru (or his agent, rather) trades on his high profile wins (Olympic gold in an Olympic record time, London) for appearance fees.  Like any pro racer, he gets compensated to the level that he does in terms of an appearance fee so that the race can use his name in press releases to hype/market the race.  Benoit Samuelson, Rodgers, Jones, and Shorter (among many others) continue to do the same decades after their last significant wins.  It is true for about anyone capable of a top 10 finish in a race such as this.  RDs know that Wanjiru's chief focus is the marathon, that is where his bread is buttered, and that essentially no race outside of a WMM race will get his completely focused best effort.  They still want him in the race and will gladly pay for that privilege if they decide it is worthwhile to the level of promotion for their race.