Revisiting Sammy Wanjiru: The Man Who Changed The Marathon
Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru’s 2010 Chicago Marathon victory was, in his coach’s words, “The greatest marathon race I have ever seen, and the biggest surprise. It was a total shock.”
When I think of my favorite race to watch of all time, it’s not what most people expect: it’s not an Olympic race or any featuring an American runner. No, it is Sammy Wanjiru’s unexpected triumph at the 2010 Chicago Marathon. Sammy Wanjiru is, to this day, is my role model as a runner for a litany of reasons, including this race. But as most Americans have Steve Prefontaine as their idol, I have Sammy Wanjiru.
Near the end of the race, Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede and Sammy Wanjiru engaged in one of the most fascinating duels in marathon history. With both the runners near the front of the race near the end, both surged to the front and took turns taking the lead. Kebede would surge and open a gap on Wanjiru several times over the last mile, but Wanjiru would reel him in gradually, on his own terms. With less than a half mile to go, Wanjiru kicked, breaking Kebede and defeating him by 19 seconds.
On paper, it may have looked like Wanjiru was the heavy favorite to win the race. He held the half marathon world record at the time of 58:33, and two years before, in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, set the Olympic record in the marathon…
