dramatic!

Wow... Amazing indeed... with about 1.5kms to go... and Kes 40m at stake.
This was a labourer showing up to earn a living - you need to take a second to watch it!

And it looked like Kebedi had taken it. But that last bell and Wanjiru took off - but no Kebede recovered and pulled away again until the last stretch, when they reached the second last bend, Uphill.

Sammy Wanjiru took off! He went so far ahead it was difficult to believe they were running side by side a second ago! The crowd had to respect the guts, courage, stamina - and the crowed bowed in respect to the champion. Excellence you see, must be admired!

http://www.athleticos.org/cover...at-2010-Chicago-Marathon

@mwenza, As I said before, this was a laborer showing up to earn a living!

I'd need to see our own principles - yours and mine - tested to believe how patriotism would come before Kes 40m shillings. Kenya's flag was flying high in Chicago yesterday.

Realise there's no theft, crime, or other untoward activity we're talking about here!

I find it rather strange when people see a performance like Wajiru's and their mind gravitate to the money. He deserves the reward certainly, but let us recognize talent and the sheer hard work it takes to get there. Consider:

1. For Wanjiru and Kebede to put in the performance they did they would have run an average of about 200K in training, every week, for sixteen weeks.

2. To win a marathon in 2 hours six minutes you have to run every kilometer in under 3 minutes, 42 times.


Ergo, this is not a two hour job.

And the man still has the energy to wave and blow kisses at the crowd. Amazing!

It was thrilling finish all the same. It reminds me of the Boston Marathon in 2008 where the dueling Kenyan and Ethiopian girls were separated by less than a second at the end.

This is a patently unfair comment. Would you consider Rudisha to be unpatriotic because he decided to give Delhi a miss after smashing the 800 metres world record?

Wanjiru already won the Gold medal for Kenya (OK - for himself as well) at the Beijing Olympics. Commonwealth Games are also used as a platform for other (young) talent to emerge, so many star sportsmen and women (although not all) give them a miss.