SIMON BAIRU TO RUN NEW YORK

insidercanadiana wrote:

(and was confirmed by Alberto Salazar whom* admittedly, isn't his coach).

who*

Isn't the commonwealth games in early october, and the new york marathon in November? It wouldn't be THAT out there for him to do both.

If Bairu won Toronto Waterfront in under 2:08.30, he would collect 20k 1st place prize money, 5k Canadian bonus, 20k Canadian all-comers record bonus, and 35k Canadian national record bonus=70k. Even if he were elligible for the 35k for the Canadian record in NY, he would have to come in 3rd or better to get the same prize money.

The reality is that NY offers secure money to just to agree to run the race. But lets get real, Bairu is a good runner, but will be lucky to be in the top 5 at NY. And he gets no real boost in his credibility if he finishes 6-10 at NY (not a lot of appearance fees chasing around Rohatinksy and Arciniaga).

Why not show up in your home country, crush the national record and get a-list appearance fees for the major marathons? Merga, Erkesso, and Tune won Houston before making a major marathon debut. In fact, most East Africans debut somewhere other than a marathon major. So, why put the cart before the horse? Why not debut at a marathon and get a solid win before heading off to the major marathons?

Its about the PRESTIGE. The marathon is arguably the most popular running event in the world, and being one of the best at it brings about many rewards.

BALLA

I sent Simon a tweet after the Payton Jordan race, and at that time he said he was planning a fall marathon, but undecided on the location. I sent him another tweet today and asked him if it would be NYC, and he replied " So far that's what it looks like but nothing is for sure yet, I'll decide later this summer." So, it looks like he's leaning toward NYC.

Bairu's got a new training partner.

http://shalaneflanagan.com/blog/post/show/id/17-May-16th-2010