Julien Wanders explains why he dropped out of Valencia Marathon at 31km, on target 2:06:30

Can someone explain to me why Wanders, given all the symptoms he described, even arrived at the starting line, let alone racing until 31km? That is just plain stupid to me.

The outcome was clear and he heavily compromised his recovery. What was there to gain for him?

I guess it was a question of appearence money ; )

Stupid to risk health I say.

have any of you guys ever raced with a cold? 'risking health' is going overboard. 'extended recovery' is likely but only by 1-2 days. no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

The word you're looking for is myocarditis. That's the main danger here, disregarding the fact that this was never going to end well, which just makes this a stupid decision. Moreover, having chest pain doesn't sound like a small "runny nose".

Crazy that with all his big underperformances, disappointments, and illnesses this year he still has a faster half marathon time than any American in 2022.

No way should this guy have been anywhere near the race. Outrageous to risk his own health and the health of his fellow competitors. Selfish.

First of all, meh. He has a cold. If you have ever run a quality marathon at the best of your ability, you should know that a cold can of course impact performance in the event. Any PB effort is already redline, by definition. The fact that he made it to 31km on marathon pace actually shows it wasn't so bad, but still a difference-maker.

Second of all, you sound like you have zero guts. Again, if you have ever trained for years to be your best (let alone a global elite), including a months-long build to a target race, you should know that real competitors face and often run through blips.

This was a blip. Big enough to cause a DNF, but small enough that the could still run 31km on PB marathon pace ffs. Get a clue.

Good to hear that he had a superb training block and that it was only an illness that wrecked his race. He's a few years away from his best running, so there was that nagging suspicion that his best days were behind him. Good luck to him next time out!

Pfff. Being on target at 31 kms doesn't mean jack sh t.

This old hobby jogger remembers when he was on pace for a 3 hour marathon at km 33, then finished in 3:03:55.

From my experience, and I imagine most people, when you have a cold you feel like crap the entire time. You don't suddenly run out of energy at 31k because you have a cold, you would have felt pretty crappy from the gun. So he apparently felt fine enough to run most of the race, but the pace was just too fast for what he was ready for. To me this sounds like a convenient excuse, his body was fine to run since he did most of the race but it was too fast of a pace for him. And saying you'll be back to beat all of your 2019 PRs is just talk unless you actually beat them.

One time I was on pace for a 3:48 mile. Should I make an instagram to build up false hopes of a good time and then go out too fast and blow up?

I think with a head cold you can get pretty close to peak performance if your lucky and there's a bit of magic in the night before race day and it clears up significantly. Also endorphins can mitigate some of the cold. On the other hand it can be a train wreck!

The YouTuber - The Welsh runner (Matt Rees) ran Valencia having felt crappy (similar symptoms by sound) for week before and on race day I think he'd just recovered enough/endorphins to be successful and get 2:24 against a 2:29 PB. Now yes, he probably was only 90% and was defo in at least 2:22 shape (IMO) but I think he's over the moon he still raced, got a PB even though he wasnt 100%. Sometimes if illness is mild it can be worth the gamble. Always a tough judgement call.

The difference between you and J.W. is that the latter already showed his incredible potential in 2019 with 13:13, 27:17, 59:17. He ran those times, and even if he never steps on the track again he will go down as one of Europe's top distance monsters of all time. An absolute monster. Very unlucky with injuries and illnesses for the past two years Mr Julien Wanders - the ultimate guru of distance runners in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet, Rift Valley, Kenya.

There is always so much hype before this guy races.

And then a sub-par race.

And then an explanation of the sub-par race.

Rinse and repeat.

Is this a joke? You really should stay in your lane. Myocarditis? Really? A young healthy athlete with a cold says "chest pain" and you jump to myocarditis.

I'm trying to figure out what the picture is trying to say, and it looks like "Wanders droppe out at 31 km because his junk smelled bad."

i thought it was funny they needed to put an arrow to indicate which one is called Julian Wanders when a.) all the other guys are African and b.) his name is written in big letters on the front of him.