Only one finisher in the women and two in the men. The Westerners are MIND STRONG. They did not drop out because they got a bit cold and wet. East Africans are MIND WEAK
Only one finisher in the women and two in the men. The Westerners are MIND STRONG. They did not drop out because they got a bit cold and wet. East Africans are MIND WEAK
Naaah, they raced it for the win while the Westerners paced it for a top 10.
Most of the runners in the top 10 weren't going to win and bloody well knew it. They didn't go all in for the laurel wreath. The Africans generally run to win outright rather than pace it early and then work their way through the carnage, so they do go all in. They don't like to be off the pace at any point, and if they are behind early, they're more on the edge at that stage (desperately hoping to reach the overall leader) than the runner who's just pacing it in the hopes of taking some scalps. Being all in, if they lose the hand, they're out of the tournament.
It can take several weeks or even months to be ready to race again if a runner blows up and then struggles out of pride for another 30 minutes. The risk of injury is greater when you're low on fuel and not running smoothly, which can make it tougher still to regain fitness. For an amateur, that means losing some chances for PRs and the fun of running/competing. For a pro, it also means financial loss. Pro marathoners are smart to drop out once they see that any remaining reward isn't enough to offset the risk.
Westerners = fat = retains more body heat
Africans = 90 pounds with 2% body fat = doesn't retain body heat well = more susceptible to hypotheria
Sammy Wanjiru was an African who was mindstrong ... except when it came to money, women, guns and drink.