Sara Sellers - can she capitalize on her 2nd place finish?

Not an environmentalist wrote:

First of all, a great job and run by Sara, who paid her own expenses and entry. Nothing takes away from her gritty accomplishment.

But does this provide her any endorsement options or invitations to future races? Running 2:44 on it's own is not a time that would translate into money or invites. Would her 2nd place at Boston translate into this, given the weather, or will people likely forget that and pass on her?

Just a topic for discussion.

logically speaking boston would almost certainly invite her next year therefore the answer is yes

I would assume she can get something. A full time nurse who runs on the side beating out a field elite runners who couldn't manage the cold is impressive.

Not going to get you major endorsements, but there are people who get free stuff and sponsors for posting videos of their dog on youtube so...

It's a buyers market, not a Sellers.

Tom Buyers wrote:

It's a buyers market, not a Sellers.

That's funny. If I was a race director near where she lived, I'd for sure comp her in my race. If I had a running store in her area, I'd comp her some shoes, gear, in exchange for an appearance or two at my store. Of all the surreal happenings yesterday, her 2nd place finish, for me, was the most bizarre. When the camera caught her finishing & Rawson said, very matter of factly(!?!), Sara Sellers your 2nd place finisher, I told my wide, he's mistaken as it had been what seemed like at least 5 minutes since Desi finished, and besides, who the hell is Sara Sellers? Certainly not a podium finisher. Dayum! What a morning!!

Can't imagine she has a manager, so someone would have to come to her. Maybe Oiselle will approach her.

It depends on her target market. There are 4-hour marathon runners who are making six figures. She could build a personal brand and "sell" advice to newcomers and middle-aged female joggers. Sponsors would like to part of it. Social media is important. If she found a niche that the others have not targeted, she could make quite a lot money.

Maybe best 15 runners in the world and something like top 3 Americans make a lot of money. After that it doesn't matter whether you are a 2:20 or 3:20 marathoner. You need to tell a story and it sells if it was a good one.

I can't believe this hasn't been labeled for the archetype it is:

Cinderella Story.

The Disney Marathon should pay for her to appear.

Careful here Guys wrote:

We gotta be careful. She said she reads "LetsRun".

At least she won't get a "thunder thighs" comment from me ala those Desi is getting.

Sellers is a honey pot.

Yeah, that's what she is hoping for.

Brigham Young wrote:

Doubtful unless she can drop a time in the 2:32 range. She is cute though, so maybe she can work that to her advantage.

I know her. Yes, she is cute, married and she would have been in the low 2:30's in average conditions. You'll see;)

What do you mean by "capitalize on her 2nd place finish?"?

Athletically? financially? fame?

She's a nurse anesthetist. Do you know what that is? Do you know how much they make? How long is the average US professional runner's career for anyone, male or female?

bent wheels wrote:

What do you mean by "capitalize on her 2nd place finish?"?

Athletically? financially? fame?

She's a nurse anesthetist. Do you know what that is? Do you know how much they make? How long is the average US professional runner's career for anyone, male or female?

You're allowed to work after pursuing your running goals fully.

cutie pie admirer wrote:

She can capitalize on being a cutie pie. She's a real cutie pie.

so creepy.

2 pages and no pics. WTF?

I recall seeing her run several times at Stanford Cobb Track and at Mt Sac Hilmer Lodge Track the Worlds Most Famous Track. She's cute. Not so tall. White chick.

seriously....why would she give that up. Solid career with a great salary. That being said, she can afford to work part-time and make way more money than some shoe store guru. If it were me, I'd drop my hours to 20 per week and see what I could do up until the Oly Trials.

Bursing an injury wrote:

You're allowed to work after pursuing your running goals fully.

Exactly. She is earning very well doing her job but if she wanted to take a break and concentrate on running for few years, she could still make money.

CRNA wrote:

seriously....why would she give that up. .

To be able to spend enough time in altitude. She lives and works in Tucson, which is not Flagstaff or Iten.

She is well spoken, obviously works hard, and has talent. I like that she was disappointed with her time and wanted to run faster. (I was the same way in my first Boston). She will almost definitely run an OTQ next. The question is does she WANT to pursue running professionally, because she can certainly find sponsors now, or decide to stay focused in her medical career?

New S^2 fan wrote:

She is well spoken, obviously works hard, and has talent.

Definitely talented. I think she said that she was doing only 85mls per week in average.

However, there is always risk of injury and she has had a bad injury that kind of ended her running career before. Therefore she might be more hesitant ...