you guys have both clearly stated your points by now, wow.
it may be true that if you are racing paycheck to paycheck you will drop out if you can't win because you must save yourself or you won't be able to eat and then you really won't be able to run fast. that is logical, 100%. however, with Adola we do not have someone racing for a meager wage. he has the capacity of a champion and with such a uniquely smooth stride he is very easily recognizable. he is past the stage of cherry-picking $1,000 races he had to drive 600 miles to get to. now he can build up his brand, which is himself. he can show us how elite racing really is. who can really show up 100% every time out? it's just not human. to see your favorite runner win is exciting, but it doesn't mean that much when you haven't seen them get their as- kicked now and again.
i'm not the only one who liked his character in pushing on and in fact maybe many people like him even more now because he's clearly not doing it for the money, which sets him apart even further from the other elite Africans that have trouble standing apart from their peers enough to get endorsements. it's not very inspiring to watch people drop out of a race. as a fan there is nothing worse than seeing your guy pull the plug simply because they had no chance of winning. who wants to watch a football team that gives up midway through the second quarter because they were down 21-0 and not really feeling it anyway. that's a team that becomes a laughing stock. it's brand is worth nothing. as an athlete your brand is everything. it's your entire profession. i hope Adola is aware of this and it pushes him to go even deeper in the future. there is one thing in sports that fans can never get enough of and that is the comeback kid. bad races just set you up to be a hero all over again. you gotta know how to play the game man.