Finally the grand Bank of America 2009 Chicago Marathon concluded today with the same enthusiasm with which it is associated. Samuel Wanjiru was announced the winner of the marathon.
Samuel Wanjiru has won many a great races. No race can be bigger or more prestigious than the Olympics.
After winning Olympic marathon he said, “This was only my third marathon, so I thought I would just try to run it the way I’ve done the others so far. My first marathon was Fukuoka in December, 2007. The second time was London in April, 2008. In both of them I’d planned to run about 3 minutes per km, so I thought I should just run Beijing with the same idea in mind since this is a comfortable pace for me to run. I thought the best thing to do was to run a pace I’m used to. If the pace is too slow then I can’t get into my rhythm and my body doesn’t move properly”.
Twenty two year old Samuel Kamau Wanjiru is a Kenyan long distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympic men’s marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32.
Wanjiru started running at the age of 15. In 2002, he moved to Japan and went to Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School in Sendai, from where he graduated in 2005. He then joined the Toyota Kyūshū athletics team, coached by 1992 Olympic marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita.
Today he was as impressive as he was in Beijing. Samuel Wanjiru won the Bank of America 2009 Chicago Marathon with an impressive 2:05:41, a new course record. It was his first marathon in the United States. On the women’s side, Liliya Shobukhova of Russia finished in 2:25:56 to win.
