Sport | Other Sports

Wanjiru has re-written the world mark twice

Kenya's Samuel Kaman Wanjiru has made Half Marathon's his specialty and has already rewritten the record books twice.

  • By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:39 February 28, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: Kenya's Samuel Kaman Wanjiru has made Half Marathon's his specialty and has already rewritten the record books twice.

Currently holding the record for men over the Half Marathon distance of 21 kms - 58.33 minutes set at the Ras Al Khaimah event in 2007 - Wanjiru told Gulf News he has come here to win.

The 22-year-old Wanjiru, who has been concentrating only on Half Marathon, first broke Paul Tergat's 1998 mark of 59.17 with a timing of 59.16 in 2005.

However, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia broke that mark in Phoenix, US in 2006 (58.55), only to be dethroned by Wanjiru with his 58.33 run in The Hague.

"There are a lot of good runners in the fray but I am confident of a win here. The purse here is very good for a Half marathon and I will win it," he said.

Wanjiru, like many other Kenyans, is a world class runner at 22 but unlike most of his countrymen, trains in Asia.

"I train in Japan and that has helped me a lot. The facilities are very good there," said the Kenyan.

Wanjiru picked out countryman Patrick Macau as one of his strongest rivals.

"Macau has won the RAK Marathon this time and is in good form. Apart from him, there are many other runners including Paul Tergat. It will be a fantastic event and everyone will be going all out to win it," said Wanjiru.

Wanjiru arrived only yesterday morning and was to have a feel of the course later in the day.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (8 votes) 3 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

More from Other sports

  1. Last-gasp goal helps Islanders down Leafs

  2. Mayweather Sr attacks Pacman's technique

  3. Phelps ready to focus on 2010

  4. Welshman ends Al Joker's amazing run

All articles in Other sports

More from Sport

Gulf News
Popular in Sport
Kings of the court
Pictures

Kings of the court

The world's top tennis players who will battle in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

Sport Editor's choice