Left field

Do pacemakers have a place in athletics?

Post-event news conferences in the age of the sound bite seldom disclose much beyond the predictable and the banal.

So intentionally or not, Sammy Wanjiru provoked consternation by straying from the accustomed script when he was invited to comment on the pacemaking after winning Sunday’s London marathon.

Wanjiru succeeded fellow-Kenyan Martin Lel as the London champion after a trio of pacemakers had hurtled through the halfway mark in 61 minutes 35 seconds, the quickest split ever recorded.

According to the pundits, including the BBC race commentators, a ruinous early speed cost the Kenyan champion any chance of a world record. Wanjiru was having none of that. Instead he complained they should have run faster and lasted longer.