An Amateur Calls out Elite runners

Not sure why this quote is on the front page. Side note: Clay threw an iron at me two weeks after our one (and only) year as roommates began. I also used to edit his DyeStat posts' poor grammar in exchange for car rides. Besides his mental instability he's an average person. Well intentioned, yet misdirected, a typical product of a small town Oklahoma school system.

I can't agree with you. Plenty of people do outstanding in school and obtain relevant experience for potential careers while at the same time competing at a very high level in track/xc. The economy is not so bad that one needs to cut out all extra-curricular activities and focus entirely on their career/academics in order to get a decent job. Track and xc practices typically take about three hours a day and it sounds like you would rather see these hours spent doing something career/academic related. But the way I see it, if you don't have three hours a day to do something outside of the career/academic realm then you are really leading an unbalanced and mentally unhealthy life.

I just don't think success depends on the type of single mindedness you're advocating, but then in my view you have a bit of a warped idea of what it means to be successful.

For example, you say your 3:41 collegiate 1500 is "competitive, not great". Now maybe you're playing the false modesty card, but give me a break. Each year between 6000-7000 collegiate men run the 1500 and no more than 20 or 25 will run 3:41.xx. It's not a great collegiate time, it's outstanding. And I really feel bad for you if you can't understand that.

Anyway, your opinion is yours and mine is mine.

Former teammates coming out of the woodwork, scanning his twitter, sparking up religious debate to rattle the atheist with just 2 simple lines in his lengthy post, negative things said, positive things said. And all of this occurred in a period of roughly 2 days. This kid really knows how to engage people's attention. I wager the Brojos should strike the iron while it's hot, and interview the kid. I think this site would literally blow up.

He is just telling it like it is.

Basically, too many whiners about sponsorship or lack thereof.

Want more money being a pro athlete? Become a pro basketball, baseball or football player. Playa

Comix3 wrote:

He is just telling it like it is.

Basically, too many whiners about sponsorship or lack thereof.

Want more money being a pro athlete? Become a pro basketball, baseball or football player. Playa

Is this "whining about not having sponsorship" actually a real phenomenon? I'm racking my brains. I can remember AJ Acosta mentioning not having sponsorship. Maybe he whined - I don't know. I remember Meb K. and Leo Manzano being without sponsors, but I don't particularly remember any whining. Other than that, I don't even know what he's talking about.

DOUCHEHORSE wrote:

I KNOW A FEW PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED IT ALREADY, BUT IF YOU COULD'VE SEEN THE OLD DYESTAT BOARDS, THIS IMMATURE POSTING ON CLAY'S BLOG WOULD MAKE A LOT MORE SENSE.

I remember him as Dark Horse on dyestat back in the day. Always posted in all caps. He seemed incredibly stupid and borderline illiterate.

I run 14:10 for 5k but I have a full-time job and don't worry about running. I just do the training and have fun with running. I don't get nervous before races. I eat a lot of junk food. I do low mileage for a 14:10 guy (60 miles/week). I like to drink beer and bang chicks. I experimented with higher mileage but it did not make me a better runner or person. I just want to be a good person while enjoying running. I am not delusional and realize I won't be going to the Olympics. Other runners can do what they want, I don't judge them. I respect anyone who is training towards a goal. All you need is a goal.

Good post, Flyasa747, 14:10 is much faster than I ever ran and faster than some of my friends, who I would consider fine runners. Props to what you do and for living your own life.

* I'd like to see a sub-elites blog: Why winning local races and improving your PR's is a good thing, even without sponsorship. Friends of mine in college were sub-elites, started their own post-collegiate track club, got into local X-C meets and open track meets and did quite well. They become local celebrities on the road racing circuit and they had fun doing it. I really don't see what's wrong with that life and why if someone lives the sub-elite life they would feel short-changed.

Flyasa747 wrote:

I run 14:10 for 5k but I have a full-time job and don't worry about running. I just do the training and have fun with running. I don't get nervous before races. I eat a lot of junk food. I do low mileage for a 14:10 guy (60 miles/week). I like to drink beer and bang chicks. I experimented with higher mileage but it did not make me a better runner or person. I just want to be a good person while enjoying running. I am not delusional and realize I won't be going to the Olympics. Other runners can do what they want, I don't judge them. I respect anyone who is training towards a goal. All you need is a goal.

That's a good attitude, Flyasa747, but you need to tell the whole story about why you finally resigned yourself to the fact that you will never be one of the great ones and decided you could be happy with that. NO ONE gets to 14:10 without bigger dreams, and no one puts in the work it took to get you there, and keep you there, without disappointment that they'll never be better than an also-ran against more gifted runners. You say you're not delusional now, but I'd bet anything that you once were. I won't call you a liar, either, but anyone running a 14:10 isn't satisfied with drinking beer, "banging chicks," and just being an also-ran. That's too close to 13:59. At 14:10 you're too young to have totally given up on running sub-14. And in the back of your mind, you're still thinking that if you could just get to 13:59, maybe you could get to 13:XX. Come back and tell me you're resigned to being an also-ran when you reach your 40s or 50s like me and have no choice. By the way, I would have killed to be as good as you are right now.

rojo wrote:

hayward102 wrote:

I think it is disappointing that this was the quote of the day.

Why are you disappointed it's QOD. When Time does person of the year, it's not always mother theresa. sometimes it's sadamm hussein.

THe point of QOD is to find interesting quotes whether you agree or disagree. This clealry was a great QOD as the thread iss 6 pages long.

Time Magazine has been predominantly garbage for about the last decade.

It's alright to stimulate discussion on controversial viewpoints, but to bait people with outright falsity and garbage, as was contained in the excerpt Letsrun used for the QOD, is not acceptable. "9/10" people--whether it be elite distance runners or whoever--not having religious affiliation is so absurd that the burden is majorly on this stupid writer for proving it. Pew surveys indicate 85% Christian affiliation in America for many many years. Look all around you at empirical evidence and observations, too. What the guy wrote in the part you excerpted is not controversial--it's blatantly false! That's just for starters. There are other points on why that blogger's views and writing is crud.

There's plenty of interesting stuff Letsrun could provide for QOD. For example, I'm about to watch the Running Away From Nothing movie about the Robertsons, that is sure to be interesting.

If Letsrun wanted to promote discussion and stoke controversy, they could have selected the writings of another blogger, or at least an excerpt from that guy that wasn't so beyond credibility. But since you guys do a great job most of the time, a few misses here and there are tolerable. It just frightens me to think the brojos themselves might actually believe that 10% or less of runners--however way you break it down--identify with no religion.

Thank you for the rant, and proving it's a hot topic to talk about.

The Biw wrote:

All I did was google his name and valid results:

http://www.athlinks.com/race/event?raceid=30811&courseid=45937

30.34 10000m, he beat some legitimate runners.

http://cardinalinvite.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=95&year=2010&do=info

his 14.16, Payton Jordan 3rd heat.

The cheek of him trying to convert his "high altitude time" (more like moderate altitude, being under 5000 ft) to sea level, when the course had ~750ft. of elevation DROP for 10K.

That would be like someone claiming their PR at the St George Marathon and THEN trying to convert it to sea level by knocking off a few more minutes. Are you kidding me?!

To: Who is he kidding, I'm not familiar with the race, but there's a few sub 4 milers he beat in there. Say what you will, but that's a not too shabby of a race in terms of who he beat.

clear thinker wrote:

To: Who is he kidding, I'm not familiar with the race, but there's a few sub 4 milers he beat in there. Say what you will, but that's a not too shabby of a race in terms of who he beat.

So he trains his ass off at high altitude in the middle of July, to kick the butts of teammates who likely were not in shape and jogged it. Then he has the audacity to try and convert the time to sea level, for a course he was free wheeling it downhill. Nope, he's not kidding me.

Considering I was the one first posting his race results, I never said 30.34 was the time he was proclaiming on the 30.05. I simply googled his name and that was one of the faster times that caught my a attention. And linked it. At least do your research. He could be lying, but that's one of his results that caught my attention. However, I'm only giving you a 2/10 for your troll effort. I responded, so you deserve a couple points.

Another point: this general idea that faster runners are obligated to "give something back" to the running community is questionable at best. Why the focus on runners? What about line cooks, or landscapers, or car mechanics, or highway construction crews? Shouldn't they have to give back, too? What is it about running that seems to have permanently entwined it with charity and being a do-gooder? Granted, it's great if somebody wants to do more than fulfill their most basic obligations, and I appreciate it when they do it, but it should not be considered a requirement. And besides, an elite or sub-elite runner might be a mega-philanthropist for all anybody knows, and it just happens that their area of contribution does not involve running.

WEJO what do I get for finding this gem and starting a letsrun frenzy?

Make sure you are on page 6.

I think this says it all about Clay Mayes III.

Elites don't care about slower runners and vice versa. I've been sub-elite and then slow. They're just different worlds.

Run in the back of a race. See if they're thinking about the runners up front.