| An
open letter to Carl Nuccio:
Don't Be Bitter - You chose
to have a family, pursue an MBA and work 50-60
hours a week. Weldon chose running.
by
Robert Johnson
(Editor's
Note: The following was written in response
to the email
Carl Nuccio's wrote to Runnersworld.com
that ripped the organizers of the New York City
Marathon for doing a poor job of attracting
a strong American field and also ripped LetsRun.com
co-founder Weldon Johnson for being considerd
a favorite for the US title at the race. The
email appeared in Daily Opinion section on 10/30/01)
Dear
Carl,
It's obvious that you are
very bitter - about what - I'm not entirely
sure as your argument seemed to be at times both
illogical and contradictory.
On the one hand, you seem
upset that you didn't get any funding for the
race. You say that would be o.k. if the
race brought in a quality, American field but
in your mind it didn't and thus you should have
received funding. You state that 2:20
will probably place someone in the top 10 for
Americans and with times like that it can't
be considered a US Championship.
Well do you consider the 2000
US Olympic Marathon Trials - which you seemingly
were so pleased to compete in - to be the US
Championships? I guess not as a Mr. Teddy
Mitchell crossed the line in 2:20:33 in 10th
place.
Carl, there's a simple reason
that the race didn't bring in a field loaded
with sub 2:14 Americans - there just haven't
been many Americans running sub 2:14 in recent
years. Heck since 1999, only 6 Americans have
run below 2:14 (Cox, DeHaven, Khannouchi, LeMay,
Mack, Morris). 3 of these 6 (Khannouchi,
Mack, Coogan) are either injured, burned out
or retired and aren't running a
marathon this fall. Thus that left the New York
Marathon with 3 sub 2:14 Americans to recruit
and two of three - Cox and LeMay - are scheduled
to compete. Only Rod DeHaven, who I know was
recruited to run in New York, opted not to as
his wife had a child one month ago.
Thus
since the race couldn't bring in a slew of sub
2:14 Americans simply because they don't exist,
they had to find a way to fill the remaining
13 funded slots. Since there weren't any proven
marathoners to bring in, the race had to use
other criteria - namely success at other running
distances - to make the judgement on whom was
deserving of funding.
For some reason, you seem
to be especially bitter that they chose my brother
with his less than stellar 2:19:52 p.r. for
one of those spots - even though his 10k
p.r. of 28:10 is faster than everyone other
American in the field.
You state, "I have a difficult time understanding how
someone with a 2:19:52 PR (Runner's
World Brief Chat with Weldon Johnson) is considered a pre-favorite."
I guess if you don't understand how someone
with such a slow p.r. could be considered a
favorite, I guess you don't understand distance
running.
Why don't you ask some of the other
pre-favorites like Keith Dowling if he considers
Weldon to be a favorite? I'm 100% positive he
will tell you that he considers Weldon to be
one of the top favorites.
Just because someone hasn't run a fast
marathon that doesn't mean that you can't expect
them to run a fast one. If Haile Gebrselassie
was entered in the race, you wouldn't consider
him to be a favorite?
No, a 10k isn't the same thing as a
marathon but there is often a strong correlation between
success in one and success in the other. On
what other criteria would you suggest the race
use for funding decisions? Success at Tiddilywinks?
My brother ran his 2:19:52 marathon
when his 10k p.r. was 29:49. Since then,
he's dropped his 10k time down by 1:49 to 28:10
and thus one should reasonably expect him to
run much, much faster in the marathon (since
a marathon is after all more than 4 times as
far as a 10k). Notice, I used the
word expect - there's no guarantee that he'll
run faster but it's logical to assume he will.
Weldon is the first person to admit that he
hasn't proven himself at the marathon but remember
he's only run one marathon since improving by
leaps and bounds in the 10k (the 2000 Olympic
Trials which were held in 80 degree whether).
However, the thing I took
most offense too was the way you mocked my brother
for dedicating himself full-time to his running
endeavors. You stated, "I am truly amazed
at how many 2:18 to 2:20 guys think they are
good enough to make a living at running. We
2:20 guys are mediocre at best. I don't expect
Nike to be knocking at my door anytime soon."
You then went on a self-praising
rant about how difficult you had it - trying
to balance your 50-60 hour work week, with graduate
school, a wife and family and 130+ miles per
week. Yes indeed that is a difficult
life. However, as an MBA student who studies
free markets, I'm surprised that you don't seem
to realize that that's the life you CHOSE
for yourself. No one made you decide to
work 50-60 hours per week, attend graduate school
or get married.
Weldon has consciously DECIDED
not to do these things until later in his life
(just as you chose to do them now). He
used to work 50 hours per week and live near
friends and family, but he decided to quit his
job and train full-time to discover if he could
become a truly good runner. Thus, while it was
gracious of you to offer all full-time runners
"an open invitation" to come live
your life for a week, I'm afraid Weldon will
have to decline the invitation. That was
a life he once had (not quite as hectic admittedly)
but CHOSE
to give up so he could devote himself to being
a better runner.
He quit his job right after
earning his 2:19:52 p.r. Now despite what
you write, he didn't believe that he should
be making a living at running being a 2:20 guy.
He knew what all serious runners know
- 2:20 guys are indeed mediocre. He just
wanted to take a chance and see if he could
become much better - good enough, perhaps, to
make a living at running. Now based on the fact
that he's now run 28:10 for 10k and finished
4th at USATF, it is very realistic for him to
expect to run fast in the marathon - one fast
enough for him to earn a decent shoe contract.
Contrary to what you believe, he never expected
to have anything handed to him. He always knew
he'd have to earn it. Moreover, living his life
isn't as easy as you seem to think. Sure there
are a lot less demands than in your life, but
being single-mindedly
focussed on one task, can take it's toil. Do
you think he enjoys having no social life, and
driving 4.5 hours round trip to work out most
weeks?
However, it's the life he's CHOSEN
and all in all, it's a life he enjoys a great
deal as the rewards outweigh the costs. Hopefully, you enjoy the life you've
CHOSEN for yourself. If not, you
can always choose to change things - find a
new job, quit graduate
school or get divorced.
Perhaps if you'd read the
interview that Weldon gave for the New York
City Marathon web-site, you would have
been a little more reluctant to rip him as you'd
have realized that never expected to be given
anything. Please read the excerpt below
or perhaps the
full interview.
You've said that New York is a make-or-break race for
you. How so? Will how you do in the race determine whether you'll attend
business school or otherwise stop being a running bum?
If I run up to
what I'm capable of in New York, I will be able to get a shoe contract. If that
happens, I can continue to train full-time through the next Olympics, and work
on establishing a training group with my coach in Flagstaff. If I don't run
well, I've got to start considering other options. Don't get me wrong -- I love
what I'm doing now, and wouldn't trade my experiences the last few years with my
running or the Web site for anything.
But I've given up a lot to train here in Flagstaff and need to keep seeing
great results. I've basically had no income the last two years, and that
obviously can't continue. I have very little of a social life here in Flagstaff,
as most of my family and friends live on the East Coast. Also, driving an hour
to two-and-a-half hours one way to work out and then turn around and drive home
again by yourself gets kind of tiring after a while. Thus, the more time I
commit and the more successful I become in the sport, the higher I raise the
bar, because I realize I'm giving up a lot at the same time and thus had better
be accomplishing a lot.
To conclude, let me
just say that you don't make any sense. On the
one hand, you complain that the field is loaded
with mediocre 2:20 guys while at the same time
you complain that my brother trains full-time.
Have you ever thought that after Sunday
he no longer will be a 2:20 guy precisely because
he is a full-time runner? He gave up his job,
social life, and admission to one of the top
graduate schools in the country to train full-time
out of the hope that he no longer would be a
2:20 guy. You didn't give those things
up. Don't be bitter. Just go run
another 2:20 or make a similar sacrifice.
You guys just have different priorities. Your obviously
is your career and family, Weldon's is running.
One isn't necessarily better than the
other, but one does lead itself to running faster
times.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Johnson
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