Julia Lucas pre-race comments about female talent pool

I think if you looked at finisher #10 and finisher #100 in the men's and women's races, and compared the ratios of times you would find there is a larger "gap" in the women's field than in the men's. This is even more the case in D3.

I hope 16x doesn't slam me for this (not that I would really care), but I've observed that men are, on average, naturally more competitive than women. Obviously there are many exceptions and I'm pretty sure Julia is one. Is the difference genetic or environmental or both, I don't know. Girls are more likely, even at the D1 level, to be on a team for social reasons (guys are too, but to a lesser extent). I'd guess a typical D1 guy runs 70-80 mpw during summer training, I would be surprised if most girls are even above 50-60.

Julia is absolutely right. Guys don't crush other guys by 45 seconds even though the race is almost twice as long.

boinked big tuff guy.

actually I know for a fact most girls that are extremely talented don't care about running and only used it to extort money from their athletic program or get into a better school than they could normally get into, or both.

most also don't train very hard over the winter, or summer. I know, the girls are supposedly 'good' at my school. kinda makes me laugh, but not alot.

no.

why don't we wait for her to explain what she means...

There are fewer women who compete in sports at a serious level. There is less depth in women sports. Running is no different than any other sport.

www.gimme-five.com

just cut off your balls etc... wait 2 years and you can compete as a woman.

Hello all. I feel I owe a response to a direct question after being such an avid lurker for so many years. My "less condensed talent pool" remark was referring to the greater spread in women's competition with respect to their male counterparts. My completely introspective, support and credential-less opinion is that this has something to do with the fact that men are born closer to their ideal running shape. That is, the gap between the average and the elite in terms of blood volume/weight-strength ratio/body type/etc. is larger in the female than in the male population. Joe Smith is much closer to Joe runner and Jane Smith to Jane runner. Again, no factual basis to this. If this is the case, the top female athletes have more to "correct" than the men, and more potential for separation.

As for it being easier for a female to do well, that's not quite my point. I do think it is easier for a female runner to make up for a lack of talent with hard work, and I think it's easier for a very talented male to succeed without being as hard a worker.

"Joe Smith is much closer to Joe runner THAN Jane Smith is to Jane runner"

Congrats on a great season. I know the team finish wasn't what you wanted but, then again, that is only evidence that you always put your team over your self. Best of luck.

kartelite wrote:

I'd guess a typical D1 guy runs 70-80 mpw during summer training, I would be surprised if most girls are even above 50-60.

I used to think this way and then my college coach explained it to me as such: If a guy is running 80 MPW @ 7 min miles they are running 560 minutes. If a woman runs 60 mintes @ 9 minute miles they are running 540 minutes, so the gap isn't that big. A lot of the other factors besides mileage could be similar.

Not a great explaination, but I think there is more at stake BETWEEN the genders than just mileage.

Hey Nate, good to see you're still finding time to visit letsrun. By the way, i'm still debating on whether or not I want to attempt another krispy kreme challenge.

Julia, I read somewhere you've done some hitchhiking and that is a very unique hobby. I am affiliated with a hitching website www.digihitch.com, and you're invited to post your hitching experiences and, if you like, be a contributing digihitch member.

Julia Lucas is a great human being.

I'm not so sure I'm following this thread very well, but I love the civility and reason behind what's been posted.

My take on the differences has always been from a perspective of depth. I think the point of this thread has been to define why the depth levels are so different. I've always felt it's sociological. Athletic competition between men seems to be a desired trait whereas between women, possibly less so. I could be completely wrong on this but that's my take.

Julia Lucas,

congratulations on an awesome season. Your progress over the years and your determination (despite pitfalls) has been really inspiring to see.

best of luck in the future,

P.S. you need a wall on facebook so people can write these things. :)

The number of foreign runners who are female coming to the US is much lower them with males so the talent pool is mainly Americans and Canadians and is therefore less condensed.

Great season first of all.

But your statements are just ludicrous. What are you basing any of this on? As you said, no factual basis.

An elite runner, male or female, is elite for 2 reasons, genetics and hard work. Average runners are average for those 2 reasons as well. More hard work wont get him or her to be an elite. There are biological factors that he or she cannot overcome which are BEYOND their control.

There is NO WAY that there are more men just waiting to become elite than there are women. The reason for the spread is that there is far more competition in mens running than in womens.

Which makes your last statement outrageous. Its FAR harder or a man to win his event than for a woman.

Bottom line, the odds are better for the slighty less than elite female runner to place higher than for a male in the same category.

Great season first of all.

But your statements are just ludicrous. What are you basing any of this on? As you said, no factual basis.

An elite runner, male or female, is elite for 2 reasons, genetics and hard work. Average runners are average for those 2 reasons as well. More hard work wont get him or her to be an elite. There are biological factors that he or she cannot overcome which are BEYOND their control.

There is NO WAY that there are more men just waiting to become elite than there are women. The reason for the spread is that there is far more competition in mens running than in womens.

Which makes your last statement outrageous. Its FAR harder for a man to win his event than for a woman.

Bottom line, the odds are better for the slighty less than elite female runner to place higher than for a male in the same category.