I just read his book and thought it was pretty cool, but i've hard a few posters think he's an ass who gets too much glory.
i do understand that the events he runs are not contested as widely as other mainstream running events, but even then, he's not doing it for fame(even though he did write a book which sold quite well).
is there a general consensus about him among runners (as opposed to the general non-running public?
what a new and wonderful idea for a thread on the letsrun messageboard!
I am unfamiliar with who Dean Karnazes is. Can you please give me a list of the highly competitive races that he has won?
traxor wrote:
I am unfamiliar with who Dean Karnazes is. Can you please give me a list of the highly competitive races that he has won?
How about a list of highly competitive races you have run?
and won.
Badwater
Sonny Crockett wrote:
traxor wrote:I am unfamiliar with who Dean Karnazes is. Can you please give me a list of the highly competitive races that he has won?
How about a list of highly competitive races you have run?
um, good arguement, moron, but "traxor" hasnt written a book, he does not do speaking engagements, he does not revel in the title "worlds fittest man." Dean K does do all of these things so it is proper to ask what has he done to earn the right to do these things and actually have an audience.
answer: Dean hasnt done anything many many people on this board couldnt do. People on this board just dont want to do the stupid, uncompetitive, boring things that Dean K does. What Dean has done to earn his audience is market himself extremely well. He should actually write a book about Marketing. I might buy that one because he is truely an expert on that subject.
I appreciate the gesture sp!kes, but I actually did write a book (nationally acclaimed) and do speaking engagements (internationally). However, I've never won Badwater. I took second to Dean.
Maybe I am reading this wrong, but there really seems to be a lot of jealousy on this message board. There are far too many negative, spiteful, even hateful comments made. Whether they are made by one or one thousand people, I don't know. Whether they are made by world champion runners or over-weight, under-talented wannabes, I don't know.
I do know that our sport is underappreciated, that it has lost its appeal to the mainstream public, and that there are some amazing things being accomplished by a variety of runners. Local 5K racers are overcoming tough life situations while the likes of Alan Webb are battling it out with the best in the world.
And when someone like Dean Karnazes brings a huge amount of much-needed attention to running he is bashed because he participates in a kind of running that most of you cannot even begin to understand, let alone compete in. Just like a typical marathon or local 5K, there are a lot of people participating in ultras with little or no talent. What they do have, though, is an extremely high pain tolerance and a level of mental toughnss that many posters on this board will likely never achieve.
Consider a couple of questions before you cast the next stone:
What have you done to enhance the image of running in your own community, let alone around the world as Karnazes has.
When was the last time you strapped on a pair of shoes and started moving your feet for twenty-four or more hours - Until you do, you have insufficient knowledge to be bashing Karnazes.
"answer: Dean hasnt done anything many many people on this board couldnt do"
I don't think I could keep in more or less constant motion for 24 hours. Even at 10:00 pace. Pretty sure I'd have trouble running 26.2 miles a day every day for 50 days...finishing it with a 3:00:30 at NYC. Pretty sure most of the people on this board couldn't even come close. A lot couldn't even push out one 3:00:30.
Alan
sp!kes wrote:
Dean hasnt done anything many many people on this board couldnt do. People on this board just dont want to do the stupid, uncompetitive, boring things that Dean K does
LOL.....Yeah,I could do it, but I don't want to, so there. Fantastic comeback.......if you're 12.
I have recently started to read Letsrun. I have enjoyed getting to know it thus far. Without getting into the moralities of freedom of expression, there seems to be an issue of a conflictual and evolving identity. Which is energetic, interesting and multifaceted compared to what happens in printed media, bound by stiffer parameters. And intensified, with respect to pre-web era publishing by the fact that readers are potential and likely contributors on the message board. This would not have been an issue in non-interactive times. But now the volume of information generated by the readership could in theory surpass the volume of information generated by the publisher. All in the same "printed" space.
So I don't know if it is jealousy as much as people with a common-name interest - running - which is undergoing a major second-phase growth and possible re-definition, finding out if they can be reasonable "thought-mates." Personally I treasure frank discussion and can endure hard criticism. Others could be fragile.
By chance, I read Karnazes' book. I would not be surprised if beyond the sports and outdoors categories, it was placed on the self-help shelf in some bookstores.
People think they become runners. I would like to suggest that (not considering the obvious exceptions) we humans always were and are runners (as opposed to lacrosse studs or ballet primadonnas and other learned movement practitioners.) Everything else, competition, local, regional or international, training, solo feats, guiness records, charity, fundraisers and what not, these are just abstractions. Running itslef is not an abstraction. We are born with it inside.
Not that what I learn should be used as a benchmark, but simply stated, I have learned useful lessons from several and different running humans as I suspect are to be found on Letsrun. Including the juvenile or juvenile wannabees who as thread-said, practice, as threadly-defined, trolling.
traxor, what is your name, and what book did you write?
I wrote this title:
http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14290.html
I don't know how much press it would get among the letsrun crowd, but about 10% of the population really likes it. I spoke in the Congo, Niger, Birmingham, and other cities with a likeminded population.
The book details my struggle as a black man in the white dominated sport of ultrarunning.
the point could be wrote:
I have recently started to read Letsrun. I have enjoyed getting to know it thus far. Without getting into the moralities of freedom of expression, there seems to be an issue of a conflictual and evolving identity. Which is energetic, interesting and multifaceted compared to what happens in printed media, bound by stiffer parameters. And intensified, with respect to pre-web era publishing by the fact that readers are potential and likely contributors on the message board. This would not have been an issue in non-interactive times. But now the volume of information generated by the readership could in theory surpass the volume of information generated by the publisher. All in the same "printed" space.
So I don't know if it is jealousy as much as people with a common-name interest - running - which is undergoing a major second-phase growth and possible re-definition, finding out if they can be reasonable "thought-mates." Personally I treasure frank discussion and can endure hard criticism. Others could be fragile.
By chance, I read Karnazes' book. I would not be surprised if beyond the sports and outdoors categories, it was placed on the self-help shelf in some bookstores.
People think they become runners. I would like to suggest that (not considering the obvious exceptions) we humans always were and are runners (as opposed to lacrosse studs or ballet primadonnas and other learned movement practitioners.) Everything else, competition, local, regional or international, training, solo feats, guiness records, charity, fundraisers and what not, these are just abstractions. Running itslef is not an abstraction. We are born with it inside.
Not that what I learn should be used as a benchmark, but simply stated, I have learned useful lessons from several and different running humans as I suspect are to be found on Letsrun. Including the juvenile or juvenile wannabees who as thread-said, practice, as threadly-defined, trolling.
wha? Hey, the intellectual wanna be convention is starting in 5 minutes, you better get going!
Green Eyed Monster wrote:
sp!kes wrote:Dean hasnt done anything many many people on this board couldnt do. People on this board just dont want to do the stupid, uncompetitive, boring things that Dean K does
LOL.....Yeah,I could do it, but I don't want to, so there. Fantastic comeback.......if you're 12.
spikes is right, you are wrong. There are many division 1 runners on this message board who could ALL do what Dean has done if they wanted to compete against nobody and run in the middle of the night... but they want to compete in real events and they want to be good so they dont run for 24 hours straight and do stupid stuff like that.
And Div 1 runners arent the only ones who could do what Dean has done, just about any collegiate or halfway serious runner could do what Dean has done.
Fat A$$es like youself probably cant.
traxor wrote:
I appreciate the gesture sp!kes, but I actually did write a book (nationally acclaimed) and do speaking engagements (internationally). However, I've never won Badwater. I took second to Dean.
Not unless your name is Ferg Hawke you didn't.
FLa runr wrote:
wha? Hey, the intellectual wanna be convention is starting in 5 minutes, you better get going![/quote]
sticks and stones may brake my bones but words will never hurt me. Thanks for reading.
FLa runr wrote:
There are many division 1 runners on this message board who could ALL do what Dean has done if they wanted to compete against nobody and run in the middle of the night... but they want to compete in real events and they want to be good so they dont run for 24 hours straight and do stupid stuff like that.
And Div 1 runners arent the only ones who could do what Dean has done, just about any collegiate or halfway serious runner could do what Dean has done.
Fat A$$es like youself probably cant.
LOL,I know what you are, but what am I? Geez, you precocious little tykes.
What constitutes a "real" event? I'd say an ultra-marathon is just as "real" as a 10K. It's certainly not imaginary, now is it? What is the "real" standard? Is the 200 half as real as the 400? Or since you seem to be of the sentiment that longer isn't real, maybe the 200 is twice as real as the 400. Or maybe reality starts somewhere in the middle and gets more unreal in either direction.
Don't be so distance-centric, silly boy. We can all be a Dean K in one way or another. Hang in there, you'll find your special niche. Maybe you'll even get your name in RW some day. You can do it, I know you can.
Green Eyed Monster wrote:
LOL,I know what you are, but what am I? Geez, you precocious little tykes.
What constitutes a "real" event? I'd say an ultra-marathon is just as "real" as a 10K. It's certainly not imaginary, now is it? What is the "real" standard? Is the 200 half as real as the 400? Or since you seem to be of the sentiment that longer isn't real, maybe the 200 is twice as real as the 400. Or maybe reality starts somewhere in the middle and gets more unreal in either direction.
Don't be so distance-centric, silly boy. We can all be a Dean K in one way or another. Hang in there, you'll find your special niche. Maybe you'll even get your name in RW some day. You can do it, I know you can.
another ultra-guy got his panties in a wad... see any of the other 500 threads on ultra marathons.