Super Duper Man - although sarcastic, you are spot on.
My father pushed me from a young age, and while at times I enjoyed running, he would consistently snatch any joy I received from it away - living vicariously and in a selfish way through his kid.
I was a very good national high school level performer and a capable Division 1 runner, but frankly at the end of college I was fed up with running and I felt used throughout the entire process. My father only wanted to make sure he didn't have to contribute or pay for college - in that he was successful - and his social experiment in that sense worked. But I have no relationship with him today....there's just nothing I can relate to with him and his narcissism is an eternal roadblock - even in the last stages of his life.
Thank goodness I received my education (on my own) and from that perspective running was very helpful. But it has taken many years to maturely filter the good from the bad.
The shame of it all is that I wonder what I would have done had I come to running on my own....perhaps it could have been an enjoyable pursuit if not conducted in fear or desperation (there was physical punishment and abuse when I did not run well). I did have talent - certainly not Alan Webb talent but not shabby either - won some big meets and placed high in others. But I hardly ever enjoyed it - felt like I was 50 years old after running my father's gauntlet.
I find myself reading stories about Sean O'Hair (the golfer with an abusive father) and connecting with it in a way that most cannot fathom. I look for his scores in the Monday sports section consistently, and silently cheer him on.
Please, I don't mean to suggest or know that this young athlete from New Jersey has suffered the same fate as I did - I simply don't know the facts - and her parents may be really kind and nice people - but the whole situation is susceptible to a pattern of conduct not in a child's best interest, even if some intentions are good. I wish this young athlete well as she develops her own identity.
My own kids don't run. They do what makes them happy, and I am clearly guilty of spoiling them (cars, all college expenses paid, lots of extra spending money, vacations with their friends). But they are incomparably great students and fun and beautiful kids - so I am more than happy to err on the side of spoiling, even though I know it is an over-reaction to my past.