Let Us Introduce You To The 21 Yr Old Robertson Twins of NZ - Been Living In Kenya For 4 Yrs Training To Be World's Best

"Jake fell over at about the 4km mark and lost about 20 places immediately. He also hurt his calf in the fall.

He still finished one place behind Ben St Lawrence who beat Solinsky and Tegenkamp last week in running 13.10 for 5km in Melbourne."

Kiwi Logic: He just ran 13:11 for 5000m will injured.

Someone could explain to you why they're celebrated rather than pitied but I doubt you could understand the explanation. Saying that they "have no lives," if you truly believe that, suggests that you have a very restricted idea of what constitutes a "life."

Some of us think they're having a tremendous life because they're doing what they want rather than what others think they should do, that they have as much or more education right now as most people have, and can always get a degree somewhere down the road if that's what they want.

you don't say wrote:

The comma was placed their just for you. Your one uptight, immature, little, language klown.

You're so angry!

Absolutely. The two brothers are truly experiencing another culture, the way that culture actually lives. Too many people are afraid to do something like the two brothers. People who think they need to pity the brothers don't have a clue about the World.These people think a place like Kenya is not safe. The people are dangerous. The country is poor and dirty. The brothers have learned something that will be valuable to them the rest of their lives, regardless of what the brother decide to do with their lives. One major lesson is, returning acts of kindness to others, like the Kenyan's have given them.

HRE wrote: Someone could explain to you why they're celebrated rather than pitied but I doubt you could understand the explanation. Saying that they "have no lives," if you truly believe that, suggests that you have a very restricted idea of what constitutes a "life."

Some of us think they're having a tremendous life because they're doing what they want rather than what others think they should do, that they have as much or more education right now as most people have, and can always get a degree somewhere down the road if that's what they want.

THEY HAVE NOT RUN SUB 13:20 LIKE THEY CLAIM.

Timekeeper wrote:i don't think THEY HAVE NOT RUN SUB 13:20 LIKE THEY CLAIM.

^fixed

I pity these boys. I remember another young New Zealander, who, generations ago, worked a crappy job in an office while putting everything he had into running. He only ended up winning 3 Olympic golds, but Olympic medals can't feed a family. After his running career, he tried to go to the States to get an education, but as everyone knows, if you don't go to college at age 18, you're not allowed to ever go.

That runner's name was Peter Snell, and when he was rejected from a college in the States (as is required, since, again, he was older than 18 when he applied), he was unable to find work. He ended up starving to death, I believe, because, again, it's impossible to pursue an education or indeed have any kind of semblance of a life if you put a lot into running well into your 20s.

They could always coach after their running days are over. They moved to rural Kenya with no money, contacts or a place to stay, and they say they prefer the simple life. So why the hate?

Is New Zealand now full of morons? Those boys have not run sub 13:20. Times are recorded and reported. Making up times is a slap in the face to those who have run those times and to NZ's fine distance running tradition. The fire-storm of flack they have received for being in Kenya could have been avoided if they were honest about their times in that interview.

There is nothing worse than a moron, clueless, American telling people from other countries what they should, and shouldn't, care about.

craigmac4h wrote:

I pity these boys. I remember another young New Zealander, who, generations ago, worked a crappy job in an office while putting everything he had into running. He only ended up winning 3 Olympic golds, but Olympic medals can't feed a family. After his running career, he tried to go to the States to get an education, but as everyone knows, if you don't go to college at age 18, you're not allowed to ever go.

That runner's name was Peter Snell, and when he was rejected from a college in the States (as is required, since, again, he was older than 18 when he applied), he was unable to find work. He ended up starving to death, I believe, because, again, it's impossible to pursue an education or indeed have any kind of semblance of a life if you put a lot into running well into your 20s.

I had no idea what really happened to Snell so I looked it up. For those interested, this is from wikipedia:

"Snell worked for a tobacco company before moving to the United States of America in 1971 to further his education. He gained a B.S. in Human Performance from the University of California, Davis, and then a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology. He joined University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as a research fellow in 1981. He is Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and also Director of their Human Performance Center. A member of the American College of Sports Medicine, Snell was honoured in 1999 as an Inaugural Inductee, International Scholar, into the Athlete Hall of Fame, University of Rhode Island.

Adopting a new sport, Snell become an active orienteer and won his category, men aged 65 and older, in the 2003 United States Orienteering Championship.[3] He is a past president of the North Texas Orienteering Association and a member of the United States Orienteering Federation."

Pretty cool I think

They have lied about their times. Now they need to lie about their age.

Suggesting that these guys do not have an education now, after spending four years living in a culture so different from their own shows an inability to distinguish between and education and a degree.

Unfortunately, anyone can edit wikipedia, and someone apparently vandalized Snell's page. I'm with Coach D here. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET AN ADVANCED DEGREE IF YOU DO NOT START AT 18. Snell starved to death, everyone knows this. A 13:30 runner who dares try to get faster is wasting precious hours that could be spent productively moving files in an office building and attacking superior athletes anonymously on letsrun.

Most of the beef directed towards them is a result of a combination of arrogance and downright deception displayed in the interview. Accepting charity from nice people in developing nations seems wrong also. Had the twins been honest, humble, and self-sufficient in the interview, the responses to their lifestyle choice would have been more positive.

Derpa derp wrote: What kind of dipshit gets a PhD in linguistics?

Hiya, dwerpa. You have no clue what the study of linguistics is? Doesn't MIT give you a hint; Technology?

Linguists are the people that help develop Natural Language Processing tools. Think speak recognition, and sentence processing. You ask a question and a computer tries to figure out how to provide the best answer.

NZerthanthou wrote:

Most of the beef directed towards them is a result of a combination of arrogance and downright deception displayed in the interview. Accepting charity from nice people in developing nations seems wrong also. Had the twins been honest, humble, and self-sufficient in the interview, the responses to their lifestyle choice would have been more positive.

Sounds like you have never crashed at a friend's house, or eaten free food at a party. If you have been one-hundred percent self-sufficient your entire life, then your life has been a very sad one.

"Every man dies, not every man really lives"

-Braveheart

I do admire these young men. Forget about the times, etc, they are taking the road much less travelled by, and that is very cool and they will most definitely have a lifetime of memories and internal happiness for going at something most would cringe at and not have the balls or fortitude to do. Maybe this is the pinnacle of their fitness and they never run on the "big" stage, its still pretty f***ing cool people-

yeah good luck to them and i take my hat off to doing something so different and trying to be great!