Robertsons are typical backyard bullies, massive failures in meets of any substance.
They actually posted about being bullied themselves and how big an issue it is in NZ, so I am pretty sure this is not true.
I think he meant that they go out and win events with less than elite level talent and fail to show up on the bigger stage. Not that they actually go out and bully people.
I just thought he came across as one of those creeps who seems to fetishise Kenyan women and culture. Very odd pair, hard to argue that all their "lifestyle choices" have made them better runners or not.
dancing celebration aside, Robertson poorly split it 13:45/14:20 to just hold onto the win.
This is off the back of numerous poor performances from him and his brother. Now, I am a huge fan of them both but they seriously underperform too often, are frequently injured or ill, and then pick up wins at nothing races (like this or Crescent City Classic 10K) and act like they're on top.
I cant remember a good performance from either of them since Jake ran 60:12 2yrs ago at Houston. Outside of that, what has either done that was noteworthy since 2018?
The common theme I see on here is that either an athlete is underperforming and should throw in the towel or is over performing and must be doping. It would be nice to see people just happy for an athlete winning a race, regardless of the prestige. The last couple of years has been difficult for all athletes. Is great to see he's just competing again.
So show me a good performance from one of those twins since 2018, other than the Houston 60:12.
I'll wait
Or were you one of the fans delusionally cheering when Zane went out below WR pace at the LA Marathon?
He did a dance called the Griddy that other athletes have done. It is a weird looking dance if you've never seen it before, sure. But he actually did nothing wrong. The people who criticize a winners celebration are the ones who've never won much or even at all in their lifetime. People say they don't want stoic athletes and then they complain when an athlete shows personality. That's a highly disturbing double standard. Good win for Robertson and nice celebration. The haters can continue taking L's and making posts.
Totally - damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Maybe it would have satisfied the pundits if he had just blasted out the haka - at least this would have satisfied the buttercups upset about "cultural appropriation"
I was struggling to find some high quality Haka footage to show to some of my Japanese students. So I found some footage, edited out some commentary, and boo...
I just thought he came across as one of those creeps who seems to fetishise Kenyan women and culture. Very odd pair, hard to argue that all their "lifestyle choices" have made them better runners or not.
I have just got back from Kenya where I spent 5 weeks recently so so I've heard plenty of things about these guys as I stayed in Iten for a few weeks as well. These guys get mixed reviews because in some ways they are controversial but they've been living in Kenya for the past 12 years so give them credit for that and they do train very hard and Jake has a Kenyan wife and Zane I believe has an Ethiopian wife. They both have similar personal bests from 5000 m to the marathon with times around 13:15, 2731 one hour and 208. (5000, 10000, half marathon, marathon). Zane has a super fast 1500m PB of around 3:34 but Jake never focused on that and has a PB for that distance of around 351. They are both no nonsense characters and do not suffer fools gladly. Kenyans that I met told me that both brothers used to hate it when Kenyan kids used to to call them "muzungu" when they were running by. They are both strong characters and I guess there is nothing wrong with respecting them for that quality.
I just thought he came across as one of those creeps who seems to fetishise Kenyan women and culture. Very odd pair, hard to argue that all their "lifestyle choices" have made them better runners or not.
I have just got back from Kenya where I spent 5 weeks recently so so I've heard plenty of things about these guys as I stayed in Iten for a few weeks as well. These guys get mixed reviews because in some ways they are controversial but they've been living in Kenya for the past 12 years so give them credit for that and they do train very hard and Jake has a Kenyan wife and Zane I believe has an Ethiopian wife. They both have similar personal bests from 5000 m to the marathon with times around 13:15, 2731 one hour and 208. (5000, 10000, half marathon, marathon). Zane has a super fast 1500m PB of around 3:34 but Jake never focused on that and has a PB for that distance of around 351. They are both no nonsense characters and do not suffer fools gladly. Kenyans that I met told me that both brothers used to hate it when Kenyan kids used to to call them "muzungu" when they were running by. They are both strong characters and I guess there is nothing wrong with respecting them for that quality.
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>be a white kid from New Zealand
>move to an African country
>get mad when people notice that I'm white
I think I watched that Vice doc on them and they come off as absolute tools. I think there's a scene where they're shooting hoops and one of them rages and chucks the ball at the other one. That's embarrassing behavior for a 12 year old, much less someone in their mid 20s or whatever. Also, one of them dresses like the classic "w!gger" stereotype. If I were a local I would point and laugh and call them "muzungu" too.
That's something kids do in all of East Africa, although in Zanzibar, the kids were more likely to offer the friendly greeting, "Jambo," instead of some version of mzungu/azungu. In Malawi, the kids also say "azungu, give me ten tambala." It can get pretty irritating, and if I'd been healthy enough to run when I was in the region, I would have gotten it a ton more, so I can see being irritated about it. After all, it would be considered racist in most places. However, you can easily get on their good side with a smile.
That's something kids do in all of East Africa, although in Zanzibar, the kids were more likely to offer the friendly greeting, "Jambo," instead of some version of mzungu/azungu. In Malawi, the kids also say "azungu, give me ten tambala." It can get pretty irritating, and if I'd been healthy enough to run when I was in the region, I would have gotten it a ton more, so I can see being irritated about it. After all, it would be considered racist in most places. However, you can easily get on their good side with a smile.
Too true and I heard the word "muzungu" every day directed at me especially from kids but not only kids also many adults in Kenya addressed me that way.
I think we as people from developed countries have to change our mindset when we go to a country like Kenya or neighbouring countries and acknowledge that the people there use those terminologies not with bad intentions but simply because it is what they grow up to do and what they think is normal even though we may find that embarrassing or inappropriate. The Robertsons are known for their are assertive characters and that is not a bad thing in itself but perhaps they need to learn to chill which I believe I was told they are are doing with more success now to people in Kenya as they have lived in Kenya for so many years and are adapting to the culture.
I just thought he came across as one of those creeps who seems to fetishise Kenyan women and culture. Very odd pair, hard to argue that all their "lifestyle choices" have made them better runners or not.
I have just got back from Kenya where I spent 5 weeks recently so so I've heard plenty of things about these guys as I stayed in Iten for a few weeks as well. These guys get mixed reviews because in some ways they are controversial but they've been living in Kenya for the past 12 years so give them credit for that and they do train very hard and Jake has a Kenyan wife and Zane I believe has an Ethiopian wife. They both have similar personal bests from 5000 m to the marathon with times around 13:15, 2731 one hour and 208. (5000, 10000, half marathon, marathon). Zane has a super fast 1500m PB of around 3:34 but Jake never focused on that and has a PB for that distance of around 351. They are both no nonsense characters and do not suffer fools gladly. Kenyans that I met told me that both brothers used to hate it when Kenyan kids used to to call them "muzungu" when they were running by. They are both strong characters and I guess there is nothing wrong with respecting them for that quality.
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I don't even see how they are controversial at this point.
They have been living and training in East Africa for longer than a lot of Letsrunners have even been in the sport.
They are married and dealing with all of the same issues in housing and transport as anyone else in Kenya/Ethiopia. Full-on expatriates.
As far as I can tell this is all on their own running success, not trust fund money like U.S. runners going to Flagstaff etc until they give up.
You guys are so lame haha, nothing wrong with throwing down the gritty after a win. I feel like most of you guys are too old to get it. Watch some NBA or NFL, people do the gritty all the time.
This is why distance runners shouldn't celebrate. They need to stay in their lanes. Dancing ain't part of the lane.
The only exception to this rule was Kemboi.
I'm gonna translate this to "I'm myself am too awkward to dance in celebration after a race and therefore nobody else should do it either!". Let the man gritty!
I would sometimes see parents telling their little children that I was a mzungu/azungu, and the really little kids would sometimes run away because of the scare stories they'd been told of white people!
I would sometimes see parents telling their little children that I was a mzungu/azungu, and the really little kids would sometimes run away because of the scare stories they'd been told of white people!
I had that experience in Kericho where there are few muzungus. Iten and Eldoret have plenty of white people so we are nothing special there.
I would sometimes see parents telling their little children that I was a mzungu/azungu, and the really little kids would sometimes run away because of the scare stories they'd been told of white people!
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