Dean Karnazes. . Why the bad rap?

Life Time Runner wrote:

Are you for real?

DK is the Michael Jordan of distance running.

Are you!?!? Maybe your post was snark, or bait, but just in case here's my response:

Your post was somewhat persuasive, until that little gem. Here's a better simile: Dean is the PT Barnum of distance running.

Someone posted the other day:

"DK is the Richard Simmons of running."

That is awesome!

Lol.

Dean is to a runner

what America is to the world

Mr. Karnazes has written a couple interesting books.

Mr. Rauschenberg also has written a couple of books but those were not interesting.

Becasue he is marketed as one of the best ultra runners in the world when he is not

It's too bad Paula Radcliffe lives in Monaco--she'd be the perfect American hero. Not only did she trounce the Russians, she did it while all of the Russians were doped to the gills.

America demands superhuman performance of its heroes, and this gal has got it. Not to mention, she's really good at threatening lawsuits, which is another defining trait of Americans.

she deserves an honorary passport

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Becasue he is marketed as one of the best ultra runners in the world when he is not

What about the time when he qualified for the US OT Trials through a wild card, which is basically unprecedented for an ultra runner.

You can badmouth all you want, but he has done more for running than any other American-born runner, and a lot more than Meb or Mo.

He hasn't done jack squat for anyone other than Dean Karnazes. How does his personal promotion even help the 'sport' of ultrarunning, much less track and field???

DeanFan wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Becasue he is marketed as one of the best ultra runners in the world when he is not

What about the time when he qualified for the US OT Trials through a wild card, which is basically unprecedented for an ultra runner.

Never happened. He's not fast enough. Max King and Michael Wardian have both qualified, if you like ultra runners.

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

Max King and Michael Wardian have both qualified, if you like ultra runners.

Who?

Everyone has a point on the falsified accomplishments, slow speed, etc., but there is something deeper to the Dean hatred that most people on this board will not admit.

To preface, I am not a Dean supporter. If I met the guy, I probably would not want to hang out and have a beer.

That being said, letsrun posters are social pariahs. Many of them think that, based solely on their running achievements and nothing else, two things should happen. First, the media should beat down their door and offer instant fame and fortune. Second, members of the opposite sex should flock to them. Nobody is willing to face the core truth that is hard to face: social attention does not stem solely from athletic achievement in running. You have to actually self-promote, and people are scared of that.

People rarely want to face the fact that the only thing holding them back from great success is putting themselves out there and risking rejection and alienation. It is easier to justify their own fears by tearing down those who are successful at self-promotion. Thus, you see things like the "nice guy vs. jerk" myth with dating, or the "brown-noser vs. hard worker" myth in the corporate world, or the "friend of the hiring manager vs. qualified applicant" myth in job searches. Everyone wants to live in a fantasy world where success directly correlates to hard work, but that is rarely the case - the subjective judgment of others is the cruel equalizer in society, and this is the piece that is hardest to master.

It is also important to consider that, from a media and publication standpoint, Dean's story sells a lot better than others. Whether Dean's story is truth or fiction, the average couch potato is more likely to identify with the story of an average drunk guy who leaves a bar during his 30th birthday and decides on a whim to run 30 miles through the night than a story of an Olympic athlete who trains consistently for years while shunning the temptations of the modern world.

You may claim that Dean's lies about his achievements upset you. However, are you more upset about the fact that he lied, or about the recognition that you wish you could have been the one to do so but Dean beat you to the punch? The jealousy and hatred of others is rarely altruistic; instead, it reveals more about the character of the jealous person than it does about the character of the object of their scorn or ridicule.

TLDR: people with no social skills are jealous of successful self-promoters, and seek to tear them down instead of facing their own fear and anxiety of social interaction.

DeanFan wrote:

DontFeedTheTroll wrote:

Max King and Michael Wardian have both qualified, if you like ultra runners.

Who?

Next time just rent a billboard to proclaim your ignorance, it would save the rest of us a few minutes figuring out you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground.

To the guy who said Dean is the Michael Jordan of running: Ed Ettinghausen ran 40 100 mile races in a year including Badwater. Does that make him the Steph Curry of running?

(Hint: the answer is no. Ed is a great guy but even he wouldn't claim to be one of the greatest runners alive. The only comparison of MJ to Dean is that they are both really good at marketing themselves)

DeanFan wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Becasue he is marketed as one of the best ultra runners in the world when he is not

What about the time when he qualified for the US OT Trials through a wild card, which is basically unprecedented for an ultra runner.

You can badmouth all you want, but he has done more for running than any other American-born runner, and a lot more than Meb or Mo.

The aim of the trials uis to qualify for the Olympics not qualify for the trials.

Who here has heard of the No 1 Ultra runner in America o the World.

I haven't but for some reason I've heard of this guy

I think that mr.Dorritos got to the bottom of it. It is like with good looking athletes. Of course people and advertisers prefer them. It is what the world is.

The attention paid to Karnazes is not necessarily good for the sport. A few years ago, he was trying to break some treadmill record in Manhattan in the windows at ABC News studio, which is about a half-mile from where I live It may have been a 24 or 48-hour record. I can't remember which...but he didn't get it.

And nobody cared anyway. I passed the window on a way to a date, and a few hours later on the way back. On neither occasion did anyone stop and watch what Karnazes was up to. Nobody cared.

John Paul wrote:

Here's a guy who gets running on CNN and the front page of the newspaper and everyone bashes him because he's the wrong kind of runner. Most would say any publicity is good publicity. Can you even name the Kenyan of the month that is getting Nike dollars? If more people want to make a living running then America needs to know their names. OK, he's not going to win any Olympic medals, but he has genetic gifts most of us can only dream of. Stop bashing his success and help promote the sport.

He's inspired so many people throughout his career that I think his achievements need to be weighed holistically. Yeah, he's not the fastest guy out there, but he's inspiring people to live their best lives.

He got chicked by Pam Smith & talked her down, but she’s much better than him.