Marc Bloom article about Cheserek

It looks to me that Mr. Bloom went to great lengths to show that this was his opinion only. The way I read it, he was not trying to insult either highschooler. He specifically praised Cheserek for his humility, grace and class. I think that he was trying to highlight the greatness of Cheserek. Since greatness is relative, you can not hold someone high without making all others look lowere.

I agree that logically extending the argument made in the piece further demeans the efforts of Futsum (and every other athlete in the race) by implying that they lost to someone who made less than full effort. I do not think that was Bloom's intent.

I don't think his opinion should effect those runners at all. They all know that they lost the race. Does it really matter whether they lost to someone at 100% effort or 92% effort?

Bloom's article, while not intentionally insulting to either runner comes off that way. Let's not bash Bloom; I believe he was intending to praise Cheserek by implying that he put friendship over competition. However, the very idea is, in fact, insulting to both Cheserek and Futsum. It is not a display of friendship to keep a race close, instead of a blowout. That is a display of gross cowardice. Does anyone really believe cheserek could've simply run away from Futsum? Maybe, if he had gone for the record, he would've won by five or ten seconds, instead of less than one. However, the idea that Cheserek would've simply run away with the title is denigrating to Futsum. Come on; give the guy some respect. He was undefeated all year until he ran against Cheserek. He's no slouch. Bloom makes it sound like Cheserek is a god amongst men. That is not completely true. I am excited to see these two great warriors battle it out on the track this year. I think Futsum could give him a run for his money (yes, Marc Bloom, even in a fast, non-tactical race).

This guy is an idiot. The idea that Cheserek could easily beat Futsum is as ridiculous as him thinking that the Manlius girls team is the best high school sports program in the country.

The article is completely fictional and biased from a guy who has a bit of a crush on Cheserek. Sure, Cheserek defeated Futsum in an epic battle and has raced great all year but hasn't Futsum as well. The kid ran 14:48 on Lavern Gibson (NCAA National course) breaking a record that has stood the test of greats such as Michael Fout, who destroyed the best FL field to date. I agree, Cheserek is better, for now, and was the winner of the race that was run, but to tarnish both of these athletes names based of a hunch is just pathetic. Oh and for those of you wondering who the best high school sports program is, look at the Carmel IN, girls swim team. 25 straight state championships with their girls consistently swimming at the Olympic Trials and National Grand Prix. Nothing against the Manlius girls, they are dominant and very good, but don't even touch what the Carmel girls are.

I've known Marc for over forty years. We both attended Sheepshead Bay High School, although he's a few years older than I am. Marc has been covering high school track and cross country for close to 45 years, beginning as a "stringer" for the NY Times. Without any exaggeration, he has devoted over 50,000 hours of his life to writing on and advancing the cause of high school long distance running. I'm certain he has witnessed more high school cross country races than anyone alive. He does what he does for the love of the sport and the love of young people devoted to it: I have witnessed both first-hand. As he reports in his article, he has gotten to know Cheserek because they both live in New Jersey. He has watched Cheserek not only race, but practice. He has spoken to him at some length and made judgments about what he takes to be his exemplary character. In his article, he makes no claim to know anything. He has an intuition about what transpired in the race. This intuition is not predicated upon thin air, but long experience. I have no idea if what Marc suggests is right. But if anyone has earned the right to make such judgments, he has. And the very fact that it is "his" judgment makes me take it seriously.

SDW

To those of you trying to defend Marc Bloom and this article because he has covered high school cross country for a long time, or that he knows Cheserek or that he was trying to compliment him, the bottom line is he wrote an insulting article. By supposedly trying to compliment Cheserek, he very much insulted him and made accusations on a public forum. To accuse a high school kid of tanking a race with an ill-informed hunch is just classless. To also insult another runner that is one of the best the country has ever seen by implying that Cheserek toyed with him is also classless. Double classless article and I don't care what his intention was or how much he supposedly knows, the article was wrong.

Montesquieu wrote:

I've known Marc for over forty years.... I have no idea if what Marc suggests is right. But if anyone has earned the right to make such judgments, he has. And the very fact that it is "his" judgment makes me take it seriously.

SDW

Marc Bloom has certainly been very involved for a long time. I suspect that many people commenting on this have also put more than a few hours into XC over the years... that is exactly why they care. I think that Marc Bloom owes Futsum Zeinasellasie an apology, and I agree with a poster above that MB is showing signs of not staying in touch with XC outside his area. Otherwise, Futsum's ability would not have surprised him.

In my own experience, every time I ever entered a race, once that gun went off, I had no friends. It was always a "take no prisoners" mindset. I don't believe that any serious runner will run as easily as possible because they don't want to hurt their best friend's feelings.

Who knows. According to this article after the World Championships in 2003 Steeple Chase, Shaheen said:

"I let Kamboi catch up with me just to prove that I could beat him."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5327/is_291/ai_n29030862/

(Shaheen had been way out in front for the first 2000m then either "slowed down" like he said or Kemboi caught up. You can watch the race on youtube)

The Waterboy wrote:

Who knows. According to this article after the World Championships in 2003 Steeple Chase, Shaheen said:

"I let Kamboi catch up with me just to prove that I could beat him."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5327/is_291/ai_n29030862/

(Shaheen had been way out in front for the first 2000m then either "slowed down" like he said or Kemboi caught up. You can watch the race on youtube)

That story is different than what Bloom is suggesting, that Cheserek purposely ran slow in the beginning because he didn't want to show up his new friend of 3 whole days by beating him by a lot.

Run Like A Child

I stood on a beach under a perfect sky,

And though I tried,

I could find no imperfection.

Overwhelmed by the beauty,

I broke into a run

FogRunner

you should write a book.