American Distance Running Needs More Diversity

Forgot merielle hall

9[88 wrote:

I think if more minorities lived in suburban or rural areas rather than the urban areas where they tend to reside, there would be more minority distance runners.

Well now, isn't that a novel idea? If only more minorities had the chance to get out of the city. Think long and hard.....and tell me why more minorities don't already live in the suburbs or rural areas? Could it be because of the systemic racism and other garbage those folk have to put up with because of the entrenched "majority" ethnicity in this country? Lot's of complicated problems,

Boilerplaterer wrote:

Hank Hill wrote:

You're right. I should have posted my concerns on a running website.

You should drop your crybaby attitude revealed in your whining about the "current system" being "a program to help suburban white males reach their potential." But you didn't acknowledge the points rebutting your accusation.

You're right. I'm sick of white males being kept down by the system. You're a smart, thoughtful guy and I thank you for enlightening me. Have a nice day

That "male feminist" thing doesn't seem to be working for you.

You might as well say that the sprint events are not sufficiently diversified as there are only isolated examples of world-class white Americans.

Most Americans of African descent have ancestors from coastal regions of Africa, which also goes for the West Indies (Trinidad, Jamaica, for example). That is a population that predominantly has traits associated with speed and explosive power, which is why we see African-American dominance of speed events, and on the world scene.

It's also why we don't see great African American or West Indian distance runners. We do see distance runners, but not sprinters with an Hispanic background (Alberto Salazar, Tony Sandoval, from an earlier era), again because of a population that generally has traits associated with success at longer event than sprinting.

Compared to most sports the entry level requirements for distance running are pretty low, and in England post WWII it had more than it's share of "working-class heroes."

African teams need to be have more Diversity. Tire of only see one nationality, affirmative action is needed now!

Herewegoagain! wrote:

9[88 wrote:

I think if more minorities lived in suburban or rural areas rather than the urban areas where they tend to reside, there would be more minority distance runners.

Well now, isn't that a novel idea? If only more minorities had the chance to get out of the city. Think long and hard.....and tell me why more minorities don't already live in the suburbs or rural areas? Could it be because of the systemic racism and other garbage those folk have to put up with because of the entrenched "majority" ethnicity in this country? Lot's of complicated problems,

Well long before the running boom blacks tended to reside in rural areas in the US south. Then came the great migrations to the urban industrial US north, midwest and west.

As for the "entrenched 'majority'" keeping the minorities down, whites are becoming a minority majority, haven't you noticed? And simply look at recent east and south Asian immigrants and you don't see evidence of much oppression (except via "Affirmative Action"). Rather, some of these folks and some whites are getting kept out of top universities in favor of other minorities. But don't worry, the Democrats, while keeping east and south Asians from top schools, will get them jobs at the Post Office. No one is keeping black people down more than black people. Evidence for this is the ~70% out-of-wedlock birth rate on top of an enormous rate of abortion. Of course some white people, Margaret Sanger, for example, do deserve blame for that.

Hank Hill wrote:

Boilerplaterer wrote:

You should drop your crybaby attitude revealed in your whining about the "current system" being "a program to help suburban white males reach their potential." But you didn't acknowledge the points rebutting your accusation.

You're right. I'm sick of white males being kept down by the system. You're a smart, thoughtful guy and I thank you for enlightening me. Have a nice day

So let's complain about the legacy of long ago discrimination but ridicule those trying to stop current discrimination. Got it.

Hank Hill wrote:

You're right. I'm sick of white males being kept down by the system. You're a smart, thoughtful guy and I thank you for enlightening me. Have a nice day

I know of lots of Asian who went to extra classes for tutoring on weekends who are quite pissed that they get the shaft for school admissions in favor of other minorities. But acknowledging them wouldn't agree with your whining, would it?

And what are you doing about lack of representation by non-blacks in the sprints? It's of no concern to me, but you claim that participation should reflect the diversity in this country, don't you?

Hank Hill wrote:

American distance running is largely a suburban, white sport, much like American soccer. USTAF needs to focus more effort on diversifying distance running at the youth level if we ever hope to be a serious competitor on the world stage. (Please skip isolated examples of white American runners i.e. Jager, Rupp etc) - A country as diverse as the US should reflect that diversity in its distance running.

Yeah, the OP is right. The USTAF and high school coaches need to stop stereotyping young muscle bound explosive Afro-American black males as sprinter types. Imagine if Christian Coleman's teacher's had encouraged him into distance running? First sub 2 hour Marathoner would likely be American this year.

Possibly the worst troll attempt I've ever seen on this message board.

Good job at getting responses, though.

7/10 for all the responses

-5 gazillion /10 for the original post

Justice should be blind but not dumb wrote:

Hank Hill wrote:

You're right. I'm sick of white males being kept down by the system. You're a smart, thoughtful guy and I thank you for enlightening me. Have a nice day

So let's complain about the legacy of long ago discrimination but ridicule those trying to stop current discrimination. Got it.

Let me re-write that for greater clarity:

So let's complain about the legacy of long ago discrimination, now ILLEGAL, but ridicule those trying to stop LEGAL current discrimination. Got it.

Troll.

Running is diverse. If sprinting and distance aren't, then that's the consequence of preference. Neither "needs" anything.

And actually- if there was a youth sport that can be inexpensive and even free it's distance running.

FInd a park somewhere, get some local runners (maybe teachers who know how to work with kids) and have a program.

I actually helped at one a couple times.

The issie I saw was that there's only so much running you can do with young kids. We did stretching and plyos, but filling time was tough.

I HAVE found this- as a teacher- the kids in my high school who complain the most about the Gym Class Mile and any other form of exercise that forces them to actually use energy are the poorer kids who usually come to the high school in poor physical condition.

It's a consequence of the genetic traits found in different populations...

very telling wrote:

The NBA needs more diversity.

They’re not very diverse at all. They’re all so tall.

Besides complaining here, what are YOU actually doing to create more diversity in distance running? Are YOU actively visiting inner city minority neighborhoods promoting running as a viable sport for these kids? If your answer is no, then beat it, that will make you a hypocrite. If your answer is yes, then welcome to the club, I’ve been trying for at least 2 decades, but when it’s time choose the kids with talent end up choosing a more lucrative sport for their future. Face it, it’s a frustrating fact of our sport.

Donyiyo wrote:

Besides complaining here, what are YOU actually doing to create more diversity in distance running? Are YOU actively visiting inner city minority neighborhoods promoting running as a viable sport for these kids? If your answer is no, then beat it, that will make you a hypocrite. If your answer is yes, then welcome to the club, I’ve been trying for at least 2 decades, but when it’s time choose, the kids with talent end up choosing a more lucrative sport for their future. Face it, it’s a frustrating fact of our sport.

Forgot the (,) after when it’s time to choose.

Hank Hill wrote:

American distance running is largely a suburban, white sport, much like American soccer. USTAF needs to focus more effort on diversifying distance running at the youth level if we ever hope to be a serious competitor on the world stage. (Please skip isolated examples of white American runners i.e. Jager, Rupp etc) - A country as diverse as the US should reflect that diversity in its distance running.

The data shows all sports moving to pay for play models that will limit participation in lower economic groups as soccer is learning and baseball too. Baseball is attempting to address its dearth of American blacks.

The best thing running has going for it in terms of diversity is that it is still largely a school based sport and so the pay for play model probably has less influence.

We also run into issues with interest. Let's face it the idea of running miles and miles alone (which often happens) is not appealing to kids who want to spend time with friends. That is one reason a kid would rather ride the bench in soccer or another sport than run---he/she gets to hang with friends.

Finally a beauty of track and field is that it is pretty much merit based: run fast you get on the team. I will not discount that their are racist coaches who might influence things a bit, but my gut says that is a small factor.

I would finish by asking what is USATF doing to grow the sport at the youth level to begin with? I see no long-term athlete development (or American Development Model). Other than a book it sells I see nothing on its website about coaching youth. Am I just not seeing it?

So many other sports have devoted a lot of resources to making the first contact with an athlete a good one. I look at USA Hockey and US Lacrosse (probably the two most advanced). USA Archery has some outstanding materials as well. USA Volleyball (another VERY good coaching education program). USA Cycling had a youth coach specialty, but I am not sure if it is still around or not.