Gary and Culpepper

Zatopek you are an idiot. You spew ignorance with every comment. Culpepper sees himself as a 10k-marathoner. Your example of "it was good enough for Kennedy" is ludicrous. How many 10k's did Kennedy run in Europe? Which marathon was he preparing for? You are comparing complete different athletes with different goals? To be honest there is probably better competition here in the US for his discipline as the best road racers in the world spend their summers in US for the PAYDAY.

Unico wrote:Culpepper sees himself as a 10k-marathoner.

Yeah, you're right. There are no great 10,000/marathon guys in the World Cross Champs, and there were a ton of them in the Cowtown 10K. I stand duly corrected.

Zat0pek wrote:

Another bogus excuse, and yes I have two daughters. A great number of the African runners on the circuit have families. Many people have jobs that require them to travel for extended periods of time; just ask the people stationed in Iraq right now.

Is it ideal? No. But to say you can't get to Europe for a couple of two-week tours or be gone for a few days for the World Cross Championships is yet another excuse by a Culpepper apologist.

Exactly. And maybe, just maybe, the Culpeppers don't WANT to leave baby pepper with a babysitter. Maybe they WANT to stay close to home. And despite your bizaar implications, their jobs do not REQUIRE them to do otherwise. Not that sounds ideal.

elvis wrote:

Zat0pek wrote:

Another bogus excuse, and yes I have two daughters. A great number of the African runners on the circuit have families. Many people have jobs that require them to travel for extended periods of time; just ask the people stationed in Iraq right now.

Is it ideal? No. But to say you can't get to Europe for a couple of two-week tours or be gone for a few days for the World Cross Championships is yet another excuse by a Culpepper apologist.

Exactly. And maybe, just maybe, the Culpeppers don't WANT to leave baby pepper with a babysitter. Maybe they WANT to stay close to home. And despite your bizaar implications, their jobs do not REQUIRE them to do otherwise. Not that sounds ideal.

My corporation has a large contingent which travels almost daily for business purposes. We were informed last week that all non essential business travel in the US has been cancelled and all international travel has been cancelled.

In this case with a young baby which, rather shockingly to some goobers on the board, apparently takes precedence over travel deemed risky by the US State Department to a race the Culpeppers may or may not think is all that important in the grand scheme of things.

But don't let that get in the way of your bashing.

Jeff Dutra wrote:My corporation has a large contingent which travels almost daily for business purposes. We were informed last week that all non essential business travel in the US has been cancelled and all international travel has been cancelled.

In this case with a young baby which, rather shockingly to some goobers on the board, apparently takes precedence over travel deemed risky by the US State Department to a race the Culpeppers may or may not think is all that important in the grand scheme of things.

But don't let that get in the way of your bashing.

Jeff it's not bashing. And this is what drives me crazy. People always point to (1) last year he was getting ready for Chicago or (2) they have a kid. THAT DOES NOT EXPLAIN THE LAST THREE TO FIVE YEARS BEFORE BOTH OF THOSE EVENTS. Stop making excuses and just be honest. The guy won't step out of his comfort zone. Chicago was the exception.

And why isn't the above warning keeping the rest of the U.S. team from travelling? Did that warning only apply to Culpepper? Give me a break.

Zat0pek wrote:

And why isn't the above warning keeping the rest of the U.S. team from travelling? Did that warning only apply to Culpepper? Give me a break.

The rest of the US team has made the decision to travel. The Culpepper's have made the decision not to travel. I would have done the same. Alan didn't run last year. To run this year with a travel advisory would have made even less sense.

Jeff Dutra wrote: Alan didn't run last year. To run this year with a travel advisory would have made even less sense.

That's exactly the point. He doesn't run even when there is no travel advisory, so don't use the travel advisory as an excuse.

ZatOpek-

I disagree with your earlier labeling of me & others as "Culpepper Apologists" because none of us are apologizing - as he hasn't done anything wrong. Actually, he seems to be doing things pretty damn well.

As was stated earlier, Alan Culpepper sees himself as a world class 10K/Marathon runner (deservedly so - check out his best times). He trains & races according to what he sees as his best preparation for his future in these events.

Believe it or not, there's a pretty large number of coaches & runners who believe in a limited racing schedule. They prefer to train more & race less. Again, check out the fastest marathoner in the country/world. How much did he race last year, or the year before, or the year before that? Do you see him working hard to improve his 5K time? Do you see him running in any European 5Ks, 3Ks, 10Ks???

You like to make fun of the Culpeppers participating in the Cowtown 10K. From my understanding, they were at home with Alan's parents for the USATF XC meet & planned an easy race/hard workout in a "hometown" race. They did the whole guest speaker thing for the race, signed autographs, etc. Oh yeah, they also had a nice little payday. In your eyes, you probably see under-racing Alan Culpepper as a road whore.

Would you have been happier had Alan not run the USATF XC meet? He never said he was going to compete at World XC. Instead, he'll continue his buildup, pausing for a Stanford 10K and the Bolder Boulder 10K. Do you honestly think that travelling to World XC, racing at World XC, and recovering from World XC would be beneficial for him?

Finally, I accept that you disagree with his approach to training and racing. I just wish that you would accept that there IS more than just one approach. What frustrates me is (as I recall) that isn't an approach that YOU took (as you aren't or weren't at his level), but from some other runners you know. You're not Alan Culpepper. You don't know how his body responds to various types of training and racing. You don't know how he recovers, etc.

BDG