Letsrun in a nutshell

kublai khan wrote:

Another of the more colorful characters is Flagpole Willy. While I have no picture of him, in my mind’s eye I see an aging ex-surfer, a hipster with a flowery Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks and a long grey ponytail. And maybe some rimless rectangular bifocals. Flagpole Willy, or Flagpole for short, considers himself some kind of guru or life councilor. He dispenses advice freely on a wide range of topics, and calls everybody “brother” or “man.”

And it is Flagpole’s experience with the Letsrun.com culture that helps me to understand this unconventional mix of brotherhood and animosity.

Some things:

1) Not a surfer. Never been a surfer.

2) I owned a flowery Hawaiian shirt once for a themed party I went to, but I don't own it any more and have no others.

3) Never had Birkenstocks. Never will.

4) No ponytail, and not even any gray hair. I'm balding, but still have tons of hair, and none of it is gray.

5) I don't have bifocals.

6) I call people "brother" and "dude" mostly. Don't really call people "man".

7) You're right though that I consider myself a life counselor. However, I believe others have the ability to do so also. I'm just more open to giving advice than many (part of that is that I type extremely fast, and I know how to write). I am also very good though at listening to what others have to say and giving the nod to someone who says it better than me. I do this a lot, so if you've not noticed, then you're just not observant.

Now I picture you like Mr Garrison from Southpark. Do you have a hand puppet?

Maybe you shouldn't have dispelled the surfer image...

It was intentional. Sorry to make you hot and bothered.

You're definitely on to something but overall it left me a little flat...kinda like cheap beer, a lot of immediate flavor tailing off to nothingness.

It's a good first pass though and the next installment/chapter could focus on the hows and whys of consistently reappearing threads...like Gallowalkers/Triathletes/Global Warming/Junk science/War/Soccer Moms, etc.

I would do it myself but I'm trying desperately to avoid post nuptial shutoff...

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Idiots wrote:

txRUNNERgirl, it's not that you accidentally posted that, it's that you INTENTIONALLY made the end of your post laced with sexual innuendo because you ENJOY the attention guys give you here like that.

Don't play coy.

It was intentional. Sorry to make you hot and bothered.

You're not sorry txRUNNERgirl, you enjoy making helpless men squirm.

Good essay- if you read it and nothing else you'd have a pretty good sense of this place. I had to laugh at the description of the 430miler and Flagpole Willy- and then even more at Flagpole dispelling the image you painted. Post your grade when you get it- I'm guessing A-, but if by unlikely chance your prof has ever been to the site, you have an A for the semester locked up.

dd wrote:

Good essay- if you read it and nothing else you'd have a pretty good sense of this place. I had to laugh at the description of the 430miler and Flagpole Willy- and then even more at Flagpole dispelling the image you painted. Post your grade when you get it- I'm guessing A-, but if by unlikely chance your prof has ever been to the site, you have an A for the semester locked up.

I agree that it was pretty well written and well-thought out. , so good job there brother. Regarding constructive criticism, Carnivore 69 nailed it -- gotta mention that Henry Rono was a world class athlete, not just an alcoholic turned runner.

I see that my first response here was a bit self-centered as I tried to right an incorrect impression of me (perhaps rationalized by just trying to give correct information), and that I should have given this young writer some positive feedback as he so surely deserved it.

It is a failing in myself that I see. I will do my best to correct it.

i've been coming to this forum for about 4-5years now. i don't read too many threads. but, this forum has changed for the better. i can't believe all of the positive feedback. congratulations for the essay and all of the responses!!!!

I also loved the essay, and I love LetsRun.

But the essay also made me question my place here. Do I belong, if only for the fact that I am a nerd when it comes to running news, even though I am not accomplished whatsoever???

I would say I'm somewhat of a lurker, posting under many different names with no consistent frequency. I ran three seasons each of indoor and outdoor track in high school, and one season of cross country. I ran in one state championship, in a 4x400 relay that was probably close to DFL. My PRs were about 55, 2:10-2:15. About 21 flat in cross country. I have never been so "competitive" since, and my yearly race highlight is trying to beat everyone in my family with a 25 minute 5k at Thanksgiving. I'm now in my first year out of college, 22 years old.

Do you shun me??

I posted this on another thread, but it is appropriate here as well.

It appears you may have inadvertantly overlooked the prerequisites for posting here. You either have to have done at least one of the following:

1) Run in college (anything over a 15:30 5K does not count as running)

2) Exhibited extraordinary intelligence and ability to score

AND / OR

3) Have spent time at the RW or dyestat forums - during which time you correctly judged those terrific losers as not having a clue with regards to life as well as running.

If you have not done any of those, please kindly escort your ass out until you have done so. Thank you.

"One of my favorites is the Henry Rono thread. Henry is a 55 year old overweight former alcoholic."

Just thought I'd add a public service message here. Unfortunately if you are an alcoholic, you will always be an alcoholic. Sadly, there are no "former" alcoholics. Either they are alive and recovering (living without drinking), drinking and on their way to insanity or death, or dead.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the read.

Spelling and grammer wrote:

I am glad for the mention in the paper.

While I spell my name "grammEr," your teacher may not know that and think you misspelled the word. You may want to look up the thread on letsrun that discussed the use of "sic."

Check out my two favorite websites:

Grammar Slammer

http://englishplus.com/grammar/contents.htm

Strunk

http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html

Makes a great gift...

P.S. It is "Web site."

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Spelling and grammer wrote:

I am glad for the mention in the paper.

While I spell my name "grammEr," your teacher may not know that and think you misspelled the word. You may want to look up the thread on letsrun that discussed the use of "sic."

Check out my two favorite websites:

Grammar Slammer

http://englishplus.com/grammar/contents.htm

Strunk

http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html

Makes a great gift...

http://www.amazon.com/Associated-Stylebook-Briefing-Revised-Updated/dp/046500489X/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-6331646-8631203?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174950764&sr=8-2

P.S. It is "Web site."

Are you really Grammer Girl?

No, you are Grammer Girl.

i have also been a long time letsrun vistor, but i rarely post. i truly enjoyed your essay and i think, given the word limit, you did a nice job capturing the essence of this place. you use vivid and energetic language too . . . always a plus!

i teach freshman college comp and if a student handed in something as well crafted as this essay, i would give it an A/A-.

thanks for the great read!

Long timer wrote:

I'm missing commas, and it should be "If you're willing..."

Did you mean say "apostrophe"?

;)

Sorry flagpole, i\'ve never seen a picture, and thats just the image in my mind whenever i read your posts. something like the michael caine character in children of men. i guess its just the stock wise-old-hipster-who-offers-the-critical-piece-of-wisdom-and-encouragement-to-the-hero-at-his-lowest-point character, but thats what i think.

how do you read people's IP addresses on here? people always know when people post twice in a row under other names. how is that?

"and in the countless other threads where a youngster needs advice or an injured athlete asks for sympathy, hundreds of fellow runners are ready to offer their support and encouragement and experience. There are ties that bind stronger and tighter than any political ideologies or music tastes or sports team allegiances have the power to break. "

thats what its all about...thats it