I had to look up what Trainspotting was. Never heard of it and definitely don't have a poster of it. Also, never smoked pot or done any other drug in my life, for whatever that's worth. Apparently a lot to some.
But I have a good friend who was a heroin addict and I'd trust him with my life.
Many of the people thankfully don't have a clue how difficult it is to get out of the life. I'm glad he could do it. So would his friends and family. Haters will always hate.
This is a GREAT story for everyone to enjoy on XMAS.
Meet Mitch Ammons. As a freshman in HS, he ran a 4:50 mile. Then he started doing drugs and didn't run again until 2016 when he picked it up while trying to kick a heroine/meth addiction while smoking 2-packs a day.
Now he's run 2:16:48 and is going to the Olympic Marathon Trials.
The sour grapes in this thread is outrageous lol. Pretty understandable. A lot of folks just haven't had anything this difficult, like drug addiction, to overcome in their lives.
This guy is killing it. The greatest motivation for success is trying to distance your present self from your past self.
Makes you think how it's really not over for people like Mary cain.
This guy was literally high on meth, and hadn't run AT ALL, and then starts hobby jogging late 20s for first time. Now he's competing for an Olympic spot in his 30s.
Why can't someone like Mary cain, with immense talent pick it back up at 28 year old and work her way up to n elite level again? Maybe the secret is to not take things so serious like this guy.....
This is a GREAT story for everyone to enjoy on XMAS.
Meet Mitch Ammons. As a freshman in HS, he ran a 4:50 mile. Then he started doing drugs and didn't run again until 2016 when he picked it up while trying to kick a heroine/meth addiction while smoking 2-packs a day.
Now he's run 2:16:48 and is going to the Olympic Marathon Trials.
1) A high school kid with a naive, limited view of reality who hasn't lived life or seen its complexity.
Or
2) You're a miserable adult with your head stuck waaaaaay up your ass.
I hope it's the first one. Gaining maturity is the easiest way to temper your biases.
And your someone who has a trainspotting poster on your wall and thinks cuz you smoked pot once you know what type of person does heroin.
So which is it, naive kid or miserable adult with his head up his ass? all types of people do heroin, and yes it is pretty much as easy to acquire as going into a grocery, rural or urban. I’m gonna go with the latter option - you’re a bitter old man whose best grasp for self worth is projecting some moral failing into a guy who got addicted to heroin as a literal child.
Wow. Some people must have woken up alone today on XMAS and aren't in a good mood.
I rescind my original happy first post. This is not Merry XMAS Rojo. This is Ebenezer Scrooge Rojo.
The title of the thread should have been - Be depressed. Talent is everything in running. You can not run in HS or college, do drugs and still make the Trials if you are super talented.
Rojo,
the best Christmas gift you could provide is the one you will never be capable of: the ability to use proper English.
Not too much to ask for considering you are: a fluent English speaker, an Ivy League grad, and a professional journalist.
So let’s get to your post:
(1) “Heroine.” WHAT? It’s heroin NOT heroine. (2) “2-pack.” Wow, okay. It’s two NOT 2.
And why the hyphen? You need the hyphen only if the two or more words are functioning together as an adjective before the noun they're describing. “two-pack smoker” makes sense. What does not make sense: “he smokes two-packs a day.”
Merry Christmas to you. I bet you’re a ton of fun to be around.
I can’t believe how people feel the need to come on here and piss on his story.
This was a man who reached a total low and could have completely wasted his life. Instead he turned his life around and is doing something inspiring that many of us can’t do.
Thankfully this story is inspiring to most people.
I’m grateful I never reached such a low point in my life but if I did I hope by the grace of god I’d be able to do something like him.
Is this a feel good story? -- Yes.
Should we be grateful that we didn't experience what he did in his youth? -- Yesa.
Should we be inspired to be reminded once again how talent beats hard work and how little talent we have in distance running? -- I don't think so.
I am glad he has turned his life around, and best wishes on his future running? But was I "inspired" by reading his story? No. I will just keep living my totally uninspirational life and hopefully collect some more utterly meaningless AG awards by overcoming multiple injuries.
This is inspirational but not really that inspirational. Running success is mostly based on and good genes - clearly as this guy destroyed his body with substances and he was still a successful athlete. Yeah, becoming a pro marathoner is hard work but think of all the other runners who work just as hard as him, or harder, and never come close to even sniffing a 2:16 in their life. The only difference is talent.
Yeah, his story is a nice happy ending for him but I'm not sure how inspiring it is. Doing drugs is just trying to take the easy way out to fixing your problems in life, not very inspiring.
@wejo - not here to piss. Just remind us of some past stories that we’ve all embraced here and have gone sideways. Not to mention the fact that any addict will tell you that they could completely turn their lives around and then go back to being exactly the same person after using one time.
The brojos have lived somewhat of a sheltered life and I understand that you want to celebrate something on Christmas. You’re probably not aware of how devastating it is to live with an addict in your life and why some people might be muted in their response.
Also, people are going to generally pee on things that @rojo posts. I’d guess 2/3 of the negative responses are there to hack him off a bit
Wow. Some people must have woken up alone today on XMAS and aren't in a good mood.
I rescind my original happy first post. This is not Merry XMAS Rojo. This is Ebenezer Scrooge Rojo.
The title of the thread should have been - Be depressed. Talent is everything in running. You can not run in HS or college, do drugs and still make the Trials if you are super talented.
It’s true. I did things the right way. Trained smart, ate well, prioritized sleep over partying, never did drugs, and I still couldn’t run that fast simply because I didn’t have the talent. Why should I be inspired by this guy’s story? Kudos to him but I’m not inspired.
The sour grapes in this thread is outrageous lol. Pretty understandable. A lot of folks just haven't had anything this difficult, like drug addiction, to overcome in their lives.
This guy is killing it. The greatest motivation for success is trying to distance your present self from your past self.
Its just jealousy by everyone. The average letsrun poster has to their own detriment, devoted a large portion of their life to running. They skipped social events and parties in college to "get in their double for the day". They neurotically ensured they hit mileage targets, ensuring to run on holidays, day of extreme weather, perhaps even the day of their own wedding all to make sure they don't fall behind on their aerobic base. They picked easy college majors like exercise science (or something worthless like that) so they could fully devote their time to running and recovery. Running world records are memorized and scrutinized down to the millisecond. Even after giving up their competitive aspirations, they obsess over random high school runners and their instagram "drama".
Meanwhile, an absolute CHAD texas runner partied hard in his teens and 20s, living life to the fullest, barely worked out (and did not run) , hooked up with probably too many girls to remember, and probably couldnt even tell you who Bekele is. Now he's working a full time job and using running as his hobby to get past some past drug addictions and he's blowing everyone out of the water. He probably views running like a normal person views watching netflix or doing something yoga after work. And he's destroying everyone.
I mean, I'd be upset at someone making a mockery of my entire life. Totally understandable.
Also, people are going to generally pee on things that @rojo posts. I’d guess 2/3 of the negative responses are there to hack him off a bit
But he has generated more clicks by pissing people off. Great victory for him!
Wejo, Rojo, and LR people have done an amazing job in preserving this place and balancing a lot of difficult forces to make a successful website and preserve its basic character despite the world changing around them. I’ve been coming here close to 25 years and I disagree with them on a lot of stuff. I think they can run a little naive and idealistic. That’s all. They seem like really nice people to me, I just don’t always see eye-to-eye.
If they really wanted to get rich, I’m sure they could sell this website to outdoor.com or something. @rojo’s not getting rich off rage-clicking.
Yeah, his story is a nice happy ending for him but I'm not sure how inspiring it is. Doing drugs is just trying to take the easy way out to fixing your problems in life, not very inspiring.
Exactly this. There are clear caveats in this type of story to those of us who have lived a bit and truly have known people who have struggled with addiction. I'm guessing the OP has never really known anyone like that, that life is just an abstraction to him. I've had coworkers who are addicts, both active and in recovery, and they end up screwing the people closest to them, people who have given them the benefit of the doubt and 2nd-8th chances, all in the name of chasing a good feeling. Getting addicted to drugs isn't some accident like tripping over a rake and breaking your wrist. You have to be pretty intentional about your choices in getting and using drugs as well as what motivates those choices, never mind turning a blind eye to the clear cost to society here in the US and wherever those drugs originate. How many other people did he enable to get into and stay in that life? It's running away from and covering up problems, maybe problems that feel really big, and it's definitely wimping out. Sure, I'll grant that it's good to both not make that choice in the first place as well as to decide to stop making that choice after you chose that life. He's the champion of his own life, but nobody else's. He was a suburbanite who went to college out-of-state and not on an athletic scholarship and was there to blaze up. He's a dude who had a pretty cushy life who decided to flush it away to chase a feeling and thankfully made a comeback because he had access to the right resources. Maybe that appeals to other people who have similarly privileged backgrounds. If I want to look at an inspiring runner, I'll go with Memo:
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