a good read about a good runner

The thing that gets me about his interview is that even though he has done little but run and race throughout his life he still has regrets...that bears repeating ...he continued to train...he still had elite runners and younger runners to help him maintain speed that most aging runners will lose...he had an affiliation with a college to help with injuries after his eligibility expired...he improved through his 30's which elite athletes such as eyestone kennedy and williams with their routines and training partners couldn't really do...he makes it to the top in a category of masters running where he sets records and wins money (more than when he was sub masters) and yet he still laments...i thought the dedication was the antidote to regrets....perhaps regret is there for all no matter what

People who are driven, like Pope, always have regrets, because they are seldom satisfied with what they have achieved. He is the opposite of the 'fun runner' because for Pope, running defines who he is, and it is the major direction in his life. With 'fun runners,' it is just a part of their life, but for Pope, running, up till now, has been almost everything, with, to a lesser degree, his painting.

That is why, it is always good to have other interests, so that if injury and/or old age prevent one from running, one may find other pursuits with which to live life with.

Pope has taken his vows of celibacy with his running, but he has chosen this path, and we should respect him for that. He is an inspiration to many.

Ghost in Korea

How about I just give you a good shake, eh? You obviously chose to focus on only one area. Just because hunting was not to your liking does not mean that a hunter's primary motivation is getting a kill. I'm not saying that a small segment of the hunting population does not kill for the thrill, but I bet you won't find any that don't eat the venison.

Most hunters are not idiots, but you only hear about the ones that give all hunters bad names.

Not sure where you live but I spend extra money on my tree farm every year to ensure that rutting bucks don't tear up my trees. The deer in the national park in the next county over have wiped out habitat and the deer/car accidents are out of control. Farmers are having there crops destroyed.

I give people permission to hunt my tree farm as do the other farmers in the area. We all hunt to help manage the herd. We have kill permits to take more deer due to crop damage and the deer we don't eat ourselves are processed for donation to help feed the hungry and the needy in 2 metro cities.

Sorry hunting was not for you. Keep on eating the meats from the store that are filled with who knows what. I choose to offset the additives in other foods with the game and fish I harvest myself.

tired of glorifying bs wrote:

what a f***ing idiot. too much of anyhting is NOT healthy, i don't care what all you fools think. what he is doing is NOT cool. you guys want to glorify a recluse who thaws his powerbars out in the vents? give me a break, man. get on with your life. i'm sure he's great with the ladies too. seriously. i've heard it all now.

Agreed. What we have here is an chronically unemployed 45 year old obsessive-compulsive with anger management issues who still needs money from his parents to survive. In other words, representative of a large number of Lets Run posters, present company excepted.

Ok, worst case scenario - Pope needs a bit of occasional cash from his Dad - judging by the photos and the articles about him, Pope is hardly asking for large amounts of cash, but rather, just enough to allow him to eat his wheaties.....Pope is the antithesis of a big consumer, and very modest in his needs and expenditures. Guys like that can live on rent + $300-$500 a month - I've seen it, because I know some guys who do that. They eat a lot of pasta and rice. The house is probably paid for. Pope is probably living in the poverty line zone (below $12,000 per year), but his lifestyle is rich in the sense that he is healthy and his food is undoubtedly healthy too, and he is a minimalist in everything he does - great for the environment. Hats off to him!

Let's focus on the attributes of this guy. You can find negative things about most people. Most parents would feel a sense of honor to have an American record holder as a child - that is something unique. He is following his dream, although it is one which does not provide him (Pope) with much cash. He is a modern day "running monk" spreading his message of an alternative lifestyle, in modern consumerist America. Way to go.

Ghost in Korea

I admire Brian Pope, since he has followed what he truly loves and doesn't care what society thinks about him. But it's a bit sad that he came so close to breaking four minutes for the mile without actually doing it. If only he had not lined up in the second row in the outside lane when he ran 4:02! Sabotaging his chances to achieve a breakthrough seems hardwired in this guy.

His lack of assertiveness regarding his racing career is puzzling when you consider how aggressive he can be when his daily running is under attack.

Bulldog wrote:"Agreed. What we have here is an chronically unemployed 45 year old obsessive-compulsive with anger management issues who still needs money from his parents to survive. In other words, representative of a large number of Lets Run posters, present company excepted."

Let's break it down:

1)"What we have here is an chronically unemployed 45 year old" BY CHOICE. NOT MY CHOICE, BUT HIS. HE HAS THE SKILLS AND NETWORK AVAILABLE, BUT CHOOSES NOT TO. HE IS NOT A STRAIN ON SOCIETY.

2)"obsessive-compulsive" AGREED

3)"with anger management issues" UNSUBSTANTIATED - HE INITIALLY "QUICKENED HIS PACE" TO AVOID THE REDNECK. ONLY WHEN A (WARNING)SHOT WAS FIRED DID HE STOP. AND ONLY THEN DID HE CALL B.S. ON THE REDNECKS THREAT. HE NEVER LOST HIS TEMPER - JUST CALLED THE COWARD WITH THE GUN AS SUCH.

4)"who still needs money from his parents to survive." MANY PARENTS PASS ALONG MONEY TO CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, AND HELP OUT IN OTHER WAYS (CHILDCARE, EMPOYMENT...ETC). IT'S WHAT FAMILY MEMBERS DO.

5)In other words, representative of a large number of Lets Run posters, AGREED, MANY - BUT FAR FROM ALL - LETSRUNNERS ARE GEEK WORSHIPPERS. BE MORE REALISTIC WITH YOUR JUDGMENTS.

6)present company excepted.OF COURSE. YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY HIGHLY DESIRABLE BY ALL WHO KNOW YOU (OR AT LEAST THAT IS HOW YOU NEED TO FEEL) PERSONALLY, MY GUESS IS THAT MY $75,000 SALARY IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE TOP AMOUNT ON THIS FORUM. MORE THAN LIKELY YOU ARE JUST AVERAGE. THAT MAY HURT YOUR EGO, BUT IS STATISTICALLY, MORE THAN LIKELY TRUE.

CHOOSE TO BE POSITIVE. CHEERS.

I am pretty sure that he lives rent free by the way. If I remember correctly the house was willed to him by a lady that he used to help out a lot. I could have that wrong, but I think that is what I heard.

ghost wrote:

Ok, worst case scenario - Pope needs a bit of occasional cash from his Dad - judging by the photos and the articles about him, Pope is hardly asking for large amounts of cash, but rather, just enough to allow him to eat his wheaties.....Pope is the antithesis of a big consumer, and very modest in his needs and expenditures. Guys like that can live on rent + $300-$500 a month - I've seen it, because I know some guys who do that. They eat a lot of pasta and rice. The house is probably paid for. Ghost in Korea

Ghost, I love this list! It's so refreshing to see these kinds of fresh attitudes. If you are in Korea, I think I have some idea why...

tired of glorifying bs wrote:

what a f***ing idiot. too much of anyhting is NOT healthy, i don't care what all you fools think. what he is doing is NOT cool. you guys want to glorify a recluse who thaws his powerbars out in the vents? give me a break, man. get on with your life. i'm sure he's great with the ladies too. seriously. i've heard it all now.

tired of glorifying bs -

You are such a coward. Another letsrun fool without a clue and without the courage to go find one.

Pope is a good guy. And he's living the life he wants to live. And for that you think he deserves to be cussed out by the likes of you?

Hell, son, you'd piss yourself before you'd even open your mouth to someone like Brian, because he's got balls and you're just another yellow-bellied, anonymous piece of self-righteous crap.

Okay, I'm feeling generous. Here's one of those clues you won't go find yourself: Not everyone grows up to do exactly what their mommy and daddy told them to do. Some people, like Brian, have the courage to be their own men. And some, like you, never grow up at all.

Nice post. Thanks for peeling back the foreskin of ignorance and applying the wire brush of enlightenment.

Brian has been a good runner for many years - some years better than others. He put his balls on the line when he went to the World Master's Championships in Spain in 2005, and by winning the 5k, he gained a little respect for the U.S. It's been tough for us to crack through in either the 5k or 10k at any level, but Brian did.

I think what often times happens is runners graduate from college get a job, buy a house that is bigger than they need, and get a car that they can't afford because their college friends did the same thing. Then when they (we) are sitting in our cube reading about a guy that didn't need any of that, but instead wanted to be free to run in the middle of the day, travel around to races, and was willing to give up material things for the life he wants we get jealous a little. I think most people find out that enjoying life means more than the material things, but most people don't realize it until they have a mortgage, 2 car loans, and 3 credit cards to pay off.I think Brian just figured it out faster than most of us do.

SoCal Pete wrote:

tired of glorifying bs -

You are such a coward. Another letsrun fool without a clue and without the courage to go find one.

Pope is a good guy. And he's living the life he wants to live. And for that you think he deserves to be cussed out by the likes of you?

Hell, son, you'd piss yourself before you'd even open your mouth to someone like Brian, because he's got balls and you're just another yellow-bellied, anonymous piece of self-righteous crap.

Okay, I'm feeling generous. Here's one of those clues you won't go find yourself: Not everyone grows up to do exactly what their mommy and daddy told them to do. Some people, like Brian, have the courage to be their own men. And some, like you, never grow up at all.

Do you think this guy ever gets laid?

Brian is a great guy! His artwork is very good as well. He sent my husband and I some photos of his art (because I'm interested in buying some), and it's very good. I just need to save up some money now and hopefully he will sell a painting to me.

Brian has run in Spain at the World Masters Track and Field Champs in 2005 (and won, by the way!). So he is

rich in experience, I would say.

He is a great competitor, and I have one example that has been etched in my mind.

I ran in Charlotte, NC at the USA Masters National T&F Meet in 2006. It was wicked hot -- I mean hot!!

Brian won the 5000 meters, and not two minutes later turned around and was helping another competitor who collapsed at the finish. He was rushing to get ice, and helping any way he could along with the volunteers and medics.

Instead of celebrating his victory, he was worried about the other competitors and their health.

(They ended up cancelling the meet for the day due to the heat and humidity.)

He is a great champion with a great heart!

I don't get the guy. Granted, his actions do not affect me and he is free to live his life as he wants, but he had no right to question another person about being on the property. What if a person had asked him for the papers to show he could be running on the trail bed? (Okay, it might be open to the public, but you get the idea).

I found it interesting that when the guy produced the papers Pope was still not convinced. I suspect that nothing would have convinced him. I also find it fascinating that he wasted 30 minutes of his life on this matter...but then what life does he have?

The telling line to me is that Pope seems to be on the lookout for confrontation. To me that means that he is going to find trouble one day.

I also suspect the first story to be false or exaggerated. There were no witnesses to the event.

If he wants to stop hunting on the land around the trail bed then I suggest he get up some buyers or earn some money and BUY the land from the current owners. He would then be well within his rights to stop hunting on the land. However, I suspect he is the type that will sue instead.

Seems to me like he wants to impose his views on others while not having them imposed on him.

I find his whining about golfers making too much money to be a sign of his mind. Golfers earn that money. The sport is popular and draws a great deal of sponsorship money and large crowds and TV ratings (well at least when Tiger is playing). There are people out there that think that a person earning $10K from running is too much. If he wants more money in running, then he should work to make the sport more popular to more people.

I concur with another poster who mentions that hunters are freaked out about accidently shooting someone. It really is pretty rare which is why it gets so played up when it does happen

In my hometown (where I grew up not where I live now) there is a private college with miles and miles of wonderful trails. The college is kind enough to let the public on the land, but every so often it closes access to the trails for controlled hunts. Makes sense, the deer population gets too great and needs to be culled. While I miss those runs when I am back there, I understand the needs of all.

Again, what about his life is productive?

Again, what about his life is productive?[/quote]

Umm, he avoids holier than thou droning about the way other people live thereby reducing the amount of pomposity and pretentious idiocy in the world? You should hire him to give you lessons. It would make him even more productive.

anonymous wrote:

Hey, if you live in Oxford, we should run some time. Give me an email. I live over by Cambridge Station. Im a 17:30 5k guy, but wintersession has been killing me this week...only about 40 miles, so that slowed me down a bit. But yeah, make an email available on your screen name.

Sure, let's meet. The email is there.

--AG

Cool. Kudzu runner has his own wikipedia page!

kudzurunner wrote:

[

Sure, let's meet. The email is there.

--AG