8 minutes per mile is fast, even in Boulder

True runners don't need local running stores. Nor do they need a 5k For Bile Duct Leukemia every weekend. Joggers aren't a part of the sport. If you aren't trying your best then you're just exercising, you're not competing. Most runners couldn't care less about new elite uniforms or color changes on useless, overbuilt shoes.

The Slatterys moved away for the lack of support they got from all those so-called runners in that area.

Can someone please explain this to me? Why would a local running community be under any obligation to provide anything other than moral support to sub-elite performers?

I live in DC and the existence of a number of sub-elites here don't provide any obvious benefit to the vast majority of runners in our area... perhaps I've missed it, but I don't see them using their status, connections or knowledge of the sport to help improve the local running and racing scene.

Wouldn't they already be receiving coaching, logistical and financial support through their endorsement contracts? Last I checked the Slatterys were not competing with "Boulder Running Club" or whatever on their racing uniforms, so it's not like they're garnering publicity for local clubs or running stores.

(Mark Nenow does deserve props for wearing his Todds Road Stumblers singlet while racing internationally.)

So why would anyone feel the need to provide them with anything other than a pat on the back, or maybe, hosting a spaghetti dinner to help defray the costs of their trip to the Prefontaine meet?

Thats the point though, no one even emotionally supported them. They didn't want money or or anything like that, they just wanted to be recognized for their achievements and maybe that pat on the back. But in Boulder there is no pat on the back

Hi Pot, My Name Is Kettle wrote:

Right, because there were no marathons before most people ran then slower than four hours and there were no 5k's or 10k's at all until most people started to finish slower than 21:00 or 45:00, respectively. You're not just smug and self-congratulatory, you're completely ignorantly so! The sport was fine before all the slowpokes showed up and it would survive quite well if they were to disappear tomorrow. Faster runners actually subsidize your participation. Sorry, we really don't need you. We don't even want you, we just charitably tolerate you. Remember that the next time you start to feel that you belong or deserve what you're getting, mooch.

Yeah, what he said. I started running in the late 70's when I was 11 and got into road racing heavily right away. You weren't given any respect until you got under 40 min for 10k and nobody took you seriously if you ran marathons over 3:00. The good guys were trying to break 2:20 and the "solid" guys trying to break 2:30 and the "average" guys and girls were trying to get Boston qualifiers of sub-2:50. These were the goals for adults, but I did do a marathon in HS -- in 2:35.

We had 5k's (occasionally) but they were definitely considered the "baby races", and you had better have been in the 17-19 min range (I'm talking about me at age 12-13 --against all those Ann Arbor Track Club stars -- they ran in the 17-18 min range for 5k and 36-39 for 10k.)

I remember the first "long" RR I did. Dead of winter -- called the "Tombstone 10" -- 10-miler in a cemetery. It was legit because a 30:20/2:18 runner won it in 50:45. I was in 6th grade and I ran easy to make sure I finished. I did finish in 76:XX. I was 12 yrs old.

So anyone who thinks that 8:00 pace is "fast" -- sorry, no way. If you train that slow, either you are a 20:XX 5k runner or you better speed the EFFFF UP!!