pro runners and narcissism

you mean "letsrunners and narcissism"

call me a narcissist too i get happy when i race well and pissed when i don't

these guys are professional athletes thus running is pretty much their life

fjksllsieoppps wrote:

(ryan hall's view of god in relation to his races comes to mind), but i'll save you from the list.

what is arrogant about his view of God in relation to his races?

Chris Solinsky, while an elite athlete and one of the best distance runners in US history, does actually have an ego. He just happens to channel it more appropriately than others. He'll always take time to tell kids to go for it and be nice to his fans but that doesn't mean he isn't into himself like others. I've met him only a few times and to me it's not horrible but it's there. Honestly though, I'd rather have someone toe the line in an olympic final that believes in himself than some depressed tool with a hot wife. Sorry Gouch.

The former professional distance runner who I deem to be the most arrogant and crazily obsessed with himself is Pascal Dobert, our 2000 US Olympian in the Steeple Chase.

Pascal has an entire wall of photos in his home devoted to his running shots. It's more like a personal shrine of his and there are mirrors EVERYWHERE too. He is so narcissistic that he ripped down a poster of Dathan Ritzenhein that was hanging in his local running store and chewed out a store associate because it wasn't him. He was literally insulted. When he goes out, he dresses like a metrosexual with these mesh, see-through tops and tight pants. The funniest part about that is he looks at himself more than he does girls when he is out. It's disgusting. He's also the first to take off his shirt at parties and every halloween he ends up being some type of chippendale with a bow tie posing for the camera. Always flexin' too.

Don't believe me? Just ask Sarah Schwald if you ever meet her.

There are a lot of head-cases in running, more than other sports I think. Running tends to attract people who are socially and psychologically undeveloped and ones with an "all-or-nothing" approach to life (religious/political zealots?). I've noticed lots of runners who glorify pain (the Pre syndrome). The "how bad can I hurt myself" or "how bad can I hurt the person next to me" becomes a daily habit which seems overly violent and unhealthy. So you might either become a martyr or a killer in your mind, maybe equally crazy. I always think of how much energy a distance runner is burning up and it seems unnatural to me. For a lot of runners I think it's a matter of too much constant straining. Especially when the ability and preparation don't line up with the goals and they are set up for consistent failure. With most professionals I don't think it's always quite the same. Hopefully they have a coach who is setting realistic goals and using success to motivate them. They don't strain and glorify suffering as much or focus violence at their competition. Their commitment matches up with their level of achievement. And they also may be using professional counseling. I brought this up in another post regarding Salazar's "secrets" to success. Many coaches don't put it in their programs, unfortunately. There are many young runners who would benefit tremendously from psychological counseling.

And who are you to be so judgmental and all-knowing?

Wow you guys are completely missing the point. The point of this thread is to discuss whether or not running at a high level necessitates being narcissistic, and my original comment was that Lindgren was a great example of someone who was NOT just out for himself or his own ego.If you ever meet him and talk to him, you'd know how genuine and caring of a person he is, always looking for how he can help others, not himself. He is light-hearted and by no means selfish.Everyone makes their own life choices, and neither you nor I know the circumstances around his family issues. Save the judgement for God, not yourself.Gerry's whole goal in running was to change the world by inspiring others to run because it's such a positive and uplifting activity. He speaks much of how he has sacrificed himself for the benefit of others, which is exactly what Jesus did too.There is so much to be learned from others by looking at their strengths rather than dwelling on their faults.

Giddy wrote:

WorkingToObeyChrist wrote:

Lindgren was/is full of New Age crap. He abandoned his wife and kids, was paid to promote financial pyramid schemes, etc. All his "good deeds/karma" aren't going to keep him out of Hell without the Lord Jesus Christ.

He probably won't get any presents from Santa either :(

If you honestly believe runners are more narcistic than ANY other sport, let alone ALL of them, then you sir I can say w/out a doubt have never, EVER looked into any other sport past the surface, at all.

junior wrote:

There are many young runners who would benefit tremendously from psychological counseling.

I seriously wonder what a typical counseler would have to say to a young runner. As a runner, I've never met a professional (doctor, counseler, or otherwise) who didn't think distance running was completely insane. My chiropractor used to read my the riot act for "running too much". My hematologist told me I either have to completely quit running, or drinking. But I can't do both.

This is an interesting post. I am not a runner but I was a college baseball player and I knew what it meant to work your tail off, practice long hours, and sacrifice a great deal. What I find with avid runners and I have known a great deal of runners either recreational or semi-serious half and full marathoners, is that they do begin to develop a rather self absorbed and almost sensitivity about their running. There is this misconception in the running community that what they do is not considered a true sport by other athletes. Where this came from I have no idea because I'm not a runner. It's a stigma that is look down upon very strongly by those in some running circles and they almost perpetuate other runners to take this very confident, self serving attitude towards what they do as a defense mechanism. Runners become very close with other runners, relationships are forged based on common running goals, and I have found that runners after a while become very hard to talk to.

Everything revolves around running, their training, their upcoming races, their workouts, their taper weeks, their nutrition, etc. It became so bad that I could no longer associate with some good friends because they literally turned into running "narcissists". The topic of every discussion eventually turns back to running and related topics that relate most closely to their interests.

I hate to make a comment that seems off color, but I know that a lot of runners I knew were never true sportsman or had any other talent in other sports before they took on running. Now don't take that comment as an insult because it isn't however, I was able to relate to my fellow baseball players and "non-baseball players" and the conversations did not always revolve around baseball! I frankly grow tired and worn down when I am in the company of people who are serious runners. It consumes their every breath and sometimes I feel sorry that they have let running become their only true identity.

Many runners lose themselves and lose the interest of those around them that don't share in their love of running. The opposite is true too, many runners lose interest in others who dont share in their new found hobby.

That being said, I would say that YES, some runners do become very self- centered and narcissistic in their thinking and it's sad that this "hobby" defines them and defines how they interact with other people. It almost makes them isolated in the long run (no pun there).

What's a former college baseball playing non-runner doing on a running message board bringing up older threads?

I'm not attacking, I'm just curious how you found this place.

Reminds me of Scott Dvorak who used to (maybe still does) hand out business cards with all of his mediocre PR's on them.Guess what Scott, nobody cares!

If you think my running ability was mediocre, well I guess that\'s your opinion. The business card was for fun and was designed to look like a Topps Card.

That said, I am proud of what I did running, and I don\'t have to hide behind a false name so that people don\'t know how bad I really suck.

This is by far the most stupidest thread I have ever read on letsrun

Thanks for brining it back from the dead.