Michael Wardian - 6:40 pace for 50 miles

Whatever, dude.

Agree wrote:

No, I'm not "common". Just another runner dude. Who knows why he isn't official and runs bandit? That's just how it is. He's been doing it at that race for a good 4-5 years. Never entered. Just runs to show everybody up. The race calls him their "Special Friend" and puts his picture with a big bio in the entry brochure. If he want's to go through the chute, enter the race like everybody else.

And you may have a hard time believing they would parade him around, but you'd be surprised. It's pretty sickening. Autographs, handing out the awards, giving a speech, special recognition at the start of the race, etc...Whatever.

Well it is quite obvious that the RD asks him not to enter. He runs official at every other race. Blame the RD, not Wardian.

You are common, it is obvious.

common wrote:

The thing he does that bothers me is the prolific racing at small events far away from where he lives.

You don't know Wardian or his fans. He doesn't play to your politics. The guy runs plenty of local races and people love him. He runs plenty of non-local races and people love him. They love him because he'll show up to run whether or not he's going to lose. He's ready any given day to give what he can against all comers. What you also don't realize in your ignorance is that he's invited by the RD to virtually all of these races. They want him there. He has a good relationship with the RDs. And he doesn't have to chase prize money, as a few sponsors are able to help offset his travel costs. Don't begrudge a guy for being able to get a few sponsors to support his pursuit of something at which he is good.

This post is also another one by somebody who does not seem to understand marathoning. You say you can't understand how the guy can run a 2:17 on full effort and then a 2:25 off a similar effort. Clearly you have no respect for changes in weather, course, conditioning, or health.

What grates at me is that you're an inciter -- an unobvious troll. Your perspective is rooted in vague LRC bashing of the guy and a few personal opinions about the road racing circuit. He's the most genuine American road racer we have. You get a 0/10 for even admitting multiple times in your post that your comments are based on "accounts" and "reading" and not actually knowing the guy at all or his achievements.

I understand marathon just fine, thanks. I disagree with almost all of what you say. But arguing with you appears to be fruitless. Carry on.

When your argument is nonsense, supporting it is fruitless.

Combover wrote:

Well it is quite obvious that the RD asks him not to enter. He runs official at every other race. Blame the RD, not Wardian.

You are common, it is obvious.

It's quite obvious that you overuse the word obvious, especially since you are misguided, and obviously don't know it's meaning, since what you think is true is obviously not. NOT common.

What does that even mean?

Combover, it isn't me. Mods can verify my IP. I don't play that game. That is a weird story, and I would want to see verification. I don't know that it even supports what I'm talking about anyway.

I'm trying to be very honest here, sharing an opinion that is clearly in the minority and not very popular. I appreciate the (mostly) earnest and considerate responses and questions.

HRE, yes, that was me. Are you equating a race like Chicago, which has an international, world-class field with a race like Vermont City or MDI? Hopefully you can understand there is a huge difference between the two. Would Chicagoans probably enjoy it more if the winner were a resident of Chicago? Yes. Would it make a difference for a race that is already firmly established? Absolutely not.

I need to clarify the kind of race I'm talking about. I'm definitely not talking about your Sticktown USA 5K and Pie Eating Contest. Nobody cares, and that will never change.

A mid-size marathon with a field of 500-1500 participants and cash prize of about $1000-$2000 for first place is the sweet spot of my argument. Larger than that, and they tend to have big enough marketing and recruiting budgets or have large enough prizes that even a guy as good as Michael Wardian fades into the background among all the Kenyans, Russians, and Ethiopians (who are also there for the prize money).

The kinds of "beyond day two" effects I have seen are an increase in participation in the actual event by runners and spectators, an increase in local residents participating in running activities outside of the time of the event, and improvements in the quality of the local athletes. While all of those positive effects are not direct and 100% related to a local runner winning a local race, it definitely acts as a catalyst to those things happening. The difference from year to year when a non-local runner wins a race like I described above, and when a local runner wins are obvious and significant. This taps in to a timeless human trait: we want to see people we know and are familiar with, win. People who live in "our" community, not "their" community. This is the basis for sport, people!!

You are quite literally responding to new posts less than 1 minute after they are created. You are giving this mean-spirited trolling a big effort. The trolling comes easily for you because so many of us like him well enough to stand up for him.

Tell me, common, have the lambs stopped screaming?

Okay, what is your marathon PR and how far did you travel from home to "race" it?

Now there is someone impersonating me (all the short, bitchy replies) by using my registered name with a space after it.

My replies are long and juicy, like my johnson. Or you can double click my username and see if there's an extra space or not.

common = legit

common_ = not legit

common wrote:

The kinds of "beyond day two" effects I have seen are an increase in participation in the actual event by runners and spectators, an increase in local residents participating in running activities outside of the time of the event, and improvements in the quality of the local athletes. While all of those positive effects are not direct and 100% related to a local runner winning a local race, it definitely acts as a catalyst to those things happening.

Since this is definite, provide some proof. Your subjective observations don't count as evidence. Provide some numbers, articles written by intelligent people, etc. Because I'm sure Wardian, as much as he races, has to turn down quite a few sales pitches from RD's all over the country.

There are pills available to clear up a juicy johnson.

So if I'm a good runner and live in New England, can I run the Vermont City Marathon? What is the threshold for when I am no longer allowed to run a race? How close can I live and how much faster than the field can I be? If the race doesn't publish previous results, do I need to call up the RD to make sure I won't be "too fast"?

Ok, here's the truth. I wasn't a great runner in college, never made a conference team or broke 16, etc. I started running high mileage after college and stil wasn't great. Luckily no one in our small town was good at running and therefore I was able to clean up year after year. He came in and took all that glory from me. It sucks.

Man, this messageboard software is awesome. It's so great that people can register names with periods and spaces to impersonate legitimate users.

I think I'm done here. What I've learned is that it's not okay to criticise Michael Wardian for doing the same thing that it is okay to criticise Kenyans and Ethiopians for doing. The message seems to be if he's a nice, white, American guy, it's okay.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Let's Run.

Let's Run: where racism is totally unintentional and wet dreams are reality

Not entirely true. Hall and others have gotten bashed on here for going to lesser races, having slower times, and getting a payday.

common wrote:

I think I'm done here. What I've learned is that it's not okay to criticise Michael Wardian for doing the same thing that it is okay to criticise Kenyans and Ethiopians for doing. The message seems to be if he's a nice, white, American guy, it's okay.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Let's Run.

Let's Run: where racism is totally unintentional and wet dreams are reality

What? Now you are just being stupid.

As another dude mentioned earlier, cherry picking is what many Kenyans are criticized for. Wardian doesn't cherry pick at all. He gets beat quite a bit.

When all else fails, accuse them of racism. How is that working out for you?

What would Dane do?