Bob Kennedy has become a, GASP, HOBBYJOGGER!!!

ukathleticscoach wrote:

You are judged on your PR not worst time

maybe in England,over here you are only as good as your last race. also if you can't do it ,you coach and if your country's coaches suck you come america like Mo Farah

temp tracker dude wrote:

This could be good.

I think BK qualified with a 3:26 at NYC in 2014. He ran almost an hour slower at Boston. That marathon cheat investigation guy and his cronies had better get on it!

3:26 wouldn't qualify him for Boston at his age.

It is interesting to think about his mindset. Going from a sub 13 guy to a hobby jogger would be hard for me. More importantly from healthy to a slob.

Hardly a hobby jogger, though obviously not the sort of performance he was capable of and would have put on two decades ago. Actually, when I saw the time, I thought it was for a mile... and I am surprised he would run the marathon, this marathon and not maybe that big half marathon closer to home.

I am glad to see him getting back into running (I don't think I would call this event a race; maybe he'll do that another time). I chatted with him before running Phila. Distance Run about fifteen years ago for a few minutes, of course took his portrait - he was at the exhibition - wondered why he wasn't running anymore let alone racing. I was doing this near the top of my capabilities and though, maybe because I was (and still am I would think) fifteen years older, was finding it thoroughly satisfying. Okay, I loved racing. But now I can understand. Though racing is mostly against yourself, and times only meaningful within your own personal context you have for them, your aspirations, based upon talent, effectiveness and efficiency of training, motivation and diligence, raceday preparation, race gumption, etc. turned expectations, it all changes. Frustration, disappointment sets in, and it takes all the enjoyment and satisfaction from racing, including putting up with the whole racing (as opposed to neighborhood running) routine.

But... so I am glad to see him back at it (don't know to what depth or for how long it might continue). In its own way, it's be inspirational.

Frankly, Amby Burfoot's time is just as embarrassing when you think of people like Ed Whitlock.Ditto the Japanese Olympian.Bob might have been pacing a friend, who knows? Who cares, also?

How the mighty have fallen... wrote:

Yikes. A far cry from what he used to run!

Bob Kennedy, 45, 4:24:57, two-time Olympian and former American record holder in the 3,000 meters, two-mile, and 5,000 meters.

http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-marathon/how-notable-runners-fared-at-the-2016-boston-marathon

student of training techniques wrote:

I don't care if Bob Kennedy Gallo-walks a color run in a penguin costume, he will never, ever be a hobby jogger.

Interesting post. Made me think.

About yourself .

DOTD !

Douche of the Thread !!!

Congrats

Bob Kennedy- a name US distance runners should cite in reverence and full admiration.

Surprised no one linked to this article yet- from 2014. Should be required reading for this thread as it answers most of the questions and assumptions within.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/sports/new-york-marathon-2014-ex-distance-star-is-taking-it-slower.html

Excellent quotes:

I think I’ve found a balance,” Kennedy said. “I’ve found I can do things in my life for reasons beyond just being successful.”

and

“I think back on why I didn’t run for so long,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t want to have to deal with running slower. I didn’t want to have to deal with people saying, ‘Are you going to run this race? How fast are you running?’ Now I’m O.K. If I went out and ran nine-minute miles, I don’t have to prove myself to anybody. I’m 44.”

and

He says he has found a joyful enthusiasm as an amateur that waned as a professional.

and perhaps most important for this crowd...

“When you see people cross a half-marathon finish line in 2 hours 45 minutes with tears in their eyes, you kind of get it,” Kennedy said. “When I was 25, I didn’t get it. I really didn’t. I get it now.”

We should all aspire to his greatness as both a professional and amateur runner.

Salad for lunch wrote:

It is interesting to think about his mindset. Going from a sub 13 guy to a hobby jogger would be hard for me. More importantly from healthy to a slob.

I think it's different because Kennedy actually accomplished something in the sport and you did not. So you are still chasing, he went out there, caught it and killed it. He's just kicked back enjoying life now. He's got nothing to prove to anyone.

99Problemes wrote:

He's got nothing to prove to anyone.

He has to prove to the Brojos that talent doesn't go away.

In heaven?

I'd definitely rather be a former sub-13 guy who put on some weight and jogs for fun now than some consistently mediocre sub-elite.

I remember Bob Kennedy winning the state 1600 in the OSU football stadium in high school.

Sound advice wrote:

Frankly, Amby Burfoot's time is just as embarrassing when you think of people like Ed Whitlock.

Ditto the Japanese Olympian.

Here is the comparison of age grading.

Bob Kennedy (49.63%)

Uta Pippig (66.46%)

Amby Burfoot (63.86%)

Kenji Kimihara (60.51%)

Kimihara was running sub-4 into his 70s. But he got about 1 hour slower in just a few years.

On the other hand, Martin Fiz won his AG (50-54) in 2:30. He also won his AG in last year's NYC marathon. Some former elites are still going strong.