Falmouth Road Race

observer wrote:

[quote]kritter wrote:

... versus thousands, maybe millions of those who fell by the wayside.

Nay, gadzillions, lotsillions, maybe even umptillions.

Can anybody find or post the top 50 or so? The official website stinks.

I heard Briana's dad pulled her out of school so she can train twice a day.

I trust CH's assessment of Brianna. The "nattering nabobs", soothsayers of burnout syndrome, can collectively get into their vehicle of choice, get on your local interstate, get the lemon up to 75, and turn into that bridge abutment you all pronosticate for her

Read this article and you may feel differently.

http://app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,657424,00.html

"But Briana followed her sister into running, not her father. She used to watch Leisha, who is four years older, and her father hit the trails together all the time.

Leisha used to be almost as much a phenom as Briana is now. She has her own cases filled with youth trophies in that pool room. Only her body broke down by the time she got to Colts Neck High School. The Jackucewiczes say Leisha was diagnosed with compartment syndrome -- an inherited muscle swelling unrelated to overuse injuries. Compartment syndromes arise when a muscle becomes too big for the sheath that surrounds it causing pain. Leisha is not competing in running right now."

In the interests of not being accused of selective quoting, it should be pointed out that the next two paragraphs read:

"Instead she is on the boys wrestling team, tackling a new challenge. She believes wrestling will help prepare her for the Naval Academy. Eventually she wants to fly fighter planes. She is a natural artist with a burgeoning portfolio.

And still Leisha misses running.

"I'm going to get back," she said, her smile fading only briefly. "I still love it."

My question is: Did she win Prize Money at Falmouth? and did she take it?

G.

The Falmouth site has the to 100 available....

Lard Lad wrote:

Can anybody find or post the top 50 or so? The official website stinks.

Actually you can get the top 128 men if you narrow the search.

The Dina wrote:

The Falmouth site has the to 100 available....

Lard Lad wrote:

Can anybody find or post the top 50 or so? The official website stinks.

doctor of reason wrote:

briana may have kicked her butt now,, but lets see what she's doing in rehab in a few years.

That's assuming a lot:

1) that she would want to be a doctor;

2) that the medical profession would still be around in 20 years;

3) that she gives a shit what you think.

The fact is she kicked Joan's butt and you're having a hard time dealing with it.

hyperbole wrote:

observer wrote:

[quote]kritter wrote:

... versus thousands, maybe millions of those who fell by the wayside.

Nay, gadzillions, lotsillions, maybe even umptillions.

hilarious : )

NikeXC wrote: I am almost positive Abdi ran faster than that finishing behind Meb at the 2002 USATF.

you speak the truth

415 27:42.83 Abdihakem Abdirahman USA 01.01.77 2 Palo Alto 21.06.2002

I think Joanie is having a little trouble with getting her butt kicked by an 11 year old. I know I would, and I never won a gold medal.

Good advise but pretty harsh as quoted. I think its the Mom in her.

Brings back all those memories of running local AAU (remember AAU?) races in Pittsburgh during the late 70's. I remember feeling like shit because I ran a 15-16 year old race and didn't push near as hard as the 12 and under kids who were crying when they hit the finish line.

Behind every "Next Jim Ryun" was a very pushy parent who never reached their own potential and is living vicariously through their kids. They are now soccer dads, skate moms and dance moms, but all cut from the same cloth.

You asked where are they all now? Doing the same thing to their kids, because you can't be satified with being a burned out former 11 year old sensation.

But still for an 11 year old, that's just amazing...

She's 12, not 11.

gdking wrote:

I think Joanie is having a little trouble with getting her butt kicked by an 11 year old...

Actually, no. Last night I asked her about the whole scenario, and she described it pretty much identically to the way it is described here.

However, by way of coloring the "transcript", and filling in gaps between what JBS "said" and what she "meant," here are some additions to the account:

JBS thought that this young woman had wonderful form and looked great. Her intention was to suggest that the youngster run more 5k's rather than longer races, that she not set too much store in trophy wins at age 12, that she not jeopardize her potential collegiate career by taking prize money at any road races, and that she endeavored to keep the whole activity "play".

You can think of this as advice from a mom, or advice from a coach, or advice from a great athlete. I don't think there was a trace of bitterness or jealousy.

G.

Thanks for that Giles. It's the playfulness that's key. The article on her and her sister creeps me out, particularly the part where her older sister's compartment syndrome was labelled a genetic freak. Sure, genes may have played a part, but without a doubt so too did overtraining.

For both sisters, I am sure this is hard. It's great to get so much attention from your parents and to do something very well which is the result, no doubt about it, of hard work. But you can't fool mother nature. This kind of training on an immature body is 99.9999% likely to result in breakdown. Maybe she is the oddball, the Mary Slaney of her generation. But here is where the wisdom of Jack Daniels comes into play. Not all hard work is good work. Is there any proof that Mary Slaney wouldn't have been as good, if not better, had she first come into her prime as a 20-something year old? If anything, that would seem to be Joan S's point. Patience is a virtue.

Not that I know her personally, but from interviews I've read with her, Joan Samuelson seems very level-headed and classy. Add to that the fact that her accomplishments are among the best in US distance running history, and I don't see how you can just dismiss her with this "she's just mad because she got her butt kicked" stuff. I really doubt she felt humiliated being beaten by a 12-year-old--I don't think she takes racing all that seriously any more. If you're well into your 40's and racing just for fun, I don't think you care too much who beats you (except maybe people in your age group).

It sounds like she had some really good advice for the young girl. I think it's great that a runner of her stature gave that advice, because it's a lot more likely to have an effect than the exact same argument coming from all of us unknowns on this message board.

I ran Falmouth yesterday, as did my 12 year old son, who had never run more than four miles before last Sunday (he finished 5.5), and I still thought I was nuts for letting him run-he actually finished in just over an hour, 24th of the 197 14-and unders, felt great after the race, was smiling, talked about how much fun he had all the drive back to PA. He told me for the last several weeks that he would do fine, and he did.

He did only a handful of training runs to prepare for this race-our goal was for him to finish without medical attention-his mile splits varied between 8:49 and 8:25 (his last one). He plays baseball, basketball (just finished seasons in these), soccer, football, Gaelic football, and he plays tennis and golf on his own with his friends without any adults in the way.

I ran 4:15 mile, 25:15 five mile when I was in my 20\'s, I know that if my son cares to pursue running seriously when he is older, he will have a lot of success. But that is up to him. For now, it is a fun thing that he does once in a great while-the more unusual the better-he ran a 5K X-C race in a downpour last year-we had a great time. He probably runs four or five races per year, doesn\'t train specifically for any of them-plenty of time for that. The smile he had all the way home (he feels great today-I am dragging) broke the sting of my own lousy race.

I hope Briana is still running when she is older-she obviously has the talent-and the toughness, but 12 years old is awfully young to be a 6 year vet of the sport.

Whatever Joan said, she was probably right.

Smitty wrote:

So what say you letsrun masses? Genius or insanity from Joan?

It sounds like they had previously established some sort of dialogue...I can't see JBS offering such unsolicited advise. If not, "insanity" from Joan...she shouldn't feel she has to say anything about the Little League parent syndrome because it will fall on deaf ears anyway..I've seen it a million times in numerous sports.

TomM wrote:

Not that I know her personally, but from interviews I've read with her, Joan Samuelson seems very level-headed and classy. Add to that the fact that her accomplishments are among the best in US distance running history, and I don't see how you can just dismiss her with this "she's just mad because she got her butt kicked" stuff. I really doubt she felt humiliated being beaten by a 12-year-old--I don't think she takes racing all that seriously any more. If you're well into your 40's and racing just for fun, I don't think you care too much who beats you (except maybe people in your age group).

Agree. I've met her and she's a class act. And time makes us forget what an AMAZING performance she did in LA, coming back from surgery and right into the heat and running away from the field.

But I still gotta think she would be "a little" embarassed that a 12 year old girl beat her. Come on. She can't turn off like a faucet that competitive juice that put her on the victory stand. Even though she has scaled back, all her interviews show that competitiveness seaping through.

I am past 40 and a has-been, but it still burns me when a little midget passes me. I really dont care and I cheer them on, but it still burns me a little...

But it sounds like we all agree, good advice to a kid who probably wont listen to a word of it (kids these days...)