well? what do you think?
well? what do you think?
Yeah you are right. I was just talking to a bunch of elite Africans and all they were talking about was how Rupp has all the resources in the world but they still beat him. They just couldn't stop laughing about it and refused to talk about anything else.
i dont know, but rupp vs the africans reminds me of one of the sylvester stallone rocky movies when rocky went to russia and the russian had all this fancy high tech equipment and rocky had to do old school training.
rupp has all this high tech equipment and a lot of his competition have not even had shoes most of their lives.
the funny thing is in the rocky movie and in real life with distance runners the old school USUALLY wins.
Were they speaking in English or African?
poster wrote:
Yeah you are right. I was just talking to a bunch of elite Africans and all they were talking about was how Rupp has all the resources in the world but they still beat him. They just couldn't stop laughing about it and refused to talk about anything else.
how about, do they think it's funny that while they've been running their whole lives and he started in high school, he's not that far off their best and is constantly catching up?
Rupp is more machine than man. He has this machine where he could run, but instead of Rupp moving forward, the ground beneath him moves!
Watt wrote:
Rupp is more machine than man. He has this machine where he could run, but instead of Rupp moving forward, the ground beneath him moves!
Witchcraft!
Sarah Goode wrote:
Watt wrote:Rupp is more machine than man. He has this machine where he could run, but instead of Rupp moving forward, the ground beneath him moves!
Witchcraft!
It could be argued that Rupp is more of a lot of things than man.
dsdsdds wrote:
well? what do you think?
This kind of question seems to pop up in the minds of almost everyone. Are Africans better runners than Americans or the rest of the world? Actually the answer is negative. For Africans(elite runners) running is a lifelihood and a way of life. They put all dedication and even suspend alot of things in life in order to concentrate on running. That includes watching TV and other leisurely activities. Theirs is serious business. With all this in mind, there is no way you cannot do well. That is why a number of them/us disappear after only two or three years. We do this to get back to normal life because the life of an African athlete is not normal. As some people put it, it is a way out of poverty(call a spoon a spoon!).
On the other hand Rupp has school and other distractions to hold him down. And so do other American athletes and athletes from non-African countries. In fact I think Rupp is alot gifted than alot of African elite Athletes except for the likes of Gebrsillassie(in his hay days) and now Bekele. Note that I did not mention Kenyans for the reason that since Daniel Komen(not me) and Paul Tergat, we have not had anyone with similar resilience. Rupp and others like Ryan Hall needs to camp for at least six months every year in Kenya for the purpose of training and I assure you that in three years, you will no longer be asking the same question. I am hoping that they will be able to survive the change in lifestyles. We have an Iaaf high altitude training center in Kenya which hosts athletes from different countries. If you are serious about improving your running, send the boys over there and the question of race will nolonger be brought into running anymore(LOL). Lets have one race(compete) and leave the other race out of this. Bob Kennedy should support me on this. Right Bob?
exactly.
i think we western runners can become too scientific at times. this knowledge can sometimes create subconscious psychological limitations on performance.
the Kenyans have been challenged throughout their life, they are not worried about lactic acid levels, and other unnecessary terminologies, they are focused in on what they have to do.
Linguist wrote:
Were they speaking in English or African?
poster wrote:Yeah you are right. I was just talking to a bunch of elite Africans and all they were talking about was how Rupp has all the resources in the world but they still beat him. They just couldn't stop laughing about it and refused to talk about anything else.
I didn't know African was a language.
Yes, the Nairobi Times features a daily cartoon called "Ruppy and the machines" in which Galen Rupp buys a new machine every new strip and in the end gets his ass kicked.
and it's funny that people still believe that kenyans run daily from an early age on and that this is the reason of their sucess...Paul Tergat had to walk 400m to school and he is still the best 10k runner Kenya has ever produced.
In fact danish scientists found out that danish kids have a more active lifestyle and push themself harder than Kenyans of the same age.
I doubt most elite africans do even know who Rupp is anyway.
In addition to the cartoon, elite Kenyans based out of Iten hold a Friday night stand up and improv show. The most popular skits with the crowd are the 'bust on Rupp' skits. People in the audience are in tears.
No they know that Rupp is still reletively expirienced compared to them .African elites are very pragmatic and respectful of their opponents.
no sir wrote:
Ummm...I think they're too busy starving to death and dodging machetes to find anything funny.
Do you really think that elite runners in Africa live this way? Yeah, buddy, Geb and Bekele are probably digging through a landfill in Ethiopia right now trying to find their next meal.
LC wrote:
no sir wrote:Ummm...I think they're too busy starving to death and dodging machetes to find anything funny.
Do you really think that elite runners in Africa live this way? Yeah, buddy, Geb and Bekele are probably digging through a landfill in Ethiopia right now trying to find their next meal.
Ha ha ha!
Thanks LC.
Nice one.
dsdsdds:
You must be extremely jealous of him. Are you as good looking as him? Can you run his times? Have you ever run in the Olympics?
You can dog great athletes all you want, but at the end of the day, they are much happier than you are.
Are you living your dreams?
4535544 wrote:
exactly.
i think we western runners can become too scientific at times. this knowledge can sometimes create subconscious psychological limitations on performance.
the Kenyans have been challenged throughout their life, they are not worried about lactic acid levels, and other unnecessary terminologies, they are focused in on what they have to do.
Most Africans are cornered by the hard life staring them right on the face. It is like you are in a car and it is fast heading to the cliff. And then you have no options at all to get out of the predicament-the situation having been propagated by the rulling class who amass all the wealth(jobs) etc for themselves and their families. Schools are very expensive such that most barely make it out of grade school(This is not to say that Kenyans or Africans are not educated). I am talking of the majority who live in the country with only subsistence farming to rely on. In Kenya and Ethiopia, running has proven to be the only miracle cure for this malady whereas in West African countries, football(soccer)seems to be doing the magic. Trying to compare American runners like Hall and Rupp with African elite runners is a waste of time. If Africans had the same opportunities as Hall and Rupp, very few of them would take up running because there would be easier options to success. So for Rupp running is for fame and fun whereas for these African elite runners it is for survival. You be surprised that a number of them do not even remember their personal bests because all they care is if they won some money(position)...