Track Whore vs. Road Whore?

Wise comments -- I see the screen name "Purist" but you are clearly Paula Radcliffe. Or are you Alberto Salazar? Leonard Mucheru? Craig Virgin?

"I do track so it's the greatest." "In track, my event is the geratest/toughest."

Actually, not a rare sentiment in any sport.

Joe, I guess my real question is why is road racing considered the "red-headed step child" and treated like a lesser discipline? It's all hard as hell. I'm trying to make a comeback and am reminded of that everyday. Track just seems to look down it's collective nose a little more. Just wondering why?

Why?

track = Olympics = ultimate

"track = Olympics = ultimate"

Agree with that basic idea, BUT....it's like saying landing on the moon is the only goal in aviation, and if you ain't shooting for THAT, why even go to flight school? Most members of our species ain't going to the Olympics...winning NYC, Chicago, Peachtree, or the Philadelphia Distance Run sound like acceptable substitutes in my book.

The Olympic marathon is also a road race practiced for by doing some other road races. Is it a lesser effort than the 1500m? The 1500m runner does something that the marathoner can't, and the same is true the other way around. The marathoner must run shorter road races to practice and perfect his trade just like the 1500m runner hops into the occaisional 800m. I'm still trying to see the origin of the argument against young guys pursuing a career on the roads in anticipation of bigger things in the marathon.

I remember in 1986 when Arturo Barrios first came on the scene as a road racer. He ran Boston that year,(5th 2:14).

I was speaking with an agent who worked the European track circuit & he commented that Barrios was just a road whore who would get killed if he raced the best on the track in Europe.

A few years later he set the WR for 10k & Hr. runs on the track.

Liquori's quote:

"Road Racing is Rock & Roll & Track is Carnegie Hall"

Road races mix recreational runners with the elites.

I guess I'm one of those guys who for some reason holds track in higher esteem than roads. Maybe it's not entirely rational, and probably has a little bit to do with McVeigh's "I do track therefore track is best" theory.

There's also something absolute about track performances. I have various friends who have run 29:10, or 28:40, or 29:52 or whatever on the roads -- but I never really know what to believe about the performances. Was the course *really* accurate? Aided? Windy? Sure, the biggest road races are accurate, but there are tons of races out there, and I guarantee some of those courses are bogus -- sometimes by 5m, sometimes by 500m.

I also sort of subscribe to the Bob Kennedy school of thought. In my opinion, track is where the biggest studs in the world are. If you want to see how you stack up against the very best, track is where it's at.

Of course, you can make good money on the roads -- far better than on the track, unless you're right at the top. But one sin the track snobs aren't guilty of is judging the merit of something simply on its profitability.

(And yes, the marathon is a completely different beast, to which these arguments don't apply.)

interested wrote:

Road races mix recreational runners with the elites.

Not after the first hundred yards.

I think people are comnsidered "road whores" if they run many performances on the roads in one season, with out focusing on one race. I.E. a person who focused on say two marathons a year, and ran a few tuneups before, probably would not be considered a whore. But I think people start name calling when someone has no focused race, and never peaks, but just races around and does their races at say 80 - 90% fitness, never peaking and just looking to score some $$$. Like some of these marathoners back in the day used to run one every month in like 2:15, when they probably could run 2:11 if they focused on just one. I guess it should be true for track and cross too, now that I think about it.

There is something about track racing at the top level that seems to separate the women from the girls, the men from the boys. One is far from home, living in a hotel, one city one day another city the next, food choices are unpredictable. It is taxing in many ways before one even steps onto the track.

Roadracing in the US is easy compared to that. Not to mention the crowds, the adulation, the money (for top competitors).

The thrill of p.r.'s on the track comes from the absolute nature of track racing. Roads are fun. But the real runners (save the marathon) are testing themselves on the track.

It's not just the track runners looking down at the road racers, though some do. Often it is the road racers wishing they were good enough to race on the track. Some might be envious or jealous. Bona fide track stats are gold in this sport. Road times are road times.

So, who would be considered some of the biggest road whores in the U.S.?, just curious.

Both endeavors have their advantages and disadvantages. One is not better than the other, just different. Biggest road whores though would probably be just about any marathoner. This obviously has excpetions, but since the half is a road race as well, I would say that most marathoners are road whores.

It's all just weak sauce compared to World Cross.

Yeah, listen to Paul...um...Tegat. Nevermind.