So there you have it. Ritz going to world xc would have been a waste of his time and he has to make a living. So in that way he is smart. Hats off to Ebuya, who ran a season in Europe thinking the objective was to keep up with the other runners!
So there you have it. Ritz going to world xc would have been a waste of his time and he has to make a living. So in that way he is smart. Hats off to Ebuya, who ran a season in Europe thinking the objective was to keep up with the other runners!
JE running 13:03 on his 2nd try
Zersenay Tadese going from couch potato 1/'02 to OG bronze 8/'04
These are just a few examples...this is the "new normal"
Yeah, I think I'll go with the guy who can do simple arithmetic. You know, measuring one's effort and all that.
And he ran 12:58 while knowing exactly how many laps.
12:52.32 Kenenisa Bekele ETH 1 Zürich 28/08/2009
12:55.03 Edwin Cheruiyot Soi KEN 2 Zürich 28/08/2009
12:55.66 Imane Merga ETH 2 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:55.98 Vincent Kiprop Chepkok KEN 3 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:56.27 Dathan Ritzenhein USA 3 Zürich 28/08/2009
12:56.46 Eliud Kipchoge KEN 1 Milano 25/06/2009
12:56.53 Ali Abdosh ETH 4 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:57.43 Josphat Bett Kipkoech KEN 5 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:57.62 Mark Kosgey Kiptoo KEN 2 Roma 10/07/2009
12:58.16 Joseph Ebuya KEN 20/06/1987 6 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:58.24 Leonard Patrick Komon KEN 3 Roma 10/07/2009
12:58.56 Matthew Tegenkamp USA
Wow, Ritz is so much better than Lagat. Hahahahaha
Witness the Fitness wrote:
And he ran 12:58 while knowing exactly how many laps.
12:52.32 Kenenisa Bekele ETH 1 Zürich 28/08/2009
12:55.03 Edwin Cheruiyot Soi KEN 2 Zürich 28/08/2009
12:55.66 Imane Merga ETH 2 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:55.98 Vincent Kiprop Chepkok KEN 3 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:56.27 Dathan Ritzenhein USA 3 Zürich 28/08/2009
12:56.46 Eliud Kipchoge KEN 1 Milano 25/06/2009
12:56.53 Ali Abdosh ETH 4 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:57.43 Josphat Bett Kipkoech KEN 5 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:57.62 Mark Kosgey Kiptoo KEN 2 Roma 10/07/2009
12:58.16 Joseph Ebuya KEN 20/06/1987 6 Bruxelles 04/09/2009
12:58.24 Leonard Patrick Komon KEN 3 Roma 10/07/2009
12:58.56 Matthew Tegenkamp USA
The regulator wrote:
So there you have it. Ritz going to world xc would have been a waste of his time and he has to make a living. So in that way he is smart. Hats off to Ebuya, who ran a season in Europe thinking the objective was to keep up with the other runners!
The fact that you believe these bullshit stories shows what a dumbf*** you are. People around the world laugh at the gullibility of Westerners in general, Americans in particular. What a moron. What a bunch of morons.
Unless of course you have another agenda at hand, and that's why you peddle this swill.
I think that Simms guy is feeding us a lot of crap. Most Kenyans are older than they report to be. And this whole "one day he started running and then few months later he ran 13:0x" is also lies. I bet Ebuya had been running barefoot for years, if not a decade+. Also - did you notice how Noah Ngeny did not answer Johnson's question of whether he had been running prior to 1996? Ngeny's response was "I dreamed about running"...lol.
Yea, don't let them fool you. Most, if not all, of these Africans have been running for a long, long time...then lie about their age and training background to make them seem like the next "hot" thing. This is the way they excite meet directors and convince them to enter the circuit WITH appearance fees.
One good thing is because they are so many Africans that run the circuit and well...they look alike and wear the same Nike uniform, it's hard to market them. The best thing we, as Americans, have going is that our runners are different and people can easily distinguish them. If you had a long line of races in a track meet who were all Africans, I bet you couldn't tell who Chepkerui was or Kiptanui or Masai or whoever the hell.
I agree with you and it hurts the sport. Runners like Viren, Roelants, Puttemans, Pre, Keino, Jipcho, Bayi, etc... had personalities. They dressed and looked different.
As an example- I liked Ovett, my best friend liked Coe. My girlfriend, who couldn't care less about sports in general, didn't like the fact that I liked the "bad boy" Ovett.
Their personalities and looks generated interest- even if it wasn't about their running, it was interest and publicity.
The story is true.Ebuya comes from the Turkana community whose majority of people never go to school.They are nomadic .They are also cattle rustlers and live in the harshest desert conditions in the world so it is vey true.I know kenyans lie about their age( practically every kenyan runner out there is older than he claims to be ,even Paul Tergat).But it is a habit not jst restricted to runners.Kenyans do it so that they an stay alittle bit longer in their jbs before being retired( retirement age in Kenya is 55) .Bear in mind the wages are peanuts.Every civilservant in Kenya is older than they clai to be.It is purely a norm of survival.So dont confuse Ebuya's lifestory with the age scandals of the Kenyans.
Recent example of a Kenyan miscounting laps: http://dlv-video.elbracht.net/index/view/number/25/id/700
Without ever having met you but by virtue of your negative message you sound like a typical armchair professional.
Have you ever been to Kenya and witnessed at first hand the poverty and the thirst for running endeavour that can lead to a much more prosperous life/style? From your message I doubt you have. When you become conversant with the sport you will understand that Ngeny had no prior running experience before 1996. In addition often a Kenyan may have difficulty answering a question to the extent to which it is required by the poster. Maybe the question should have been repeated.
As an athletics follower I am able to distinguish the American runners but equally so those that represent Kenyan, Ethiopia or Qatar.
Maybe you should switch to an alternative sport as clearly you do not appear to embrace the fantastic ability for running as you should.
"One good thing is because they are so many Africans that run the circuit and well...they look alike and wear the same Nike uniform, it's hard to market them. The best thing we, as Americans, have going is that our runners are different and people can easily distinguish them. If you had a long line of races in a track meet who were all Africans, I bet you couldn't tell who Chepkerui was or Kiptanui or Masai or whoever the hell."
The American runners will always be easy to distinguish in quality distance field. They'll be the ones at the back sucking wind running metronomic splits and hoping that the Africans up front have a bad day and come back to them.
Great marketing!
Off the Grid wrote:
JE running 13:03 on his 2nd try
Really?
THeTruthSayer wrote:
One good thing is because they are so many Africans that run the circuit and well...they look alike and wear the same Nike uniform, it's hard to market them.
They all look alike? No more than any other ethnicity. What is in play is that you don't know who they are so they all look alike to you. Heck if I go to a Division II track meet all of those runners look alike to me too. If I start to follow their exploits then suddenly they don't look alike anymore.
Are you saying that you couldn't pick out Tergat in a crowd of Kenyans? Lagat? Shaheen? Most of you have never seen Henry Rono run until videos were posted a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure you could identify him from the other side of the track now.
I've seen Ebuya run once (WXC), and now I could pick him out in a crowd of Kenyans any time.
I will agree with you one the Nike same-uniform fits all. I don't believe it does nothing to promote the athletes or the sport. I think that if they issued different uniforms to each training group in Kenya it might make things easier. If you can identify one runner and you see two others with the same jersey then I becomes easier to identify them.
Does it occur to you all that if financial need is the driving force behind the success of so many African runners like Ebuya, perhaps if that catalyst was taken out of the equation...the non-Africans would fare better?
If Kenya could mirror China's meteoric rise as an economic powerhouse, then I guarantee that future runners will turn their attention elsewhere - therefore destroying their legendary depth - and ultimately returning the balance of power back to the Western countries (with respect to distance running). Heck, we don't even need a far strung scenario like that...perhaps if they found a large deposit of minerals somewhere within the country...(gold, oil, copper, whatever..). This alone is enough to deflect future Kenyan stars into the mining profession. More of a sure thing than running - and consistent pay.
Just a matter of time fellas. The deck of cards will topple and I will observe with glee as the African running empire falls to its knees.
THeTruthSayer wrote:
I think that Simms guy is feeding us a lot of crap. Most Kenyans are older than they report to be. And this whole "one day he started running and then few months later he ran 13:0x" is also lies. I bet Ebuya had been running barefoot for years, if not a decade+. Also - did you notice how Noah Ngeny did not answer Johnson's question of whether he had been running prior to 1996? Ngeny's response was "I dreamed about running"...lol.
Yea, don't let them fool you. Most, if not all, of these Africans have been running for a long, long time...then lie about their age and training background to make them seem like the next "hot" thing. This is the way they excite meet directors and convince them to enter the circuit WITH appearance fees.
One good thing is because they are so many Africans that run the circuit and well...they look alike and wear the same Nike uniform, it's hard to market them. The best thing we, as Americans, have going is that our runners are different and people can easily distinguish them. If you had a long line of races in a track meet who were all Africans, I bet you couldn't tell who Chepkerui was or Kiptanui or Masai or whoever the hell.
That's just your white bias speaking. I'm not necessarily saying you're racist, but thinking those of other races look alike is simply because you don't feel attached to them in any way, and thus you generalize them. They look about the same as any one of us do, except maybe hair color. If you were from Kenya, you would be able to tell the difference, so stop acting like Americans are the only ones who have souls as if everyone else is just a copy of each other. Your ignorance is astounding, and I suggest you have a little common sense before making such rash generalizations. It may be hard to "market" them, but whose fault is that?
THeTruthSayer wrote:
If Kenya could mirror China's meteoric rise as an economic powerhouse, then I guarantee that future runners will turn their attention elsewhere - therefore destroying their legendary depth - and ultimately returning the balance of power back to the Western countries (with respect to distance running). Heck, we don't even need a far strung scenario like that...perhaps if they found a large deposit of minerals somewhere within the country...(gold, oil, copper, whatever..). This alone is enough to deflect future Kenyan stars into the mining profession. More of a sure thing than running - and consistent pay.
Just a matter of time fellas. The deck of cards will topple and I will observe with glee as the African running empire falls to its knees.
I'd hold off on that guarantee, because-
a) economic conditions will not be drastically changing in east africa any time soon
and even if they did..
b) plenty of east africans have run brilliantly when raised in other countries (Meb, Abdi, Mo Farah, etc), so those guys do not necessarily need to be raised in an "east african" environment to become great (ie, even if their environment changes, they still have the genes, ie, one can take the east african out of east africa, but you can't take the east africa(genes) out of the east african)
c) if it was only about economics, as soon as guys like Geb hit big paydays, they should, by your theory, suddenly get lazy and quit, right? I mean, their economic incentive is over, they are now rich for life, why keep competing? Because humans all have a desire to be good at something and get recognition, and it certainly not only about $.
d) many of the greatest non-african runners, or even athletes in other sports, have come from solidly middle class backgrounds. According to your theory, this should be unlikely to happen, because.... what would incentivize them to push so hard, and suffer so much though the pain of running when they could make $ doing something easier? While it can help motivate people to work hard and suffer, one does not NEED poverty to become a great athlete.
runn wrote:
I agree with you and it hurts the sport. Runners like Viren, Roelants, Puttemans, Pre, Keino, Jipcho, Bayi, etc... had personalities. They dressed and looked different.
As an example- I liked Ovett, my best friend liked Coe. My girlfriend, who couldn't care less about sports in general, didn't like the fact that I liked the "bad boy" Ovett.
Their personalities and looks generated interest- even if it wasn't about their running, it was interest and publicity.
What the hell are you smoking? Running is more popular in Africa then it has ever been. The African stars of today are huge in theier home countries. Do you think England or wherever the hell you're from is the center of the universe? Might as well cancel track, some white dude isn't interested anymore.
If the white dude isn't interested, the music stops. They are the ones who write the check$. Then it's back to rustling cattle for the homies. That's good sport too, though, I reckon.
counterstep wrote:
]
What the hell are you smoking? Running is more popular in Africa then it has ever been. The African stars of today are huge in theier home countries. Do you think England or wherever the hell you're from is the center of the universe? Might as well cancel track, some white dude isn't interested anymore.
it is true wrote:
I know kenyans lie about their age( practically every kenyan runner out there is older than he claims to be ,even Paul Tergat).
Kenyans do it so that they an stay alittle bit longer in their jbs before being retired( retirement age in Kenya is 55) .
So if they're 55 and say they are 60, for example, they can stay longer in their jobs?