We talk about the message boards—the things that are being said. “I’d like to sit down and talk to one of those people,” he says. “Not in a confrontational way. I just, I don’t understand that. I can be okay with it. But I really don’t get who that is. I don’t know how you could watch that race—I don’t know how you could watch anybody at the Trials, or really in almost any race—they’re putting themselves out there. That’s the thing that Julia did more than anyone else has done at the Trials so far—put herself out there. Just a little bit too far. Absolutely all in. And how you could watch that and insult it...you could question it, you could criticize it, but it’s something that very, very few people are able to do. I’ve never done that.”
Part one:
http://www.propellermag.com/Summer2012/Heald1Summer12.html
Part two:
http://www.propellermag.com/Summer2012/Heald2Summer12.html
Part three:
http://www.propellermag.com/Summer2012/Heald3Summer12.html
Ian Dobson / Julia Lucas / letsrun (part three of three)
Report Thread
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I only read a few bits of it, but interesting and well written.
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Really an interesting series. I would also be interested in Julia's version of things.
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those articles were definitely worth the read. i hope they're doing well!
has the writer done anything else on running? -
I also have a piece up on the LA Review of Books about Galen Rupp:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=830&fulltext=1&media= -
Thanks for posting this series. Long thoughtful pieces like that are all to rare in our twitter/one or two liner world of internet posting. Enjoyed the references to the letsrun message board rats. You captured it well.
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Oh, I didn't realize it was the author!
Thanks for replying, I'll check out the Rupp article. -
Good little series. Nice work.
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Lovely pieces, esp. final Rupp paragraph.
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Michael,
This is really good stuff! -
This is excellent journalism, which I can't say about a lot of things now a days! Keep up the good work. These articles are so well written that even non-runners could relate and enjoy the article.
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good stuff
i appreciate the facillitation of the development of emotional bonds with elite runners. -
Michael Heald wrote:
I also have a piece up on the LA Review of Books about Galen Rupp:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=830&fulltext=1&media=
The piece on Rupp is very nice.
How'd it turn out? ;-) -
Great job!! Awesome series!
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Great piece. Really one of the better written pieces on running and its application to life I have read.
But seriously how was Cross Canyon at Steens legal? -
I agree, good writing, but I'm not sure why I am supposed to care about the writer and his relationship/interactions with Ian Dobson. I'd find a third-person in-depth feature on Ian and Julia much more interesting, especially if it was this well-written.
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The Rupp article was great - especially the comparison of Pre to Che.
The infusion of personal history is what makes these so good. -
Michael,
Thank you for writing those pieces about Ian and Julia and Rupp. It's rare to find such quality writing about the sport we love and the athletes that we (should) admire. Keep it up! -
I highly suspect that a single individual is using sockpuppet accounts to write all these positive responses.
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I've been posting here for a couple months (mostly in the Road Race/Marathon Training thread that pops up every week) and I think it's a great series of articles. I don't really care to offer "proof" I'm not secretly Michael Heald's mom who started posted in June, before the article was written, about unrelated topics in order to say I enjoyed this article once it finally came out, but for whatever it's worth, I really enjoyed the writing.
There's a lot hinted at Heald's life in there that piqued my curiosity, but I do question the need for it in an article about the Dobsons. Either way, I appreciate an article that goes beyond "WILL SO AND SO MEDAL?1 MAYBE! MAYBE NOT!"
