Chicago Sun Times Columnist: Favor Hamilton isn't alone - lots of female distance runners are total nut jobs as well!!

Is the story of the N.C. State runner true? What year was this?

1986

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/06/sports/runner-quits-race-leaps-from-bridge.html

Man and I thought Jenny B had a meltdown when she knew she was going to lose...

SFDuke wrote:

1986

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/06/sports/runner-quits-race-leaps-from-bridge.html

Histrionic personality disorder has been discussed on other threads this week. This coupled with the Type A perfectionism discussed in the article are a bad mix.

It is true....I was at the meet. We all saw her run around the track and then just trot out of the stadium. Didn't realize what had actually happened for awhile. It was Indianapolis. 1986 I think.

Happens. You run and run then stop. The body wonders what's going on.

LetsRun.com wrote:

The Chicago Sun-Time Rick Telander has written a column on SFH entiteld:

Suzy Favor Hamilton not alone, it seems, in going off track

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/telander/17142109-452/suzy-favor-hamilton-not-alone-it-seems-in-going-off-track.html

B]Telander wrote:

How crazy were the UW runners? One told me how, because of anorexia and bulimia, she had not had her period in nine years. One ran until her bones started breaking. Stephanie Herbst, a national champion, won an NCAA 10,000-meter title race in Bloomington, Ind., in which another obsessed young woman, a dean’s-list pre-med student from North Carolina State who had set a U.S. collegiate record six weeks earlier, ran off the track in mid-race, climbed a seven-foot fence, sprinted down a city road and then flung herself off a 35-foot high bridge. The runner survived but was paralyzed for life.

Your thoughts?

Rick Telander totally lies!! The race was not in Bloomington but Indianpolis. Kathy Ormsby did not have to climb any fence. She just ran out the gate down the street a couple hundred meters and jumped off the bridge. Anybody in the stands could have seen her jump if they had been looking. If RT has to lie about these simple facts, one had to wonder how much else he is lying about?? What other facts did he decide to enhance to make a good story??? Makes one wonder.

Those are mine, now Your thoughts?

Mental illness plus hormonal imbalances that can arise from eating disorders and elite training is bound to breed some crazies

have you read "She Was Once a Runner?" It's an e-book, but it reinforces the idea that hormonal imbalances and over training leads to mental illness. Wild stuff.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156110

Worth reading too

witness wrote:

It is true....I was at the meet. We all saw her run around the track and then just trot out of the stadium. Didn't realize what had actually happened for awhile. It was Indianapolis. 1986 I think.

Are you sure you were at the meet as she didn't "trot out of the stadium". I was at the finish line and when they went behind the hammer cage at the opposite side of the track she suddenly disappeared. About 15 minutes after the race, the announcer kept asking for Ormsby to report to her coach so there was a weird vibe in the air as spectators left the stadium (the 10K was the last event for that night). Witnesses near the hammer cage said she climbed the rail into the stands and then another taller fence by the soccer field before heading for the bridge a half mile away (the gate near the hammer cage was locked as the only open entrance was near top of the first curve). So she didn't just trot out of the stadium, she desperately climbed her way out.

All true.... http://m.runnersworld.com/books/book-review-silence-great-distance-women-running-longGreat book! Also details SFH early years w/UW. FRANK MURPHY also wrote Cold Clear Day about Buddy Edelen USA WR in marathon. Another great read!!

Dr. Love wrote:

Is the story of the N.C. State runner true? What year was this?

If I jumped into the White River in Indianapolis, I'd be more concerned about sickness from water quality more than anything else.

My thought are:

1. Frank Murphy's book "A Cold Clear Day" was a great look at the costs that some women have paid pushing to the edge of their potential.

2. Rick Telander is a condescending outsider who knows nothing about women's running, getting a little fame out of sensationalism.

3. If I was one of the Wisconsin runners that Telander is gratuitously throwing together with SFH after she became a prostitute, I'd go kick Telander's balls up into his throat.

Don't blame the coach and his nationality.

And amen about the White River. I'd rather jump down an outhouse hole.

Being in error on these matters does not make one a liar.

I recall hearing that she had climbed a fence as well. It really does not change the FACT that the woman lost it and tried to kill herself now does it?

That said, I did not even know Telander was still writing. Also, he goes with the "this is normal" and then at the end "not everyone is like that". Okay--hedging the bet.

hookers r fun wrote:

Mental illness plus hormonal imbalances that can arise from eating disorders and elite training is bound to breed some crazies

Eating disorders can arise from mental illness--actually it IS in DSM IV...

Stiffler2 wrote:

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-29/sports/sp-117_1_pills

Worth reading too

Thanks for the link. While I realize few women become nuns, that really does not seem like an unhealthy choice compared to trying to kill oneself. Also not sure the Joanie example is odd considering what was at stake. (Also there is a lot of evidence that activity improves recovery time whether it is knee surgery or knee replacement.).