Thanks for the update. Sad story.
Thanks for the update. Sad story.
To many miles, snapped.
Should've never gotten married.
So another great runner done in by a girl ?
Jim Ryan (3:55) Tim Danielson (3:59) Marty Liquori (3:59) Alan Webb (3:53.5) at the Footlocker Cross Country Championship Race ...
Not enough miles. Too intense.
Chula Vista wrote:
To many miles, snapped.
This may sound crazy, but does anyone besides me ever think the traits that make someone super great at running aren't healthy?
The obsessiveness, drive and solitariness of the sport can be too much. I used to think about that at Cornell. To be great, you aren't really living a normal life. How do you stay balanced?
Or do unbalanced people naturally excel at running.
Look at all of the troubles many of the former HS phenoms have faced - Lindgren, Danielson, etc.
Ryun and Liquori turned out okay (leaving politics aside). Danielson and Lindgren both experienced disappointment; their careers didn't really pan out. Yeah, I know Lindgren set ARs, but....more was expected.
rojo wrote:
This may sound crazy, but does anyone besides me ever think the traits that make someone super great at running aren't healthy?
The obsessiveness, drive and solitariness of the sport can be too much. I used to think about that at Cornell. To be great, you aren't really living a normal life. How do you stay balanced?
Or do unbalanced people naturally excel at running.
Look at all of the troubles many of the former HS phenoms have faced - Lindgren, Danielson, etc.
Had three college aged friends, very talented and somewhat driven, commit suicide in their mid-late 30s. Running didn't cause it, and each had some extenuating circumstances to deal with but a common trait was that they were willing and able to push themselves beyond normal limits (even for runners).
Runner's in general are NUTS!
rojo wrote:
This may sound crazy, but does anyone besides me ever think the traits that make someone super great at running aren't healthy?
The obsessiveness, drive and solitariness of the sport can be too much. I used to think about that at Cornell. To be great, you aren't really living a normal life. How do you stay balanced?
Or do unbalanced people naturally excel at running.
Look at all of the troubles many of the former HS phenoms have faced - Lindgren, Danielson, etc.
Look at the suicide of the runner at Penn this year, literally killing herself oer a 3.5 GPA her first semester of college.
There was also that girl (name eludes me) who ran off the track in the middle of a 10k and jumped off a bridge in a suicide attempt.
It isn't that great runners HAVE to be crazy or nuts...
its that people who are nuts or crazy to begin with are attracted to running. In fact being nuts or crazy is probably very bad for performance at the upper levels. Each example of an elite athlete going nuts and murdering or suicide is usually someone who didn't win it all.
Wanjiru stands out because he was likely murdered while drunk. The Steepler stabbing his gf is also unique because he was probably defending himself and drunk at the same time (it is africa after all), so neither of these cases would be an example.
But another statistic that is even more damning is the sheer number of track athletes that have been involved in car crashes. Seems like every elite crashes or has crashed a vehicle.
http://www.tmz.com/2014/05/12/jay-z-solange-fight-elevator-video-beyonce-met-gala/
What is crazy btw? It seems crazy takes many forms.
I think there are a couple of people that are nuts on every team, although I don't know that there are any more than the general population.
Ezekeiel Kemboi comes to mind. That dude is NUTS
"I used to think about that at Cornell."
Don't do it Rojo!
rojo wrote:
This may sound crazy, but does anyone besides me ever think the traits that make someone super great at running aren't healthy?
The obsessiveness, drive and solitariness of the sport can be too much. I used to think about that at Cornell. To be great, you aren't really living a normal life. How do you stay balanced?
Or do unbalanced people naturally excel at running.
Look at all of the troubles many of the former HS phenoms have faced - Lindgren, Danielson, etc.
I'm willing to bet the percentage of great distance runners (however you want to define great) that are mentally unstable/unhealthy closely mirrors the percentage of the general population who are mentally unstable/unhealthy.
It seems more like it is Americans who may be crazy.
I guess that at least in the context of this thread, Oscar Pistorius gets cred as a runner.
Yes, its the Americans. Look at Bannister, Chataway Brasher, Lord Coe, Cram, and Ovett, all are (were) very successful and well-adjusted in life after running.
