I hate when people say "4:05 guy" or whatever

no.

(Pardon any errors in the quote, as it's coming from memory.)

"I, for example, am 4 flat point three. It might as well be tattooed on my forehead. This man here, perhaps you'd like to meet him, is..."

That's just the way that runners identify themselves. Typically, though, Olympic champions are not referred to by their inferior - inferior being relative, of course - marks.

No, I'm against you. I think it's entirely appropriate to say you're a 4:20 guy. By saying that, people in the know assume that there has some been hardship, training, and other accomplishments.

However, if you were a 4 flat guy, people in the know would (rightfully) assume that there had been even more hardship, training, and accomplishment.

But without having to say all that.

It's not a matter of "I should be faster than that," it's just a matter of the label. Runners (and people in general label too much). Oh, he's Mehdi Baala, he's a 3:28 guy, of course he will medal in the olympics... etc.

No, dude. Your post is dumb.

The stupid thing is when people refer to an athlete as a 4:05 guy when they have run that time once. When an athlete is more likely to post a certain time than a another, then they can be refered to as being a ____guy.

For example, a guy might run 4:12 6 times during the season, and then pop a 4:05, then back to two more 4:12's. He is actually a 4:12 guy because if you went to Vegas and had to bet on what he would run next, you would most likely bet that he would post a 4:12 rather than a 4:05, or whatever. One time does not a career make.

Consitency wrote:

The stupid thing is when people refer to an athlete as a 4:05 guy when they have run that time once.

I'm with you. I also hate it when they call a guy an "Olympic Champ" just because he won the gold one time.

Consitency wrote:

The stupid thing is when people refer to an athlete as a 4:05 guy when they have run that time once. When an athlete is more likely to post a certain time than a another, then they can be refered to as being a ____guy.

For example, a guy might run 4:12 6 times during the season, and then pop a 4:05, then back to two more 4:12's. He is actually a 4:12 guy because if you went to Vegas and had to bet on what he would run next, you would most likely bet that he would post a 4:12 rather than a 4:05, or whatever. One time does not a career make.

Umm...WRONG! LOOK, it doesn't matter if a guy runs 4:05 once and then never breaks 4:30 again. He's a 4:05 guy. One time does not a career make, but it does a label make. If someone called him a 4:12 guy, then everyone would assume that 4:12 was his best time. Not true. Simply not true. He ran 4:05 and therefore is a 4:05 guy. Billy Mills was an Olympic champion, but he did it once. Does that mean we can't call him an Olympic champion? Of course not. He's an Olympic champion and will be forever.

Alan Web was a 3:53 guy for two years until he finally ran 3:50. Now he's a 3:50 guy. He ran it. He gets credit for it. When he's old and retired from competitive racing, it would be fair to call him a former 3:50 guy (or whatever it is by then), but to call him a 3:58 guy if he runs that time a couple times in a row is not accurate. He ran 3:50, so he's a 3:50 guy.

You run it, you ARE it. Period.

Jim Rome - LATE!

Alan Webb is a great example of why calling someone a "____ guy" is really stupid. Back in 2002 or 2003 when Webb was struggling, most people would either call him a "3:53 guy" judging by his PR or "a 3:58 guy" judging by his then-current times. Neither one is remotely accurate. They both totally ignore the complexity of his situation.

Think of the ridiculous of summarizing El G's entire career by saying "He's a 3:26 guy" or Geb's by saying "he's a 12:40/26:20 type." It's stupid and degrading to their accomplishments. People tend to let "he's a ____ guy" stand in for a summary of one's entire career. In reality, he might have _____ for a PR, but there is so much more than that - for instance his PRs at other distances, when he set them, performance in championship races, hardships overcome, training or lack thereof, how long the person has been running, etc.

Let.

It.

Go.

Drip are you serious? If someone wins olympic gold 1 time they are an olympic champ - end of story. Wottle is an Olympic Champ, Shorter is an Olympic Champ, Mills is an Olympic Champ. Lewis is a multiple Olympic Champ. Get it?

Their gold doesn't go away (unless they are B. Johnson or other cheaters). World records go away. Legitimate Golds don't and those who earned them, whether 1 or 6 golds, are ALWAYS Olympic Champs.

Another one of my biggest pet peeves is when people say things like "Let it go" or "this thread is retarded." If you don't like it, don't read it, bitch. It's not like this thread is 300 posts long, I'm sure it will die in the near future, have some patience.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that "Dripping" was short for "dripping with sarcasm."

listen man, it all comes down to labels. If I am talking to you in a converastion, do you really think that every time I talk about el.G. I am going to go through a whole long list of his accolades? No, i am telling a story, and to get to the point, you label him by his PR and get on with the story.

furthermore, i think it is perfectly reasonable to label someone by their PR. even though someone runs 4:12 more times than they run 4:05, they still had to put in just as much effort and training, and suffer the same amount as everyone else who has run 4:05 in history.

If you are talking to me, you do not need to list El G's accolades because I already know them. But if you are talking to someone else who has no clue who El G is and you say "Oh, he ran 3:26 in the 1500m," that doesn't come close to painting a picture of El G. What about his streak of only one loss in 7+ years? What about his historic double in Athens? I am prompted to this by a thread about Ivy recruits and someone said, "They got a 4:10 guy, etc." Now I'm not criticizing that guy specifically, it's a very common practice, I am just trying to provoke discussion. It seems to have worked, but no one agrees with me. Was the 4:10 guy a state champ? National champ? Footlocker finalist? Unless the 4:10 is by far that dude's biggest achievement, I bet he would prefer to be listed as "a runner with PRs of 1:52,4:10, and 9:02, five time state champion indoors and out in the 1600 and 3200." Maybe he ran an 8:50, maybe he ran a 1:45, but just saying that "he's a 4:10" guy doesn't say too much.

GordonBombay wrote:

or Geb's by saying "he's a 12:40/26:20 type."

One of my pet peeves? People who ask for "opinions", then get pissed when their own thoughts aren't affirmed.

If you want a more detailed answer, since you found reason to swear at my first answer, I'll give you one:

You are being anal. If anything, your concern is when people are misrepresented. Have you EVER heard anyone refer to Bekele as "that 7:30 guy, Ken Bekele"? Of course not. If you did, you were either speaking to them several years ago, or you were speaking to someone who simply knows about people's secondary accomplishments, but not their crowning achievements. For example, if I met someone who referred to Gerald Ford as "that old Michigan football guy, Gerald Ford" without a trace of irony, and wasn't aware that Gerald Ford went on to become President, then that might be odd, and it might be misinformed, but I don't know that I would be able to come up with any venom.

I'm guessing that you like to give long-winded answers, regardless of the context. If we're having a discussion about the 10k, I'm not going to get up in arms if someone refers to Bekele as "a 26:20 guy" but fails to mention his Athens victory. Even if we're talking about a high school runner, I'm much more concerned with how fast he ran than I am with accomplishments. Why? Because 99% of high school races/accomplishments are utterly meaningless in a grand scheme.

If, however, I'm trying to remember the name of a local kid who happened to win the state meet the previous year, then yes, you are indeed right. I'd rather someone jog my memory with his accomplishments than with simply his time. "Remember that guy who won the state meet?" is more likely to help me remember than "that 4:17 guy".

So, in closing,

Let.

It.

Go.

Runners to runners that doesnt bother me at all. Civilians to runners it bothers me. Eg. Me - "Hi your Jen right?" Jen - "Oh you were that runner in high school." Me - "Yes among other things."

People you need to get a life. Who care's what someone can run for a time or not. Just go out and run. Worry about yourself. Get a life. This has to be the stupidist post ever on lets run. Dude you got issues if your worried what people think. Where talking running here. More things to worry about in real life. Your an idiot.