coach d wrote:
A racewalker has walked 20K in 1:18 this year. That's 2:46 marathon pace. So:
walker : people who accuse others of being a hobby jogger.
I'm a sprinter. We have no such equivalent. There are NO hobby sprinters or hobby throwers. We do not disrespect other sprinters to make ourselves feel better about our own lack of performance. But we DO NOT want to be called runners. Just ask any 49-51 second high school kid who is being told he will have to move up to the 800 in college(runn er = someone not fast enough to be a sprinter = non-athlete).
"runner = someone not fast enough to be a sprinter = non-athlete" That is obviously a SILLY idea. However, there are others out there who think that way.
A sprinter is a RUNNER who can go from zero to a max running speed, for a few seconds. That's great stuff. The best are very talented at this type running.
A distance runner is a runner who run at high speeds for extended periods of time. And that's great stuff too.
The notion that "runners" are not athletes is horribly misguided...and silly.
How could anyone not understand that having the ability to run a 8:47 2 mile split in a half marathon...is not a display of athleticism! This kind of speed and endurance is beyond almost everyone...and certainly beyond the best sprinters.
Just curious, how fast must a person sprint a 100M to be considered a sprinter?