Talent is not important as most people think it is

Proof please

theohiostate wrote:

"Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard."

/thread

There are a lot of people who isn't very good at first, then became world class runners. Jared Ward broke seven minute mile in sixth grade. James Carney's first cross country race is barely under 30 minutes.

good job wrote:

People who say that talent is everything are local 5K back of the packers, and they just can't find enough excuses why they're running so slow.

This is even truer than the OP's thoughts. I agree on both opinions.

i watched chris lukezic pace his buddy in a mile on the track one saturday morning. I think he'd only been been running once a week or so, (maybe 6-10 mpw max) for about 6 months after taking more than a yr off.He ran 4:10 in trainers and beat his friend who was training seriously. looked pretty comfortable.tell us more about talent.

good luck, fast hobby jogger wrote:

i watched chris lukezic pace his buddy in a mile on the track one saturday morning. I think he'd only been been running once a week or so, (maybe 6-10 mpw max) for about 6 months after taking more than a yr off.

He ran 4:10 in trainers and beat his friend who was training seriously. looked pretty comfortable.

tell us more about talent.

Tell us more about how this friend had only been training for omg like a year, while Chris had a backlog of greatness banked up.

This happens all the time. If you've trained as an elite you don't lose it overnight. Heck, you could still bang out a 5k faster than 99% of hobby joggers even after taking 10 years off! Not talent, just fitness in the bank.

Except for the very, very top runners, it's a hobby and talent is irrelevant. Below that level no one knows who you are and no one but you cares about your running. A few on this site can name some obscure college runners, but at the elite level only a handful of people per event get any notoriety. Do the best you can and enjoy it.

The ability and inclination to work hard is also genetic and so is also a talent.

pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:

theohiostate wrote:

"Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard."

/thread

Not really. That doesn't apply to this OP's original point.

Plus, that quote is so pointless. It could be corrected, but it won't sound as nice: "Hard work beats talent, when talent is undiscovered and underutilized. Talent, even with very minimal effort, trumps hard work."

OP, you're right, talent is as important as people think it is.

It is MORE important than people think it is. Anyone who claims differently has never coached a successful team.

Haven't read through the whole thread, but in the few posts I read I was surprised that no one pointed out that an untrained young kid's being able to run even *close* to six minutes (or seven...or just running all the way) in a mile is itself a sign of considerable talent.

And of course being able to handle 130mpw, regardless of how slowly, gradually, intelligently it was attained, is absolutely a sign of talent. I became permanently injured on not much more than half of that--worked up to slowly, with an emphasis on recovery, yadda.

But the posts I saw all seemed to take (what I thought was) an obvious troll thread seriously. So I'm going 4/10 for this one.

i'll clarify a bit: the guy he was running with had just graduated a D1 college. Lukezic told me he had been running once a week for about half of a year and before that no running for 1 year.even if you were a 3:34 1500m guy, you don't just cruise through a 4:10 mile without some serious talent after basically 18 months off. especially looking somewhat comfortable doing so10 years off?! i think the "fitness bank account" closes well before 10 yearsBob Kennedy ran a 27:37 10k in 2004. in 2014 he ran a 3:26 marathon (10 years later)

HobsJog wrote:

good luck, fast hobby jogger wrote:

i watched chris lukezic pace his buddy in a mile on the track one saturday morning. I think he'd only been been running once a week or so, (maybe 6-10 mpw max) for about 6 months after taking more than a yr off.

He ran 4:10 in trainers and beat his friend who was training seriously. looked pretty comfortable.

tell us more about talent.

Tell us more about how this friend had only been training for omg like a year, while Chris had a backlog of greatness banked up.

This happens all the time. If you've trained as an elite you don't lose it overnight. Heck, you could still bang out a 5k faster than 99% of hobby joggers even after taking 10 years off! Not talent, just fitness in the bank.

I agree, looking through this thread sort of disgusted me. I know a kid who couldn't run faster than a 9min mile all of middle school and he actually ran a bit. He's a senior now and can probably run a sub 15 5k on track. Don't have to believe me, I don't care.

talent develops at different times6th grade - 6:10 mile10 yrs later - 4:06freshman yr h.s. - 5'-4", 125 lbs senior yr h.s. - 6'-2", 165 lbs

RejectRunner wrote:

I agree, looking through this thread sort of disgusted me. I know a kid who couldn't run faster than a 9min mile all of middle school and he actually ran a bit. He's a senior now and can probably run a sub 15 5k on track. Don't have to believe me, I don't care.

George Ilie wrote:

What is talent?

Talent is doing something right, without reading the manual.

For the rest of us, the manual is waiting to be read.

So you read the manual, while others are too weak/lazy to do it.

This rings very true. Beyond running, many have hidden talents, but never tap them because they will not act without a manual. The most successful people are constantly experimenting outside of expected "rules" and then doubling-down when they find a successful formula.

lets be real here, sub 15 min 5k isn't that amazing in terms of talent. talent takes you to sub 14:00 minute 5ks (maybe even faster), where the actual competition is in runningi can work my ass off and run 15:00 in the 5k, and grant fisher can run a 13:30 his freshman yr or whateverit's relative.

RejectRunner wrote:

I agree, looking through this thread sort of disgusted me. I know a kid who couldn't run faster than a 9min mile all of middle school and he actually ran a bit. He's a senior now and can probably run a sub 15 5k on track. Don't have to believe me, I don't care.

It's good considering how much he improved since middle school. Especially in high school as well. He can probably make footlockers with that time.

No NO YOU GUYS! HES A SENIOR IN HIGHSCHOOL!!! I kid you not! HES ONLY BEEN RUNNING 40-55MPW!! But he was consistent and had faith.

I feel this quote from Naruto fits this thread well. ''A dropout will beat a genius through hard work.''