Bob Kennedy killin it at 8 minute miles.

imarunr wrote:

Everyone on this thread is mocking him and writing him off.

I wasn't mocking him. My comment was to the guy that said every talented pro after retirements trends to slow eight or ten-minute miles. It's not true, but there's nothing wrong with running that slow either. Gebrelassie will not be running that slow either.

As for Kennedy, is he actually attempting a serious Masters comeback? Like when Rono tried to comeback as a Masters runner? If he's serious, he'll be a force in his age group for the WRs.

It's called moving on with your life and focusing on other things, like career, family, etc. Running isn't everything. He went for it all in his prime and has a lot to show for it, including enough recognition to be the subject of message board rates. If Bob is happy with the way his life is now, I'm sure he could care less what the message board crowd thinks about his current fitness.

He needs to get back on the thiroid hormones.

Same age as Bob, way faster wrote:

Alas, talent goes away.

I've always been fascinated how really talented athletes seem to decay worse than people who had to work for mediocre gains.

It's like when their additional fitness erodes their natural talent goes with it.

I don't agree the talent goes away. These guys just get out of shape. He's like 47 and still running 8:00 pace apparently just starting back. That sounds like the opposite of talent decay. It's also a side photo, but that he looks like he ways anywhere from 30-60lbs more than he did as an elite. That alone is worth anywhere from 30 second to maybe 2:00/mile.

So Kennedy is coming back and running what would be probably 7:00 pace or better at near race weight as a 47 year old. There is a TON of talent still there. I'm sure if he started training again and dropped the weight he would be back under 16:00 at a minimum in less than a year...which is quite good for a 47 yr old.

For a lot of former elites, the end is one injury after another. Very few retire in good health. I wasn’t nearly on that level and wasn’t what would be considered an elite runner, but i did finish in the top 5 at USAs a bunch of times on the track and in cross.

Now (10-15 years later) i don’t think i could finish a 5K. I am out of shape though not really over weight, but it’s my legs that keep me from running. Every injury under the sun.

Do you think Meb will be this slow 10 years from now??

He will be off the secret sauce by then

And that big time loser, Dan Marino could probably barely throw 60 yards anymore. He must hate his life!

vivalarepublica wrote:It's called moving on with your life and focusing on other things, like career, family, etc. Running isn't everything. He went for it all in his prime and has a lot to show for it, including enough recognition to be the subject of message board rates. If Bob is happy with the way his life is now, I'm sure he could care less what the message board crowd thinks about his current fitness.

^ This. Viva means to say "couldn't care less", but otherwise this. /thread

Talent drops off pretty unevenly from athlete to athlete. Adam Goucher is cooked, Brad Hudson is cooked, and some old guys like Steve Spence can still run fast. But know this - how well an aging runner hangs on varies from individual whether they train or not. Two guys who were the same in college,putting in similar routines throughout the years, could be minutes apart in a 5K many years later.

imarunr wrote:

I don’t recall how old Bob is now, but my guess is if he wanted to put the work in again, he’d be much faster than 99% of us in no time. Talent does NOT go away completely. It might be dormant now, but is still there underneath.

I don't get it - where does it say this was his all out race pace?

I do think it's funny that he's wearing a "live simply " shirt while posting a picture of himself with a hi-tech watch and an Infinity SUV in the background.

All good tho-- enjoyed watching him race many times.

Exactly, they stop caring. Mr. "Same age as Bob way faster" is trying 1000 times harder than BK because he doesn't have a good career to look back on.

Ok, the most important facts that have been unmentioned thus far:

1) that spork shirt is pretty cool

2) 5 miles at 8 flat pace is faster than I could run after even a few months off, so I wont knock him for having a "slow" baseline

3) 5 miles at 8 minute pace is faster than a majority of the population can achieve even with an attempt at training. Im consistently surprised how slow my self proclaimed runner coworkers are compared to all my actual runner friends.

4) That shirt is still pretty sweet. I would pay a few bucks for shirt like that, while you would have to pay me to wear something toolish like a tracksmith shirt

5) Bob Kennedy has a bit of moobs happening there. Im glad he is attempted to get back into a healthy lifestyle.

6) did I mention that I like that shirt?

Outlaw wrote:

I do think it's funny that he's wearing a "live simply " shirt while posting a picture of himself with a hi-tech watch and an Infinity SUV in the background.

Oh Please wrote:

As a current resident of Westerville, I have nothing bad to say about Mr. Bob Kennedy.

He’s still got the course record (posted on a large sign) for the Thomas Worthingon high school meet. Saw it playing disc golf. Sub 15

It's interesting to see how runners are doing after retirement. He could have being going for an easy run anyway. I wonder how fast Gebresalasse can run these days? He must be still in a low/mid 15 minute 5k shape because he is literally still running lots. Would be fun if he shared details of what he is doing. I hope he literally writes a book soon, or shows up to some race. I wonder what age Bekele and Geb will be, when 8 minute miles is literally a race pace for them. They will be in there 80's probably. Daniel Komen is another one I always think about, literally a lot. For him you want to see a comeback, because we didn't get to see enough of him when he was running the best.

Banana Bread wrote:

It's interesting to see how runners are doing after retirement. He could have being going for an easy run anyway. I wonder how fast Gebresalasse can run these days? He must be still in a low/mid 15 minute 5k shape because he is literally still running lots. Would be fun if he shared details of what he is doing. I hope he literally writes a book soon, or shows up to some race. I wonder what age Bekele and Geb will be, when 8 minute miles is literally a race pace for them. They will be in there 80's probably. Daniel Komen is another one I always think about, literally a lot. For him you want to see a comeback, because we didn't get to see enough of him when he was running the best.

I agree with your basic points. But, did you really have to misuse the term "literally" 4 times in one paragraph? I mean, seriously, what is up with that?

Just messing with you. My sister used to say " like totally" in almost every sentence. I think literally is the new totally.

Hardloper wrote:

Exactly, they stop caring. Mr. "Same age as Bob way faster" is trying 1000 times harder than BK because he doesn't have a good career to look back on.

Nope. I am just keeping the wheels turning to hold my shape. It was a mere observation and I wondered why guys like Kennedy don't leap back into shape.

He ran enough to do a Marathon a couple of years ago and despite logging decent mileage he was still SAF.