I often wonder what would a guy like that run if they had to get their kids to school and get to work, instead of running in the morning. How well would he run having to deal with the stresses of a job, or other life stresses. What will become of guys like this about 20 years from now? I mean, yes a few guys will be able to capitalize on some type of career out of it, but for the vast majority they will be forgotten to most people. I mean, 20 or 30 years from now Jake and his brother will just be some weard white guys who ran fast many years ago. They don't make big money, and any money they made will be gone. And I'm not just talking about these guys. How many people on the site still remember Lynn Jennings, for example? If you do, you think anyone else in this world that is not a runner cares? Do you think she's celebrity? What about a guy like Joe LeMay, or a host of other runners that ran in the 1990s?
What would Jake Robertson or his brother run if they lived in New York and had 2 young kids to take care of and had to work
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If they lived in New York they would not be able to run under 30mins for 10k. If they lived in NY and had kids they would have work long hours.
I could see both earning a living as elite coaches in ten years. They have a deep knowledge of Kenya and Ethiopia that virtually no foreigner has. -
I wonder about this a lot in reverse. Like what if you the better non-elites (70/2:26 for guys, 79/2:45 for women) and gave them the ability to do nothing but train for a year with all the resources elites have (massages, PT, etc.). I've always wondered how much they would improve
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Obviously, Would be a loser just like you.
Well no, no one would wallow in self loathing as badly as you. Pull ur head outta ur butt and start running again, Fast! -
Robertson will not make it wrote:
I often wonder what would a guy like that run if they had to get their kids to school and get to work, instead of running in the morning. How well would he run having to deal with the stresses of a job, or other life stresses. What will become of guys like this about 20 years from now? I mean, yes a few guys will be able to capitalize on some type of career out of it, but for the vast majority they will be forgotten to most people. I mean, 20 or 30 years from now Jake and his brother will just be some weard white guys who ran fast many years ago. They don't make big money, and any money they made will be gone. And I'm not just talking about these guys. How many people on the site still remember Lynn Jennings, for example? If you do, you think anyone else in this world that is not a runner cares? Do you think she's celebrity? What about a guy like Joe LeMay, or a host of other runners that ran in the 1990s?
The question posed in your subject line is as interesting as it is easily-answered, but first I ought to seek some clarification.
IMPLIED ASSUMPTION 1: Jake and Zane had 2 young kids together (discounting any New Zealand law governing parental rights and duties in same-sex partnerships, and also ignoring the obvious incest issues which are implicated); also possible they adopted them, I suppose "had 2 young kids to take care of," or something to that effect.
ASSUMPTION 2: They live in New York (you do not give any further specification, so I'm assuming it's NYC you're talking about).
Your question is "weard" for sure, but with a little clarification we can keep this very important topic alive. -
Maybe in 20 years the Robertsons will be tearing up the world lists for masters' runners'. Maybe they'll be shepherds. Maybe people will think they were weird. Most will have no idea who they are or what they did. So what? They've done everything they can to run as well as possible and they've done something NOW which is quite extraordinary. Unless you build a pyramid or something along those lines your accomplishments will fade into obscurity. Have you spent a lot of time admiring Ralph Hill lately?
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Most people buy into the whole thing of studying, having kids, raising a family, getting a trophy wife and owning two cars and a big house to "make it".
People somehow feel forced/pressured to go into that lifestyle only to end up feeling more empty inside. Then just because you didn't had the balls to try something different in the past and are now trapped in your boring life you feel the need to put these questions out there and imagine all of these hypothetical scenarios.
They took a risk, and are now doing something that makes them happy and fulfilled. They don't live in New York and they aren't trying to compete with their boring neighbors to see who has the best lawn.
It's not too late to try to do something that makes you happy. -
Lot’s of people just enjoy trying to be as good as they can be, at whatever they decide to focus on. I seriously doubt the Robertsons lose much sleep over whether or not you will remember them in 20 years.
That said, yes, I remember Lynn Jennings just fine.
Your life is not some burden that keeps you from being a good runner. It represents your choices. -
Maybe Jake can become the prime minister of Kenya or something and his face will printed on coins.
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your post seems to be asking a bunch of different questions all mixed up in an incomprehensible gallimaufry. you start by asking what if Jim and Joe Robertson lived in New York but you quickly veer off into asking the seemingly unrelated question of whether or not anyone cares.
a hundred years from now there will be no oil left so there will be no electricity and any humans left alive will be living in caves and no one will care what the world record for the marathon was, back in the day.
a thousand years from now there will be no humans left to care about anything.
a million years from now the earth will have been swallowed up by a dying sun and nothing any human ever did or thought or made will even exist any longer and all of this will have been consumed by the impenetrable nothing.
there is also the perspective that humans are just animals and the only point of our existence is to have sex and pass on our genes, which implies that running round in circles and painting pictures and writing poetry are just idle distractions to while away the time between having sex and passing on our genes. so none of this "matters" anyway.
why would where Joe and Jim Robertson live matter if nothing else matters?
cheers. -
Don't know about Joe and Jim Robertson but for years I thought they were Jack and Zack.
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I saw Renato canova answer a question about this, saying a full time job, not on your feet, could still get you into world class (if you were ever going to get there) but you couldn't stay world class for long with a full time job. Add 2 kids and you might figure out the answer yourself, although some guys seem to pull it off just fine.
And it's not all about legacy of some sort. I get more motivated to run because I follow these twins videos on instagram, and that means more to me than whatever time they will run in a race or if I will remember this or that.
And maybe some guys want to have kids and/or careers/education that will cost them 2 min slower marathon PB when all is said and done, or maybe not, or maybe someone would rather not have kids and not run and not work, but just stay at home going through random message boards on the internet all day in their parents basement.
Try to enjoy your own life while you have good health, no matter if it's living alone in Africa training like a mad person just to end up with a 2:30 marathon PR or being a father of ten in Philadelphia working 80 hours per week. If you feel like you made a bad choice, try not to take it out on others, it won't improve your situation. But if you have to take it out on others Im glad you chose to take it out on elite runners in Africa rather than your own children. Peace. -
Jones and Lopes had a couple of kids and jobs and they seemed to do OK.
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Subway Surfers Addiction wrote: but for years I thought they were Jack and Zack.
yes, but does it matter?
cheers. -
Robertson will not make it wrote:
They don't make big money, and any money they made will be gone.
1) They are probably making a lot more money than you...
2) They live in Kenya, the average salary is something like $1000 -
First of all, nobody cares about this hypothetical, because they are from New Zealand and would live in Auckland instead of NYC, or maybe a large Australian city.
Second, New Zealand has one of the best education systems in the world and plans to abolish tertiary education tuition fees in the near future. So I am sure they can come up with something when they are done running. -
You need to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being
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If you really want to be faceless and forgotten, then live in New York with 2 kids and work hard.
Maybe they don't have the life stresses like the typical New York lackey because they had the guts to carve out their own path in life and live in Africa. Not everyone wants to live the same boring, unremarkable, cookie cutter, New York life style.
Besides, a lot of "successful" people die with their money and no one gives a rip about them including their kids. -
Interesting points. Ron Hill ran 2h 09 with a full time job and 2 children back in 1970. To wipe out its PED problem and to get rid of its creepy agents/coaches, Track and Field should go back to being strictly amateur again. This would increase its popularity as well.
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bring back amateurism to stop drugs wrote:
Interesting points. Ron Hill ran 2h 09 with a full time job and 2 children back in 1970. To wipe out its PED problem and to get rid of its creepy agents/coaches, Track and Field should go back to being strictly amateur again. This would increase its popularity as well.
I'm not sure bringing back amateurism would stop drugs would it? Athletics was an amateur sport back in the 1970s and the it was rife with PEDS. Also I think it's hard to keep a sport strictly amateur whilst there is money knocking about. Rugby, for example, was strictly amateur for many years. A top player was given some new boots for and was subsequently banned from the sport because this was seen as contravening the sports amateur status. However players and companies found ways around the amateur rules, some companies who sponsored a particularly rugby club would "employ" a player, pay them a salary, but they never worked a day in their life, they trained full time. It became known as shamateurism. The same would happen with athletics. The next Usain Bolt would get a job at Nike a a receptionist on $200k a year. The more races he wins (in Nike kit he "bought") the bigger his pay rise. It would be no different to being a professional. The incentives to dope would still exist. The only reason amateur sports remain amateur is because lack of $$.
