Fast Running Blog

I want to get a feel of how well runners follow distance running, thus this simple poll for a little probe.

I know who he is, but I don't really care. That's not a choice.

Running is a participatory sport, not a spectator sport.  I would guess that the majority of runners could not name more than a handful of world class runners (especially in non-Olympic years).

Since I was a kid, I've always enjoyed following sports as a spectator. It's a nice relaxation for me. In HS, I used to read Runner's World cover to cover and would follow the elite runners. Lately I've started following the elite U.S. runners a bit, and it's been more satisfying than watching millionaire NBA players whine to refs and get arrested for DUIs.

The only runner I follow is myself. ;D
Don't really read about elite's in any sport.

Andy hit the bulls eye in his comment.

I don't know, watching the men's 10K US championship was pretty amazing...to see those guys run that fast and make it look effortless, then knowing that they are a minute and a half off the world record set by Kenenisa Bekele! 

I can only name a handful of runners, yet I'm starting to get more interested.  I'm sure name recognition will come as I become more into the sport. 

The biggest problem is that the speed does not translate very well on tv.  When there is a pack of runners running the same pace and the camera is moving with them, it does not look any different than somebody running 8:00/mile. 

Steve -- I am with you.  On a whole, I find track (and field) athletes to be much harder working for much much less hype, money and fan-fair than other sports (except maybe swimmers and cyclists). 


I guess I would have to say that "Running is a participatory sport, not a spectator sport" seems to be a generalization about you and not me Andy.  And, I actually have many friends like me.  Though I do agree that there are a whole lot of road runners that feel the same way as you.  I think it depends on how much track and field you have been exposed to and whether or not your main exposure to running is in the local running scene.  I am a track and field fan.  I know about the stats and career of most of elite athletes, both track and field events and have followed some of their careers for over 10 years.  I watch for up-and-coming high schoolers and my favorite running magazine is still Track and Field News - even though most of the information is now available on various internet sites.  Even though their message board is pretty tough, I love the comaradarie of finding other fans of the sport of running on LetsRun. 

In my opinion, it is a generalization about the running community.  I think that is why Sasha started the poll.  He is trying to get an idea of how many people really respect the world class runners.  I love running and spend way too much time doing it and reading about it but had to Google Kenenisa Bekele because I had no idea who he was.  You obviously follow the track scene closely and enjoy it but I would be surprised if that were the case for most runners.  I don't know if it is because the US doesn't dominate the sport so we are not interested or we don't have a "Tiger Woods" that gets us excited for the sport or if it is because watching running events is just plain boring.  I understand that these statements do not apply to you but would you agree that it is true for most?

I think you have to define "most" more clearly.  It depends on where you sample.

If you went to a big marathon and did a poll, then yes, I would agree with you.  If you went to just about any local pub or restaurant in Eugene, Oregan I would disagree with you.  And if you polled the top 10 male runners in the 18-50 year old age group at a competitive road race (say Peachtree, Boilermaker, Bix, etc.) I would disagree with you.  So if by "most" you mean percentage of people who would call themselves runners then yes. 

But there are plenty of people who do follow the running scene.  Although, I will also agree we are a dying breed from the 70s who remember the heyday of Frank Shorter, Billy Rodgers, Joan Benoit and all the other same age icons  ;)

That is an interesting point.  I wonder if the reason why the sport is not followed very well is because we do not have a dominant athlete with the personality to go along with their physical talents.  It seems that the track star that the current generation of runners looks up to the most is one who died over 30 years ago.

I must admit I am not a major spectator of track events. I will not go on vacation to Eugene to watch a championship. I will not even stay up late to watch it on TV. I believe in being a participant first.

But I do feel that if I want to succeed in my sport I need to at least know who the best in my sport are, and have an appreciation for the level at which they are performing. If I want to be better, I need to make an effort to understand what makes those that are much better that good. It is very tempting to say, they have more talent, I don't, so that the end of it.  And when you do, something is gone.

Perhaps with this discussion we are on to something. We have debated if watching a running event has entertaining value. I would draw a parallel with listening to Mozart or reading Shakespeare. Not that I am a great listener or reader of either, but I cannot think of a better comparison. The entertaining value becomes available after you have received a measure of refinement. The difference between running and music/literature is that we are usually not ashamed to admit the lack of refinement. Or maybe not anymore :-) What is ironic is that people who run, set goals, and act like they care to achieve them often lack that refinement, and are not ashamed to admit it. What kind of poetry would you expect from a poet who has no appreciation of Shakespeare or any of the great poets? What kind of music would you expect from a composer that has no appreciation of Mozart or any other great composers? What kind of running would you expect from a runner that has no appreciation of Kenenisa Bekele or what it takes to string together 25 63 second laps on the track?

I am glad that you said this, and not me, though I will admit to thinking it. 

You said it Sasha: . Remember there are levels, as a newbie (although I have been running for over a year), I don't need to know who the best are. They are far, far away for me. I'm too old to go Olympic, even national. There is too much younger & better talent than me.
If I wanted to qualify, say for State championship's, yes, I need to know who the competition is: am I fit enough?, fast enough?, etc. But what if I want to race ME & only ME? Push myself, be faster, go longer, be better. Do I need to know who Bekele is?

And then, of course, there is the situation where here in my country track events are sort of unknown ...

You are comparing best runner today with the best music ever? not a fair comparison... but I will give in a point: it is very interesting to learn about these runners, to read about them, or even watch them (when possible). But I don't have time to follow their career or know everything about them. If it comes to my attention, great, if not, I will still sleep ...

just my two cents...
 ::)  ;D

Bekele is the best distance runner ever, not just today. He has the world record in 5000 and 10000. He has not yet run a marathon, but once he does, he will likely have the marathon world record as well.

I was running competitively for 4 years before I really started to get interested. Now I am quite happy to watch the London marathon in its entirety. I suggest anyone who doesn't know much about the sport at its highest level should try to watch a webcast of the world champs this year. You might be surprised how fun they are to watch.

Great race today James, you were remarkably consistent with the pacing!

I always get excited to go run after watching others perform well. It inspires me to do better. Maybe it goes along with the old adage that to succeed we should surround ourselves (or at least observe) successful people. And there's still a twinge of irrational (though fun) hope that I could be up there with them if I tried hard enough. :)

ha ha ha, I know what you mean Steve.  Unfortunately, there have been a few times when I have been "inspired" by these meets -- ouch, some of the most painful runs I have ever had (imagining myself running as fast as Shannon Rowbury did last night -- a 60.5 last lap!!!! WOW, not that I was even close to running that fast mind you, but the imagery made me forgot my own pacing).

I would argue that Haile Gebrselassie is probably the best distance runner ever as he has held more world records (from the 5K to the marathon), 26 records in all.

They are very close. But I think Bekele is better. It is not the number of the world records that counts, it is who sets the last one. Of course, you could argue that with such a small difference in records minor variations in conditions could be enough to make it or break it for a given world record attempt. So one could argue that Gebrselassie would not have lost to Bekele had they been able to race each other when both were in their last world record 5/10 K shape and had they exchanged quarter leads in a controlled manner once the pacers were gone. Although I would be inclined to say Bekele would have still won. He has demonstrated a better kick off any pace. Gebrselassie closed his Olympic races in around 57, while Bekele hit 53 off a slighly faster pace. During the world record attempt Bekele closed with 57, while Gebrselassie could not break 60 if I remember right. So I think had you put them together in the same race they would be together with a lap to go and the Bekele would win.

While talking about great runners we should not forget Sileshi Sihine. His 10 K PR is "only" 26:39, but I believe he would run 26:22 if he had the luxury of being invited to a meet where he is getting paid to run 26:22 with pacers. He does not because 26:22 is no world record. He consistently finishes a few seconds behind Bekele in every race, that I why I think he could run 26:22 in a world record attempt setup. But such is life. If you win, and set world records, there are still many runners, too many that do not know and do not care to know who you are. But if you do not win, even though you are very very close, even though had you reached that level before the current world record was set you'd be setting it,  now enter a different level of undeserved obscurity. I figured I'd mention his name to correct that to the extent that I can.

i thought this thread would be the best place to post this...

 here's the schedule of this summer's track and field coverage by universalsports.com:

2009 TRACK AND FIELD COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports television and UniversalSports.com will offer video coverage of the complete outdoor 2009 IAAF track & field season, with the Golden League and Super Grand Prix events featuring the top track & field athletes in the world. In addition, Universal Sports will have exclusive live online coverage of the 12th IAAF Track & Field World Championships, August 15-23, from Berlin. Fans can visit the track & field channel on www.UniversalSports.com/trackandfield for updated schedules (TV and online), news, video highlights, special features, photo galleries, sweepstakes and more.

Date Event Location Country
Fri, July 03 Bislett Games Oslo/Bislett Norway
Tue, July 07 Athletissima 2009 Lausanne Switzerland
Fri, July 10 Golden Gala Rome Italy
Fri, July 17 Meeting Paris Saint-DenisParis/Saint St. Denis France
Fri, July 24 IAAF Super GP Day 1 London Great Britain
Sat, July 25 IAAF Super GP Day 2 London Great Britain
Tue, July 28 IAAF Super GP Day 1 Monte Carlo Monaco
Fri, July 31 IAAF Super GP Day 1 Stockholm Sweden
Aug 15 - Aug 23 IAAF World Athletics Championships Berlin Germany
Fri, Aug 28 IAAF GL Weltklasse Zurich` Zurich Switzerland
Fri, Sep 04 IAAF GL Memorial Van Damme Brussels Belgium

and flotrack coverage:

 Europe (www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view/235320-floeuro-trip-season-3)
 Summer Coverages (www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage)
www.flotrack.org

There will be  a few people from last weekends Championship trying to get the A standard for Berlin ... so these meets should be pretty good!

Thank you for posting this Allie!