Well, he sure put me in MY place.

[Maddykins06]

In class tonight we tell a "fun fact" about ourselves.
Mine was about finishing my first marathon at Disney!
The guy behind me goes, "I'm from Sudan & plan on qualifying for the Olympic marathon trials again soon."

So I jokingly told him he could run with me at Disney.
His response, "That is low competition."

Um...yeah, thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

[verticalchaos]

Aww. When John Bingham spoke at the expo speaker series this year, he told a story of having lunch with...I forget which of the great runners from the continent of Africa, but one of them...a few years ago. Some discussion of speed came up or something. Anyway, the runner wasn't exactly being disparaging, but wasn't really being that supportive of John and his Penguin pace. So John asked him what the longest he'd ever run was.

"Probably 2 hours and 7 minutes."

John's response was "And you call yourself an endurance athlete and can't even go longer than that???"

So he might be fast...but you're fit enough to go on and on and on!!

Don't let him get you down.

 

[bounceliketigger]

Wow Maddy. I can't imagine. Well excuuuuse me Mr. Low Endueance speed demon! Lol.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Look at it this way... that's how he has to make his living. We can have fun at races, if he finishes 2nd or even 4th, he's just lost his pay check. Too much pressure for me

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I would have responded, that could have been your practice run! His loss...but really the key is that he is trying to qualify for the Olympic trials again, but if he was so good, he would have gotten into the Olympics the first time...

See, that is why I love Disney races...there are some elite runners that run the races, but they all do it for the experience, not because it is beneath them.

 

[CALIFLADY]

Hey Karin!

Well, at least you dealt with the situation with humility and humor. You have to feel sorry that he doesn't know what he's missing. Shhhh! It'll just be our secret. Ours, and 50,000+ others who participate once a year.

Quack on!

 

[MISSINWDW]

LOL!!! Gotta LOVE people like that! He's faster, but we know how to run and PARTY at the same time!! There are no better races than Disney races!!

 

[fashionista311]

he probably didn't mean to be offensive, just differences in culture. i think it's a pretty american attitude toward racing/marathoning where just finishing your goal. plus, if he's originally from sundan, i can't imagine he's a huge fan of disney either.

that being said - this american is pretty damn proud of her one marathon finish and won't be going to the olympic trials anytime in this lifetime...and i'm too chicken to sign up for the full disney marathon because i don't want to train through the new england winter

 

[TnTsParty]

I can't stand people with that kind of attitude. Thankfully most of the runners I have encountered have seemed to be most supportive of anyone.

 

[FireDancer]

It's all in the delivery. If it was said in a jokingly kind of way it was probably not meant as an insult but as a reason. If it was said in an arrogant kind of way than I'm right there with you.

Compared to other races Disney doesn't attract the elite runners (for the most part) because it isn't high profile and so he is factually correct. The elite runners don't make most of their income on race purses, they make it on sponsorship and if the sponsors don't see an advantage to running Disney they won't.

 

[bounceliketigger]

Good point Frank.

 

[bunnyfoo]

It's all in the delivery. If it was said in a jokingly kind of way it was probably not meant as an insult but as a reason. If it was said in an arrogant kind of way than I'm right there with you.

Compared to other races Disney doesn't attract the elite runners (for the most part) because it isn't high profile and so he is factually correct. The elite runners don't make most of their income on race purses, they make it on sponsorship and if the sponsors don't see an advantage to running Disney they won't.

I forgot about sponsorship. At the Scotiabank marathon in Toronto, the first place winner gets $20K. Then there's some additional bonus if the 1st place guy gets below a certain time. I just assumed all the other races were like that

 

[Maddykins06]

Yeah, I was just kidding about him running at Disney. He's originally from Sudan.
Just trying to break the ice the first night of class.

But he was DEAD serious. No smirk, no chuckle, nada.
Oh well, I thought it was funny. Guess he didn't.

 

[stampingoddess]

It doesn't matter what the sport, what the job, whatever, there will always be a small minority of participants who believe that unless you one of the best of the best (or close to it..ie "elite") that they are better than you and/or you shouldn't even bother. Luckily I have found that they are the minority and most others welcome everyone no matter the level.

My hubby is a faster runner and hangs around with others who are even faster than he is. I have this group to be extremely supportive of my efforts and significantly slower pace. When we head out to the local 5ks, they are done almost 15-20 minutes before me, but still stick around and cheer for me when I cross the finish line. This is true sportmanship IMHO.

FYI, awhile back I wrote ablog entry about this very topic...http://wp.me/p19E7d-2f

 

[Maddykins06]

Go Colleen!

 

[stampingoddess]

Go Colleen!

Thanks