This essay has to do with ultra runners. Because of the upcoming illustrious New York City Marathon, The New York Times on November 6, 2022 had three articles in the Sports Section pertaining to that event. The three articles were titled "A Competitive Finale for Running’s Bon Vivant;" "One Racers Challenge: To Run Competitively, Representing Israel;" and "Americans Are Faster Than Ever, but the Rest of the World Is Even Faster."
Abdi Abdirahman migrated to Tucson, Arizona when his family fled from Somalia. He got serious about running and competed as a college freshman. Now 45, he has made five US Olympic teams running 10,000 m and the marathon. He turned professional in 1999 and was sponsored by Nike for 20 years until they recently dropped him. He said, "I guess after 20+ years, Nike didn't think I was good enough." Subsequently, he's been picked up by Asics.
This phenomenon trains between Tucson and Flagstaff. Flagstaff is a huge training area because these runners require training 8,000 ft. above sea level. This phenom stated he runs, trains and races, but has other interests such as fashion, food and friends. This 2022 New York City Marathon will be his 9 th. Abdi states that he is competitive although slowing down. He added that he wants to return to New York in the future so he can run the races recreationally and be part of the sweaty swarm of humanity that crosses the bridges into Brooklyn. He added that it may take him three, four, or five hours . He wants to run with the recreational runners because they are his heroes. In the past he didn’t see the masses. Now Abdi wants to experience running with the masses; with a bunch of friends; having fun stopping , going to the bathroom; drinking water, and doing whatever you want to do. Abdi, you are rationalizing your fear of failure.
Abdi loves New York because of its vibrant multicultural dynamics. It's his favorite city in the world. He acknowledged that age is just a number as long as you don't believe you're old. Is the competitive portion of his career over? Do his goals have to change so as not to be in conflict ?
Lonah Chemai Salpeter migrated to Israel from Kenya. She initially arrived in Israel and worked for a Kenyan diplomat as a nanny. For recreation, she started running and it became her hobby. It didn't take long before she realized she was fast. She met and was coached by Dan Salpeter, an Israeli competitor and runner who was studying physical education, at an institute near Tel Aviv. Their relationship evolved and they married.
Lonah applied for citizenship and found out that it was a 4-7 year process. Citizenship seemed to drag on until she crossed the finish line , in third place at the world championship marathon in Eugene, Oregon. After that, the application for citizenship was propelled as she had a deluge of friends, reporters accompanying her to the immigration office which is called the Interior Ministry. She is now an Israeli citizen.
Lonah won the 10,000 m at the European championship in 2018, won the Florence marathon the same year and won the Prague Marathon as well. Earlier, she also won the Tel Aviv Marathon with a time of two hours 40 minutes and 16 seconds close to the qualifying time for the Olympics. Currently, Lonah is one of the favorites in the upcoming New York City Marathon .She came in second place, seven seconds behind first-place winner from Kenya.
Keira D' Amato set the US marathon record this past January in Houston. That record had stood for 16 years. It didn't take long before her record was broken by Emily Siasson in the Chicago Marathon in October. D' Amato was discouraged because the Kenyan crossed the finish line just 14 seconds behind the women's world record at 2 hours 14 minutes and 18 seconds. Essentially, the Kenyan time is roughly a mile faster than the American record time of 2;18;29. Her coach and other runners acknowledged that it's impossible to catch the Kenyans. They are told essentially to run for themselves and work on improving times in terms of seconds. In other words, work on getting a little bit faster as it's a gradual process . It's also important not to get distracted about the fast times of these Kenyans . Hopefully the American girls can come close to maximizing their potential. In fact, the Americans don't actually have to win the New York City Marathon. That race awards $25,000 to the top American.
D'Amato set the American female record at the beginning of the year . 9 months later she wound up in 16th place . What demons got in her head ? She was likely defeated before the race started as a result of her low expectations against the Kenyans. Also, Abdi was a DNF in that race. That suggests that this elite runner has not mentally made the downgrade in becoming a recreational runner. He could have broken limbs, he could've walked and crawled to the finish line. This, for him, was likely a narcissistic injury (reality ,he’s competitive) he’s still competing. A DNF for him was preferred over an abysmal placement and time as his competitive being remains strong. Elite athletes do not have a magic switch that can change their competitiveness to non - competitiveness and become recreational. Abdi was fooling himself- a fairy tale. This elite runner has never run with the common man. His friends, for the most part, are other elite runners and that's how he perceives himself . It's his character. He is driven to win. To be common for him, would be a loser. Competitiveness does not go away when you reach 45 years of age.
Take Jim Howard , age 67, a former Western States winner , with two knee replacements, finished this year's race even though he missed the cut off. He continued and finished that 100 mile race irrespective of time and punishment to his body. A body heals quicker than a narcissistic injury. Take Mark Richtman, another world-class runner. When Mark reached 60 years of age, he began smashing all previous records in the 60 year age groupings. Take Tom Brady for another example. Brady " retired" for a month to be with his wife and kids. After a month, Brady, age 45, went back to the game and lost his wife and kids to potential divorce. What was his marriage about? Competition is his drive. It's always about what takes place between an individual's ears at both the conscious and unconscious level for a more complete story. It’s not generally what’s said , it’s behavioral actions.
Once again, the Kenyans came in first place in both the male and female divisions. The top American male came in ninth and the top American female came in seventh. By the way the Kenyans train at 8,000 feet above sea level in their country. Hopefully, world-class Kenyan runners should be recruited to migrate to the United States. After all, we all originated from that part of the world. If that happens, "Americans'' might actually win a marathon internationally and at the Olympics .Immigration is important for many reasons. Follow Canada’s lead and import the brightest and most talented.
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