British vs American attitudes to endeavour.....nb

[KevB]

Re: British vs American gene pool

"She is not a quitter, that was the first race she'd ever dropped out of"

I'm sure when she was being interviewed the day after she gave up that she said it was only the third marathon she had dropped out off? Maybe I heard wrong.

Don't get me wrong, I have admiration for anyone who can run that distance be it in 2 hours or 10. I just think it would have shown some good old Blighty "spunk" if she had completed the race regardless of her position.


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[robp]

Re: Brendan Foster

Didn't hear that, the phone rang whilst I was listening. Maybe she will and maybe he will. I hope as much as everybody that she does. It's still a couragous but dangerous decision.

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[BrendanS]

Re: Brendan Foster

Quite right. He was giving his honest opinion, not as a commentator, but as an athlete who has the right experience and qualifications to comment. It was clear from his expression and tone, that he was careful and thoughtful, and even a little uncomfortable. What he said was perfectly correct.

I too will be rooting for her, and really, really hope she does well, and gets a medal, but I still have reservations about her running.

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[steve_cronin]

Re: Brendan Foster

That wasn't quite how his comments were received by his interviewer, judging by her following comments. However, time will tell.

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[steve_cronin]

Well....

when I suggested in my local Monday night that the Greek authorities should have made provision for contestants stopping and not just leave them in the (often less than desireable) back streets of Athens, the general but not universal reaction was " leave the spoilt bitch to rot"

Sad, very sad.

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[BrendanS]

Re: British vs American gene pool

Kev, I'm sorry mate, but you really don't get it. She couldn't finish! Once you reach that state, that's it, everything drains out of you, and there is barely enough strength to remain standing. You shake, shiver, and limbs feel like jelly. There is no recovering from that state, and certainly not the ability to focus your mind on running for miles more. As I've said before, you could see she was already physically exhausted from the way she was running. All that was keeping her going was her determination, and she was clearly pushing herself to her limits. Once that mental focus is lost, the physical effects take over

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[dralex]

Re: British vs American gene pool

I've been reading this posting with interest- the body does have finite energy levels and no matter how hard you try, you cannot force the body to mobilise more energy stores. the only way to do that is to reduce the intensity dramatically or rest. We all have different energy sources which are used as exercise time and intensity increases. Marathon runners will quickly deplete their short term energy supplies and then rely on the body continuously mobilising new energy stores from fats. This is a finite chemical process.

I suspect the only way Paula could have carried on running is after a rest, and even then, not very far because the body would still be inn a very negative energy balance. The intensity of physical activity at this level is huge and I agree with the thought that she physically could not go on.

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[Nickel]

Re: British vs American gene pool

I must confess to finding the whole thing bemusing.

Some poor sod runs 26plus miles to Athens, gasps out a message and drops down dead.

And for some reason this becomes a massive sport that thousands of people want to do!!

If Pheidippides, in his exhausted stupor had stumbled off a cliff and fallen a thousand feet to the rocky shore below before gasping out his message, would we see a watery end to today's modern marathons?

Yon ancient greek showed us what the marathon's really about - a message too bl**dy far!

<hr width=100% size=1>Nickel

Being paranoid simply means - having all the facts.

 

[pugwash]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Well said. I'm a kiwi who has lived here 40 years feeling proud to be associated with the Brits who did all that. The reply by abraxus is just the kind of whinging cyncical glass-half-emoty claptrap that makes me fed up with them. Yes, I'm a romantic. Yes, there are huge problems in this country. But if Brits stopped beating their chests with such wails of woe and self-pity the place would be twice what it is.

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[longjohnsilver]

Re: British vs American gene pool

No you got it wrong, she's never dropped out of a marathon. She actually said that as far as she could remember it was the first or maybe the second race she'd ever abandoned. And her athletic career goes back 10+ years!

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[kesey]

Re: British vs American gene pool

Congrats Paula, you gave it a go. It didn't work as well as you had hoped, but you gave it all you could. As you said, better to try and to know, than to watch on television and never know. To hell with the begrudgers. Superb effort.

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[longjohnsilver]

In the pub.............

Of course all regular pub goers are experts on all things athletic, there's the yard of ale competition, toss the peanut, grow the largest beer belly, the javelin aka darts, unwrap the packet of ciggies and never forgetting that most athletic of pursuits, a frame of pool and than climb in the taxi to get home.

Phew, best have another pint, I feel worn out after all that exertion.

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[abraxus]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Pugwash, there's nothing whinging and negative about being realistic. In fact I'm quite the optimist generally, but have never felt the need to let this blind me to the harsh realities. If you've read my posts you'd see I was anything but self pitying and on the contrary bemoaned the attitude of accepting failure and celebrating defeat. Patriotism, love of one's country, call it what you will, is a pointless emotion exploited by those in postions to do so in order to divert attention from what they're up to. To denounce criticism of the facts is to restrict freedom of speech and the right of every man to question what is put before him. In a country where half of your income is taken from you before you even start, more than a quarter of what's left taken when you have the audacity to spend any of it, and if you're lucky enough to have any left over see nearly half again of any earnings from it stolen by legal sanction, then any reasonable man may be expected to wake up one day and say "what the *&%$'s going on?" Especially when all he sees in return is lies, broken promises and an ever diminshing standard in basic public services. If this country were a commercial organisation, the consumer would be able to prosecute it under the Sale of Goods Act. By all means drop your trousers, bend over and take in *ss with a smile on your face and glass half full attitude, but don't be surpised when there are some that expect a little foreplay first and some respect afterwards.

Brendan, please don't get me wrong. As someone who has played sport competitively, albeit on a small scale, I have tremoundous admiration for those that give there all in order to be the best that they can be. If, as you claim, Paula Radcliffe simply ran out of steam and could run no more, then I not only understand this but also sympathise and parise her for her effort. However, it was my belief (maybe incorrect, but my right to hold) that she chose not continue once she saw she was beaten, and I think whether she finished or not may have been different if she had a good chance of winning.

To be honest, her decision to run again only serves to strengthen my beliefs, as if she had so much taken out of her in the marathon that she couldn't finish then she shouldn't even have considered running today. Like I said, this only my opinion and my orginal views are based on that. I accept my opinion of events may be mistaken, but stand by my views based on that opinion.

Bill

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[pugwash]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Well that particular post came over as a wail worthy of Frankie Howard on his way to the Forum. Lots of countries and communities are over taxed. Most have problems with their politicians. We are right to decry such things as failing health services, the A-level fiasco, etc. But one outstandingly bad habit of the Brits, particularly the English, is to knock themselves the whole time. Why is it impossible to say anything good about themselves? Why is it, when I stood up at a school parents' meeting to suggest a Union Jack be hoisted at least on special days, I was greeted with hoots of derision? Why do my kids (now grown-up) know so little about the achievements Mireille listed? It's sad as well as pathetic, and ultimately counter productive.

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[abraxus]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Pugwash, well said. I happen to agree with you on that. There does seem to be a lack of national pride in the British that doesn't seem to appear in many other nations. Only recently a pub landlord was refused a late licence for St Georges Day by the local magistrate but granted one for the Chinese New Year.

It is sad that if one wishes to hoist a Union Jack or claim to be proud to be British that one is branded as some sort of right wing racist, when other coutries celebrate their nationalities. Perhaps it's some sort of misguided guilt over past imperial days that have allowed the apologists to stifle any sense of pride and perhaps this has led to the culture of self flagellation. You're right, if we were to stand proud as a nation then things may just get better.

Bill


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[BrendanS]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

At the risk of repeating myself ad infinitium, just watching her, it was clear she had run herself into the ground, trying to stay in a medal place winning position. She wasn't running smoothly and was clearly struggling. When she stopped, she wasn't just tired, she was absolutely exhausted.

This was born out on Friday night, when as I'd already stated my reservations about her running, she was not only unable to take charge of the race as she would normally do, but was unable to stay at what would normally be within her pace, and dropped out again.

She had exhausted herself, and 5 days is not enough to recover sufficiently to take part in a major long distance race against top competition.

My fear now, as was Brendan Fosters comments on the subject which seemed to cause some debate here, is that this will have quite an impact on her in the future.

Top level sports of this nature require an inordinate belief in ones abilities, and this has been severerly dented, not once, but twice.

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[abraxus]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Brendan

I'm happy to accept that my opinion of why she stopped was wrong, and my opinion regarding attitude was based on that.

I do agree that with regards to Friday night, then she should not have run because as you say, this could have a severe effect on her confidence. I hope she sees the outcome of that race as a result of a lack of judgement made in taking part, possibly due to undue pressure, and not a reflection of her abilities.

Bill

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[KevB]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

But who are we to say as "armchair critics" that she was not well enough to run on Friday? As others here have taken great pains to stress, she and her team are the professionals.......
Surely with her wealth of experience and her coaching team, they are in the best position to say whether she was at her "current" best??? Maybe she is just not as good as she was and was beaten by better runners? Maybe in the given environment everyone else was better than her, lets not take it away from all the others who managed to finish.


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[tcm]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Hm this raises important issues. I was about to write a long and detailed post, but gave up, sorry about that, i just can't explain it.

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[pugwash]

Re: drained of a spirit of endeavour 400 years ago?

Well that makes two of us. How do we get the 60 million on board?

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