Does this kid have running potential?

[Trader]

The other day I raced my girlfriend's son in a mile run at the local track. The object was to see if
a trained 56 year old (me) could beat an untrained and overweight 22 year old. He's 5"9' 190 lbs. He
never works out and has never done any running. All I ever see him do is eat. Even though I am all
fast twitch muscles and my specialty are the shorter distances such as the 400 (63.6 seconds this
year) I still thought no way could this guy beat me even in a mile. But beat me he
did. I ran 6:23 and he ran 6:18. He stayed right on my tail the whole race and then just blew by me
at the end. And no telling how much quicker he could have gone had I run faster. My question
is do you think this kid has some innate running talent that should be developed? I mean
regardless of age, isn't a 6:18 mile a superior time for someone who is overweight and
completely untrained?

[Bob Creasote]

Get him to lose his weight and do some training and then ask the same question after a year. He's
nearing the peak age for physical activity so it is hardly suprising that he is quick over a mile.
If he could do it again a second time after a couple of minutes rest then he "may" have something.
Sorry to be so blunt but it's not such a big deal. If you said a mile in 4 minutes, then yes, he is
probably a talent.

Remember, sporting talent is not just how big your VO2 is or how fast your body can go. It is
also the mind and how much capacity it has for training and racing. Without the mind, the athlete
is nothing.

cheers

Bob

"Trader" <arbitrage@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:50714f76.0309221729.5c0e1365@posting.google.com...
> The other day I raced my girlfriend's son in a mile run at the local track. The object was to see
> if a trained 56 year old (me) could beat an untrained and overweight 22 year old. He's 5"9' 190
> lbs. He never works out and has never done any running. All I ever see him do is eat. Even though
> I am all fast twitch muscles and my specialty are the shorter distances such as the 400 (63.6
> seconds this year) I still thought no way could this guy beat me even in a mile. But beat me he
> did. I ran 6:23 and he ran 6:18. He stayed right on my tail the whole race and then just blew by
> me at the end. And no telling how much quicker he could have gone had I run faster. My
> question is do you think this kid has some innate running talent that should be developed? I
> mean regardless of age, isn't a 6:18 mile a superior time for someone who is overweight and
> completely untrained?

[Bill Clinton]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 10:35:32 +0200, "Bob Creasote" <afraid_of_spam@nothing.com> wrote:

>Get him to lose his weight and do some training and then ask the same question after a year. He's
>nearing the peak age for physical activity so it is hardly suprising that he is quick over a mile.
>If he could do it again a second time after a couple of minutes rest then he "may" have something.
>Sorry to be so blunt but it's not such a big deal. If you said a mile in 4 minutes, then yes, he is
>probably a talent.
>

I agree, what he did was not at all remarkable. Now if he did it with a cigarette in his mouth I'd
be amazed. The only mistake he made was he should've blown him off right from the start instead of
letting him tail him to near the end. Bill (whose blunt smoking son did pretty much the same thing
to me many years back. It's humbling to say the least...)

[Wastenotwantnot]

arbitrage@lycos.com (Trader) wrote in message
news:<50714f76.0309221729.5c0e1365@posting.google.com>...
> The other day I raced my girlfriend's son in a mile run at the local track. The object was to see
> if a trained 56 year old (me) could beat an untrained and overweight 22 year old. He's 5"9' 190
> lbs. He never works out and has never done any running. All I ever see him do is eat. Even though
> I am all fast twitch muscles and my specialty are the shorter distances such as the 400 (63.6
> seconds this year) I still thought no way could this guy beat me even in a mile. But beat me he
> did. I ran 6:23 and he ran 6:18. He stayed right on my tail the whole race and then just blew by
> me at the end. And no telling how much quicker he could have gone had I run faster. My
> question is do you think this kid has some innate running talent that should be developed? I
> mean regardless of age, isn't a 6:18 mile a superior time for someone who is overweight and
> completely untrained?

Of course Doug will tell you politely he doesn't believe your "story", but don't pay any attention.
I think the kid does have potential for much improvement and if he shows interest he should be
encouraged. When I take an injury break I always notice a tremendous boost on the first day back. I
guess an untrained young person might feel that same phenomenon. I bet he was pretty lame the next
day though. Some people have this strange ability to do nothing and then put it all on the line.

[Doug Freese]

WasteNotWantNot wrote:

> Of course Doug will tell you politely he doesn't believe your "story", but don't pay any
> attention.

Not in this case. There are stories like this all the time.

I like ending a little different. When my youngest was in high school the local kids used to watch
me go for my morning run. My usual first mile where they would see me was maybe a 9 minute pace. The
local boys at the bus stop would boast how they would kick my ass in the sprints. They knew I ran
marathons and did not challenge me at distance. My usual answer, "you pick the distance and I'll
kick your ass!" Finally one Saturday I had just finished a short run and the boys were playing in
the street.

They started the usual repartee and I countered with anytime. The three said now and picked a
distance of about 2 telephone poles. We ran side by side for half the distance and then I kicked
another gear and blew their doors off. I was doing some serious track intervals in those days which
they had no idea about. At 45 years old I was an very old person. I then became the street legend.
Luckily for me they never went out for track or XC or they would have gotten even.

Stories aside there is natural talent and age makes no difference. Now tell me someone that never
runs or hardly runs and goes out and runs a 2:50 hour thon, I'll ask for proof.

--
Doug Freese dfreeseS@NOBShvc.rr.com

[Bill Clinton]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 10:58:29 GMT, Doug Freese <dfreese@NOBShvc.rr.com> wrote:

>. When my youngest was in high school

OMG! You've reproduced? We're doomed as a species now...

[Doug Freese]

Bill Clinton (yes it's really me) wrote:

> OMG! You've reproduced? We're doomed as a species now...

Speaking of reproducing, I'm more concerned about your kids.

--
Doug Freese dfreeseS@NOBShvc.rr.com

[Jonathan Sydenh]

I know several 20-21-22 year olds who turn out once a year for a big 5k relay and clock time sunder
20 minutes on no training whatsoever. 190 lb may not be fat, either. You're not necessarily
overweight just because your BMI says so. I'm currently about 210 lb but you can't fit a pair of
calipers on me anywhere to measure my body fat. I am 49 years old and 6.23 is slower than my 1600
time. So is 6.18 for that matter. And I'm the slowest in our club ... Jonathan "Trader"
<arbitrage@lycos.com> wrote in message news:50714f76.0309221729.5c0e1365@posting.google.com...
> The other day I raced my girlfriend's son in a mile run at the local track. The object was to see
> if a trained 56 year old (me) could beat an untrained and overweight 22 year old. He's 5"9' 190
> lbs. He never works out and has never done any running. All I ever see him do is eat. Even though
> I am all fast twitch muscles and my specialty are the shorter distances such as the 400 (63.6
> seconds this year) I still thought no way could this guy beat me even in a mile. But beat me he
> did. I ran 6:23 and he ran 6:18. He stayed right on my tail the whole race and then just blew by
> me at the end. And no telling how much quicker he could have gone had I run faster. My
> question is do you think this kid has some innate running talent that should be developed? I
> mean regardless of age, isn't a 6:18 mile a superior time for someone who is overweight and
> completely untrained?

[Shoeless Wonder]

On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 13:03:53 GMT, Doug Freese <dfreese@NOBShvc.rr.com> wrote:

>
>
>Bill Clinton (yes it's really me) wrote:
>
>
>> OMG! You've reproduced? We're doomed as a species now...
>
>Speaking of reproducing, I'm more concerned about your kids.

Why?

[ahass]

He may indeed have some talent, that's a decent untrained mile for someone who appears to be
overweight somewhat. But if he's 22 and still unactive and overweight, the question is will he
ever actually drop that lifestyle and get himself in shape? Most would not for any length of
time. Andy Hass

[Wastenotwantnot]

"Jonathan Sydenham" <sydenham@mail.dk> wrote in message
news:<3f7087bd$0$97249$edfadb0f@dread12.news.tele.dk>...
> I know several 20-21-22 year olds who turn out once a year for a big 5k relay and clock time
> sunder 20 minutes on no training whatsoever. 190 lb may not be fat, either. You're not necessarily
> overweight just because your BMI says so. I'm currently about 210 lb but you can't fit a pair of
> calipers on me anywhere to measure my body fat. I am 49 years old and 6.23 is slower than my 1600
> time. So is 6.18 for that matter. And I'm the slowest in our club ... Jonathan "Trader"
> <arbitrage@lycos.com> wrote in message news:50714f76.0309221729.5c0e1365@posting.google.com...
> > The other day I raced my girlfriend's son in a mile run at the local track. The object was to
> > see if a trained 56 year old (me) could beat an untrained and overweight 22 year old. He's
> > 5"9' 190 lbs. He never works out and has never done any running. All I ever see him do is eat.
> > Even though I am all fast twitch muscles and my specialty are the shorter distances such as
> > the 400 (63.6 seconds this year) I still thought no way could this guy beat me even in a mile.
> > But beat me he
> > did. I ran 6:23 and he ran 6:18. He stayed right on my tail the whole race and then just blew
> > by me at the end. And no telling how much quicker he could have gone had I run faster. My
> > question is do you think this kid has some innate running talent that should be developed?
> > I mean regardless of age, isn't a 6:18 mile a superior time for someone who is overweight
> > and completely untrained?

I don't own a pair of calibers, but I'm more than willing to take you at your word. Please post you
1600 time in 7 years when you are 56 years old.