teenage wasteland
*
Many moons ago, I posted a short rant about the ultramarathoners who were featured on 60 minutes.
Well, ultraman himself, Dean Karnazes, came to Chapel Hill yesterday … and, somehow, my co-coach of the local Pacers running club (ages 7-13) lured the mileage maniac/celebrity to talk to our kids after his official speaking engagement at the University. I was pleased for my colleague to score such a coup (this guy is the hottest ticket in running town), but I bolted from the track as soon as I saw Karnazes’ leathery, self-promoting, GQ face. And I took my children with me. I did not want them to hear his warped message of running addiction.
Later, I searched for some ammunition on-line to support my strong opinions about this man. His fans call him a “family man” and a spokesman for our beloved sport … yet, every fiber in my being cries, “Bullshit!” How can a man who runs 100 miles every week-end spend any quality time with his children? It’s physically, chronologically impossible. I was afraid if I stayed to listen to his little chat I would have shouted, “Oh, grow up!” like some drunken heckler at a comedy club.
So, I will take the coward’s way out. I will heckle on-line. In my blog. I’m a bloggler.
Here’s something I found in an article about Karnazes from 2004:
Earlier, Karnazes had theorized that his running addiction involved more than just an endorphin fix. “There’s something about being unencumbered,” he’d said. “To have nothing on you but your shoes and shorts. It’s the primitive need of a human to be wild, in a sense.”
As we got to the Golden Gate Bridge and headed back toward San Francisco, Karnazes looked forlornly at Highway 101 going north. “Don’t you just want to keep going and run all the way to Nicasio right now?” he asked with a winning smile. “Can you understand why someone would want to do that? Don’t you just want to go?”
I could see how badly he wanted to run another 40 miles, but there was no way I could make it. Later, I asked him what he would do when, one day far in the future, he was too old to run.
“It’s naive and ridiculous, but I don’t think I’m going to get old,” said Karnazes. “If I was forced to stop running, I don’t know what would happen. I would be miserable. I’d probably drive everybody around me crazy. What would I channel it into? I don’t know. An intellectual pursuit versus a physical one? Potentially. But I don’t think I’m as good at that, truthfully.
“I still feel like a teenager. I know it’s irrational. But I honestly think I’m never not going to be able to run.”
That’s right, buddy. You ARE a teenager when it comes to taking responsibility for being present in the lives of your children.
And what about the wife? Here’s what she had to say:
Sometimes, however, Karnazes’ balancing act takes its toll. “The not sleeping can be bothersome for me,” admits Julie. “You reach for someone, and they’re not there.”
All I know is when someone I love reaches out for me, I intend to BE there.
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Joan, I don’t know much about Karzanes. Does he actually advocate the lifestyle that he has chosen for himself? Or is it merely what he believes to be the correct thing for him to do with his lap around the earth? If it is merely the latter, well, there are a lot of people who make bad choices in life and I think we should just try to learn from them.
In Karzanes’s case, it seems as if he really is making a pretty straightforward choice not to be there for his family. But there are so many cases where the question of choice is not as clear.
Where do I stand, having accepted a job with the Department of Justice, agreeing to prosecute a case against the tobacco industry that, in the view of public health advocates, holds the potential to achieve significant tobacco control and help millions of persons avoid debilitating illness and premature death, at a personal cost of dedicating almost five years of my life to a work and travel schedule that meant there were many nights when I was in hotel rooms thousands of miles from my family and many weeks and weeks (after week after week after week) when I would arrive home from the office well after midnight when the whole house was sound asleep? Did I have a choice? Of course — I could have quit working on the case, found a less challenging position within DOJ, and had a schedule that approximated the 9-5 that really doesn’t exist for a lawyer in Washington, DC. But was quitting — abandoning our effort — because it was difficult, a realistic thing to contemplate? Could I have been happy if I had abandoned this, rather than push through to the end (which was always on the horizon)?
I think it was a choice for me (unlike, for example, the parent who has to work two jobs to have enough money to support a family, and in that case IS making a choice for his or her family, albeit one that means he or she is away). But is is very hard to think of it as one that I could have made any other way.
- Steve
Comment by Steve — 3/24/2006 @ 2:22 pm
Dear Steve,
You are overlooking one glaring difference when you compare yourself to Karnazes. Your long hours spent away from home and family were for WORK. “Family man” Karnazes’ indulgences are after (and before) work - that time which is to be for family (if you choose to have kids) not for self self self. Don’t you think we all want to hike the Appalachian Trail in our “free” time? Especially after we realize how bloody hard it is to be a parent? God knows I wanted to run away too. Your dilemma is a real, adult dilemma that most modern fathers face (and, increasingly, most mothers), but the only moral quandry this guy considers is whether or not its ethical to promote his health-nut products while gorging himself on pizza and burgers. He is stuffing himself in every possible way. You, Steve, are trying to choose between “mankind” and your child …. a truly noble question. In stark contrast - almost laughable, were in not so pathetic - Karnazes agonizes over the choice between “cheese or meat lovers.”
Comment by Joan — 3/25/2006 @ 8:28 am
Funny - a few things come to mind.
First one is easy - “If you spot it, you got it - and if it makes you mad, you got it bad.” Of course, just because I spot something in you, doesn’t mean that YOU have it. But it does mean that I do. (N.B. - this does not mean that I have the same BEHAVIOR that I abhor. But it ALWAYS means that I have the *motive* that I am condemning.)
Second thing - Do you know how much you’re supposed to run? You’re supposed to run the same amount that *I* run. If you run less than me, you’re a lazy slob. If you run more than me, you’re obsessed and addicted. (BTW - that’s the amount that I run NOW - not the amount that I may have run last year, or ten years ago
YMMV, of course. But I tend to be self-centered. I think that I’m the one on the freeway driving the right speed; that I’m the measure of all things. This is, of course, compounded by an underlying suspicion that I don’t have it all together in those areas that I don’t have it all together - but at least I’m not like THAT so-and-so
Comment by Fat Charlie the Archangel — 3/27/2006 @ 12:14 pm
I agree with your assessment of Karnazes. He either has a personality disorder or is a totally self absorbed individual. I am surprised he has a fan base. His book does little to endear the reader to his character; unless reading about him describe himself as having buff arms so strong that he can run while holding a pizza box for miles is supposed to be a turn on.
Comment by j.marks — 3/27/2006 @ 2:13 pm
to the lawyer… give it up selling yourself as some kind of martyr… fact is you chose to be a lawyer in the first place. long hours come with the terrority. there was no surprise in the details that your career involved.
i think karnazes has too much celebrity status indeed - but who are you to judge how is there for his family. I’m sure he has provided well for them and spends enough time with them to make himself and them happy. Running is actually extremely efficient in the amount of time required to dedicate yourself to it. Even if you run 100 miles a week (which I don’t think Karnazes necessarily does all the time) that doesn’t have to be more than 14 hours of running a week. He runs his own business doesn’t he - maybe he only spends 30 hours a week there. In the end looks like things work out.
Comment by hrunner — 3/27/2006 @ 2:22 pm
100 MILES PER WEEKEND not week.
Comment by giizle — 3/27/2006 @ 2:47 pm
My son paced me during the last part of a 100-miler.
Another son, daughter and her husband came to Colorado to help us (wife and I) during a 100-miler.
My son has run many a mile with me.
My wife runs.
You left without hearing him so you could go condemn him elsewhere?
Running is part of our family and lifestyle. It isn’t a sacrifice.
It doesn’t appear you know much about running trails or ultras. We have many times when staying out there seems like a natural thing to do…days when it feels like we could run forever…days of wondering what’s over the next ridge. My wife and I crossed the Olympic peninsula–a run we will never forget.
Perhaps you don’t really like running except as a recreational passtime?
Comment by John M. — 3/27/2006 @ 3:19 pm
Well, John M., that last line was just plain silly. “Perhaps I don’t really like running except as a recreational passtime?” I have run hard and fast and long and slow, over hill and dale, on the track, the road, and the trail, with the most intense pleasure, for over 25 years. Try reading my About Me section. I am like the basketball player in Hoop Dreams who says, “Some people love the sport of basketball, but I Luh-LOVE it!!”
As to Fat Charlie’s comments, well, you may have a point there. What I spot (Karnazes’ celebrity), I got … maybe I’m jealous. I remember feeling this same way when I never made it onto the cover of Runner’s World magazine in my prime. I had my 15 minutes of fame and I felt I deserved to be on that cover, dammit. I made all sorts of excuses about how I was “old school” and didn’t wear enough spandex for a cover-girl, but the truth was I felt slighted. Flash-in-the-pan runners were making it on to the cover after I’d labored in the sport for 16 years.
But make no mistake about this: Karnazes’ flash in the pan is nothing but Fool’s Gold.
Comment by Joan — 3/27/2006 @ 4:26 pm
Ah yes, that moment of fame. A local newspaper reporter interviewed me (I had won a 100k in the Cascades of Washington state). I waited for the Friday paper. Nothing. Nada. Zilcho. I called the reporter. The editor killed it–he didn’t believe anyone could run that far. Drat.
Poor Karnazes. Hated by so many. He is not the elite in the ultraworld that nonultra-folk think he claims to be. However, if he gets folks out the door, if he gets ‘em on the track, trails, whatever–good for him (he is good–has some good credentials, just not as good as portrayed or perceived).
My comment about a love of running was perhaps a bit too biting, but…there’s always a “but” coming…I see so many hateful posts regarding the trail/ultra crowd. My apologies –sort of–you could at least stay to listen. Appearances can be deceiving.
Comment by John M. — 3/27/2006 @ 5:23 pm
You’re right there. I should have stayed to listen. And, because of that, I intend to read his book … a borrowed copy though. Paying for it would be like giving money to a wino on the street!
Comment by Joan — 3/27/2006 @ 5:37 pm
Joan, I knew about Mr. Karnazes before his book, which I have read and before the article in RW, which I read. At first I thought he was good for the sport, now I just want him to go away. His list of accomplishments are in fact exceptional, however, they are some what of a circus side show. I also fail to understand why he feels the need to do TV appearances in a “wife beater t-shirt.” The list of ultra runners ahead of him is very deep, both male and female. As an ultra runner, I think it is easier to run 100 miles than it is to run a sub 2:30 marathon. If he really wants to impress the running community, he should qualify for the US marathon trails, I believe that would be 2:15 are better.
Comment by rick — 3/28/2006 @ 2:11 pm
I have never heard of Mr. Karnaze, but from what I read of your posts, I think the guy is a liability for the sport, especially because he is high visability. If you want trail running to get good PR, get a good spokesman. This guy sounds like a loose cannon. Maybe he and Terrel Owens should work together, they could always get Bobby Knight to coach them, and maybe Al Davis would buy the team.
Joan, as far as walking out, I think you did the right thing. Your daughter was with you, if you believe something is harmful to your child, you need to get her out of there. Better to be safe than sorry.
Remember the ends do not justify the means.
Comment by George - FFSG — 3/29/2006 @ 8:21 am
Joan, I understand if you don’t agree with someone’s view and passion on life. But speaking of being a teenager…I think it is quite immature of you to look up information on someone you don’t even know anything about and to bash him. Why don’t you do a little more research and look up all of the charity work he does, how he is there for his family and how supportive they are for him, and how inspirational he is to so many individuals.
Comment by Annon — 4/18/2006 @ 5:56 pm
Dear Annon (is that really your name?),
I admire your impulse to defend this guy and you are right to call me out for not doing “a little more research.” To absolve my guilt, I did read his book last week and after some 280 pages I still think this guy’s an egomaniac. What do you think of his commentary on relationships:
?
Call me crazy, Annon, but I think feelings and esteem are rather important in a marriage.
Comment by Joan — 4/18/2006 @ 8:01 pm
Joan: You are right about this guy. I’m sorry, it does not take a lot of effort to tell what this guy is about.
I cannot believe the number of people who defend the indefensible. I live in Indiana, here there are still people who worship Bobby Knight. I happen to believe that character counts for more than the ability to win championships. I bet he would have won even more if had the character of say Dean Smith.
I believe words mean things! I believe Family is more important than work or even than running.
Comment by George - FFSG — 4/20/2006 @ 7:01 am
Dear all,
I do not understand why so many people are so against Dean! He is an athlete who does amazing and unthinkable things and always trying to challenge himself and that’s all there is to it. He isn’t hurting anyone doing what he does. So what if he’s not the fastest athlete out there and doesn’t win any marathons or Olympic gold medals. That is not his goal in life. He is not a speed runner, he is a distance runner. From what I know of him he seems to be a great family guy. Those who have met him say he is a very sincere listener and great guy. Sure he is away from home at times and is involved in many long runs that keep him away from his wife and kids but that is his passion in life, that is what he enjoys doing. He is making money from it so it is technically now his job. My dad travels a lot for his job and isn’t home a lot because of that. He has made a lot of sacrifices for his family and has turned down job promotions in the past so he wouldn’t have to move out of the state away from his family. Just recently we found out his company is relocating so he has no choice and he has to move 8+ hours away from his home…but that is life. It’s a sacrifice you have to make to support your family. Just like Dean, he has turned his running into his job, his way of earning money to support his family and at the same time it’s something he enjoys doing and it’s his passion. It’s what makes him happy. Not too many people can say they enjoy their job like he does. Sure it is his choice but that’s not the point. What do you think of famous actors or singers then? What about those singers/rockstars who go on tour and leave their family behind for months and get involved with drugs and drinking while their child is at home waiting for them? Think of all the broken families out there…dads that are never home and cheating on their wives, or who abuse their children or who do drugs. the list goes on. What Dean is doing is a great thing and should be even more publicized than currently is. Look at all the bad that is going on with the world today. There is no sense in getting all worked up about Dean Karnazas, an amazing athlete! He is an inspiration to many runners. I also don’t understand why hiding a child from Dean is an issue. Just because a child listens to his stories doesn’t mean they are going to turn into him. I think his lesson is to have an ambition in life and go for it! It doesn’t mean that everyone who listens to him is going to want to run ultramarathons. There is no harm at all in having someone listen to him speak. I’m almost appalled that everyone on this site is so against Dean. And you all call yourself athletes? I just think those of you who are so against Dean and his ways should learn a little more about him before you agree with others. It’s only fair to know the full sides of both stories before you comment. Dean is a positive influence for America today and should start to be treated like it!
Comment by Kristin — 4/25/2006 @ 9:45 am
It seems that there’s alot of people jealous of other people. Everyone is unique and known for something…the fact that Dean Karnazes is widely known, is because someone actually admires this guy..He is a very oput spoken man, and very humble… so rather than putting this guy down…why dont all of you do what you do best..and if someone notices you then great but if not..then keep negative comments to yourself…act your age….
Comment by Mark — 7/24/2006 @ 9:55 pm