Inspiring or Pathetic?

Never mind the viral dress; tell me what you see in this video.

Last week’s post about uncertainty started with a scientific explanation of the viral dress phenomenon, in which people saw a photograph of a dress as either white and gold or blue and black, depending on their brain’s unconscious assumptions. 

I was thinking about that — the ability of people to see the same exact thing in completely different ways — while watching a recent interview with an athlete named Eric Holt, a runner who has been competing in this week’s U.S. Olympic Trials. 

The interview took place earlier this month, at the NYC Grand Prix. Holt had just run his fastest 1500-meter race (equivalent to about a 3:51 mile), and finished second, four one-hundredths of a second behind the 2022 world champion. Holt’s time was the fifth fastest by an American up to that point in the year.

The interview (below) lasts less than three minutes, but the picture of Holt that comes through is remarkable, and — among track nerds like me who watched it — polarizing like the dress. Holt is 29; unlike his competitors he has no sponsorship, so refers to himself as an amateur; he pays for his own shoes, and physical therapy; he worked in a psych ward to make ends meet; he lives with his parents, which he was embarrassed about, but his dad is older and he appreciates their time together; his girlfriend pays for all their meals when they go out, and he promises he’ll return the favor if he gets sponsored; his dream is to be a professional athlete, and he wants to prove to sponsors that “I’m not just some schmuck, that I worked really hard, that I’m talented enough.” 

To end the interview, Holt says: “I’m sacrificing everything. I’m gambling, and I’m betting my life and everything that I’m going to be a pro one day, and I hope for it to come true.” 

That interview led to a profile in the Washington Post that fleshed out some of the details. Holt spent 13-hour shifts at the psych ward, where his job was preventing patients from harming themselves; the team he now trains with discovered him because he was posting workouts on the app Strava, and they were extremely hard and between 11 p.m. and midnight. 

What interested me most, though, was the reaction of running fans to Holt. A longer (profanity-laced) video of another track enthusiast berating Holt for sharing his “sob story,” and for not quitting track and getting a job, has significantly more views than Holt’s interview. My reflexive reaction to Holt’s interview was to be inspired and to hope he keeps going. (People like me, who would encourage people like Holt, also came in for criticism in the reaction video.) 

I talked to friends who follow track, and some shared my reaction, but others were closer to the critique video. And these are all reasonable people; the Eric Holt interview is a bit like the viral dress, except for emotions instead of visual perception. 

I was a walk-on 800-meter runner in college, so it’s easy for me to identify with a late-blooming, underdog middle-distance runner; Holt’s story speaks to my biases. But another alum of my college track team — who went on to be a pro (and who is now working for Michael Johnson’s startup track league) — has written persuasively about how combining amateurs with pros in races diminishes the sport, even if the amateurs can hang.

If you watch the interview, share your reaction below. I don’t think there’s a right answer, I’m just curious to hear your first reflex, and what biases you think might inform it. And if you want to follow Holt: this week he failed to make the Olympic team in the 1500, but he starts competing in the 800-meters at the Olympic Trials tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance if you share thoughts in the comments below. The Range Widely comment section has generally been a wonderful place for a bit of civil disagreement.

If you found this interesting, or think others might have interesting takes, please share it.

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Until next time…

David

P.S. Some of the comments below are fantastic! They skew more positive than my informal sample of former runners, but with all sorts of variety, including one from Steve Mesler, a former bobsled gold medalist, who left a really interesting and nuanced take.

P.P.S. Update: Eric Holt has signed a deal with Puma!