The other thing that struck me about Schler was how little she looked like a top marathoner. Schler has no discernible muscle tone or definition in her arms, she has breasts, and she is pear-shaped. In the picture below she looks downright dumpy.
Top female marathoners tend to work themselves down to the bone, to the point where they take on a brittle, almost anorexic appearance. They have carved all the fat from their bodies, giving them skinny arms, thin but muscular legs, and flat chests.
These women competing in the 2012 Olympic marathon are fairly typical:
It appears that not only was Schler a shameless hoaxer, she was a dumb one too. For her to try to pass as a marathon victor was about as credible as me claiming that I used to be a heavyweight boxing champion. Extreme sports call for extreme physiques.
Once Schler was disqualified, the winner in the St. Louis Marathon was declared to be Andrea Karl, with a time of 2:54:
It would be interesting to find out what Schler's upbringing was like; to me, this is always the most interesting thing about a sociopath. Given how pathetic her attempted deception, it would also be edifying to find out her IQ.
Posts
22 comments:
For having a marathoner's body, Andrea Karl is not bad looking in the picture.
Jokah --
Agreed. I've always liked female runners, though my ideal build is probably closer to that of the average 1500 runner:
http://justnotsaid.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-bodies.html
She does appear to "have the wary eyes of an abused child," a good observation. Children who come from dysfunctional, abusive homes are people that I feel badly for, growing up to have a range of issues themselves (not fair to any child). I read (via other online articles) that Kendall Schler possibly participated in the race in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon - she didn't necessarily want to win the marathon that she "ran" in - consequently, this could explain the unexcited look on her face.
-birdie
Birdie --
You bring up an interesting philosophical conundrum: there is certainly no group in the world less deserving of sympathy than sociopaths; yet most of them turned out that way because they were abused children. And the fact is, sociopathy is a condition that cannot be "cured," meaning, they essentially have no choice but to be sociopaths. So do we feel sorry for them? I'd say, no.
Personally, I struggle with feeling sorry for them and not feeling sorry for them, comprehending why some of them are the way that they are. My solution is to pray for them because we're powerless to "fix" them. That and stay clear of them.
-birdie
Birdie --
We agree on staying clear of them.
Sociopaths at all ages needs to be held responsible for their life choices (even though they generally fail to learn from the consequences of their behaviors). We all are responsible for our choices. I once heard a man say that sometimes, the most loving thing that can happen to a person is for an individual to be incarcerated. Many sociopaths belong in prison, locked up. We didn't create the problematic person. We as a society have to deal with the individual, though. They cause huge headaches.
-birdie
Birdie --
I'm not sure I'd describe the incarceration of certain individuals as "loving." I'd lean more towards "necessary for the protection of society."
And yes, they do cause huge headaches.
I'm so glad you pointed that out, and I hadn't seen the other picture of her body. I would be interested to hear of her upbringing as well. I had read previously that she had "placed" high enough in a marathon prior (likely also a hoax) to be in this past Monday's Boston Marathon, but they rejected her entry upon the cheating discovery.
As far as feeling sorry for sociopaths, the old me would have done the same, and although I continue to pray for them, I no longer feel sorry for them. Despite the fact that they cannot help causing all sorts of harm, they are aware that they are hurting people when they do, as people like me (and other "normal" people) will be left devastated, crying, hurt for a long time. They aren't unaware of the result of their actions, they just don't care. All we really can do is pray and hope they do end up in prison, for the safety of the rest of society. (In my humble opinion)
Runner Katy --
I can't imagine that Schler legitimately qualified for Boston at any race.
We all have an "old me" -- the person we were before we got burned by a sociopath. After that, our sympathy tends to dry up.
John--I actually understand long distance runners, as well as vegans, as those with mental illness and eating disorders. Brian
Brian --
That's good, especially in your line of work.
I understand sociopaths. (Though I may not be using "understand" the same way that you were, in the sense of being understanding.)
I see her as looking wary like a feral animal rather than an abused child. She looks almost fierce, as if she's staring down the photographer. But that could be me trying too hard to read her sociopathy into her expression.
Opps, not the photographer. I meant "stare down someone".
Pavonine --
But she doesn't sam to be looking AT the photographer, which would be the case if she were trying to stare him down.
But I don't disagree with your overall impression: abused children often turn into feral animals, so to speak. (And likewise, that could be me trying too hard to figure out what her familial background was.)
Pavonine --
Okay, composed my first response before I got your second correction. Yes, that's quite possible.
Maybe many sociopaths were abused as children because they were born sociopathic, which drove people, including even their own parents, to hate and abuse them. Moreover, if sociopathy is a heritable trait, at least one parent is likely to have sociopathic tendencies. A sociopathic-leaning parent is likely to be an abusive parent.
Mark --
I'm a big nature-over-nurture guy myself when it comes to a lot of traits (like IQ), but sociopathy does seem to be mostly a matter of nurture (although there are some organic causes, like frontal lobe damage). The proof of this is that in war torn areas where there are a lot of orphans, a high percentage of them seem to grow up to be sociopaths. And a high percentage of children who grow up in orphanages everywhere seem to be as well. Hence the problems that people have had with children they've adopted (past the age of two) from Romanian orphanages and the like.
Twin studies that I find online imply sociopathy is mostly innate and highly heritability.
It seems reasonable for a variety of reasons that the children of sociopaths would be more likely to be assigned to orphanages than children from the general population. The sociopath has little regard for her offspring and can rid herself of them with a clear conscience. The sociopathic parent is also more likely to go to prison or die young from a drug overdose or because of criminal or reckless behavior, such as drunk driving or driving while texting. When she dies, her children are orphaned.
Mark --
I hadn't heard of the twin studies regarding sociopathy. I suppose if traits like shyness (which is in a sense the opposite of sociopathy) are innate, there should be a correlation with sociopathy too. And there is such a thing as an "organic sociopath," someone whose nature is such that he needs more stimulation in order to feel the same level of excitement that others feel with less extreme stimuli.
But organic sociopaths are not quite the same as out and out sociopaths, and I've also heard that in times of war, a lot of children will grow up "feral," which is often another way of saying "sociopathic." And many of those children must have had parents who were not sociopaths.
Here's another good one for you, with all the sociopathic traits in writing:
http://www.people.com/article/belle-gibson-wellness-expert-lied-about-cancer-diagnosis?xid=outbrain_peoplenews
Enjoy!
Runner Katy --
Coincidentally a friend just sent me -- via email -- another article about Belle Gibson this morning. Yes, you've got her pegged, she's a textbook sociopath. A lot of them, or at least the ones with "Munchausen's Syndrome," like to tell people they have cancer, as it's a great way to gain both sympathy and attention.
Don't know if you ever read it, but I wrote a post about the woman who introduced me to sociopathy a long time ago:
http://justnotsaid.blogspot.com/2014/08/how-i-became-interested-in-sociopathy.html
That woman, too, claimed to have cancer.
I'd be curious to hear your story about your sociopath. If you don't want to share it on this blog you can just write it in a comment and tell me not to post it -- and I won't. If you include your email address I'll respond to that.
Post a Comment