Runnerville Weekly #13
A special reserve Runnerville Weekly, oaky, with hints of heartbreak hill and olive wreath. Toni Reavis in 1978, ten years after Amby Burfoot is victorious. And a special guest from Iraq. It’s Boston Marathon week, perhaps the greatest week of the year for Bostonians.
In this episode:
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Toni Reavis in 1978 with Vin Fleming and Bob Hodge. This recording was not digital.
Amby Burfoot recalls his magic day one April in 1968.
Jeremy Mosher puts Ryan Hall’s historic run in perspective, in only the way he can.
Toni Reavis, now back in 2008, talks about how the WMM actually hurts the sport, ensuring that we never get the best athletes to toe the line together on the same weekend.
Russ Stewart reports from Baghdad, Iraq before heading off to Tikrit. Can you believe they’re racing over there? And that Russ is able to share it with us? Unbelievable. Now we’re trying to figure out how to get over there ourselves.
[Music is “Big Ball in Boston” by Del McCoury.]
Last 5 posts by Matt Taylor- The Toni & Matt Show #17 - Vin Lananna - July 9th, 2008
- LetsRun.com Eugene '08 - June 30th, 2008
- The Toni & Matt Show #16 - June 17th, 2008
- USOC to USATF: Change Now! - June 14th, 2008
- The Toni & Matt Show #15 - June 11th, 2008
April 16th, 2008 at 10:22 am |
Let me apologize upfront for my probable butchery of the pronunciation of “Mahon” - I was caught between the Irish “MAY-UN” (ala Synge’s “Playboy of the Western World”) or “ma-HOON”; “ma-HONE,” ala the cheese; and adding an “R” to get “ma-HORN,” ala NBA megastar Rick Mahorn. Just ’cause.
It’s crazy that I can pronounce Szczerbiak and Krzyzewski flawlessly simply because the media coverage of their sports is so ubiquitous, yet I’m not even sure of one of the pre-eminent coaches in our sport…
April 16th, 2008 at 10:48 am |
I think what is most impressive about this runnerville weekly is that Toni was able to record his first piece on the set of the movie “never-ending story.”
Also, I agree with Toni’s Marathon majors assessment. What would be great is if there was ONE fall major and ONE spring major and then the world or olympic championship thrown in there in the summer. That way you could get a model closer to the tennis or golf majors. Of course, this is impossible because everyone wants their piece of the pie.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:56 am |
It seems like a century ago that Boston could still be won by a hometown favorite or some Joe off the street who decided to work hard for a year or two. The women’s trials brings back a little nostalgia with Kate O’Neill as one of the favorites. Kate grew up just a few minutes down the expressway in Milton.
Good to hear Amby talk about the luck of running. You can do everything right, work just as hard or harder than the rest but you also have to have lady luck on your shoulder. There aren’t many people, and far too few Americans that can say, “I won Boston.” That is truely an accomplishment!
Those of us fortunate enough to be in Boston for the weekend are in for a special treat. New York was awesome with back to back Olympic Trials and New York Marathon. I expect this weekend to be just as special.
Toni - I’m with you. Its a shame that the dream field marathon will never happen.
Good luck to any of you running this weekend.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm |
I want to be nit-picky and object to the idea of giving Terence Mahon credit for “two Olympic marathon medals”. Meb is still coached by his coach since college, Bob Larsen; though Deena is now primarily coached by Mahon and Mahon can probably claim credit for her London ‘06 and Chicago ‘05 wins (and thereby her American Record) through the Olympics, Kastor was coached by Joe Vigil, who brought her up from relative post-collegiate obscurity. Mahon is a great coach who is doing wonders with Kastor and with Ryan Hall, but let’s not minimize the contributions of the coaches who brought Meb and Deena to Athens.