Runnerville

Toni Reavis, a pioneer in the field of running broadcasting, began more than 30 years ago in Boston where he produced and hosted Runner’s Digest, the first radio show devoted exclusively to the sport of distance running. Throughout the 1980’s Reavis wrote a weekly column for the Boston Herald, following closely the sport’s move from its amateur past to its current semi-professional status. Also in 1980 Reavis turned his attention to television where he has provided commentary at events around the nation, including the annual Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles Marathons. From 1985 to 1991 he co-hosted ESPN’s Running & Racing, the first regularly scheduled running program on national TV. Then in 1989 took the reigns of ESPN’s Race of the Month.

Over the years Reavis has earned numerous regional Emmys for his work, and was named “The best television running analyst” by Runner’s World Magazine (May 2003), which referred to him as “The most insightful – and funny – talking head in running.” He was also awarded the RRCA Journalism Excellence Award in 1993.

Today, Toni lives in San Diego where he is host of Elite Racing TV, while also continuing to write extensively on the sport. Beyond his journalistic duties, Toni also serves as treasurer for the Entoto Foundation, a 501-c3 charity that raises funds for needed medical care for the people of Ethiopia. He has traveled the world over the last quarter century, including numerous visits to Kenya and Ethiopia, to report on the sport’s leading athletes.

Matt Taylor started his career in corporate communications at the world’s largest sports management & marketing firm, where he worked in the interactive division of International Management Group (IMG). Attempts to start a company and predict LIBOR both failed. He turned to the world of running for guidance.

Matt is best known for his series of “Chasing…” blogumentaries – chasingTRADITION, chasingKIMBIA, and chasingGLORY. He is lesser known for running an 8:57 steeplechase, twice beating Mike Tyson on Nintendo, and earning a degree from Yale University. Matt also writes semi-regularly for Peak Running Performance and is finishing a book about 800-meter running with New York Times Bestseller Nicholas Sparks.

Amby Burfoot is an Editor at Large for Runner’s World Magazine and the 1968 Boston Marathon winner. He has been a Runner’s World editor for 30 years and a runner for 46 years, covering over 110,000 miles in that time. In December, 1968, he ran his marathon PR, 2:14:29, in Fukuoka, Japan. Now 61, Burfoot has finished the Manchester (Conn) Thanksgiving Day Road Race 45 years in succession, winning the high school division in 1963, the open division nine times, and the 60+ division in 2006 and 2007.

In 1981 Burfoot was given the Journalism Award from the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), and in 1993 he was inducted into the RRCA’s “Hall of Fame.” He has won the Lifetime Journalism Achievement award from the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, and was chosen for Running USA’s first “Hall of Champions” in 2004.

Mary Wittenberg is the president and CEO of New York Road Runners and the race director of the ING New York City Marathon. NYRR produces more than 70 annual races, offers classes, clinics and lectures in running and fitness, maintains four websites, publishes NY Runners magazine and has a vibrant youth running program which has over 45,000 elementary school aged children running in cities around the world each week. Initiatives under Wittenberg’s leadership have included creating the World Marathon Majors along with the directors of marathons in Boston, London, Berlin and Chicago; creating the NYC Half Marathon presented by Nike; hosting numerous USA national championships, including the 2006 USA Cross Country Championships and the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon; and expanding NYRR’s commitment to youth running.

Prior to her arrival at NYRR, Wittenberg was a partner at the law firm Hunton & Williams, she won the 1987 Marine Corp Marathon, and she qualified for the 1988 US Olympic Team Trials - Women’s Marathon. Wittenberg and her husband, Derek, have two young sons and live just a quick run from Central Park in Manhattan.

Chris Lear was once a miler and has worked variously as a shoe jockey, writer, sales consultant and entrepreneur. In the fourth grade he earned a yellow belt in tae kwon do. He is now performing mental calisthenics as an MBA student at the UNC Kenan-Flagler School of Business.

Robert Johnson is a co-founder of LetsRun.com and the men’s distance coach at Cornell University. In five years at Cornell, the Big Red have won 8 conference titles and have established no less less than 12 school records and 46 top 10 all-time Cornell performances, including an Ivy League record indoors in the distance medley relay in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, the Cornell 4 x 800 team also had the nation’s fastest time indoors.

Prior to coming to Cornell, Johnson was a competitive runner himself. He just missed qualifying for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon, when he posted a 2:23 personal best. An accomplished writer, Johnson has covered the NCAA track and field championships for The Washington Post and was a columnist for the Road Runner Club of America’s Footnotes magazine.

Lauren Fleshman is a professional athlete, and a sport consultant and mentor for young people. She loves to run, and loves the pursuit of human potential. Her adoration for running is closely linked to seeing beautiful places and eating copious amounts of pancakes and waffles afterwards. While she categorizes herself as a track athlete, she has had consistent success in cross country, highlighted by an 11th place finish and leading the USA team to a hard-to-come-by Bronze Medal. She has qualified for two Outdoor World Championships and one World Cup where she finished 5th in the 5k. Her success started as a California State Champion, took form as a 5 time NCAA Champion and 15 time All-American while at Stanford, and now is firmly rooted in carving out consistent improvements in professional athletics, punctuated in 2007 by a sweep of personal bests and a handful of exciting wins on the European Circuit.

Lauren’s approach to the sport has gathered some attention lately, as her “be yourself in order to be great” attitude has resonated with a lot of everyday runners.  She writes (irregularly) a blog on Dyestat that she considers an exciting project that deserves more time, and loves analyzing the sport and the self-professed crazy people who participate in it (herself included). Lauren’s goals for 2008 include making a run at the Olympics, setting a PR in 1+ event for her 13th consecutive year, packing only a carryon for Europe, and staying up on politics and world events so she can vote intelligently and keep the dust off her college degrees. Lauren is married to Jesse Thomas, a successful triathlete and businessman turned MBA student, and they reside in Track Town USA–Eugene, Oregon.

Scott Bush is the National Editor of MileSplit.us, the national website of the nation’s premier network for high school track & field and cross country. Since his days as a lanky middle school cross country runner, Scott’s passion for the sport of distance running has grown incrementally to where he now coaches, speaks at workshops and clinics, and directs numerous running events, including the prestigious Midwest Distance Gala.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Scott competed at Western Illinois University where he started IllinoisRunner.com, a website devoted to covering the sport in Illinois. From there he networked his way around, dropped his website, picked up a blog, traveled to dozens of the most respected track and field meets and road races, started a few races of his own and now works in the peacefulness of his home, while attempting to get back into “great” running shape for the tenth or so time since graduating college.

Jeremy Mosher is a Cincinnati native living in New York City. He has few running accomplishments, and none of Amby’s journalism awards. Jeremy will be promulgating a Midwest-meets-East-Coast media bias as frequently and unabashedly as possible, although he is neither “media” nor certain what the word “bias” means. Did he mention how superior the running in central Pennsylvania is? Specifically Altoona?

To further fuel your disdain for him, you can visit his website Less Than Our Best.

Jay Johnson is the the Middle Distance Coach at the University of Colorado, his alma mater, where he has coached for more than five years. Jay earned a B.S. in Kinesiology and Applied Physiology and a M.S. in Kinesiology in the years that he ran at Colorado, and he no doubt would have run faster had he majored in distance running. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Jay directs the Boulder Running Camp, one of the premier high school running camps in the country as well as writing weekly for the NikeRunning.com blog. Jay is married to former Georgetown All-American Laura Sturges; their dog’s first name is Zola, last name Budd.