Runnerville

 It is a long road full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and unforeseen challenges.  Then the starting gun is fired and the marathon spills out of Hopkinton on Patriot’s Day.  It’s always been true that the path to the marathon generates the greatest obstacle, and it isn’t just the eight-to-twelve weeks of marathon specific training which constitutes that long, arduous journey.

2008 was an epochal year in distance running.  In America a changing of the guard was underway, led by California’s Ryan Hall.  The previous year had seen his breakthrough, building off a series of record performances, including a majestic win at the Olympic Marathon Trials in November of 2007 in New York City.  He followed with a 2:06:17 fifth place finish in London in the spring, making him the fastest native-born American marathoner of all time, and a medal threat in Beijing. 

Fellow Mammoth Lakes Track Club teammate Meb Keflezighi found himself on an opposite trajectory.  He and Deena Kastor had turned America’s running fortunes around with their Olympic medal performances in Athens 2004, but by 2007 Meb’s fortunes had begun to sour.  Though he had podium finishes in New York City in `04 (2^nd) and 2005 (3^rd), and added another third place in Boston 2006, he was never able to notch the big win. Then a series of frustrating injuries, ailments, and mishaps began derailing his every step.  Read more…

We love sports because raw competition is there for all to see, unscripted, in the moment, neither burnished not tarnished by the money changers or middle-men.  Certainly the era of PEDs has put everyone on notice.  Any truth can fall prey to the dark forces of greed and lust.  And yet even though our faith has been shaken, we still want to believe, because, for all its frailty, sport fullfills man’s sense of exceptionalism. 

Tiger Woods is among the most self-possessed athletes in modern times. His record of golfing achievements stand in bold relief.  But Tiger Woods, the man?  I’m not sure we ever have, or will, see what’s behind the mask.  Not our right to know, except Tiger wants it both ways.  He wants us to follow, but not intrude, buy, but not pry.  But in accepting the former one forfeits the latter. Read more…

Congratulations are in order for Olympian Carrie Tollefson and husband Charlie Peterson who welcomed their first child into this old world Thursday afternoon April 1st in Minnesota at 3:08 p.m. central daylight time.  Ruby Anne Peterson weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 ounces, and stretched to 20″ in length.  According to mom all are doing great.  Can’t think of better people to populate the planet.  April 1st, too, but ain’t no joke. 

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ROAD RACE MANAGEMENT RACE DIRECTOR’S MEETING

HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 8, 2008

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY TONI REAVIS

Today, running has never been healthier, from the number of events, to the size of fields, to the level of charity fund raising.  Yet within that healthy body their exists an overlooked, chronic problem, what Cellcom Green Bay Marathon race director Sean Ryan called the paradigm shift away from competition to participation.  Ironic, too, because it was a competition that inspired the fitness movement in the first place, Frank Shorter’s gold medal run at the 1972 Olympic Marathon in Munich.  Then with Bill Rodgers’ pied piper performances at the Boston and New York City Marathons from 1975 to 1980 the running movement boomed out across the land. Alberto Salazar and Joan Benoit came next in the early 1980s.  But following Joan’s American record at the 1985 Chicago Marathon we had unknowingly hit our apogee. Read more…

So, I went to bed Sunday night after the Closing Ceremonies, and just woke up.

Seriously, those late nights were killing my productivity during the day. But as expected, it was all worth it. The action was great, the track and field coverage was decent, and there were some simply amazing moments.

Now that the Games are over, take a few minutes to weigh in on these questions:

How did the Beijing Games stack up against past venues?

How did NBC do with its “no politics” rule?

How was the track and field coverage? Did it do much (or anything) to move our sport forward in the ways we’ve discussed on this blog?

What was your biggest thrill of the Games? Biggest let-down?

Let the opining begin!

New USATF CEO Doug Logan held his first teleconference today as he was introduced by USATF President Bill Roe, who has been serving as acting CEO since Craig Masback’s resignation in January.  Logan will assume his new job on Monday morning when he arrives in Indianapolis from his current residence in south Florida.

“I’m delighted to be in this position,” the 64 year-old former Major League Soccer CEO told the teleconference.  “As the staff will learn, I keep a picture on my desk from 1980 of me dressed in clown makeup.  It’s a reminder not to take myself too seriously.”

Yet he takes over an organization with serious problems and challenges, including a mandate by the USOC to fundamentally change its governance model and streamline its bloated board of directors. Read more…

 Villard Street seemed deserted as we drove home from dinner at the Boulevard Grille on Randolph tonight.  A quick glance showed a few diehards knocking back their final Trials beers at the Villard Street Pub as we passed.  The pub had been the unofficial post-meet gathering spot night after night during the Trials, and now with packing and early morning flights waiting, there wasn’t the same urgency to stop to exchange opinions and race memories.  Strange how quickly the industry packs up and departs after settling in for the ten days it took to select this 2008 Olympic Team.

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 There is more than a bit of wistfulness in the smoke-tinged air here in Eugene, Oregon for these 2008 Olympic Trials.  Last night after Tyson Gay’s best-ever men’s 100-meters  - forget the wind or the geo-magnetic Allen Belt, ain’t nobody ever ran faster anywhere, anytime  - one of a myriad of reunions took place up in the hills outside Eugene at the home of Steve Dinatale.  Read more…