Author Archive
Somebody told me it was frightening how much topsoil we are losing every year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared. – Jack Handey Dear Momma & Papa – Summer Camp is so exciting. Apparently a gentleman dove into the lake and had a heart attack and died. Pretty scary, actually, diving…
I don’t have any reminiscences, except that no matter how hard you run, it still takes an hour. No other foot race is like that. – Don Kardong The event really got my attention when Jos Hermens broke the 13-Mile barrier on May 1, 1976. The Dutchman covered 20.944 kilometers in just sixty minutes. I…
Did you ever run behind a slow pack? You get a trailing wind and a lot of body odor. – Steve Prefontaine I got the axe at Nike shortly after Mary Decker tripped over Zola Budd in the ’84 Olympic Games. The world’s leading sports apparel company has never (to-date) issued any formal comment whatsoever…
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” – Nelson Mandela That Nelson…
Kids made fun of me because I was a slow learner, because I was hyperactive, because of a lot of things. Running gave me confidence. – Steve Prefontaine No running? What the hell kind of cross-country training is that? I’m going for a run. Brooks headed out the door, the feeling of freedom and rebellion…
Here’s something from the early Nineties. From the Wild Dog Chronicles. I have respect for the wild life. Which is why I applied for a job at Jungle Gardens in Sarasota. Providing On-Premises Graveyard Shift Security. That’s what I do. I’m a hired gun. In return for punching a clock from eleven p.m. to five…
“Isn’t it great that our sport doesn’t need human judges? No need for us to worry about ‘artistic’ merit, no one around taking off points for our form. All we’ve got to do is just put low numbers on the objective, non-partisan, incorruptible clock. Best is least.“ I have an old friend I haven’t known…
The sci-fi writer William Gibson’s proverb, “the future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed,” is the obverse of Faulkner’s “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” – Justin Taylor Going boating with the neighbors tomorrow, so I was thinking about an American’s median life expectancy. Turns out it is 76.4 years. …
My first sight of bigtime road racers was on Memorial Day, 1972. Greenwich. My first road race and I turned out to be faster than I thought. Short course. Most vivid memory has to be watching Amby Burfoot and John Vitale warm up for the event. They ran ten miles before the five-mile competition. Can…
Name one development in the history of humankind that has increased happiness more than the domestication of dogs. – Aaron Easterly Thursdays, the dog and I drive to town. We order two beers, one for each of us. Damn dog simply can’t handle alcohol and starts to talk. With an accent I’m unable to place. Doga…