Archive For The “Running Free” Category
“Greg Meyer was my toughest opponent. He would never give up, either in a workout or a race.”
Who was the obsequious twit who continually described Bill Rodgers as “Mr. Downhill?” Was that supposed to be a comment on Rodgers tactics, or on his career?
This piece does not appear in my award-winning, not-bestselling When Running Was Young & So Were We. Copies of first printing still available on Amazon. Think I have found six-seven additional articles my esteemed book researcher missed. Hell, I don’t remember writing them, so he remains esteemed.
“If the question were ‘Who did you most enjoy competing against?’ the answer would definitely be Frank Shorter. Distance God.
“We hope we did some good.” – Bill Rodgers, Bill Rodgers Running Center
When sports scientists first heard about the Tendai Marathon Monks, they assumed the reports was exaggerated folklore. [The way sports scientists do.] So, in 2011, a team from Stanford flew to Mount Hiei to document the damage. They expected to find knees ground down to bone. Hips riddled with arthritis. Ankles held together by scar tissue.
“You don’t run 26 miles at five minutes a mile on good looks and a secret recipe” – Frank Shorter. What Frank said is true for a two-ten marathoner. But what about sub-two? What about running twenty-six miles at four minutes and twenty-three seconds per mile? What about that?
Many storylines, but there is one I have yet to see noted. You might say, an actual secret. Because over a half century later, few understand, After The Work, The Rest Is Easy.
Back in the day, never thought two hours would be broken in my lifetime. Of course, never thought I’d live to be 79. I also did not also anticipate a 3:47 miler in $500 super shoes. With a Magic Elixir, too. And I don’t mean PEDs.
Many of the early employees were accomplished local runners. We took training seriously, and the store work schedule was structured to allow for training. That was an important aspect of working at the Oregon Runner.
He first appeared on the Boston Running scene in the late 1970’s, a tall, lean redheaded kid with a quiet intensity. When you asked him where he was from he would say Northern Maine. There was a difference between Maine and Northern Maine.
He once told Bill Rodgers he wanted to be one of the “heavies” in the Boston running Scene. Boston had a lot of “heavies” back then.