Archive For The “Running Free” Category
Last week I managed to study the 2018 Boston marathon. Also, the Boston marathons for 2014 and 2017. Then the 2018 London marathon. I would’ve written this article myself but Toni Reavis is smarter and faster and better informed. And he said it was okay if I adopted his work. Then I asked him to explain…
This piece was originally written for Track & Field News (1991) and appears in When Running Was Young and So Were We. Steve Spence knew how to get ready for the day he needed to be ready. Track and field became so mesmerizing these past few months, I didn’t give much thought to road racing. First…
Once you decide you are an artist – and mean it – the rest falls away like the clothes of a lover. – Barker Ajax The nerve of some people. Just because he says he’s my doctor. He asked me a question I often ask myself, why do you write? Good question. That’s why he…
Ed Eyestone was named – by no less a leading authority than myself – Best U.S. Roadie of 1990 by Track & Field News. January 1991. – JDW In Bountiful, Utah, the phone rang. Ed Eyestone stopped putting away the Christmas lights long enough to take the call. After convincing Erica, age 2½, she’d be…
I am sitting here, enjoying one of the best days of my life. Waiting for dinner to heat. Trying to work. And I come across this piece I don’t remember writing. A cover story for those New Year’s Resolution types. Day just got better. From December 31, 1990. – JDW I sometimes study behavior that…
This piece originally appeared in Track & Field News. Mid-1986. Conversation from When Running Was Young and So We Were. – JDW TOP ROADIE NENOW LIKES THE TRACK At 5-8½, 130 pounds, Mark Nenow is smaller than Doug Flutie. At 27, Nenow might have had a better season than the college football superstar.Nenow (pronounced Nee-no)…
Tall bony, nice but tough. white guys who run fast, I just love them. Can’t say why. This is a story about the dad years ago. Nice shiny head. – JDW JOHN GREGOREK TRACKS ROAD WINS John Gregorek’s a big guy, one who often seems to be lurking at the back of the lead pack,…
My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all. – Stephen Hawking He was a Master of The Universe. Stephen Hawking, the British physicist, has died at the age of seventy-six . He was often, perhaps rightly, compared to one Albert…
If you’ve been paying attention, I’ve known billionaires and governors and Olympians and Pulitzer prize winners and… Some people have impressed me more than others. From July 1989. – JDW John Rinehart is an exceptional young man. That’s the first thing you should know about him. John Rinehart is absent his right arm and his…
In August of 1975, I arrived in Salem, Oregon. A devoted long distance runner and a first-year law student. First day of class, I met Tim McGarry. We have been friends ever since. He went on to be a distinguished member of the Bar. In December of 1975, I was just a devoted long distance runner. …