Original Gangsters of Running and their cross-country experience.
Being a series of conversations about the joys of running through the woods and fields and golf courses of cross-country.
And I’ll tell you why.
Cross Country: No half times, no time outs, no substitutions. It must be the only true sport. – Chuck Norris
How did you get your start in cross-country?
I started some running late in my junior year of high school to get in shape for the next ski season. Ran an all-comer meet mile in around 5:15 in July after a couple of months. Decided that summer to turn out for XC team at Sheldon HS here in Eugene. Team wasn’t very good and I was the top runner right away. ‘The bit was in my teeth.’
Tell me about that first race?
The first race I recall was at our high school. Dual meet. A very good runner, Jan MacNeal of Thurston, was the winner. I might not have been the top runner for us, but I was at least #2. More indication to me that I had some ability.
What surprised you about the second race?
No recollection of the second. But I do recall our district meet. I failed to make the state meet individually by a few places. Among those ahead of me who made State … Pre, who was either a freshman or sophomore.
Please describe your training (progression) for the season.
The school’s baseball coach was our XC coach for one season … the one I ran. Duane Miller was a fun guy, but knew little about distance running. We did a lot of five-mile runs after school, I think, then some strides. That was about it, if I recall correctly.
What do you consider your greatest XC performance?
Won the Heps (Ivies plus Army and Navy) in 1970, my senior year at Van Cortlandt. Won going away from Tom Spengler of Harvard who had beaten me easily a few weeks earlier in a dual meet in Boston. Tom and I had some good battles on the track, too, but I think he won them all. Two miles was the distance; a bit short for me!
Favorite race or venue?
Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Ran there a number of times prior to the win in 1970 Heps. If you’ve run the five-mile course, you have time that can be compared to other times of other runners in other past years. Many runners do this. And, it is a good course, with hills in the forest across the highway, and ‘cemetery hill’ in the second lap, which I recall as a helluva climb in the last mile or so. I hope that’s what they still run there. Way too many of today’s courses aren’t even cross country; they’re little more than flat, grass tracks.
Any XC memories you care to share?
Along with the above, I was on the US Cross Country team in 1977. We ran in Dusseldorf. Great trip with great bunch of men and women, seniors and juniors. Course in Germany was on a hippodrome. We went to the Cinque Mulini in Milan area after. Great fun experience. Not very good results, but still good memories.
How important is the team aspect of XC?
VERY! As the captain of our college team senior year, I was “on” the guys in the 4th through 6th or 7th positions to work hard for our team. We liked to finish ahead of other teams.
