His runners tend to have long, successful careers because he trains them well in the Lydiard style and races them sparingly. One of the beauties of not having a top level track program is that he is not tempted to over race his runners in the effort to score points at the national championship. He teaches his runners to race smart by running their race in tune with their training. Ritz and Barringer broke American records not because they are the fittest Americans ever, but because they ran their race. It was beautiful watching Ritz and Barringer both start at the back and slowly work their way through the pack as one by one the runners in front of them faded away. It reminded me of the year that Wisconsin was the overwhelming favorite to win the national championship only to be taken down by a CU team that closed strong by running smart. He is the zen master of collegiate running.