The Amazing Pat Porter

Actually, this is what you said:

"They didn't sprint a lap early. They merely ran towards the finish chute then got back on track when they realized their mistake."

One of the most refreshing things to hear on letsrun.com is "I was wrong." We should all say it more often. I'll go first: I was wrong in saying that it was Paris, not Madrid.

Your turn.

[quote]Optimum wrote:

Specifically, most of us have heard or seen the ASC typical week...but I have always wondered, as Dan suggested, what happens if you're not the type who can dothe repeat 700's, the mountain run, the fast(er) recovery day and stillbe able to do the mile repeats on Thursday? Was there an adjustment in there somehow?

quote]

I was at ASC in 1983. Unfortunately, I was so slow I could only beat a couple other runners in the one lappers (700's) and never came close to competing.

While we always did the one lappers and mile repeats, the other days we only did what we were capable of doing. We usually ran in packs of 4 or 5 others who were of equal fitness. I rarely recall running over 7 or 8 miles during the week while the varsity was doing much more. I don't think coach Vigil really cared what we did since everything was based on competing for the spots to run on the A or B team. Everyones goal was to get better, so we did all we could.

I came from sea level and the transition to 7200 ft was really difficult for me. It took me the whole season to run the paces at altitude I had been running at sea level.

The year I was there, Pablo Vigil trained with Porter. Dave Cuadrado was running at a high level at the time also.

Adams State was Naia at the time Porter ran, not Div.II.

If I recall correctly, we ran a dual meet with Colorado that year and they beat us 28-29. They were ranked 5th in the country.

Sports Illustrated did an article about us and there was a picture of our team running in the sand dunes for the centerfold. It was a voluntary practice for us scrubs since finals were coming up (we didn't know it was going to be a foto shoot)and I decided to stay and study.

Some of the runners who pioneered that Adams State ere will ring a bell (several posted here already): Sam Montoya, Jeff Turningheart, John Esquibal, Randy Cooper, Marco Ochoa, Dan Maas, Dave Cuadrado, Martin Johns, later on Craig Dickson, Peter De La Cerda, Rick Robirds all came through that Vigil program among many others.

I trained at times with a graduate student at Cal (7-10th man) when I was an undergrad; he and his wife provided me with a very comprehensive background.

The SI article had a cover of the ASU runners charging up the infamous Sand Dunes in single file if I recall correctly. Pat Porter was most concerned (competitively speaking) about Sam Montoya whenever he really started to get in shape.

I don't think that many of you fully appreciate SARCASM.

Optimum wrote:

Pat fat? As I recall, he was 6 foto and 135 lbs back then...

If I recall paying a visit back in the past, Pat would make trips up to Boulder from Alamosa in the late 80's to join the worlds marathon best to do long runs, It was known that Pat step up to the challege of the likes of Rob De Castello and they would do upwards of 26 miles at about 5:20 pace or better with the hills at altitude. Quote me if I'm not accurate.

winnie wrote:

I recall seeing Porter ran a 2:20 marathon as a test run back in 94 or 95. Not sure where it was or if I am correct. I think it was when he was running for Pearl Izumi. Anyone have correct/accurate info?

I know when Pat's transition came because I was there. So was Coop. Pat's first year at Adams was underwhelming. He did not make varsity in XC. This ate at him. Everyone has something which motivates them and I think Pat wanted to be one of the guys and, most importantly, one of the admired guys. An "alpha" member of the pack. In track that year, my freshman year, I decided to run the steeple. I wanted someone to run with me so I talked Pat into it. No one was running the steeple so it seemed like a nice hole to fill. Pat was ok with that and so we started training together and I promptly hurt my back and lost that season. Now Pat was stuck doing the steeple by himself. Pat is very determined. I remember his first competition was at UNM and there were 3 guys in the steeple, Pat and two guys from NAU who had gone 2nd and 3rd at Nationals the year before, or something like that. I will never forget the horror I felt when Pat was at the start line and he gave me this look (I was a spectator) like "you got me into this" and then he looked down and then I noticed, he was wearing knee-high tube socks for the steeple. It was humiliating watching him get his doors blown off and drag those soaked socks around the track. That day had the effect, I think, of pissing Pat off and he worked the steeple hard that season and bit by bit improved until by the end of the season he ran decently, like close to 9 flat or so. That summer he came to Rifle with Coop and I and I think it was the first time he had ever run throughout the entire summer. I ran well so I would come back from my injury, and I got Pat up every morning to run with me. Coop, Pat and I had some really fun rollicking runs and we ran some local races. I remember well the day I realized that Pat had reversed the pecking order and now was better than me and Coop. It was a 10K in Grand Junction and Pat beat Coop and I. Sure enough, that XC season, 1979, he just took off and quickly was a solid ASC varsity runner. That was the year Sambo won NAIA as a freshman. Naturally coach coaches to the guys who are on and Pat was on and so he came up on coach's radar screen and that started their long, successful relationship.

The Sports Illustrated article was in 1986, which was after Porter had graduated. The article said that Porter's main training partner ran the 10,000 in 29:10, or something like that. My impression is that the training partner was the second-best runner in Alamosa at the time. Anyone know his name?

Brent Friesth (sp?)

But as I recall, Pat trained with Adams State team most afternoons, but I could be wrong since I wasn't there.

Thanks for that detailed and interesting post!

That's a great story, another Summer of Malmo? This is a familiar theme. Another motivated athlete finally makes the decision to get serious, puts in the work, and becomes somebody. Had Porter not made that decision, he would have not uncovered his talent and nobody would have ever heard of him. I wonder how many Porters and Mahons are out there today?

Was there, you were not wrote:

No there wasn't. Virgin was the top 10k runner in the world at the time, Kedir was not.

That's such a pathetic response. I was hoping for -- although not expecting -- an honest admission of your erroneous statements. No knowledgeable and honest observer would deny that the Ethiopians were confused about the lap count and sprinted a lap too early, nor would any knowledgeable and honest observer say that there was no reason to believe that one or more of the Ethipians could have beaten Virgin if they had not been confused about the lap count.

Kedir was almost certainly the best cross-country runner in the world in 1981, and almost certainly would have won the world cross-country championship if he and his teammates had not been confused about the number of laps and sprinted a lap too early. As for the best 10,000-meter runner that year, it was arguably Mamede (who had the fastest time), although Schildhauer was a better tactitian and big-race runner. If Virgin was the best 10,000-meter runner that year, he certainly didn't demonstrate it in any actual races.

Even if you look at Virgin's best year, 1980, Yifter and Rono were probably better 10,000-meter runners, and Kedir was in the mix as well. It's hard to picture Virgin as the winner of the 10,000 in an unboycotted Moscow Olympic Games in 1980; I think he would have had a tough time getting a medal in a race that included Yifter, Rono, Kedir, and the Finns.

flyway wrote:

If I recall paying a visit back in the past, Pat would make trips up to Boulder from Alamosa in the late 80's to join the worlds marathon best to do long runs, It was known that Pat step up to the challege of the likes of Rob De Castello and they would do upwards of 26 miles at about 5:20 pace or better with the hills at altitude. Quote me if I'm not accurate.

winnie wrote:

I recall seeing Porter ran a 2:20 marathon as a test run back in 94 or 95. Not sure where it was or if I am correct. I think it was when he was running for Pearl Izumi. Anyone have correct/accurate info?

Pat made his debut in the marathon in January 1995, in Charlotte, NC. He dropped out after about 20 miles. I'm not aware of any other marathon attempt by Pat (although he did win the Pikes Peak Ascent, which is close to a marathon in time, when he was about 22 years old). I'm not entirely sure why he never ran a marathon in his prime. When I asked him when he was going to run a marathon, he gave me the same answer that he probably gave a lot of other people: "If I had a penny for every time I've been asked that, I'd be rich."

Although I understand that Pat sometimes did some long runs with the guys in Boulder, I'd be surprised if Deek allowed himself to get suckered into 26+ miles at 5:20 pace. Sandrock has reported that the pace of Deek's 22-milers would sometimes drop to around 5:40 when someone like Pat showed up.

I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned Charley Pablo Vigil, who may have been Pat's closest training partner in Alamosa for a while.

Avocados Number wrote: nor would any knowledgeable and honest observer say that there was no reason to believe that one or more of the Ethipians could have beaten Virgin if they had not been confused about the lap count.

I don't believe that anyone was capable of beating Virgin in the 1981 race. For two years running he was the best track 10k runner in the field, and yet he was a better cross country runner than a track runner. Virgin was at the top of his game in 1981.

edit: he (Virgin) was a much better cross country runner than a track runner

malmo wrote:

I don't believe that anyone was capable of beating Virgin in the 1981 race. For two years running he was the best track 10k runner in the field . . . .

In the 1981 race, the top three finishers were Virgin, Kedir, and Mamede. I don't who would have won a 10,000-meter track race among those three that year, but I wouldn't have considered Virgin to be the odds-on favorite. (Admittedly, my perception of Virgin's 10,000-meter track racing was forever altered by his crazy World Cup tactics against Yifter, who clearly owned him.)

Kedir, like Virgin, seemed better-suited to cross country, and seemed to be coming into his own in 1981. Unlike Virgin, who clawed and pulled himself over the ground, Kedir just sort of floated over the ground. He was a tiny guy, who made Yifter look overweight by comparison.

Avocados Number wrote:

I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned Charley Pablo Vigil, who may have been Pat's closest training partner in Alamosa for a while.

I mentioned that a few posts up. That was the time when Pablo was running the Cleveland Marathon. Don't remember if he ever won, but he was near the top for a few years.

While there might have been an S.I. article in 1986, the one in 1983 was about Adams State, not Pat Porter.

Avocados Number wrote: nor would any knowledgeable and honest observer say that there was no reason to believe that one or more of the Ethipians could have beaten Virgin if they had not been confused about the lap count.

malmo wrote:I don't believe that anyone was capable of beating Virgin in the 1981 race. For two years running he was the best track 10k runner in the field, and yet he was a better cross country runner than a track runner. Virgin was at the top of his game in 1981.

Thank you.

Average_Joe wrote:

There certainly IS a reason to think that any of them could have done so. They damn near did, even after heading for the line too early.

Was there, you were not wrote:

No there wasn't. Virgin was the top 10k runner in the world at the time, Kedir was not.

And Mamede was the top 10k runner in 81. Virgin was not. So by your own admission yes there was.

Average_Joe wrote:

And Mamede was the top 10k runner in 81. Virgin was not. So by your own admission yes there was.

Woopee. Virgin ran Boston on didn't contest the track season in 1981, and, wrap your feeble little brain around this, he beat Mamede at World Cross in 1981.