Michael Granville -800m US record holder for HS .
Went to UCLA and just started to fade away .
Michael Granville -800m US record holder for HS .
Went to UCLA and just started to fade away .
Chris Tansey
He ran 45 for the 400, 1:45 for the 800, and his dad clocked him at 3:35HT for the 1500.
ck3237 wrote:
Rich Kimball from California. 4:06 and 8:46 double in 1973 and then disappeared. The best double in USA HS history.
He ran in college, but never got over illness and injuries.
I'd add Warren Rogers to the disturbingly large UCLA list...
I bet you can still find Obea Moore on the LA open meet circuit - Jim Bush Invitational and the like. At least, a decade ago he was a standard.
Jefferson Pérez
Chris Carrington. Think he ran like 1:47 indoors his sophomore yr, then quit running.
Ken Cormier - FL Champion lasted less than a year at Arkansas? Joined Marines. Wonder what he ran on the PT test
Jess Baumgartner?
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Tony Waldrop from the University of North Carolina. He fits the category of "the MOST talented college runner to just walk away from the Sport" like no one else. Waldrop was a HUGE talent in the mile, winning the Penn Relays in 3:53.2 in 1974. The only people who had ever run faster than Waldrop at that moment in time were Jim Ryun, Ben Jipcho, Filbert Bayi, and Kip Keino. Waldrop also set the indoor world record (3:55.0), a time that stood as the collegiate record for 35 years, and he won a gold medal in the Pan Am Games. Then, after the 1976 indoor season, he abruptly quit the sport. He wasn't injured. He simply walked away, saying that it was time to move on.
purple. wrote:
Taking a poll, what are your thoughts?
Murray Link. Finished up at Arkansas with multiple championship rings, I think a sub-4 mile, runner up at the NCAA 10K. Totally quit running as soon as soon as he graduated:
http://thecabin.net/stories/053101/spo_0531010043.shtml#.VrLFsOl20sohttp://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/link-looking-to-carry-on-razorback-tradition-a/throwing out a few wrote:
Lukas Verzbicas
Kenny Cormier
Johanna Nilsson
to be fair, can we really say lukas walked away from the sport?
more like... carried away... cause... he was almost dead.
certified quitter wrote:
Given the state of athletics in the overall world of sport, there is really not a huge amount of incentive for a young person to stay in the sport long term unless they feel they have good shot of reaching the top or just simply love running that much. Why put up with all of the brutal hard work; early mornings; monitoring diet; no alcohol; skipping parties and social events for such little pay off? Add on top of this the fact that most of the public are convinced that runners are just as doped as cyclists and you have a dying sport at the competitive level.
I mean, the bottom line is that outside of running, Rupp is a nobody although he works just as hard as Mo at the game. Try asking the general public who Rupp is and you’ll be met with confused looks. Running at a very elite level is just not viewed as cool and will never compete with other sports especially team ones which are more social and thus will never attract a lot of cash or respect. The general public have no idea of the difference between a sub 5:00 and a sub 4:00 mile let alone the difference between a 1:45 800m runner and a 1:42 guy.
I woke up just after my 18th birthday when I was busting myself doing 400m repeats on a cold running track and suddenly found myself asking, ‘what is this all for?’. I made a decision there and then to quite based on the likelihood that I was never going to make it really big and just did not enjoy the sacrifices needed for further improvement. I had a fair bit of talent (sub 1:50 800m & sub 3:45 1500m HS runner) but just figured I’d go down the education road.
Do I have any regrets? None at all as I’ve lived a far more balanced life and enjoyed my 20s to the absolute max in so many ways – studied, partied, learned guitar, made lots of friends, travelled, got laid more times than I can even remember; started a fulfilling career; met my now wife. Oh and all the while still enjoying running as a means of keeping fit and to blow off steam. Yes, I’m now a hobby jogger as defined by LR but I’d rather be a ‘nobody’ hobby jogger than a ‘nobody’ who makes the semis in the Olympic Games and is forgotten about the next day or is dropped from the team following a period of injuries.
Everyone’s different but there are many others like me who just simply look at the broader picture and think, ‘ah fuc* this for a laugh, there’s way more to life!’
No 1:49/3:44 American HS'er has EVER quit the sport as a senior. It is easy to look up all of them. You are an idiot, trying to make yourself sound deep and complicated.
Tha Usual BS wrote:
Dr. Steve Brule wrote:Matt Davis
Matt D. wouldn't be the "most" talented college runner to just walk away but I'll vote for him as he did have major talent. His Jr. xc year (I think, maybe his Sr.) he was injured most of the season and did very little training. He ended up 10th? at nationals. I was very impressed! Had he gone pro and stayed out of injuries I'd say he would have found success in the US but not national level.
Great guy too.
Great article about Matt Davis from the year you reference.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/nov/27/injury-cant-keep-davis-from-shining/4 pages and no mention of Josh McDougal?
someone mentioned McDougal on page 3
I think it is a different category when anyone is chronically injured, continues to try and then stop.
I figured we were talking about guys who just upped and quit, never ran again. Not guys who took multiple shots at recovery and it never worked out.
The phrase "F**k this for a laugh" doesn't sound American. The poster may well be lying about times, but it's possible he's English/Australian/New Zealander/British educated Kenyan, etc.
down south wrote:
What about Caitlin Chock- sub 16 in HS. Went to Richmond for like half a year then.....painting and writing for RW
Didn't she get hit by a car that pretty much destroyed her ankle?
Andrew Ledwith or Mohammad khadroui from Iona?
I remember Ledwith was 3rd at ncaa cross and I never saw another result from him. Mo was 5th and same thing
People are not doing this correctly. To me walking away from the sport, means just quitting before you get injured or realize you aren't going to be a world beater.
So these women with eating disorders don't count.
Neither do people like Michael Granville who ran in college.
Verzbicas also didn't just walk away from the sport as he got hit by a car. Well I guess he did walk away from running but who is to say he wouldn't have returned to running?
Anyway, what about 1996 and 1997 Foot locker champ Abdirizak Mohamud. Did he even run in college? What the hell is he up to now? If you know, email me as I"d love to do a story on him.