Millrose 83 Boys HS Mile

Thanks Mike that would be awsome. Those races from the 80's were ones to remember. I remember the 82 Vitalis indoor meet held at the meadowlands. Salazar won the 5000 after falling early in the race. He beat Nyambui.

Track Fan wrote:

Thanks Mike that would be awsome. Those races from the 80's were ones to remember. I remember the 82 Vitalis indoor meet held at the meadowlands. Salazar won the 5000 after falling early in the race. He beat Nyambui.

You have a vivid imagination.

That 1987 DMR was one of the most exciting races I've ever seen! Watching it brought that all back, except I was sitting higher up.

Did you dig the mullets on Deady and Consiglio?

I wonder if Arkansas would have been better off anchoring with Joe Falcon. You have to remember Consiglio ran 3:36.1 just one week prior, which was the fastest collegiate timne until Abdi Bile ran 3:35 at NCAA's at L.S.U.

Mike Stahr, where were you at Nationals that year, I can't remember who the other top finshers were?

Why do you say that?I was at the meet.I saw it happen. I'm talking about the Vitalis US Olympic Indoor meet, NOT Milrose.

The day after the DMR I was jogging over to the start of the 4x8 and twisted my ankle - I was pretty much out for the year.

Maybe this is common knowledge or maybe its none of my business ... but I'm curious about the transfer away fro ASU (to Hoyaland). Is that a fair query?

Mike answered this once before -- too many coaching changes.

You know what's funny reading all this? Some folks do not have any perspective at all about great talents. Mike Stahr would rip any one of the new wanna be's so badly is it almost hysterical to me, anyone seeing Millrose mile on that track watching him speed up and hold on at will? Against 4:07 and 4:08 guys later?

Folks think aguy like Borchers closed fast? Imagine Stahr off of 3:15? Actually he would have never let it go so slow and still crushed today's guys.

I will say this now that I have watched video , only three HS'ers I have EVER seen could have beaten him at a mile.

AND they all got to race in fast races .

Figure them out and I am not sure about 1.

In some set up race at The Armory? He would have easily gone 4:03 Indoors.

One of the guys he BEAT in The Millrose Mile was on the DMR video as a 1:46 split(he was ON the 800 leg, not anchor) at Penn. Today people are hoping for a 1:47 guy at Nats.

Stahr is one of those guys in an era of great guys ,that was almost, dare I say un beatable in big spots.

In some set up mile like we try to get HS'ers to today? In an "even" fast paced race. Mike Stahr runs 4:00 or close at a minimum, ask the older "experts"

He was so much better, after looking at all this stuff and his 1:45.x split as a frosh? Today we hope for 1:45 guys as 800 guys only.

I have never seen anyone control a race from the front like he did and win almost always, it is a style that is different yet to me? Actually beyond dominant.

I am not easily impressed.

!

m. stahr wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CexhVbuBrwk

Splits were:

John Traut: 2:53

Darren Outler: 46

Miles Irish: 1:46

Mike Stahr: 3:54

9:20.96

I was gonna chime in and say I actually thought the way you ran Millrose was kind of a-hole-ish/show-offy (the whole speed up slow down thing, letting the kid get just in front of you and then pushing your way through him, seeming to try and just show people what a bad-ass you were. I've never seen a top runner pull such "games" in a big race. I'd hardly call them tactics). And I was gonna say you looked pretty cocky at the end, with the smirk to the cameras and the "that was easy" look, and the "nice try" pat to the defeated at the end. And lastly I was gonna add I met you once for 5 minutes on a recruiting trip to G'town, and guess what.....you were kind of a cocky A-hole then. Seriously, I'm not making this up (and every single other person I met on every other recruiting trip I met was cool). BUT....

after watching your DMR race, what the F' does it matter. If I had been that good, and could run a race that ballsy, I would have been cocky too. You were down big, closed the gap in 1/2 a lap (you weren't the patient type, huh? ), and then kicked their asses. Jesus....3:54 on a wet track. Nice race dude (and I am glad most other people say you weren't an a-hole back in the day or now, but I was just giving you my honest observations on your race and the 5 minutes I met you. Maybe 99% of the time you were cool. but again, who cares what I think, you were seriously talented and ran some amazing races ).

I don't think Mike had the rep of being an a-hole. He was nice looking but Collins was the one who was drop dead gorgeous and kind of snooty. (Yes, I'm a chick.) Of course he was not as fast as Mike Stahr in track. Stahr also got to wear that kick-azz Carmel red and blue uni. My other fav runner of the time was Smitty, great guy and no ego and lightning fast. Plus he ran for Port Chester which wasn't a luxe suburb like Rye. Smitty, what are you up to?

Well, what do I say to this? The first part (about Millrose) - Normally I would have been pushing the pace and would have had less attempts to pass me but both Miles and John were VERY good runners and they were going to be up there fighting for the win no matter how fast the race went. That being said probably the reason the race went like that was because it was probably the most stressful race I ever ran up to that point and pushing the pace harder would have been taking a much bigger chance. The other thing you have to know is that back then the MSG track was wood - not like it is today and a 58.6 first quarter took a bit out of all of us. That's why the second and third quarters were a 67 and 65. Going that slow everyone is going to get rest and be able to attempt surges. There was no "game playing" by me - I just didn't want to give up the lead and that's how I raced all my races at the time. In terms of what you said about me pushing my way through John - well, if you look at the video again you'll see that when he was even with me he actually put his left elbow in my neck and was pushing me back (you might not be able to tell he was pushing me back but he was) - when I felt that I pushed him out just a little. Later on in life while racing in Europe you never are that nice when people do that stuff to you - you normally would push them out to lane 3 so I don't think I did such a bad thing by nudging him off me before the turn.

In response to:

"And I was gonna say you looked pretty cocky at the end, with the smirk to the cameras and the "that was easy" look, and the "nice try" pat to the defeated at the end."

Let me ask you this - did you see me hold up my arms or throw them up and pull them right back down? Did I run a victory lap or point my index finger in the air and run around with a big grin on my face? Did you see me do any of the "I'm the best - I'm the winner!" actions after that race? No. The fact is that I was a very shy person. I was very happy I won but was not at home in front of a camera. The reason I looked like "that was easy" was because I wasn't tired after the race. I had just come off of a 2:24 1000 something like a week before and a 4:10 pace mile is quite a bit slower. What I think you may have done by critiquing that race is look too much into it. I was just running to win - not to show off... If I was trying to show off then I probably would not have won - not with Miles and John in the race that day.

In terms of your trip to G-Town, I'm sorry you had that impression of me but that's not how I was or am now. My guess is that you either caught me at a really bad day (who knows what could have been going on in my life at the time) or just took my kidding around the wrong way (I was a kidder quite a bit back then.) Have you ever had a really bad day or was in a really bad mood and gave off the impression of being something you are not? If you think about it you'll probably understand that you probably just didn't get a good representation of me in those 5 minutes.

Thanks for your last paragraph - I like to think I'm not, and wasn't, an a-hole ;-)

Trialswatcher,

That was really nice of you to write. Thank you.

Westchester County 80s wrote:

I don't think Mike had the rep of being an a-hole. He was nice looking but Collins was the one who was drop dead gorgeous and kind of snooty. (Yes, I'm a chick.) Of course he was not as fast as Mike Stahr in track. Stahr also got to wear that kick-azz Carmel red and blue uni. My other fav runner of the time was Smitty, great guy and no ego and lightning fast. Plus he ran for Port Chester which wasn't a luxe suburb like Rye. Smitty, what are you up to?

Thanks, Westchester County 80s...

Collins and Smitty were both very good runners. I remember racing Simtty more though. You are totally right about him too - VERY nice guy. Mike Collins was a nice guy too but we didn't know each other as well. I actually, through this thread, bought his book. It's pretty cool.

Hey Mike, it's not easy staying at the top for two years in high school like you were. I ran for Section 1 in the 80s and even rode the bus to States XC with you once or twice, but never felt you had an attitude. If anything you seemed pretty low-key and approachable. I do recall you goofing around a bit on those trips and thought it was cool you were so relaxed before a big meet. Sometimes people just assume that because someone is fast, they must be a snob. The JFK guys had more 'tude than you did, and they weren't as fast!

I always got the impression that you worked hard and quietly up there in Carmel. You had to run the school hallways in winter track just like the rest of us. You probably also ran at the old Westchester County Center where it was about 20 laps to the mile dodging cement pillars and officials mixing up lap counts. No wonder you could do well at Millrose.

It's 20-some years later, you're still interested in running and in sharing some good memories of a pretty historic time in New York high school track and X-C, and that's all good. I'm around your age now and still trying to run PRs as a newly minted master, and a lot of that desire to do well stems from memories of watching you and Desiree Scott and Smitty excel in the '80s. I can remember hot May afternoons at White Plains High for the Loucks Games and other invitationals in Westchester/Putnam and feeling I was part of a memorable time in NYS high school running.

The old county center... Wow - I forgot about that. Yes, it was about 20 laps to a mile around - what I think - was a basketball court. The pillars were there and don't forget the stage! I remember seeing a number of athletes run into the stage as well as having to either stop because of or push off the pillars. The bus rides to States were always fun especially if I could get someone to play "hot-hands" with me.

Funny you mentioned JFK HS because when I moved back to Carmel after college I taught there for 3 years before moving back down to DC.

It's great to remember all these great stories.

Remember Sister Janet at JFK? I think she was still coaching as of the late 90s when a co-worker of mine went there. He was a big kid who only wanted to do the shot put and she was making him run laps!

Good luck with the Web site!

I remember her well... She is the one that made the connection for me to get my first teaching job there.

The old County Center was a real challenge to run in -- square "track," pillars everywhere and a concession stand that was practically on the track...I remember a guy wiping out on a hot dog bun once trying to pass someone.

Anyone remember the old Armory -- basically a gym floor with a masking tape inner border to delineate the track and the other side of the building was a homeless shelter. Best place to run indoors back then was West Point (no spikes for HS meets) or Jadwin Gym at Princeton.

In response to an earlier post -- I was a couple of years ahead of Mr. Stahr in Section 1 (he was a Frosh or Soph when I was a Senior) and he wasn't cocky at all even at a young age when he was much better than guys alot older than him. Who knows if he got that way later, but with his times who cares.