3:35 old guy here to your answer any question. Don’t overly expect a serious reply.

ground hog wrote:

First and only time I saw you run in person was in 88' when you and Marc Olsen put on a 1500m clinic for us star deprived Manitoban's. You still have the Manitoba indoor open record at 3:41.87. Inspired me to run track and I went on to have a very mediocre but fulfilling track career.

You should take up XC skiing in your old age. Best thing for the body.

take care

Awesome! Glad we could inspire you.

I actually do ski. Trans Canada trail is 400m from my house and an excellent place to ski. Even my New Orleans born wife skis. Olesen and I had a good one that day. I only beat him because I had more to lean with.

I wanted to run 3:37 but the rabbit took is out in 2:00 instead of 1:56. And don’t tell Hood or Sullivan, but I think that 3:41 is the fastest indoor 1500m run by a Canadian anywhere in Canada. As is my 3:35.8 outdoors time too. But I am sure the new spikes will change that.

Grassrunner wrote:

This thread is AWESOME, eh?

Many thanks for doing this!!!

Was there a particular runner you idolized or were especially inspired by as a kid?

Also, what colleges were you most interested in attending and how did Arkansas end up winning you over?

Finally, there have been some great Canadian comedians in our lifetimes (your sense of humor is no joke) but who is your all-time favorite comedian?

Keep on keeping on!

John Walker. And Ovett. I was lucky enough to become friends with both of them. I feel incredibly blessed.

Arkansas had a good coach ( although they had never won nationals). Frank O’Mara recruited me. He won the NCAA 1500m. He was done eligibility BUT he was coming back to train for the 84 games. Those two guys sealed it for me. All else was second fiddle. I actually wanted to go there so bad I didn’t sign until I ran fast enough for John to give me a scholarship which was mid July. I had run 3:52 and a 5:52 2k steeple before that. John said not fast enough for full, run 3:45 or 5:40.

I made our national junior team and Earl Jones and Dub Myers first pulled me to a 3:48 1500m. A few days later Francesco Panetta ( Italian team was 23 and under) pulled me to a 5:41 and then John signed me.

So many hard to name. Candy, Fox, Levi, Akroyd, can’t pick one.

As a 3.35 guy could you see yourself destroying the Rome '60 final and setting a wr like a certain Aussie did?

Armstronglivs wrote:

As a 3.35 guy could you see yourself destroying the Rome '60 final and setting a wr like a certain Aussie did?

No way. Not a chance. They ran that on a cinder track. I trained on a cinder track. It is a fair bit slower. Combine that fact with 60’s spike technology and lack of sports rehab availability and other factors I would be lucky to just make the final. So, if thinks worked out well for me perhaps I would leave the 60 games with Herb Elliot’s autograph.

Always good to respect your elders. They had it tougher than you.

1991premilechamp wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

As a 3.35 guy could you see yourself destroying the Rome '60 final and setting a wr like a certain Aussie did?

No way. Not a chance. They ran that on a cinder track. I trained on a cinder track. It is a fair bit slower. Combine that fact with 60’s spike technology and lack of sports rehab availability and other factors I would be lucky to just make the final. So, if thinks worked out well for me perhaps I would leave the 60 games with Herb Elliot’s autograph.

Always good to respect your elders. They had it tougher than you.

Leave with Herb's autograph - I like that. That would have been about as close as any of his fellow competitors got to him.

Still, for the rest of us mediocrities your 3.35 is on another planet. We could only keep up in a bike.

Happy belated birthday!

It appears that you are of the tall persuasion. What's your height?

And are your kids also hitting upper percentiles for height?

lease wrote:

Happy belated birthday!

It appears that you are of the tall persuasion. What's your height?

And are your kids also hitting upper percentiles for height?

I am 6’5”.

Now I rebound like I am 6’10” with my timing, tenacity, crude verbiage and toughness in the paint. But I am only 6’5”

Some guy wrote me when I broke 4 ( I was world # 450 or so ) and told me that at 1 meter 95 centimeters I was the tallest sub 4 miler to date. That held true long enough until I didn’t care anymore. I am sure someone taller now did it. My eldest daughter is 12 and already taller than my wife. My youngest daughter will be tall too. Unfortunately for my son he may just be the shortest of the three.

What are the hardest-to-beat mens outdoor track records in your opinion from 100m-10,000m.

Happy b-day!

Can you explain Guelph?

Humorist Dave Barry wrote "There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven".

Speaking of New Orleans, how many people in the Aggie section at the 1500m start at the 1998 USATF Nationals picked Jamey Harris to win the men's 1500m in the Toby Cook-led Grand Prix betting pool? Name all of them.

OldandSlowDog wrote:

Humorist Dave Barry wrote "There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven".

Speaking of New Orleans, how many people in the Aggie section at the 1500m start at the 1998 USATF Nationals picked Jamey Harris to win the men's 1500m in the Toby Cook-led Grand Prix betting pool? Name all of them.

This race featured Harris and Berryhill, two Oregon h.s. standouts that UO apparently didn't recruit very hard.

Love Rawson dropping the Telly Ssvalas reference in 1998, plus the "leg turnover" and "blood plasma" and heart rate science.

runner3625 wrote:

What are the hardest-to-beat mens outdoor track records in your opinion from 100m-10,000m.

Great question!!!!

First off, people only really care about the 100m and the 8/15. The rest is all window dressing. So Let’s go to those 3.

100m has to be toughest? Why? Because Bolt does hilarious ESPN adds. Just hilarious. Wins hands down.

After that the 1500m. Then the mile. Then a full mile. Then the metric mile. Then a relay mile. And then last the 800m.

I really have no idea. But if I really wanted to know I would call up Sieg Lindstrom ( being careful not to dial the 1) and ask him. Because he knows.

Running Cult Member wrote:

Happy b-day!

Can you explain Guelph?

There are some things that just can’t be explained. I grew up in Cambridge, about 15 min from Guelph. We never went to Guelph. Ever. We didn’t mention it, consider it, or even drive by it. Probably be best if everyone did what we did.

Who's your pick out of Coe Cram and ovett ?

And why ?

Thanks

OldandSlowDog wrote:

Humorist Dave Barry wrote "There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven".

Speaking of New Orleans, how many people in the Aggie section at the 1500m start at the 1998 USATF Nationals picked Jamey Harris to win the men's 1500m in the Toby Cook-led Grand Prix betting pool? Name all of them.

My mental age is 10, so I will keep that in mind for next year.

The Aggie Pool!! Make your predictions, give your sheet to Toby Cook, pay the fee and see how you do. Now when Jamey Harris won the National 1500m title in 1998 not only was I the only person in the Aggie pool that had him winning, I was the only person in the stadium whom thought he would win. There is a track Guru who lives under a rock in England that solely lives to predict Track and he had him 4th.

So imagine that. An actual Aggie wins nationals and none of his 50 teammates ( even David Frank) had the common courtesy to pick him for the win. Just me. And I am not an Aggie.

Obvious caveat that I was Jamie’s roommate and I told him he could win. So I knew he had that going for him.

And he didn’t just win. He was celebrating with 40m to go!!!

mikehammer wrote:

Who's your pick out of Coe Cram and ovett ?

And why ?

Thanks

I met all 3.

Coe a couple of years ago when he was in Toronto for the NACAC meet. I was helping the legendary Dave Reid with hospitality. Coe of course has no idea who I was but was very cordial. At the end of the day Reid told him I had run 3:35 back in 88. He took a long, hard look at me to see if he could recognize me. Of course he couldn’t but it was very cool for me to have the man look at you for recognition. I told him he would have won in 88 if the Brits had picked him which made him smile.

I hung out with Cram at an after party in a hotel suite where he was incredibly cool. When we ordered the inevitable late night pizza I gathered money and at the door I realized I was only half way to the bill. Crammy stepped in and paid the rest and tip but made it very clear that I shouldn’t tell everyone he paid for most. He also was incredibly generous with his time giving one particular girl runner a private tour of the his personal suite. Freindly, nice guy.

At one meet I got third behind Ovett and Elliot in a mile. I was forced to hang out with these two scrubs for quite a bit before the ceremony. Elliot was pretty stand offish ( mad he lost) but Ovett was incredibly nice and asked me all about myself. This was surreal for me since he won the gold when I was 16. I saw him twice after that, once as an honorary starter in the Bermuda Road mile and once when he was commentating in Atlanta. In each occasion He remembered details about the previous meeting. Great man.

All 3 incredible athletes and good human beings. Ovett or Coe was more likely to have a beer with you after a race as Coe was more inclined to hang out with the Connected crowd, but all 3 great.

To answer your question? Well John Walker of course is #1. All else is irrelevant

1991premilechamp wrote:

He also was incredibly generous with his time giving one particular girl runner a private tour of the his personal suite. Freindly, nice guy.

Priceless

Is the 3:35 for 800 meters or 880 yards ? Only a serious answer will do.

oldoldrunner wrote:

Is the 3:35 for 800 meters or 880 yards ? Only a serious answer will do.

It is for a marathon! I love the marathon, right up there with bamboo shoots rammed up my fingers.

It is kinda funny, in a certain world “ a 3:35 guy” or “ “ a 1:44” means something. But it is an incredibly sad fact that not all of us live in this world. Maybe we should start a GoFund me page for these poor deprived souls?

Is there any hope for them at all?

On another sad note I ended my hunger strike so the Nut House still needs a financial savior. Hunger strikes are hard, it was an intense hour and 14 minutes for me.