Tell me a great story of how you interacted with an Elite athlete, whether running, shopping, etc.

I've told this before, but here it is again:

I was working at the Nike Indoor Nationals. Late on the first day, I walk in the medical room and there is Carl Lewis standing alone against the back wall. All the other med people were on the opposite wall, trying not to stare. I walked over, introduced myself, put out my hand, and said, "The 30 foot jump in Indy, it was fair, wasn't it?" He lit up and we had a great conversation about jumping and what he has been doing in the last few years. When his handlers came to get him, he went over the table that had a stack of meet programs. He opened each one to his photo and signed every one. He sure didn't have to do that!

In 1997 I was working for a non-profit sports group called World T.E.A.M. Sports while continuing to pursue my own running dreams. Part of what they did was to work to open up accessibility for disabled athletes in regular sporting events. They would raise awareness by putting interesting events that would mix both abled-bodied and disable athletes together. That fall we did a cycling event in Vietnam that took veterans from both sides of the conflict (many of whom were disabled), and rode 1000 miles from Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn City. One of my childhood heros was part of the team, Greg LeMond. At the end of the ride I remember we spent a couple of nights going out in Ho Chi Mihn and bar hopping. One night after a night of drinking we jumped in a few bike taxis to head back to the hotel. At some point Greg convinced one of the drivers to let him ride and we proceeded to start racing the taxis through the streets of the city! I remember thinking these poor taxi drivers have no idea who they're up against. There was another night that I sat at a bar with Greg and just talked about my running. Was an awesome experience I'll never forget.

ok, maybe not so much of an accent, but in her post nats interview she does let an "aboot" slip and does say "the gloves were off."

it was a rend lake.

In NYC in 1991 I ran my first marathon. I came in among the first finishers amongmy bank's employees for my then employer which was the major race sponsor. The race was won by a Mexican guy named Salvador Garcia. That night I got to go to the banquet because of my employee finisher status.

During the cocktail hour before the dinner one of the guys from the bank's marketing department asked me if I could do him a favor. Garcia spoke no English and they needed a Spanish speaker to help him out and hang with him during the event. I was it. So at some point we go to sit for either a dinner or something else and we were sent to a particular table and sitting there next to me is Eamonn Coghlan.

He also ran his first marathon that day, in a quick 2:25. I had a great time, talking up a storm with him. My dad had been a great fan of track and field and because of that and the fact that my brother and some friends were runners (I never ran competitively) I had some peripheral awareness of track history and certainly knew who he was. We talked a bit about the race and Coghlan asked me my time. I told him (3:30+) and he shook his head, appearing to be amazed. In a lilting Irish brogue he said to me something along the lines of, "Man, you're tough! I couldn't run for that long if ya paid me!"

The setting

NYAC afterparty at Millrose

The cast

doing the listening

Bill Rodgers

Tom Fleming

Reese Hoffa

wineturtle

A couple of guys who "only" managed to run 2:12/2:15 at Boston back when.

The Talkers

Eamonn Coghlan

Matt Centrowitz sr.

Their topic

Their sons

The content

exactly like you would hear in the stands at any HS meet when two random Proud Poppa's get to talking and chest puffing about the offspring.

Did you ask Neil where they faked the moon landing shoots ?

Told this before on another thread, but here's my story:

I was at the UMD v. UNC basketball game in 1984, the Bias-Jordan match up. My roommate and I got tickets a couple rows up, behind the basket, and then Cal and Billy Ripken sit down next to us. People came down for autographs, and they acted professionally, smiled for pictures, etc. But the whole game, they were goofing around like little kids, punching each other, and referring to everyone, including themselves, as "Gus." "Hey Gus, did you see Perkins block Gus's shot?" Or "Whoa Gus, did you see Jordan dunk that thing?" They even got us into the action, when a girl we knew asked for an autograph, asking, "That wasn't your girlfriend, was it, Gus?"

Ripken played in a lot of games and is an Hall of Famer, but that is the one memory that sticks with me from his career.

Said hello to Andrew Wheating when he was presenting the medals for NXN NY/NE. Got to see Jillian Fanning and Mary Cain also. They are future stars for sure:)

A little bit far removed from the actual athlete but anyway here goes.

I was visiting my friend who works as a medical intern in a doctor's office in Virginia. I walked in to see her and she could hardly wait to show me an ultrasound xray. It was Alan Webb's baby!! She even let me handle the xray. Verrrry cool!!

In 1996 or 1997, I met Michael Johnson at a book signing. Our exchange went like this:

Me: Is Donovon a chicken? [This was when Donovon Bailey had not yet agreed to the 150m race to settle the world's fastest man title from the '96 Olympics.]

MJ: Not yet, but he will be.

I'll never forget that line.

Ran into Alan Webb and his wife a few months ago at a coffee house. I chatted with them for a few minutes and was surprised to find that he was a super pleasant and engaging guy.

Working at World Market this morning in Boulder Alan Culpepper came to my register. I wasn't sure if it was him at first, I've never seen him in person, but he looked so familiar I was sure it was him. So at the end of the transaction I finally asked if his name was Alan, he said yes. We then talked for a minute after that, really nice guy.

I dated a pretty elite runner once, so I got to know quite a few other runners through him. Once that relationship was over, I was able to stand back and conclude that pretty much all male distance runners are geeks; elite or not.

Come to NZ and join the running community, the amount of time you will catch up with legends is just amazing. Last summer Willis and his crew + Alan Webb was full of BBQ, backyard cricket and long runs. Dixon, Dick Quax, Peter Snell to name a few I have meet many times in my 22 years

I know some racewalkers.

The parents of one of the runners on my HS team were race organizers for a major marathon in my hometown. They brought in Bill Rodgers and Kathrine Switzer to promote the marathon and myself and several of my teammates got to chat with them one-on-one. Rodgers was avery nice and welcoming guy, very open to inspirining/promoting running for youths. We all agree though that Switzer came off as a pretentious, egoist.

I've also had the pleasure of speaking with the current CEO of Credit Suisse, who happens to be a runner and pleasant individual.

Among others: lunch @ Burger King w/John L Parker, 30 min chat w/Carl Lewis before '83 NCAA Indoor meet. While trying to tie a Texas flag bandana into a headband w/the Lone Star showing before the '92 Oly Trials Marathon in Houston, Francie Larrieu Smith came over and tried her hand at it and failed also. This, 30 min b4 she would toe the line & make her 5th Oly team.

Back in the early '80s, while I was in law school in Boston, I worked out at the same place as Joan Benoit. She was recovering from achilles surgery and did very long and incredibly intense workouts on a stationary bike. I remember that Jerry Remy, the Red Sox second basement and another regular at the gym, was stunned at how hard Joan worked. A year later she ran her world record at Boston.

I thought she was an impressive person: somewhat reserved, but thoroughly down-to-earth, modest, smart, thoughtful, politically astute, and dryly witty.

Oh, and as a 13-year-old on my way to a Knicks game in 1971, I sat next to Phil Jackson on the Long Island Railroad, pestering him all the way while he tried to read a Kurt Vonnegut novel. He was very kind.

And I met Elvis Costello crossing the street in Saratoga Springs, NY, of all places. "I love your work," I said. Bet he'd never heard that before.