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

Bad Wigins wrote:

1991premilechamp wrote:

A few days later Francesco Panetta ( Italian team was 23 and under) pulled me to a 5:41 and then John signed me.

More Italians.

Full disclosure please. Where are all these Italians coming from?

Duh… obviously they are all from England. England had so many good runners in the 80’s some were forced to move to Italy, change their name and only then did they stand a chance of making the national team.

What is your marathon PR?

1991premilechamp wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

More Italians.

Full disclosure please. Where are all these Italians coming from?

Duh… obviously they are all from England. England had so many good runners in the 80’s some were forced to move to Italy, change their name and only then did they stand a chance of making the national team.

Why so shy and reticent about your NCAA 1,000 meter indoor record? Of course the very next race someone runs a world record. There seems a history of people pissing on your parade. At the 1991 Prefontaine meet didn't Falcon run an American record or World Leader for 2 mile?

!

I interviewed Walker many years ago. He agreed that his 2000m record was his best run in terms of time. He wasn't that far off his best mile for the last 4 laps.

Do you stay in touch? Sadly, his health isn't great these days.

Doug- If you don't mind, please give us some details and recollections of the 1986 NCAA indoor 1k.

Did you try to cover up the fact that your 5:41 was 4 seconds slower than Al’s record, who needed no one to pull him but ran for the front like a man!

1991premilechamp wrote:

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.

oneringtorule wrote:

What is your marathon PR?

Well my 1500m PR is 3:35 presently.

But tomorrow is a new day!

Until I am finished trying to carve that down I am putting the marathon on hold. Of course I could just move to the 800m when my 1500m days are done. I will keep you posted.

There used to be talk about Falcon bench pressing 250 or even more. Were you able to get close to 200 bench press, knowing that your longer arms may have rendered it more challenging?

1991premilechamp wrote:

Ask my anything. Running, life, money, cars, women, training, just don’t expect a serious reply.

Fire away.

How tall are you?

Why so shy and reticent about your NCAA 1,000 meter indoor record? Of course the very next race someone runs a world record. There seems a history of people pissing on your parade. At the 1991 Prefontaine meet didn't Falcon run an American record or World Leader for 2 mile?

https://speedendurance.com/2012/02/06/what-is-the-indoor-500m-world-record/#:~:text=On%20January%2027%2C%201986%2C%20my,A%20World%20Record![/quote

]

You know, …just a bit ago I am replying to World Championship medalist Jim Spivey, elevating my status higher than it really should be. stroking my ego, and now I have to reply to some guy who talks about everyone “pissing on my parade “.

Let me get this straight

I don’t like parades.

I hate them.

Just sitting around while a bunch of crap goes by.

One Caveat is that Mardi Gras parades are totally awesome! If you haven’t experienced one go right now, beg, steal, sell your siblings iPhones, get money and go see one. It will be worth it.

Of course my wife is from New Orleans so I have to say that.

Armstronglivs wrote:

I interviewed Walker many years ago. He agreed that his 2000m record was his best run in terms of time. He wasn't that far off his best mile for the last 4 laps.

Do you stay in touch? Sadly, his health isn't great these days.

Two stories about Walker.

A bunch of us ran some road mile in Phoenix in conjunction with the Fiesta Bowl. The run actually went down the fiesta bowl parade route. It was not raining so fortunately nobody got “ pissed on “ in this particular parade. :)

Since the race was the morning of December 31st, and we had to stick around to watch the Fiesta Bowl the next day ( West Virginia VS Notre Dame) we all went out that night, New Years Eve. Well, while I was talking with Walker I noticed two women checking us ( him) out. I mentioned it to him. He said, “ well, you are single, let me help you out here “.

So, I am now chatting up two girls with pretty much my boyhood hero, a living legend. To the girls it was kinda like he was a perfectly cooked, juicy hamburger with grade A meat, dripping cheese, and a special sauce they were dying to explore. I was like a burnt French fry on the corner of the plate without even ketchup nearby.

Walker was great trying to help me out, they loved his accent, and had recognized him from Montreal, although they thought he would be bigger in person. We chatted for quite a bit but to make a long story short, nobody wanted the burnt French fry that night.

Second story was I think the same race. Now I had beaten John a number of times, him being way, way past his prime, but at this particular race he got me at the line ( maybe 6 and 7th place out of say 11 or 12). He told me to warm down with him. We chatted and talked a bit about nothing. Then all of a sudden he yells my name and stops. So I stop. Then he proceeds to yell at my as to why the F he beat me today!! WTF am I doing? No way he should beat me anymore. It was kinda surreal having your hero berate you for losing to him but it was a great motivator. Only a caring competitor would do something like that.

So John is my favorite. Followed by Ovett. After that it is David Egan.

Dobie Pasadena wrote:

Doug- If you don't mind, please give us some details and recollections of the 1986 NCAA indoor 1k.

You have to remember this was a different era. The race was on a flat 200m track in Arkansas ( not the nice banked one they have now). Basically me and the great Espen Borge of Norway fame were in the race and a few other guys. Borge agreed to take the first 400m, I agreed to take the second 400m, then everything goes last 200m ( this is actually code for Johny Mac said MF Borge you take the first two laps and Big Guy you take the next two, but you had better get an NCAA qualifier or you are off the team so it better be fast …..so actually we had no choice in the matter).

Borge led in 56 point. I then took the lead. Now anybody that knows Borge, knows that he kicks like a drunk Viking pillaging a town of weak snowflakes. He has the barrel chest, long blond hair, and icy blue eyes as well, so he fits the mold ( which also makes it tough to go up against him at 1am at closing time when people are pairing up). So I inject some pace to try and separate from my Viking nemesis. 1:51 at 800m. 2:19 at the finish. Thing is, nobody knew it was an NCAA record. Not like we had iPhones and Google. So, I knew it was a school record, but not really a premier event ( even though it was a championship event then - and should be now too, it would be good for the 800m to get some strength). So it wasn’t that big a deal. John did mention it may be a record, but we didn’t know until much, much later. We both knew the big race was the next week anyways.

Now in the meantime, the man Rocket Roddie Haley was running next. And we ALL knew what the stats were for his race. We had been talking about it all week. He tore that track up busting the world record on a FLAT track. Haley was the man. After his race he told me, “ thanks for warming the track up for me Cuz..”. And in all truthfulness, THAT compliment from Haley was better than any fairly insignificant NCAA record, even if it did hold for 20 years. So thanks Roddie.

Doug- Thanks for your response. But I was hoping for recollections from the '86 NCAA Indoor 1k that took place in OK City. Not Arkansas.

[quote]Hoser, eh wrote:

Did you try to cover up the fact that your 5:41 was 4 seconds slower than Al’s record, who needed no one to pull him but ran for the front like a man!

[quote]

Alain Boucher’s 2k steeple was a thing of beauty! 5:37 is still the OFSAA record and he set it in 1982. I know, I was in the race. Boucher stuck a foot up all our butts so far that day that I still walk funny. Great guy too. Not sure why he washed out in the NCAA system, I forget where he went. And as you point out Boucher led every step of that race and got no help at all, whilst I needed World Champion to be, Francesco Panetta, to literally drag me to my ( rather pathetic in comparison) 5:41.

But that 5:41 was good enough to make me a hog, so at least I have a smidge of self respect left, that and I buy Al a beer every time I see him.

Youwrong wrote:

There used to be talk about Falcon bench pressing 250 or even more. Were you able to get close to 200 bench press, knowing that your longer arms may have rendered it more challenging?

What is all this BS talk about Falcon bench pressing 250???

I hear it ALL the time.

Ya right.

Such fallacy.

The guy could do 380lbs with one arm while eating a burger from Lot - A - Burger.

I could barely do the bar. But Matt Taylor? That guy could not only do a one arm pull up, he could do a one arm flexed hang for 30 seconds. Not bad for a 3:39 guy. He challenged the entire Football team and had no takers.

And if you think my arms are long…..

On a serious note, I have actually given him props for not having fallen for the pop culture desire to run a marathon. Why would he bother? I realize a lot of milers do it to tick the box but I never got it. They all have likely ran a 2:40 on a long training run so why run a few minutes faster in a race.

Hole Cocker wrote:

1991premilechamp wrote:

Ask my anything. Running, life, money, cars, women, training, just don’t expect a serious reply.

Fire away.

How tall are you?

Well. I am taller than Charles Barkley, which he himself pointed out one night ( when I was shamelessly tagging on the coattails of Paul Maloney, brother of Houston Guard and Barkley’s teammate Matt Maloney ).

And that absolutely astounded me. I was taller than the round mound of rebound? It made me face the facts that the real reason I didn’t make the NBA was that I sucked at basketball, there could be no other reason.

And I have to live with that knowledge now.

Why would he bother? wrote:

On a serious note, I have actually given him props for not having fallen for the pop culture desire to run a marathon. Why would he bother? I realize a lot of milers do it to tick the box but I never got it. They all have likely ran a 2:40 on a long training run so why run a few minutes faster in a race.

Sometimes in life you see someone and instantly you know you would love to sit down and have a beer with this person. You know you would both just click.

Alain Boucher to UNM.

Healthy career after college.