wow. i just became facebook friends with him two days ago--i raced him several times at the end of my career and the beginning of his post-collegiate career, but didn't necessarily know him well. the poster above notes the "mind control" he had over holman, but he understates this. paul was a beast for any american to handle--as tough an american competitor as i've ever seen. gone too soon...
Hearing of this man for the 1st time. Im early 30's so he is before my running fandom. Rest in power. Dude looked freaking jacked in that video.
This is horrible news. Thoughts to his family and friends. Paul ran with for a while when I was in college. I remember after one season I was living in a house with some fellow teammates. I was standing outside stretching and a car pulls up. It was a country dirt road. Paul sticks his head out of the window. He just saw me and wanted to say "hey" and that he had left autographed photos in our coaches office. He was a good guy. Sorry to hear this.
There are many runners who you could only see excelling in running. He and his brother were capable of excelling in multiple sports. McMullen wasn't the fastest miler, but he was a tough as nails competitor, constantly beating faster runners in championship races. Something about running in Michigan that makes guys tougher. RIP to a Legend.
Yesbut wrote:
The mind control he exerted over Steve Holman was legendary.
There was no mind control. Holman was the more talented of the two, a slightly better runner than Paul, but Steve as everyone knows did not always run his best when it counted.
Paul was an inspiration as he often looked like a man among boys when competing due to most of the others being smallish male elite runners and Paul of course not fitting that mold. Sad to hear of Paul’s death. RIP.
A lot of posturing and putting down of a runner that had a pretty comparable career to McMullen. Comments on here would make you think otherwise.
toro wrote:
Wow this is crushing.
He was a great racer.
He was in my prelim in the 96 Trials and just ran away at the end.
In the finals there was a mad dash for the 2nd and 3rd spots. He had the win locked up.
It’s also crazy that my daughter went skiing for the first time tonight and I am right now waiting for her to come home, reading this news.
To whoever posted that video. Great job. You get a real sense for McMullens personality. Guy was aggressive and a risk taker - both on and off the track.
It's amazing how the memory is a funny thing. I just re-watched the video. He won by .02 I guess you can say you knew he had it all the time as he was in the lead and his team spot never seemed in jeopardy... until maybe the last 10 meters.
Did he have it in the bag all the time? Your mind says so.
What's interesting to me is I think I was in the stands for that race. On tv, the crowd sounds loud. I remember being there and the crowd being small in a huge Atlanta stadium. And all I remember is being about halfway up the stands and hearding Gags (Frank Gagliano - the coahc of Holman) wail like a dying animal.
But the more i think about it, I may not have been at the Trials in 1996 at all. Perhaps it was 1997 when Holman also failed to make the team. I'll have to ask Weldon or my college roommate Scott Anderson - who ran for Gags on the Enclave.
RIP Paul.
Paul McMullen has always been a letsrun favorite. His name always comes up in the "tall runners" and "jacked runners" threads where he often goes from his listed 6'2, 165 to 6'4, 195 by the end of the thread. As a tall runner myself, I found him super inspiring in high school. He raced the last few years of his career and even PR'd in the 1500 after losing two toes in a lawnmower accident. What a tough dude! RIP.
He competed in Edmonton in 2001 and respects to his family and friends.
RunCzar wrote:
Hearing of this man for the 1st time. Im early 30's so he is before my running fandom. Rest in power. Dude looked freaking jacked in that video.
Paul played high school football for Cadillac. Very intense guy. I believe most of his professional track career he raced at 175. RIP
RIP Paul.
michigan miracle man wrote:
This is very sad. RIP to a great runner. What kind of skiing is a 49 year old doing that would result in death?
It's easy to run into a tree, or a rock, or take a hard fall on ice.
Requiescat in pace, Paul McMullen.
rojo wrote:
toro wrote:
Wow this is crushing.
He was a great racer.
He was in my prelim in the 96 Trials and just ran away at the end.
In the finals there was a mad dash for the 2nd and 3rd spots. He had the win locked up.
It’s also crazy that my daughter went skiing for the first time tonight and I am right now waiting for her to come home, reading this news.
To whoever posted that video. Great job. You get a real sense for McMullens personality. Guy was aggressive and a risk taker - both on and off the track.
It's amazing how the memory is a funny thing. I just re-watched the video. He won by .02 I guess you can say you knew he had it all the time as he was in the lead and his team spot never seemed in jeopardy... until maybe the last 10 meters.
Did he have it in the bag all the time? Your mind says so.
What's interesting to me is I think I was in the stands for that race. On tv, the crowd sounds loud. I remember being there and the crowd being small in a huge Atlanta stadium. And all I remember is being about halfway up the stands and hearding Gags (Frank Gagliano - the coahc of Holman) wail like a dying animal.
But the more i think about it, I may not have been at the Trials in 1996 at all. Perhaps it was 1997 when Holman also failed to make the team. I'll have to ask Weldon or my college roommate Scott Anderson - who ran for Gags on the Enclave.
RIP Paul.
Rojo my uncle used to hunt with Paul
His Dad and brother Phil. Paul was very very intense. My uncle told me some exciting hunting stories when they went out west. RIP
How could you not love a guy whose hobby was mowing lawns?
Another way to die skiing is to try to play football at the same time, as a member of the Kennedy family learned:
I'm 6'5", so Paul (along with Joe Lemay) were my favorite pro runners back in the day. I had his Track and Field News cover hung in my locker in high school.
In 2006, I got the chance to meet Paul when he gave a speech at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, MD. Afterward, I asked for a picture with him and told him about being a fan and how I had his magazine cover in my locker all through high school. He said, "Want to go for a run tomorrow morning?" He was in the D.C. area promoting some new internet radio show he was a part of (I can't remember the name or details), and wouldn't fly out until later the next day. I of course jumped at the opportunity, we exchanged numbers, and planned to meet at the Capital Crescent early the next morning.
The next morning as I'm getting ready, I get a text telling me that he was sorry, but he had to cancel because he was meeting with Alan Webb that morning. I was bummed. He told me to text him my address and he'd send me some stuff. Sure enough, a few weeks later I get a package with a bunch of autographed promotional materials for his radio show.
He was a cool guy.
Really sad to hear this news; I wish it were at age 89 but if Paul were to choose his way out it would definitely be this over on a bed or of old age. Growing up as a runner in West Michigan and competing collegiately while Paul was making his comeback I've not only crossed paths with Paul but toed the line next to him quite a few times. While he was always a big personality and had an enormous ego, he was always extremely friendly, willing to talk to anyone, would gladly show you his big toe that was cut off in a freak lawnmower accident and generally was a larger than life kind of guy.
One summer I was racing a 4th of July 5k in Grand Haven and was in pretty good shape relative to my ability and ran 15 low something putting in a surge with a mile to go and dropping Paul in the last mile as he was not in shape at the time. Afterward he really genuinely told me how smart that was and there was no way he could hang. I'm not sharing this as a self serving story...it was a dumb 5k...but man to have an Olympian build you up like that after a race as an impressionable collegiate runner was not only really nice but a really great memory he gave me.
RIP Paul.
Shocking and sad.
I met Paul when we were freshmen in college (I was at UM while he was at EMU) and we became friendly with each other. It was great to see his progression as we went through our college years (have to admit I was a bit envious). He was always such a friendly guy and so encouraging to everyone. Definitely feel bad for his family and friends, as he was such a positive influence on those he met.
RIP
rojo wrote:
toro wrote:
Wow this is crushing.
He was a great racer.
He was in my prelim in the 96 Trials and just ran away at the end.
In the finals there was a mad dash for the 2nd and 3rd spots. He had the win locked up.
It’s also crazy that my daughter went skiing for the first time tonight and I am right now waiting for her to come home, reading this news.
To whoever posted that video. Great job. You get a real sense for McMullens personality. Guy was aggressive and a risk taker - both on and off the track.
It's amazing how the memory is a funny thing. I just re-watched the video. He won by .02 I guess you can say you knew he had it all the time as he was in the lead and his team spot never seemed in jeopardy... until maybe the last 10 meters.
Did he have it in the bag all the time? Your mind says so.
What's interesting to me is I think I was in the stands for that race. On tv, the crowd sounds loud. I remember being there and the crowd being small in a huge Atlanta stadium. And all I remember is being about halfway up the stands and hearding Gags (Frank Gagliano - the coahc of Holman) wail like a dying animal.
But the more i think about it, I may not have been at the Trials in 1996 at all. Perhaps it was 1997 when Holman also failed to make the team. I'll have to ask Weldon or my college roommate Scott Anderson - who ran for Gags on the Enclave.
RIP Paul.
You're right.
I remember it as McMullen winning easily and Sorensen edging Pyrah as they held off Nedeau.
I watched it from the stands. There wasn't internet back then so I didn't see the video until years later. So, my memory was locked on what I perceived live from my view that day.
Sorensen almost won it looking back now.
At the conclusion of that race, the only ones with the Olympic standard (3:38.00) were: Paul McMullen (1st), Brian Hyde (5th) and Steve Homan (13th).
Sorensen and Nedeau never got the standard but Jason Pyrah did successfully chase it after the Trials. That officially bumped Holman off the team.
It still seemed like Paul McMullen had it from the gun.
He was a big, muscular guy for a miler.
This is sad.