RIP 1996 Olympic Trials 1500m Champ Paul McMullen, 49

Chris Lear sent me this https://abc7ny.com/ice-carousel-rink-michigan-spring-lake/10282883/

I ran with Paul at Eastern. After Hobbs' big race Paul called with the most genuine and enthusiastic excitement about Hobbs' success. The news is hard to process and terribly sad.

Paul was a beast. Guy cut multiple toes off at the peak of his career in a lawn mower accident and came back

To win USAs a year later.

Total animal and yes, intense. RIP.

some 800 guy wrote:

McMullen was a sight to behold coming down the homestretch at the Drake Relays.

Yes. McMullen had such a physical presence for a mid distance runner at that level. One of a kind. I used to love watching him duke it out with Kevin Sullivan. Arkansas had Graham Hood and a year sr to hood was Niall Bruton. I was in HS during this era and my teammates and I loved watching these guys race.

Has Sullivan released a statement? I bet this hits him hard.

That is horrible. I am really sorry.

Raced McMullen several times.

Devastating news ....

Thoughts are with his family and his EMU family. You'll be missed

Saw this posted on Twitter - a biographical video of his career:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOKBcqHPyiw

He was an inspiration. Sad news - way too young.

wejo wrote:

Chris Lear sent me this

https://abc7ny.com/ice-carousel-rink-michigan-spring-lake/10282883/

Lear got to know him during his time at Michigan for his book "Sub 4". Paul took up cycling competitively after his running days.

I had the pleasure of watching Paul race twice: The 1994 NCAA Championships in Boise Idaho, and the 2001 Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels. He ran 3:35 for 1500, I think. That was the race where El Guerrouj and Bernard Lagat both ran 3:26.

This is a very sad event, losing such a great runner. Skiing is a dangerous sport and it seems like there have been a huge number of skiing deaths this winter. My sincere condolences to the McMullen family.....

The Underdog

An underdog is a person in a competition that is popularly expected to lose. The competitor expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. If the underdog wins the event it is known as an upset. I am personally most comfortable as the underdog as I never felt well equipped to run the mile compared to others at the starting line. My fellow competitors were always slight of frame, shorter, with narrow hips and shoulders. I on the other hand was said to have a hulking figure and shoulders like a linebacker. Neither of these is of much use in the mile run, so last night remaining true to the underdog way I began to race my 2000 Saab Family Wagon with a Lotus Esprit on the freeway. For those who don’t know cars a station wagon is big slow vehicle and a Lotus is a small fast expensive sports car.

Driving through traffic on a freeway is similar to racing on the track because it’s based on the perception of speed, spatial relations, lane changes, acceleration and braking. Every elite runner must be experienced in these tactics to not fall down and advance through the field in a race. I have had several underdog moments in my life, but a unique one related to running was against the expectation I would never running fast again. I had won the National Championships in the 1500 meter in 1995 and 1996 and in those years went on to a top 10 finish at Worlds and was a semi-finalist at the Atlanta Olympic Games respectively. On June 3, 1997 I went from top dog to underdog in a split second. I slipped mowing a neighbor’s lawn and cut off two of my toes. This was not a life threatening injury, but my running career as a sub four minute miler was thought to be dead.

With my shoe sponsor unsure whether to renew my contract, my underdog moment happened in early October 1997 during my comeback from the accident. I was running an 8 X 1,000 meter workout with the Eastern Michigan men’s cross country team and was bringing up the rear on all of them with my toe stubs bleeding. I was giving my all, but was burdened with the fear I may never run fast again. After the seventh interval I burst into a fit of rage and self loathing. I removed my shoes and threw them fifty yards in opposite directions. I knelt to the ground and began to scream obscenities and punch the earth. It was similar to a toddler’s temper tantrum, but in this case it was a meltdown of Olympic proportions and the incoherent sobs boiled down to I QUIT! My coach Bob Parks watched silently, scratching his head for the words to restore order and simply asked, “Are you done?”

I looked at him with bewilderment: Done running? Done with the workout? Done making an idiot out of myself? With the entire team watching in silence he asked again, “Are you done?” I said, “Yes.” He then said, “Somebody go get his shoes the rest period is almost over.” Like a child who has to clean up his room after he destroyed it, I began to tie my shoes and wipe away my tears. I said to myself, “Guess he wants me to finish the workout and then I’ll be done with running?” I got to the line just in time and ran that last interval. To my astonishment I ran unburdened with fear and completed the 1,000 meter loop ahead of the team. I turned to him with confusion and he asked me one more time, “Are you done?” I said, “No, I’ll see you tomorrow Coach.”

This is what I know about being an underdog and how fear is such a powerful force in the mind of all competitors. The person who runs his race unaffected by fear is someone who has reckoned with the fact he might lose, but refuses to think too much about the high probability of it. The experts will say a guy that weighs 180 lbs and has eight toes is not supposed to run the mile under four minutes, probably like the driver of the Lotus who ended up being out maneuvered by a family station wagon. To those few that dare to upset the expected outcome of a race I say, let go of the things you cannot control and seize the things you can. This is a simple statement born of experience and courage and is imprinted on the mind of every underdog. Ultimately this is what makes sport worth watching, fans are looking for the one who fearlessly unleashes his risky plan to win ignoring the fact he is likely to lose.

Nearly five months after being asked, “Are you done?” I answered loudly, not yet, by winning the 1998 Indoor National Championships in the mile run in a personal best time of 3:55.80 and was named Male Athlete of the Meet.

__Paul McMullen (RIP)

This is so sad. My thoughts are with his teammates, friends, and family. What an inspirational man and role model- I remember lots of great battles between the mid-distance greats of Michigan and Eastern.

I think sadly about the tragic running connections to Northern Michigan.

Also from Cadillac, Kris Eggle, who ran at Michigan - one of the kindest and most outstanding human beings one could meet, and tragically killed in the line of duty at age 28 at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument:

https://www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/historyculture/kris.htm

From nearby Central Lake (70 miles north), Ryan Shay- and his passing in 2007 at the Olympic Marathon Trials at age 28.

And just 20 miles north of that, from Charlevoix, Jeff Drenth, whose death at age 24 remains the talk of controversy.

So very sad-

Watching that McMullen video/documentary was awesome. Those home videos of the screaming parents at the meet....I love that this sport gives so many kids similar stories that they will never forget. It was really cool of Paul to share those.

I'm sure he'd want us to care about his kids right now more than anything.

I suggest the Brojos start a crowd-fund on the website that does something helpful and meaningful for his children or his Chariots of Fire Running Club.

Is this from a book or article I can find somewhere? I'd love to read it if so.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

Very sad if true.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kg6JFLLy7eM&t=424s

What a clip. That clip is so amazing. You got McMullen jawing in the prelims and then you've got a legit journalist having the guts to interview the favorite who just bombed right after the race.

Nowadays, the favorites jump over the fence in the mixed zone when they don't do well.

I had the pleasure of working with Paul when he started dabbling in coaching about 15 years ago. He sent me a signed copy of his inspirational documentary referenced in some other comments. He was very positive and a hell of a work horse. Very sad day. Met his brother Phil during the Atlanta Olympics at a bar in Buckhead as Phil was there to support Paul at the Games. My condolences to his wife, children and family. Gone much too soon Had some memorable races and one hell of a comeback from injury. Rest in Peace. See you at the finish line.

Reading his story about coming back from his lawn mower accident and watching those videos of his 1996 Trials victory with Steve Holman (a 3:32 guy) in the field, and of building a 50' ice carousel for his daughter, just shows how right the announcer (Stones? Masback?) in that Trials video was, "he did things his way." What a character and a man. My condolences to his friends and family. He died far too soon but he died without leaving anything on the table.

pr25 wrote:

Is this from a book or article I can find somewhere? I'd love to read it if so.

You just read it bro ... I guess I’m holding on to his writing... Back a few years ago 2013? I read this and I asked him if I could copy it and post it to my Facebook page... he was amenable and happy that I enjoyed his note ... Please enjoy.

zxcvzcxv wrote:

Reading his story about coming back from his lawn mower accident and watching those videos of his 1996 Trials victory with Steve Holman (a 3:32 guy) in the field, and of building a 50' ice carousel for his daughter, just shows how right the announcer (Stones? Masback?) in that Trials video was, "he did things his way." What a character and a man. My condolences to his friends and family. He died far too soon but he died without leaving anything on the table.

Well Holman was a 3:32 guy then but of course he ran 3:31 the next year. I do think sometimes so much emphasis is placed on the Olympic Trials that sometimes we can lose sight of an athlete’s body of work. Holman and Nenow are two studs who did not shine at Olympic Trials but had solid careers. To his credit, Paul McMullen did and he was almost like Paul Bunyan, a larger than life character, as he often dominated smaller runners. He certainly made an impression.