Karl Paranya

i believe, and i could be wrong, that he gave up serious running to be a teacher or something, which is a shame, cause he got a little better every year and was (and still is) a young guy. i think his p.b. was 3:54 at pre or something. but anyway i think thats what happend but i could be wrong.

OK thanks for the update, yeah that is a shame, especially as he had a world class coach in DOnnelly who coached post collegiate Sydnee Maree; or he could have gone down the street to train with O'Sullivan at Villanova; but hey who can judge? Some people just lose motivation, and there's nothing you can do about that....but if i were him and seeing the time being put up now; i'd be plenty motivated to get back in the game!

Well there was a Karl Paranya who finished seventh at the most recent HoHa Classic 5 Miler in Hoboken. Check it out here:

http://www.compuscore.com/cs2002/may/hoha1.htm

I think that I've seen his name at other races here in Jersey.

you are correct...karl hung'em up...after the 2001 season i believe...not too much of a surprise since he is one of those weird haverford dudes...so inscrutable...they might as well be japanese.

tell ya what...it only further proves what a great coach tom donnelly is that he can through the skulls of some of those nuts...

KP is indeed now teaching and living where the living's good, in central/northern New Jersey.

Do you know if he is coaching his local high school team or has any involvement at all with track? Seems hard to believe that you can be so good and then just walk away, but hey Jim Ryun (not to say Paranya is in that class) did it in 1972 after he got tripped in the 1500 semis...

i'm tellin ya' it's a haverford thing...in-scru-ta-bil-i-ty...those guys are really fast, but they are weirrrrd.

no kidding, i heard those haverford guys have some ritual where they drink goat's blood and burn themselves for sport.

I guess F&M Is Franklin & Marshall so you guys are just probably jealous because Haverford has won like 14 years in a row your conference in XC, Indoor and Outdoor track....just because people are smart doesnt mean they are "wierd"...is Dan Lincoln wierd because he has a 3.9 and wants to go to med school more than he wants to be a professional runner?

Say what you want about Haverford, but Karl Paranya is a good guy. I ran against him in high school and college and he was always a great competitor and friendly. I think most of you people would be better off spending more time running and less time sitting around at your computers bashing people who you don't even know. And if he chooses not to compete seriously anymore, that's his decision and it's the best thing for him.

karl is the man! and the posters ahead are correct... he is living life as a teacher. there are many people who give running up and for a variety of reasons. im sure he has his.

as for those say the people at haverford might be a little off base. personally i think they are cool as hell and haverford is a great little hub of culture. the place is even better with a coach like donnelly.

look out for bernstein!

I know Bernstein burned up the track in DIII a few years back, but where has he been? I havent seen his name show up anywhere, even in those small time NE meets where he could get in with his credentials...

don't start on me with the "jealousy" crap...i know they are fast and I SAID SO...they have a great coach, they are talented and they work hard...and i know they are nice guys. i have met paranya and he is a nice guy...he gave up competition to be an elementary teacher- what more can you say!

but they are freaks...f&m knows what i mean...they are a like little weird secret society on that campus...like the "masons" of the centennial conference. it's true. it's not just "intelligence..." swarthmore guys aren't like that....f&m g'burg, dickinson, hopkins...the league is full of brilliant athletes, but the goats are the weirdos.

by the way, f&m why'd they fire your coach and who is taking over? what a shock that must have been.

If they are so wierd, how come so many of their alums have gone on to become very successful doctors, lawyers, businessmen; etc, if someone were truly "wierd" they wuoldnt be able to function succesffully in those fields, they'd spend their time behind a lab....

look, if you're never around'em, you don't know...i know i am not the only one who thinks this. we'll just have to disagree. i know most other non-goats from our conference will concur.

ok, you're right...the goat runners are eminently normal, regular guys....hahahahahaha!!!!

Well you can make the argument that ANYONE willing to run 80-90 miles a week and go through the pain of 5k-10K races isnt normal.....

I met him at this meet in Germany back in 1997. I could not believe how rude this guy was. Back then he was travelling around with a bunch of NCAA guys like jerome Young, Bryan Woodward, David Krummenacker - all great guys. Krum ran 3.39.99 that day. Anyway - Paranya ran badly, and he acted like a spoilt brat afterwards. I was a 3.52 (1500m) runner at the time looking up to 3.43 runner, and I lost total respect for him. Woodward was a sweet guy. As was Larry Wade. looking back, all those guys have gone on to great things thing except Karl. I know this sounds like a bash, and it is, but if he had been sweet, then I would be writing nice things right now.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Well you know the saying "nice guys finish...."

I mean seriously thats a weak post, and this message board shouldnt be how "nice" someone is!

And maybe he was "rude" because he ran bad and was in a bad mood; its better (as a runner) than running bad and being in a good mood!

I actually went on a couple recruiting visits to Haverford a couple years ago (for tennis, not track). The coach and players were really nice, normal guys, but the kid I was put up with had some weird friends (coed rooming), and the whole school attended some very strange play that night--I was itching to get out of there.

I did get to kick some guy from Gettysburg's ass in an exhibition match and watch as their number #2 smashed his racquet on the court after losing.