Sad story from the 1988 Men's Olympic Trials 1500m

Yup, "sad" is a good adjective.

Thanks for posting.

You've never run at altitude have you?

Why is this a "sad" story. Is it "sad" because he pissed his own life away?

It's 5 years since the story; anybody in Co Springs know how Martinez is now?

Another wrote:

Why is this a "sad" story. Is it "sad" because he pissed his own life away?

yes

Uh..a 4:10.98 1600m in Pueblo, Colorado = about a 4:05-4:06, not a bad high school time. The fastest true mile ever run in the state of Colorado by anyone was Ted Castaneda at just under 4:05. There's been more world-class runners come through Colorado at one stage or another while training or living then anywhere in the US. If you've never raced at altitude then you have no idea how fast this is. Not to mention Martinez ran that at the state meet, his race was probably in the middle of the afternoon I am guessing. No rabbits, etc., just a kid running as hard as he could. Great performance, sad story.

I would love to hear that this guy has pulled himself out of the gutter since this was written?

What a tragic story. Alchohol is a crazy drug for some people. Never would have guessed it before a family member drank their life away and we couldn't help them no matter what we did.

I met him last fall and talked to him recently. There may be an RT article in the works about the group he trained with in Albuquerque in the 1980s (Peter Rono, Yobes Ondieki, Billy Konchellah, Ibrahim Hussein, Ken Martin, Chuck Aragon, others) when he was a 3:38 guy. This was in Boulder, but he's in Springs now.

You don't have to feel bad for him. He doesn't. Obviously he doesn't have the greatest life at the moment, but he's cheerful and keenly aware of why he is where he is. And he's a solid guy -- the first time I met him, at a Starbucks, my ancient running watch happened to finally die and he insisted on giving me his even though it wasn't like he could just go buy a new one. (He rides his bike everywhere but doesn't run these days.)

Rich tells a funny story about meeting Wetmore in the C.U. library. He recognized the coach and congratulated him on what had just been a successful cross-country season. Wetmore looked at him and asked "Who are you?" Rich told him his name. Wetmore apparently refused to believe that the guy he was speaking with, who may have smelled of cigarettes and booze, was the state prep record holder in the 1600, which I think is the oldest record on the Colorado books now at 30 years.

Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Bart is a TV reporter. "Bart's People."

" I don't think he's ever done drugs. It was always just the alcohol.". Anyone want to explain to his parents that alcohol is just another recreational drug. It just happens to be legal.

dean moriarty wrote:

Yup, "sad" is a good adjective.

We had a kid in New Mexico run a 4:11 1600m a couple years ago. I remember thinking at the time that it may have been one of the fastest high school mile/1600m times at altitude on record. Don't know how high Pueblo, CO is but Albuquerque is ~5000ft. Anything < 4:15 is first-rate talent we see once or twice a decade around here.

Sad for this dude, but everyone has their demons. Hard to believe a guy with that kind of experience would have his life shattered due to poor tactics/being boxed in a key race. Probably some bigger factors in play there.

Some Colorado geography for you. Basically there is a line that runs north-south through the middle of Colorado called the front-range. This is marked by I-25. Essentially it is where the mountains stop and the plains begin. Pueblo is in the front-range, actually just under 5000 ft. There is nothing east of the front-range to speak of, looks just like western Kansas and slopes from 5000 ft to about 3000 ft at the border of Kansas, but no cities to speak of. The biggest HS meets in the state of Colorado would be held in Denver (where the state meet is located now). So essentially Pueblo or Greeley, Colorado would be about the lowest elevation in the state where a meet of consequence could or would be held.

Yah, bigger factors.....like sniffing an A standard quailifer.

1988 Olympic Trials-Indianapolis 1500 Meters Finals - July 23

1. Jeff Atkinson (Nike) 3:40.94

2. Steve Scott (Tiger) 3:41.12

3. Mark Deady (Ind) 3:41.31

4. Jim Spivey (AW) 3:41.52

5. Richie Martinez (Reebok) 3:42.67

6. Maurice Smith (Reebok) 3:42.90

7. Tim Hacker (AW) 3:43.31

8. Chuck Aragon (AW) 3:44.53

9. Ross Donoghue (Unat) 3:45.12

10. Dick Oldfield (Or Int) 3:45.41

11. Joe Falcon (Ark) 3:53.78

12. Tim Simpson (Nike N) 3:58.11

13. Terrance Herrington (Clem) 3:59.56

*Spivey made the Olympic team in 1984, 1992 and 1996 (5000m), but in 1988 he went on to run his PR for 1500m at 3:31 after this race.

As for the altitude, keep in mind that these kids in Colorado don't just have to race at altitude, they spend all season training at altitude (with some exceptions in sparsely populated parts of the state).

In an event like the mile, where turnover is obviously critical, they are deprived of the chance to get the most out of the kinds of workouts milers typically do. They can try to run race-pace reps between 200 and 600 meters with reasonably short recoveries, but the reality is that no one can get track-sharp at altitude without, say, doing intervals on a treadmill using supplemental O2.

Rich lived in Colorado Springs, at about 6,500'. If he or any of the kids who have challenged his 4:10.98 had enjoyed the chance to spend a few weeks during the spring at sea level sharpening up and then come back a week or so before the state meet, the record would surely be faster, but obviously high-schoolers don't have that luxury.

It goes to show you people: alcohol is an ill to society. Unfortunately our experiment with banning alcohol in the United States failed, but it shows that once you begin a great evil, it is extremely difficult to be rid of it.

Never drink, not even a sip. It will tempt you to great evils. It leads to divorces, car accidents, financial issues, and a life of sin and abuse. This man is just one victim of millions of the cursed drink...

GUH wrote:

Never drink, not even a sip. It will tempt you to great evils. It leads to divorces, car accidents, financial issues, and a life of sin and abuse.

No it doesn't. A lack of self control does.

' and a life of sin and abuse.'

Sounds great I'm off to the pub!