Ever spoke to an older runner?

Jeez, was it something about having to go around construction? He told the story a lot. Someone must know this.

HRE wrote:

3hr-marathoner wrote:

McMahon's the best. I ran for him in the late 90's and he was still pissed about getting second in Boston in '71, said the winner cut the course and cost him the win.

How do you cut the course at Boston?

Subway or bus you Moran!

I'm 72 now but about 4 years ago, I had a 90 min. chat with Ed Whitlock. Yes, everything you've read about Ed is true. He was the most unforgetable runner I've ever met. RIP Ed.

Another interesting runner I met with over coffee in 1961 was Adolph Gruber, 3 time Olympian from Austria. I was 17 and he was in his 40s. He trained in the Zatopek style but on the roads, not on the track so much.

Both taught me a lot about running.

Im 17. I've heard of Jim Ryun

3hr-marathoner wrote:

Jeez, was it something about having to go around construction? He told the story a lot. Someone must know this.

Somewhere I have the Runner's World that reported on that race. It will be a bear to find but if I'm curious enough maybe I'll dig it out.

3hr-marathoner wrote:

Jeez, was it something about having to go around construction? He told the story a lot. Someone must know this.

Here's the story from Tom Derderian's book on Boston. McMahon knew the course and as he and Mejia came to make the turn from Comm Ave to Hereford Street and then onto Ring Road he planned to run the exact tangent I described a couple posts earlier. He thought that would give him a jump on Mejia who probably had the better kick. But when he turned onto Hereford St. it turned out that spectators had spilled out onto the street so he had to go round them. Evidently Mejia hadn't set himself up to run that tangent and didn't need to divert to get round the crowd.

When I was a grad student one of the department administrators got to talking with me about running. Turns out he was a bronze medalist in the 400 meters from the 1936 Olympics. Found out he has since passed away. James Luvalle - RIP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_LuValle

I was fortunate to have chatted with Ed Whitlock on several occasions and I think today's runners could really benefit from copying Ed's ethos. What I took from Ed was to let your feet do the talking (way too much digital talk out there these days about times/accomplishments not yet done) and carry yourself humbly. This sport -- and the runners out there that you will eventually compete against -- will most definitely humble you -- at some point.

Ed was the ultimate outlier (there never has been, and likely never will be a runner like Ed) and yet he never spoke about himself unless asked, and supported and celebrated all runners and running events. There was no elitism in his makeup, though he, more than anyone, could have staked a claim to that mantle.

Try this way wrote:

TrackBot! Compare Chuck Fenske vs Gene Venzke

TrackBot! Compare Charles Fenske vs Gene Venzke

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We have to start realizing that young, old, or in between...we can learn from anyone. Everyone deserves respect no matter what they look like.

TrackBot wrote:

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checkout the mile and 1500

Slightly off topic here as he wasn't an 'old' runner but I thought I'd share it, if anything just to let all know what a quality person this guy proved himself to be.

Back in the 80's I was trying to become a decent runner. Maybe even thought I was hotter sh1t than I really was. I flew to Portland to run Cascade Run Off with a goal to break 50 minutes (missed by 34 seconds).

Post race I was warming down in the park along the river then eventually worked my way back to the host hotel. Somehow my path merged with another runner who was also cooling down and he asked if he could run with me. As we jogged a few miles together he asked about my race. I was bemoaning about missing my goal and he encouraged me to keep working hard. I asked him how his race went and he simply said he was very happy with it, then diverted his attention back to me with supporting thoughts.

As we neared the hotel he asked my name as I did his. It was the profilic marathoner (3-time Boston winner, NY winner, Olympian, etc) Ibrahim Hussein.

Such a nice guy. Looking back I wished I had the maturity level than I have now to have had a more meaningful conversation than just lamenting about my race.

dutchoven wrote:

There are few quarters run anymore, and we usually refer to it as that when we've been drinking

That's funny because usually, when I've been drinking, I start referring to my 1500m times as "mile times," and my 20K PR as my "half-marathon time." The even funnier thing is that until this moment, I never realized in each case that I was exaggerating by a similar percentage 7.2% vs. 5.5%. Next time I've tipped a few, I have a 15K in store to refer to as a "ten-mile best," but I need to be careful with this one because my 15K PR is usually fast (I was wasted and cut about 150m off the real route).

Big Red wrote:

Everyone from shot putters to 2-milers spent the first 3 weeks of training sprinting up a 150-meter hill until nearly dead.

I bet the weight guys loved this. How many of 'em came out for cross-country in the fall? You'd be surprised by how many latent sub-15:00 5Ks are hiding inside tall, fat, lazy 16-year-olds.

My 100 PR sounds impressive

"I once was timed at 10.5 for the 100 ..."

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until I say . . .

". ..yards"

I'm still impressed. I never saw the down side of 12, and that also was yards.

Avocado's Number wrote:

The older I get, the less often I talk to older runners, and the more often I'm on the other side of those conversations.

I saw Daddy Centro, and told my buds, no way that guy was a runner.

In the summer of 1970 I was flogging myself along the roads of Lake George, NY, trying to hit 100mpw and steel myself for the upcoming xc season. An older gentleman noticed my efforts and spoke with my Dad. In those days someone running along country roads day after day was an unusual sight. Older folks especially regarded this activity as strange and possibly unhealthy. This gentleman was different, however, expressing admiration in a kind of been there done that kind of way. He told my Dad that he had run in the Olympics, the 100 yard dash. I, aged 18, full of myself and my 100mpw, was kind of unimpressed. I wasn't sure about the Olympic claim, especially coming from some guy who had to be in his 80's. Truth be told, I regarded sprinters as a lower life form anyway. Plus, my Dad was obviously impressed with him, another reason to temper my princely, adolescent enthusiasm. Some bit of awe must have penetrated my self-absorption because eventually I did knock on his door. No one was home and shortly thereafter I was off to college and bigger fish to fry.

Turns out the old guy was indeed an Olympian, a double gold medal winner in fact. Ralph Craig won both the 100 and 220 yard dash at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. If I had been a little more persistent he probably would have shown me the medals,