Craig Virgin Turns 50 Today

He was a tireless worker.

What does he do now?

the "White Kenyan" .....would of, could of, should of in 1980 but we know what happen..."Boycott"....or Mr.Virgin may have been a house hold name like Shorter and Rogers!

No one in a American ran better against the peers then he did.....

One of the Ethiopian club coaches were talking about Craig on a radio program last week. he had beaten them in XC

craig was good, john treacy better. but give both their due, they beat the epo-thians and kenyans fair and square in the world xc.

One of the highlights of my running career was placing second in a 10k in Memphis behind Craig in 1989 (or was it 90?). He was still hitting 30 min 10k's back then.

Class guy. He was very friendly and encouraging after the race.

Feldt was his coach.

Craig was seriously injured in a car accident on

January 29, 1997. Among his many injuries were two

broken ankles, a shattered pinky finger on his right

hand, a broken nose, and a severly bruised heart.

Although he has made good progress in recovering from

these injuries, he still is suffering from these in-

juries as evidenced by his now riding a bike on the

country roads near his home in Lebanon, IL.

Although Craig's greatest achievements came in cross

country as he captured the IAAF Cross Country Champion-

ships in 1980 and 1981, his 2nd place finish in the

1981 Boston Marathon should rank just as high in view

of the fact that he only ran in a couple marathons.

You can see him dueling Toshihiko Seko in the link

below:

http://www.wtv-zone.com/whales/running.html

Last summer Craig was the guest commentator for

KSDK-TV covering the Womens' marathon time trials

for the Summer Olympics. His comments, aided by his

vast knowledge of distance running, made the viewing

of this event very enjoyable. Fox Sports and ESPN

should sign Craig up for events such as the NCAA

Div I cross country championships and the various

track and field events they televise.

Oscar

One of my favorite memories of Craig was

during the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships.

The night before the race he walked into our

hotel room and introduced himself, like we didn't

know who he was. Very humble, super friendly,

but what a fierce competitor! Happy Birthday!

You're 6 days late....

http://www.distancerunning.com/inductees/2001/virgin.html

but nevertheless, a true star, he was 3rd best American all time 10k before Meb changed the list, after Nenow and Salazar.

I've seen some great high school performances over the years, but THE best was in 1973 at a small HS invitational in Carbondale, Ill. If my memory is correct, it was a week or so before the Illinois state meet...so, in other words, the Carbondale meet was no big deal, just a warm-up for the later state meet. I went to see Virgin run and wasn't disappointed. In a span of only about 45 minutes or so, he ran two races: an 8:48 2 mile and a 4:08.5 mile! He ran both almost completely solo and he looked effortless. Really, really impressive. What a talent.

old tymer, very good memory!

4/07 8:50.4 2 mile & 4:17 relay leg

4/24 8:55.6 & 4:16.6 St Clair County meet

4/28 8:59.0 Granite City Invite

5/02 9:24.2 O'Falon Relays

5/03 4:27.9 & 2:02.1 Conference meet

5/05 8:46.6 & 4:11.8 relay Orphan Relays

5/15 8:54.0 Cahokia Invite

5/18 8:53.6 & 4:10.9 District

5/21 8:48.6 & 4:08.5 Meet of Champions

5/25 4:10.0 State meet heat

5/26 8:42.6 & 4:12.2 State finals

6/01 4:05.5 Top 10 meet

6/09 8:40.9 Intl Prep Invite - HS 2 mile record

6/23 13:36.8 3 mile at Ntl Jr AAU

7/04 4:06.1 Freedom Mile (5th)

7/14 8:10.2 3000 for 3rd vs West German Jrs

7/20 8:16.0 3000 win vs Poland Jrs

7/28 13:58.2 5000 win vs USSR Jrs