Run Run Away

Question:

In 1983 267 US runners broke 2:20 in the marathon.  This year there have been 27…

That’s incredible. What is going on here?? Could it be that those who might have the potential lose the fire in their belly after comparison with the African runners at 5 and 10 km, and so never really reach their potential as and when they try their hand at a marathon. Or has ‘98 been a particularly poor year?? Anyone know if there has been a similar decline in Europe.   Miles —  "Focus. Relaxed Form. Stay smooth. Flow. Breathe."   – gapo ‘98 Cut the .over.the.rainbow if you prefer to reply by email

Response:

RUNNING SHORTS is written monthly, originally intended as a column in the Santa Barbara Athletic Association newsletter (we’re a 400 member running club on the central coast of California). It is a collection of running, health and endurance info from Track and Field News, Runners World, USATF’s Road Running Information Center in Santa Barbara, Joe Henderson’s "Running Commentary", Jim Hage’s "Running Ranting and Racing", and personal anecdotes from my 25 years of running ( currently 20 miles per week at age 41). There are about 100 of you who receive this by e-mail, located all over the world, from Kobe, Japan to Australia to Austria to the United Kingdom and the USA. Enjoy and keep on runnin’!   Remember, any day you’re running is a good day! Please reply by e-mail to the Running Question of the Month at the end of this newsletter once each 2 months to keep receiving Running Shorts! DECEMER 1998 RUNNING SHORTS celebrating the varied world of running by your running shorter reporter kevin young Syracuse University Library has the world’s largest collection of running books… Priscilla Welch has become an American citizen.  Mrs. Welch was 6th at the L.A. Olympic marathon, and has the masters WR at 2:26:51… 1983 Boston Marathon winner Greg Meyer is head of Reebok’s running division… Ron Hill has run 1,999 races over 16K in 60 countries.  Since 1956 he has run over 135,000 miles and finished 115 marathons.  He also ran in 3 Olympic marathons… Congressman Bart Gordon ran 17:13 for 3-miles in the WA DC Capital Challenge, beating Jim Ryun who was 2nd… This year’s best Masters marathoner is Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, 40.  He trains 125 miles a week:  his 7 days goes like this:  15 miles, 20X400m, 18, 16, 10K track time trial, then 16 and 22 miles on the weekend… Tom Jones ran 15 miles a day for 100 days, raising $100,000 for an abused children’s home… Welles Lobb ran for 17 years around a cinder track, over 6650 miles, over 26,600 times… Some common running traps:  "I ran today but should have run faster/longer.  I raced 10K but should have finished in a faster time.".. Former Olympic Champion Joan Benoit Samuelson won the master’s division of the recent New York Marathon, running 2:41:06, 2nd US finisher, winning $3,000 and qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 2000.  Her daughters are 8 and 11.  Oldest male finisher was 91-year old Sam Gadless of Florida in 8:26.  Carolina Bouticia, 83, of Italy, ran 8:48.  There were 31,456 finishers, 97% of the starters, over 2/3 were men… Bill Rogers, age 50, won his age group in a 10-mile recently, running 56:23… Hal Higdon proposes starting over for all track and field WR’s starting in 2000… National Master News has a new web site: www.nationalmastersnews.com… Current American Record holder in the mile, Steve Scott, now 42 and living in Leucadia, ran 30:30 in the Arturo Barrios 10K in October…  The crowds are thinning at the SBAA Tuesday interval sessions.  It takes a special breed of runner to do 400m and 800m repeats in the dark, and cold, under stadium lights.  Joe Banach:  "There is nothing quite like completing a hard workout and being thankful for the opportunity to just do it"… Fastest HS mile of the year was Andy Powell’s 4:04.  For HS Women Laura Heiner ran 4:46… Tegla Loroupe of Kenya won the World 1/2 Marathon Championships in Switzerland in 1:08:29, only 3 seconds ahead of Elana Meyer of South Africa.  She is 4′ 11", 83 pounds.  Kenya’s Paul Koech was men’s champion in 60:01… Haile Gebrsellasie made a rare road appearance in Sicily, Italy 10K, breaking 29 for 10K and beating Kenyan Paul Tergat (who has the year’s best 1/2 marathon at 59:17).   Geb runs on the balls of his feet.  Says his manager of the world’s best distance runner:  "When Haile runs on a hard surface, he is like a rubber ball.  He bounces"… Call editor with ideas for SBAA meetings in 1999.  Some ideas so far:  "The Jim Ryun Video", Talk by Mark Conover (US Olympian in marathon, living in San Luis Obispo) and Gary Tuttle (US champion in road and cross country, competed overseas in 70’s, from Ventura)… The average age of the members of the last US Olympic team in track was 28… East German swim coaches pleaded guilty to giving steroids to young women and were fined $15,000… Infamous Wang Junxia of China is going to Colorado State University…  Paul Pilkington, 40, broke the US road 10-mile record with a 49:34 in Florida October 17.  Previous record was held by the late Barry Brown from 1985.  New Zealander John Campbell ran 47:55 on US soil… Defending champion John Kagwe won this year’s New York Marathon in 2:08:45, by only 3 seconds over Joseph Chebet, with just another 3 seconds to Tanzania’s Zebedayo Bayo… As of November 8, 35 men and 96 women have qualified to compete in the US Olympic marathon trials, with 20 men and 22 women meeting the "A" (trip paid for) standards… In 1983 267 US runners broke 2:20 in the marathon.  This year there have been 27… After a 12-year hiatus, the San Diego Indoor meet returns Jan. 23.  The L.A. meet is in Feb… High School athlete of the year for 1996, runner Kim Mortenson, has quit running and is being treated for anorexia.  She says:  "I felt if I could be disciplined in all areas of my life, including eating, I could be disciplined on the track"… TRACK AND FIELD NEWS’ 1998 ATHLETES OF THE YEAR US male athlete of the year was shot putter John Godina (Cheyenne, Wyoming and UCLA).  He was undefeated in the shot, and led the world in distance for the shot and the discus.  Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 1500m WR was voted the performance of the year (he was also undefeated with an average margin of victory of 3.31 seconds).  Haile Gebrselassie won World Track athlete of the year with his 26:22 10K WR.  (The only time El G raced against Geb was a 1997 indoor 1500m.  They both broke the WR, with El G winning).  Kenya had 8 out of 10 of the steeplechase rankers.  Tegla Loroupe’s WR marathon of 2:20:47 was voted top women’s performance.  In the 100m, the US men  ranked world-wide #1-5-8-10.  In the 200M:  #3-5-6, in the 400m:  #1-4-5-6-7-10, in the 800m:  #5, and noone in distances above that.  For women US runners in the 100m ranked #1-4, in the 200m #1-6, in the 400m #5, in the 800m #2-4, in the 1500m, in the 5K #10, and unranked in the 3K and 10K.  Gebrselassie ranked first in the world in the 3K, 5K and 10K.  Marion Jones was Women’s Athlete of the Year.  She won 36 of 37 world class 100m, 200m and long jumps in 1998, losing only the final LJ of the season to Drechsler of Germany.  Between Sept. 5 and 13, in 2 track meets, Marion, age 23,  won over $750,000.  She married shot putter C.J. Hunter in October.  She qualified to run on the Olympic relay team in 1992 at age 16, but declined.  2nd for women was Maria Mutola in the 800m.  She won 12 out of 13 world class 800m, her only loss by .02.   OK runners HERE IS THE RUNNING QUESTION OF THE MONTH FOR YOU TO ANSWER IN THE NEXT 2 MONTHS TO CONTINUE RECEIVING THIS E-RAG BY E-MAIL: WHERE DO YOU USUALLY RUN?  DESCRIBE THE RUN YOU RUN THE MOST.

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