Do you have any running/walking advice you'd like to offer?:
Enjoy the sport! Running is so great because it is something you can do for a lifetime. And you can enjoy it in so many different ways. It can be a passionate pursuit or simply a nice stress reliever. You can go for PR's in races or just enjoy getting outdoors for a half hour. You can run marathons or not race at all.
Why do you like running River City Races events?:
I've always loved the Polar Bear Grand Prix races. I like the GP format, variety of race distances and of course, running in Cherokee Park. The races are the perfect size in my opinion. Big enough to be competitive, but small enough that you can just jump behind the start line just before the start.
Anything else you'd like to share?:
The Long Journey
The last 6 months have been the most trying of my running life. I love all forms of running and compete on the track, cross country, trails, road races, but the marathon has always called to me. I started running back in 1978, going out for cross country in middle school. I lined up for the KDF Mini the next spring in my K-Mart 'running' shoes. I had no idea what I was doing, but remember it being fun. Then 2 years later, I was talked into running the old Louisville Metro Marathon by my upperclassman teammates. The race was only one week after the XC State Meet and I had exactly one double digit run in my career. Obviously naive and ill prepared for the distance, I had determination on my side. All my teammates dropped out, but I just kept pressing on. I was forced into a run/walk strategy over the last 4 miles, but hit the Cox's Park finish line both exhausted and exhilarated. Even though I experienced soreness like I never had before, I was hooked on the 26.2 mile distance - I wanted to be a marathoner like my hero Boston Billy Rodgers.
Although distracted by competing at other distances for a couple of decades, the marathon was still always on my mind and I vowed to eventually turn my running focus to the distance. Eventually in 1998 I ventured back, but was undone by my penchant for reckless pacing. I bounced back a couple years later and got my BQ, but couldn't fit it in to my schedule, with my high school coaching duties. So, once again I went into marathon hibernation, but a runner's dream trip with my XC team to Kenya in 2015, reignited my passion for 26.2. Because I never really focused on the distance in my prime, my PR was soft. But that didn't soften the joy of running a PR 3:04:02 at the 2017 Chicago Marathon - at age 52. As if I needed motivation in running, all I could think about after that race, was breaking 3.
So last fall, I went back into training, hoping that I could break the barrier at the Monumental Marathon. During the Spring of 2019, I battled the first real running injury of my 40+ year career, but by early Fall my training was going well again and felt ready for the race. But on a business trip a little over 3 weeks before Monumental, I went on a little shakeout run and decided to head down a trail I saw. I was just enjoying the run, when all of a sudden I tripped on a root and while in the air felt a strange sensation like my knee caps were in clamps. I hit the ground in excruciating pain, eventually finding out that I somehow managed to rupture the quadriceps tendons in both knees. In a moment I went from dreams of sub-3 to being bedridden, having my legs locked straight by heavy braces, not able to bear any weight. I had a difficult time comprehending the words the surgeon was telling me - except for the words 'you will run again'. I got a deferral for Monumental, with the hope that this Fall I might be able to complete the distance. To date, I have sprinkled in a few short slow jogs of about 50 meters in my walks. So to this point, I haven't even cumulatively run .2, much less the other 26 miles, but I try to patiently keep doing the things that I know will get me back on the starting line in Indy this fall. Will I be as fast as I once was? Only time will tell, but as I've always preached, running is about more than times, its about the simple joy of getting out there and doing it.