Archive For The “Running Free” Category

Doping For Dollars & Cows Back Home

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Doping For Dollars & Cows Back Home

Must admit I was a big fan of Lance. Stayed true to Alberto until I don’t want to talk about it. Still think the Tainted Burrito Incident should be a Lifetime movie. I come from an era, well, my idea of performance-enhancing drugs was pasta carbonara and Foster’s Lager. No telling how fast I might’ve…

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Original Gangsters Of Running (Dr. Jack Scaff)

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Original Gangsters Of Running (Dr. Jack Scaff)

“Basically, everything I said as a zealot in 1970 is now commonplace.” When Donna Scaff shared the news, I was about to take a nap. Couldn’t sleep. I could think about nothing else, all the fun and laughter every single time the two Jacks got together. Funny I don’t remember meeting Dr. Scaff.  Must’ve been because…

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The Old Man Takes A Big Step

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The Old Man Takes A Big Step

Life seems to be a process of replacing one anxiety with another and substituting one desire for another–which is not to say that we should never strive to overcome any of our anxieties or fulfil any of our desires, but rather to suggest that we should perhaps build into our strivings an awareness of the…

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Trails End Marathon Memories

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Trails End Marathon Memories

In February of 1972 when I ran 2:25:35 [for third] at the Trail’s End Marathon in Seaside, Oregon, I passed Gerry Lindgren with 2.5 miles to go. I said, “Hang tough” and got a “Hi” in return. Now, beating Gerry was cool, but I’m savvy enough to know that beating Gerry Lindgren [fifth in 2:27:47]…

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Original Gangsters Of Running (Fred Wilt)

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Original Gangsters Of Running (Fred Wilt)

“I do not recommend that any athlete copy the training procedure of another… Just as no two athletes have identical form, so no two athletes need have the same training program. Literally as well as figuratively, there is more than one road to Rome.” Like to claim I invented running outdoors the winter of ’72….

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My World Athletics Championships Is Cross-Country

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My World Athletics Championships Is Cross-Country

Winning the bid to host the most important international running event in the world and being listed among some of the best host cities in the world, speaks volumes to the vision of the Board of County Commissioners and our team who continue to dream big. – Director of Tourism, Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. Still…

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The Incomplete OGOR XC

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The Incomplete OGOR XC

Cross-country running, damn, no sport will bring you closer to God, whether you believe in Her or not. – Barker Ajax Original Gangsters Of Running And Their Cross-Country Experience. Featuring Jon Anderson, Jackie Hansen, Ron Wayne, Bob Hodge and Anne Audain. Being a series of conversations about the joys of running through the woods and…

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World’s Fastest Athlete

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World’s Fastest Athlete

Before boxer Jack Johnson and Jackie Robinson paved the way for African-American athletes, Major Taylor cycled his way through Jim Crow-era America, overcoming racism and enormous obstacles, to become the fastest cyclist alive. In the 1890s, the nation’s promise of equality had failed spectacularly. While slavery had ended with the Civil War, the Jim Crow…

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If I Was Fifty Years Younger…

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If I Was Fifty Years Younger…

Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness. – F. Scott Fitzgerald Here’s the “Training Diary #1” entry for July 1, 1972. Saturday 1 p.m. Ran 6 miles at about an 8-min. pace. Went to Bethel (site of next Tuesday’s race) to run the course. Found it okay but typical me ended up running last…

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Improving Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run

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Improving Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run

In a new study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, regular walkers turned out to be healthier than their running counterparts. Risk for hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease all dropped more significantly among walkers, compared with runners.  My goal when I first began running was to go as fast as I could at all distances up…

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