Archive For The “Running Free” Category

Original Gangster of Running (Mike Roche)

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Original Gangster of Running (Mike Roche)

“If you only train with people you can beat, you’re cheating yourself. Or, said another way, if you’re the fastest guy in your neighborhood, move to where you are not.“  When did you start running and why? I started running my freshman year at Cranford High School, New Jersey, Spring of ‘68. I wanted to play…

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Chapter Nine: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

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Chapter Nine: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

She wanted nothing more than to keep touching him.  He wanted that, too – all thoughts of eating and plans for the day had vanished – but he was more frightened than he had ever been before a race. Chapter Nine SURPRISE VISIT           Mary dialed his number early that morning and then hung up. …

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Chapter Eight: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

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Chapter Eight: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

He once read a survey of Olympic aspirants that reported 80% would take an illegal drug that would enable them to win a gold medal, even if the drug would kill them within two years. Chapter Eight MARY SANGER           Jeremy thought he might never fall in love.  Actually, it was unimaginable anyone would fall…

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Chapter Seven: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

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Chapter Seven: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

“Grab them with a word or a picture,” Beckwith told John.  “Then make your ad dazzle.  Remove them from the world for a moment.  Imagine your reader is standing in a basin of ice water.  Distract him so much he forgets his cold feet.” Chapter Seven HARRY BECKWITH           John Corbin’s importance to Harry Beckwith…

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Original Gangsters Of Running (Beth Bonner)

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Original Gangsters Of Running (Beth Bonner)

On February 28, 1970, Caroline Walker set a world best in the marathon with a time of 3:02:53 at the inaugural Trail’s End Marathon in Seaside, Oregon. She was sixteen-years-old. My first marathon hero was a woman – Nina Kuscsik, the women’s winner at the 1972 Boston Marathon. Back when you could afford a hotel room. Thought if she could do it,…

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Memorial Day With Jim Fixx

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Memorial Day With Jim Fixx

“If you feel that you’re running, no matter how slow you’re going, no one can say you’re not.” Here’s my take on Jim Fixx and running. He got up off his fat ass and the activity became a sport which became a lifestyle and then he became himself. I was surprised when he dropped dead,…

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Chapter Six: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

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Chapter Six: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

Three laps to go.  Jeremy accelerated purposefully now and moved within ten meters of the leaders.  O’Neal dropped the last two pretenders over the fifth water jump and relaxed.  But as he passed the finish line with two laps remaining, the announcer’s message unnerved him. Chapter Six JEREMY STANFIELD           Wellston and its surrounding…

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Duel Meet

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Duel Meet

Our destiny is to run to the edge of the world and beyond, off into the darkness. – Thomas Aquinas THE FRONT RUNNER… You yawn.You always yawn before a race. Every race, but you yawn a little longer and a little yawnier before this race, today’s race.Can’t help but notice the breeze. The trees bold…

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Chapter Five: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

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Chapter Five: “Olympic Hopefuls” By Jay Birmingham

The Demon was a Natural.  He floated around the track, surging, easing, making a mockery of the pitiful mortals who tested their limits of oxygen uptake, lactate tolerance, and muscle fatigue.    At some point in every race, the Demon of Pain cast his net over the field of runners. All felt it. Chapter Five JOHN…

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Getting Coached In Gatorville (2024 SEC Championships)

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Getting Coached In Gatorville (2024 SEC Championships)

Wouldn’t it be great, if we could all remember that we come away from each new experience… a different person? We are changed by each experience just as each person we react with is changed by us; that each new encounter frames the arch through which we see our world and therefore shapes what we…

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