Today is Patriots' Day in Boston and that can only mean one thing... It's Marathon Monday. The first time I ever saw the Boston Marathon was more than 40 years ago. My dad had taken me and several of my siblings to watch the Red Sox game that day (another Boston tradition on Patriots Day). The Sox got shelled as I recall, but that was not the highlight of the day. As soon as the ballgame ended, Dad led all of us quickly out of Fenway over to the bridge on Beacon Street that passes over the Mass Turnpike just before Kenmore Square. We had to hurry if we were going to see the runners.
I knew nothing of this event, or of running in general. In those days (probably in 1968 or 1969), I think only three or four hundred men entered the race. Running under 3-hours was a major accomplishment. By the time we got there, we were told that the lead runners were still 30 minutes away. Eventually, they came by. Many were foreigners as I recall, especially Asians (Japanese and Koreans), with a few Europeans sprinkled in. I doubt there was a Kenyan or an Ethiopian to be seen. Dad told us we had to watch for Johnny "The Younger" Kelley (Champion of the 1957 BAA Marathon), as he might have a chance to win. As the leaders ran into the distance, we were told we were not leaving until Johnny "The Elder" Kelley ran by. The winner of the 1935 and 1945 BAA Marathon, Johnny was already well past his prime, but he was a fan favorite, not so much for his past victories, more for his record seven second-place finishes. He is responsible for the sportswriters dubbing the final hill in Newton "Heartbreak Hill."
Except for the few years that I was not living in Boston during my service in the Marines, I have either run in or watched the Marathon. I first ran it (illegally) when I was 17. I made it through 20 miles in 2:20, only to strain a hamstring and walk 3 of the last 4 miles to finish in something like 3:48. I did not run the race again until my mid-30s and my best time remains 3:12. Respectable, I guess, but pedestrian by today's standards.
These days, I enjoy going to my sister Cathie's home on Comm Ave, near mile 19, just to watch the leaders and cheer for the rest of the folks who need my support. I take my kids along. We make a day of it. I predicted today's course record yesterday. It was an easy call. Temps in the mid-50s and a 10-20 mph wind out of the northwest. I didn't know WHO would break the record, but I was pretty certain it would fall.
Obviously, it requires a ton of talent to run 26 miles at a pace faster than 4:50 per mile. 99.99% of the population cannot run a single mile that fast. Still, those guys are ONLY running for less than 2 hours and 10 minutes. Is that really as hard as slogging along for 5 or 6 hours? I'll tip my hat every year to that middle-aged woman who really doesn't look like she belongs out there with the Africans. She has a lot of grit and she must have a lot of faith in herself and in her maker!
Keep on Running.
19 April 2010
16 March 2010
James Madison: A Little Man with a Huge Intellect
Today - March 16, 2010 - marks the 259th anniversary of the birth of our nation's fourth President. At 5' 4" tall (or short), James Madison is easily the shortest man to hold the highest office in the land. Today, I visited Madison's beautiful homestead, Montpelier, in Orange, Virginia. My son, Matt, accompanied me on this journey. He took some wonderful photos. He has an excellent eye for that sort of thing. But I digress.
We traveled to Montpelier because it was Madison's birthday (and we were delighted to learn upon our arrival that, in honor of his birthday, we were not required to fork over the $24 cost of our joint admission). I expected to take a tour of a beautiful home on a wonderful mountaintop. I wasn't disappointed.
More than this, I gained an even greater respect for Madison. Let's face it, his "Virginia Plan" was the working draft of the greatest single document in our country's short history. Sure, I am a big fan of Thomas Jefferson, and his "Declaration of Independence" is a work of art, as are Lincoln's "Second Inaugural" and "Gettysburg" adresses. But how do any other documents measure up against the brilliance of our Constitution?
James Madison certainly packed a huge intellect into his short and wiry frame. I wonder how fast he might have covered the mile on foot had he redirected even a fraction of the time he dedicated to the researching of former republics into training to be a distance runner. One thing's for sure, he had some great hills to train on!
Happy Birthday, President Madison.... and keep on running.
02 March 2010
Golf Caps and Olympic Dreams
I have been running since the summer of 1972. That was the summer of the Games of the Twentieth Olympiad, hosted in Munich, West Germany. Most will recall those games for the heinous murders of the Israeli wrestlers and weightlifters by PLO terrorists. Many running pundits claim that it was Frank Shorter's victory in those Games - the first victory in the Marathon by a US athlete since Johnny Hayes won it in 1908 - that ignited the running boom of the 1970s. Others will recall the incredible performance by the 21-year-old phenom from the University of Oregon, Steve Prefontaine, in the men's 5000m final. Even though Pre finished in fourth place, his stirring surge in the final mile - a distance he covered in a remarkable time of 4:01 - was perhaps the greatest, gutsiest, non-medal-winning performance in an Olympic competition I have ever seen. For me, however, it was the performance of a relatively unknown, golf-cap wearing, middle-distance runner that ignited my running career.
The runner's name was Dave Wottle. He was an 800m and 1500m runner from Bowling Green State University. Since little was known about track and field athletes in those days, Jim McKay never mentioned that Wottle had equaled the world record for the 800ms (1:44.3!) at the US Olympic Trials earlier that summer. Nor did anyone note that Dave was the NCAA 1500 Champion in 1972. I didn't know if he was a long shot to win or the favorite. I just thought he was interesting because he was a tall and skinny guy who wore a golf cap when he ran!
ABC Sports did a great job of covering both the semi-final race and the final race. Wottle came from behind in both races. In fact, he was totally boxed in along the rail in the semi-final with 100m to go and somehow managed an escape that would have made Harry Houdini proud. But the performance in the final was truly the stuff of legends.
After the race, Wottle became temporarily notorious for NOT removing his golf cap during the playing of the national anthem at the medal ceremony, but he later apologized, claiming he had been so overwhelmed with joy that he completely forgot to remove the headgear! I have included a youtube link to a high quality video of the race for all to see. It is incredible how much ground Wottle gives up to some of the best 800m runners of his day ... and still he finds a way to get to the finish line first!
So, I began running in the summer of 1972. I was just another short, scrawny, eleven-year-old who dreamed of one day running in the Olympic Games.
Keep on running.
The runner's name was Dave Wottle. He was an 800m and 1500m runner from Bowling Green State University. Since little was known about track and field athletes in those days, Jim McKay never mentioned that Wottle had equaled the world record for the 800ms (1:44.3!) at the US Olympic Trials earlier that summer. Nor did anyone note that Dave was the NCAA 1500 Champion in 1972. I didn't know if he was a long shot to win or the favorite. I just thought he was interesting because he was a tall and skinny guy who wore a golf cap when he ran!
ABC Sports did a great job of covering both the semi-final race and the final race. Wottle came from behind in both races. In fact, he was totally boxed in along the rail in the semi-final with 100m to go and somehow managed an escape that would have made Harry Houdini proud. But the performance in the final was truly the stuff of legends.
After the race, Wottle became temporarily notorious for NOT removing his golf cap during the playing of the national anthem at the medal ceremony, but he later apologized, claiming he had been so overwhelmed with joy that he completely forgot to remove the headgear! I have included a youtube link to a high quality video of the race for all to see. It is incredible how much ground Wottle gives up to some of the best 800m runners of his day ... and still he finds a way to get to the finish line first!
So, I began running in the summer of 1972. I was just another short, scrawny, eleven-year-old who dreamed of one day running in the Olympic Games.
Keep on running.
22 February 2010
On Washington's Birthday and Miracles
Today is February 22. Thirty years ago tonight, the USA Men's Hockey Team defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid. I was not at that game. I did not watch it live. (Actually, I don't think any of us did. ABC showed the game on tape delay in prime time because the Soviets wouldn't agree to move the game from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Soviets didn't want their comrades in Moscow to have to wait up 'til 4 a.m. there to see the puck drop.)
Where was I on this Night of Miracles? I was in one of two Tufts University vans headed from Boston to Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Crammed in with 15 or so teammates, I was en route to the first New England Division III Collegiate Indoor Track & Field Championships. On the way up to the meet, we listened - for the first time - to the release of the first single off Bruce Springsteen's new album, The River. "Hungry Heart" would go on to be Springsteen's first hit single, reaching #5 on the US Charts that year. For those of you growing up on line, we actually listened to the song on the van's AM radio. The clever DJ even provided us with the rare instant replay of the song, so we heard it twice in a row. It was my freshman year of college. It was a Friday night. And it was my birthday.
As it turns out, I didn't run very well the next day, but our team did capture the inaugural team title. No matter. We had beaten the Soviet Union! It was such a defining moment - more for cultural reasons than athletic ones - that Sports Illustrated ran the March 3, 1980 issue with merely a photo of the on-ice pandemonium that ensued soon after Al Michael's much heralded call of the final seconds. It is the only issue of Sports Illustrated that had no headline or caption on the cover.
In case you didn't know it, February 22nd is also George Washingon's birthday. I always found it funny that no one ever connected the Miracle on Ice with Washington's Birthday. What better honor could Team USA have bestowed upon the Father of Our Country than a victory over the Soviets in ice hockey?
Today, we need another kind of miracle. And this one has nothing to do with the Olympic Games. Imagine the kinds of sacrifices Washington and his fellow patriots made in order to free us from the shackles of tyranny. Imagine the kinds of sacrifices that have been made by generations of Americans to secure the blessings of liberty. That's the kind of miracle we need today.
Our country finds itself at a crossroad in history. Our democratic republic appears broken and dysfunctional, with leaders of both parties pointing fingers at one another. Millions are out of work. Millions are losing their homes to foreclosure. Millions of Americans remain uninsured. Many state and local municipalities have large unfunded pension liabilities today. Our educational system, once the envy of the developed world, is now the criticized for its lack of effectiveness and accountability. Will we sink in despair or will we rise to meet the challenges we face?
What's the solution? The solution is simple. It's you and I. We have to sacrifice. We have to accept the fact that social programs will be delayed (Social Security at 75?), reduced, or even eliminated entirely. The time has come for each of us to acknowledge that we cannot expect our government to continue to provide services for us... without cost. We may even have to endure dramatically increased taxes.
I was born in 1961 - right at the tail end of the baby boom. My generation has never really endured lasting economic hardship. We're guilty of living beyond our means. Putting off until tomorrow the obligation to pay for the things we enjoyed yesterday. Guess what? It's tomorrow! We have the ability to right this ship. We have the ability to make lasting, structural change to our economy. We have the ability to preserve our very high standard of living for ourselves and our children. We just have to sacrifice. I know I am ready. Are you?
Keep on running.
Where was I on this Night of Miracles? I was in one of two Tufts University vans headed from Boston to Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Crammed in with 15 or so teammates, I was en route to the first New England Division III Collegiate Indoor Track & Field Championships. On the way up to the meet, we listened - for the first time - to the release of the first single off Bruce Springsteen's new album, The River. "Hungry Heart" would go on to be Springsteen's first hit single, reaching #5 on the US Charts that year. For those of you growing up on line, we actually listened to the song on the van's AM radio. The clever DJ even provided us with the rare instant replay of the song, so we heard it twice in a row. It was my freshman year of college. It was a Friday night. And it was my birthday.
As it turns out, I didn't run very well the next day, but our team did capture the inaugural team title. No matter. We had beaten the Soviet Union! It was such a defining moment - more for cultural reasons than athletic ones - that Sports Illustrated ran the March 3, 1980 issue with merely a photo of the on-ice pandemonium that ensued soon after Al Michael's much heralded call of the final seconds. It is the only issue of Sports Illustrated that had no headline or caption on the cover.
In case you didn't know it, February 22nd is also George Washingon's birthday. I always found it funny that no one ever connected the Miracle on Ice with Washington's Birthday. What better honor could Team USA have bestowed upon the Father of Our Country than a victory over the Soviets in ice hockey?
Today, we need another kind of miracle. And this one has nothing to do with the Olympic Games. Imagine the kinds of sacrifices Washington and his fellow patriots made in order to free us from the shackles of tyranny. Imagine the kinds of sacrifices that have been made by generations of Americans to secure the blessings of liberty. That's the kind of miracle we need today.
Our country finds itself at a crossroad in history. Our democratic republic appears broken and dysfunctional, with leaders of both parties pointing fingers at one another. Millions are out of work. Millions are losing their homes to foreclosure. Millions of Americans remain uninsured. Many state and local municipalities have large unfunded pension liabilities today. Our educational system, once the envy of the developed world, is now the criticized for its lack of effectiveness and accountability. Will we sink in despair or will we rise to meet the challenges we face?
What's the solution? The solution is simple. It's you and I. We have to sacrifice. We have to accept the fact that social programs will be delayed (Social Security at 75?), reduced, or even eliminated entirely. The time has come for each of us to acknowledge that we cannot expect our government to continue to provide services for us... without cost. We may even have to endure dramatically increased taxes.
I was born in 1961 - right at the tail end of the baby boom. My generation has never really endured lasting economic hardship. We're guilty of living beyond our means. Putting off until tomorrow the obligation to pay for the things we enjoyed yesterday. Guess what? It's tomorrow! We have the ability to right this ship. We have the ability to make lasting, structural change to our economy. We have the ability to preserve our very high standard of living for ourselves and our children. We just have to sacrifice. I know I am ready. Are you?
Keep on running.
15 February 2010
Teddy Roosevelt - The Educated Man
Perhaps the most often quoted US President, Theodore Roosevelt -- the 26th man to hold the office (assuming we count Grover Cleveland twice!) -- did more to articulate the importance of character and courage in our nation's leaders. He was a man of varied interests, well-read and grounded. In his day, he was a progressive conservative. Among other things, he pushed for increased government regulation of business at a time when it was desperately needed. He defended the working man (at work), and the consumer (at the store). And he pushed for conservation of our nation's vast open spaces.
He believed in education, in reading the Bible, in getting daily exercise. And he understood the importance of character, integrity and doing the right thing -- especially for those in a position of leadership. He once said, "A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad." Teddy understood the way things worked.
More than a century after he left office, I worry that we have not heeded Teddy's warning. Having worked for a few years on Wall Street in the early 90's I witnessed firsthand the motivation and personal greed that leads men -- university educated men -- to look out for their own interests ahead of their fellow man. Today, US Treasury Secretary and former Head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Tim Geithner, will still not acknowledge that the government's handling of the bailout of AIG unnecessarily poured more than $12 billion into the hands of Goldman Sachs. Why, when the faceless millions of taxpayers are being asked to bailout a huge financial institution, is Goldman Sachs NOT asked to take a "haircut" on their trades with AIG? Pundits now suggest that Goldman's insistence on being made whole by AIG prior to the bailout may have actually robbed the failing firm of desperately needed cash and accelerated that firm's rapid demise. In short, we the taxpayers are nameless and faceless, and in his haste to save the financial system -- something I will acknowledge he helped to do -- Geithner allowed Goldman to feel not an ounce of pain. How? He used "other people's money."
People who know me well have been listening to me rant about this injustice for weeks. But I don't think that Geithner is an entirely bad or sinister character here. I know he believes he did a great thing. In fact, he does deserve credit for rescuing a failing financial system. Under enormous pressure, he merely forgot about the rest of us. Had he forced Goldman and others to take 50 or 60 or even 70 cents on the dollar, he would have been thinking about those of us who actually pay taxes, something he failed to do -- more than once.
Let's hope that the boys and girls entering University today will become the women and men of character our country needs them to be tomorrow. I'm betting that they are up to it! Happy Presidents Day.
Keep on running.
He believed in education, in reading the Bible, in getting daily exercise. And he understood the importance of character, integrity and doing the right thing -- especially for those in a position of leadership. He once said, "A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad." Teddy understood the way things worked.
More than a century after he left office, I worry that we have not heeded Teddy's warning. Having worked for a few years on Wall Street in the early 90's I witnessed firsthand the motivation and personal greed that leads men -- university educated men -- to look out for their own interests ahead of their fellow man. Today, US Treasury Secretary and former Head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Tim Geithner, will still not acknowledge that the government's handling of the bailout of AIG unnecessarily poured more than $12 billion into the hands of Goldman Sachs. Why, when the faceless millions of taxpayers are being asked to bailout a huge financial institution, is Goldman Sachs NOT asked to take a "haircut" on their trades with AIG? Pundits now suggest that Goldman's insistence on being made whole by AIG prior to the bailout may have actually robbed the failing firm of desperately needed cash and accelerated that firm's rapid demise. In short, we the taxpayers are nameless and faceless, and in his haste to save the financial system -- something I will acknowledge he helped to do -- Geithner allowed Goldman to feel not an ounce of pain. How? He used "other people's money."
People who know me well have been listening to me rant about this injustice for weeks. But I don't think that Geithner is an entirely bad or sinister character here. I know he believes he did a great thing. In fact, he does deserve credit for rescuing a failing financial system. Under enormous pressure, he merely forgot about the rest of us. Had he forced Goldman and others to take 50 or 60 or even 70 cents on the dollar, he would have been thinking about those of us who actually pay taxes, something he failed to do -- more than once.
Let's hope that the boys and girls entering University today will become the women and men of character our country needs them to be tomorrow. I'm betting that they are up to it! Happy Presidents Day.
Keep on running.
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