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Many years ago, I had a talk with my graduate advisor. We talked about my
future as a writer. I remember saying that I thought I had some good writing
in me, and it would be easier to focus on it once I got this obsession with
track out of my system.
I remember him nodding in sage agreement. At the time
I thought I would be burned out and done with track in a few years. No such
luck: My interest in the sport has gone through many incarnations. It never
quite dies; it just keeps getting reborn.
This past weekend, over 25,000 runners coursed though the streets of New York in a celebration of
that city's spirit, while a few states away, I watched nearly 2,000 high school
kids run their hearts out, and my daughter learned to play “My Country ‘Tis
of Thee” on the piano with her toes.
Welcome to my weekend in track and field:
I saw former Michigan great and Boston Marathon champ Greg Meyer watching his
son run in a state championships cross country meet. He didn't sound like he
pressures the kid, but I wondered what the other athletes think of his son's
pedigree. Chris Lear, author of the well-reviewed Running with the Buffaloes,
came along for the ride. I pointed out sandhill cranes flying overhead, and
he scribbled that down.
I read a spirited and hostile Internet debate over whether athletes should
take a break from running at the end of a season. I checked Peter Coe's book:
He says definitely. His son won four Olympic medals, which is better than the
future tense accomplishments of the yahoos cluttering up the Internet debate.
The news that Don Potts died had an effect. I worried that few track fans
will recognize his name, despite the huge contribution he made to the sport
by being one of the pioneers in the development of the Track and Field News
world rankings.
I found out two weeks late that China's Ma Junren has a new crop of
marathoners, and they broke both the men's and women's world junior bests in
the event. How the heck did I miss that? I concluded that I must have either
lost my mind or had a lot on it.
The New York Marathon directors warned participants not to drink from cups of
water handed to them by spectators along the course due to the fear of terrorists. I am reminded of an ancient Chinese proverb/curse: “May you live in interesting
times.”
Tesfaye Jifar, in only his third year of running, won at NewYork in 2:07:43.
I hadn't known that he was blinded in his right eye by a bull's horn when he
was 12. Deena Drossin started her marathon career with a 2:26 to place
second. Wow!
I visited the IAAF's Web site, where expert numbers crunchers Mirko Jalava and
A. Lennart Julin are writing a review of the year based on the historical
importance of the statistics that have been generated in each event. They show
a huge drop in quality in the men's 400 and women's 200 this year. Avard
Moncur's winning time in the world 400 would not have gotten out of the semis
two years earlier. What's going on in those events?
Jon Drummond is having legal problems. He says that “time will reveal the
truth and my innocence.”
I ran 3 miles on Saturday, my longest run after suffering a stress fracture while in Edmonton at the World Championships. My rivals should be fearful, if they are smart. With a quarter mile to go I went into a spastic
coughing fit after swallowing a bug. The girl I had been running with stood
there with an embarrassed look on her face, wondering if she should flag down
someone for medical assistance.
I am not a celebrity, but once I autographed an athlete's water bottle and
this weekend she told me she still had it. She called it “lucky.”
Once the leaves finish falling in the Midwest, and the local cross country
season is over, I start to pine for indoor track.
I ran into a guy whom I consider to be one of my mentors. He once ran second
to Harrison Dillard in a world record hurdle race. He reminds me of a boast I
made last year. He turned it into a bet and has it written on a note he keeps
in his wallet. If I turn out to be wrong, this one is going to cost me.
With a microphone in my hand, I invented a whole new way of talking. I said,
“The course is fast today, and that's why so many athletes are running
finely on it.” I turned to the people standing near me and said, “Did I
really just say that?” They grimly nodded.
Swedish hurdler Ludmila Engquist admitted to taking steroids. I couldn't help
but remember that the last time Engquist got in trouble with the drug
testers, she eventually won her appeal by saying that her vengeful (and
later, ex-) husband had drugged her without her knowledge.
During the several hours that did not involve track or running at all, I went
on a moonlit hay ride and came to the conclusion that teenage runners make
the best babysitters for my kids ... So I guess I did think about running after
all.
Sometimes I think I need to get a life that doesn't involve track. Or get a
life, period. But then I think of all the fantastic friends I have made
through this sport. And I hear my daughter playing the “My Country ‘Tis of
Thee” with her toes and realize that it's a pretty good life, even if it's
not at all like I had planned.
Jeff Hollobaugh, former managing editor of Track and Field News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached by e-mail at michtrack@aol.com.
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