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TO A CHAMPION TAKEN TOO SOON 

        Kelvin Kiptum after his world record run ***** We were all young once,with stars in our eyes,our futures glistening,full of hope and surprise. How cruel, then, the moment,how random the design,to steal away his brilliance‘Fore its luster could shine. Leaving might have been,forever arrested in time,like amber-clad memoriesof a runner in his prime. Whose promise seemed boundless,his…

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SYNERGY SOWS SPEED

Racing is urgency distilled—whether along the sharp edge of competition itself or in the relentless refinement of that edge leading to the moment when the starter raises an arm and a hush falls over the field. Nowhere is that hush more palpable than at an indoor track meet like the Millrose Games, where all the energy of anticipation, of history, of hope is concentrated within four walls and a…

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LESSONS

We had the first big indoor meet of the year last night at BU, the John Thomas Terrier Classic. Named for the great Olympic high jumper. Lots of great races, lots of fine performances. That old, familiar aroma of early-season nerves and passion, and I’m sure, plenty of instruction, too. LESSONS You need to hear
encouraging things.“Specific things?”You need to be told
encouraging things!
But no…

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TONI WITH AN “I”

As the fastest kid in my grade school class, I had already discovered the thrill of speed—the wind cutting across my face, the sound of my heart pounding against my chest. When I was in the lead, going all out, it felt like I was catching time itself, chasing the world’s turning edge. In that hollow, I discovered the eternal moment: no future, no past. Just this moment, fully expressed. But…

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Remembering Tommy Leonard: The Patron Saint of Running

R.I.P. TOMMY LEONARD (1933 – 2019) Tommy Leonard The great Tommy Leonard passed quietly from our midst six years ago today (17 Jan. 2019) at JML Care Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts at age 85. The beloved founder of the Falmouth Road Race and long-time bartender at Boston’s legendary Eliot Lounge, Tommy was the patron saint of running to thousands of people around the globe.  Those who knew…

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EARLY MEMORIES OF A LIFE IN SPORT

     Advanced age brings its own rewards, even as it reminds us there’s more behind than there is ahead. As we embark on yet another lap of the sun, I thought I’d recall an early memory of what would become a life immersed in sport, which has always been my passion and refuge. *** With sister Teresa and Pop in St. Ann, Missouri early 1950s.    I was just 10 years old when we abandoned the…

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MARATHON - 2024 vs 2018

Eliud Kipcjhoge breaks his own marathon world record in Berlin 2022. (courtesy, Yahoo.com) I ran across the following data while looking over past notes in my iPhone. Wanted to see how the year 2024 compared with 2018 after reading the following note from six years ago. 2018 “In 2018, a year when the marathon world record (2:02:57, Dennis Kimetto, Berlin 2014) was broken by the largest margin in…

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STILL FIGHTING TO BELIEVE IN 2024

Kelvin Kiptum after his world record run in Chicago 2023 It has been quite an emotional 2024 in the marathon world. We lost one world record holder early in the year, then discovered another one late. It was hard to wrap your head around either, because the first was so tragic, while the second was so polarizing. When 24-year-old Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana died in a late…

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ATHLOS 2024 PROVED PROMISING

One of the major track-based stories of 2024 was the Athlos’ 2024 Women Run New York meet at Icahn Stadium on Roosevelt Island on September 26th. Funded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, the meet had high intentions before the first starting pistol was ever fired.  “We’re setting a standard in women’s sports,” said Ohanian standing trackside just moments before the first race.  That a…

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RECONFIGURING MARATHON EXCELLENCE IN 2024

Ruth Chepngetich with her historic women’s world record in Chicago 2024. Kahana, Maui – As so-called Super Shoes and advanced nutritional supplements continue to re-order the running record books, and now that the 2024 marathon season has been completed, we can look at the stats and come to a few observations.  For many years, Sub – 2:10 for men and Sub – 2:20 for women represented the upper…

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THE BEST WE CAN BE

Honolulu, HI – I’ve always thought running was the best teacher I ever had. While at pace, I never felt better, then again, never felt worse either, sometimes just a couple of minutes apart.  So I learned not to get too high when I was feeling good; not to get too low when feeling bad, because things were likely to come back around again soon enough. So you just soldier on, one stride at a time,…

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HONOLULU MARATHON 2024

After losing two years to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Honolulu Marathon has risen, Phoenix-like, to regain its place among the major world marathons.  The 52nd Honolulu Marathon weekend staged three races that combined for 36,122 entrants, a record number for the island-based, end-of-the-year running extravaganza.  Yesterday it was the 8th Kalakaua Merrie Mile that took center…

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SUB-2:10s - 2024

     ABBOTT WORLD MARATHON MAJORS With the congregation of the original five World Marathon Majors in 2006, the sport of marathon running entered a new professional era. The $1 million on offer for the majors’ biennial tour champions, $500,000 awarded each to the winning man and winning woman, brought the sport into the seven figure realm of other professional sports. The addition of Abbott…

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MY COUNTRY OF RUNNING

My Country of Running exists on no map, nor holds to any written constitution. Yet her citizens are many and there is room enough aplenty for any who seek entry to her domain. It’s an ages old union that gathers no moss, nor anoints any member as sovereign. Yet leaders still emerge, as the packs begin to surge, ‘till candidates are all who remain. And though its dominion is spacious and redoubt…

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THE NEXT STEP

Statue of Tired Man Deep into a race, the body cannibalizes itself, trading energy for distance as systems rebel against the willful discomfort they are being asked to endure. During this exchange, goals shrink as one more mile becomes one more kilometer, then one more minute, lap, street corner, lamp post, until finally, just one more step. For many runners, it is taking on their personal limits…

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RECALIBRATING EXCELLENCE

Ruth Chepngetich with her historic women’s world record in Chicago. For as long as most of us can remember, sub—2:10:00 has been the measure of excellence in the marathon world. We would count the number of individuals and the number of countries who produced such performances and look at them with respect, admiration, and perhaps a touch of envy. But how can we use 2:10 now as a measure of…

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REMEMBERING THE UPSET - BUSTER DOUGLAS OVER MIKE TYSON IN TOKYO 1990

As 58-year-old former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson prepares to take on 28-year-old YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul tonight at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, I want to take you back to the 10 February 1990, to Muntilan, Central Java, Indonesia. Borobudur Temple We were on our way back to the city of Yogyakarta from shooting the Borobudur Run 10k for our ESPN Road Race of the Month…