Make sure you click the links...listen to good, inspiring music while reading. Above are pics from The First Annual Chocolate Milk Mile. Running is becoming fun here in The 'Del. I spent part of my night/early morning at Coach Heath's Spring Lake abode with Nagel and his fully-equipped and rightfully-named alien, Patty Mac, Chris Bennett and some tiny dog named Maggie, which I got to walk a couple times. Bennett tried to play DJ, but his own speeches about each song seemed to cover the Springsteen. Between conversations of running and Bennett Camp, we enjoyed our own eclectic mix, two Jersey City Boys, a UNC Grad and former Nike Farm Team Runner, the greatest high school coach of any sport in Jersey and myself, a Latin teacher from Bayville, NJ. As different as each of us are, we all share one common love and that is Track and Field. the conversation took a jaw dropping turn when I read the results of RobbY Andrews' (Manalapan) huge 4:03.49 race (click to see this amazing race)
I thought a lot about that race and our sport in general over the night and here is what I came up with. Normally sports go through a trickle down improvement over time. If the NBA or MLB are popular, college kids perform better and then high school soon follows in each of those sports. I think the distance running community is experiencing something wholly different. High Schoolers in the USA, since Webb's 3:53 and Ritz's tremendous efforts 7-8 years ago, have been exercising an amazing rebirth. This race, in which Andrews fought hard to finish 2nd, is the perfect example. The rabbit did not do his job as the 800 was about 2:04, so these boys closed in an amazing 1:57-1:58. What is more amazing is that Andrew Springer of Westerly, Rhode Island ran 4:02 at another meet and a froshy from Illinois ran 8:53 for 2 miles in the same meet...ALL IN ONE DAY! When I was in high school, 4:15 was a huge race, now Jersey has 15 kids running that in 2009! I know you are asking yourself 'What is McCaff getting at?' It's simple...we are at a major turning point in running, not just in the US, but also in Jersey. I, as a coach, could cower in fear over the incredible coaching and amazing improvement in distance running, or I could embrace this moment and strive to become the best coach I can be. You, as athletes, can work harder than ever before and dig deeper than Hicham El Guerrouj had to when he gave himself hemorrhoids to earn a world record in the mile (check it out here) You, as fans, can show up as much as you can, bring relatives, bring friends, bring teachers. We can invite our neighbors, our sisters, brothers, parents for runs. The jogging craze, which Ron Burgundy aptly mentions in Anchorman, began in the late 60's and 70's, faded through the 90's but is about to make a heroic return to the overweight USA. It's time we embraced our sport for what it is and not for what it could be. More people run everyday than practice any other sport and it is such a simple effort: walk out the door, put one foot in front of the other, repeat. In fact, shoes are optional (see legendary Abebe Bikila winning the 1960 Olympic Marathon with no shoes!) Only then will running become a power in this country. We no longer can look to prime time TV to host our mdeia; we must embrace the road racing culture and see the millions of people that strive to improve upon PB's and their lives by running 5k's, 5 milers, 10k's and more (Congrats to Coach Kaci Redding for completing her first 5 miler at the Sheehan on Saturday - 38:34 time!); we must turn to internet sites like Runnerspace or Flotrack to give us our track fix for the day. Not everyone needs to run world class times as my friends Fitz and Cocci have discovered the art of slow jogging, remember the soft 'j'. Both men are former throwers and footballers. People may ask, 'Hey McCaff, What does running do for you? It is so boring.' Having been duly inspired by our last twilight meet on May 26th I haven't missed a day of running since, I have lost 10 pounds and I feel super human each time I run. Sometimes it is tough to walk out the door, but as soon as I do, life is great. I get more for myself from a mile of run than I do all day from numerous interactions, good reading and much more. I have also met some of the greatest people from running. Running is one of the few sports where almost everyone has done something amazing to get where they are. From Mrs. Mansuri's discovery of running or Mr. Galasso's return to the sport or Tammie Bennett's Stroller Strides crew all the way up to Haile Gebrselassie and his epic races with Paul Tergat (Click here to see the end of the 2000 Olympic 10,000m...try listening to the OffSpring's 'All I Want' while watching)...everyone takes part.
High school runners and coaches are the bastion of the sport; without you, our sport dies. So as the sun rises tomorrow, KNOW that you are all part of something great, the bottom of the proverbial pyramid. Don't shy away from the responsibility, embrace the challenge, stomp on its throat as you pound each step of your run. You are the only person that can stop your own improvement for in running you don't have to block or pass. A runner is his own best friend and his own worst enemy. Be part of something special; let it begin in Holmdel; let the world hear your steps and see your passion. I will leave you all with the race that may have started it all. Patrick Anglin(#53) and I traisped up to the Princeton Running Company and had to convince them to put this race on the TV instead of the NBA finals. What we saw was the most amazing race a high schooler has ever completed. We watched as Alan Webb slowly moved up through the field of milers and blasted a HUGE last 400 to eclipse one of the oldest high school records in the books. Webb's mark on track is massive... what will your mark be? It is up to you.
Posts
