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Mature Runner: Some Inspiration From Julia Hawkins

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By David Summerfield

This article might just reveal too much about my overly strong desire to “stay in shape,” or at least be able to run a decent 100-meter dash! (my goodness, that’s a long way from doing marathons … sheeesh). This never-ending search for inspiration from World Record holders led me to Julia Hawkins. Now if you’re sick and tired of these kinds of articles, please let me know, or tell the editor Mira Brody to not put these articles into the BSWD newsletter any more – please!

What really got me about Julia Hawkins was her response to an interviewer after she had run a World Record 100 meter race in 62 seconds. (I mean, I can do that!) But wait, she’s a fit 105 year-old retired elementary school teacher from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The interviewer asked if she was worried about her competition that day. With delight she said “No, I wasn’t worried because the other runner wasn’t an athlete. And I am!” What bravura 🙂 And she was serious. Her grandkids talked her into entering a Masters Track & Field competition, and she agreed – at that time she was a “fit” 100-year old. She amazed everyone by running a 42 second 100 meter. Her goal was to run 100 meters in 100 seconds, and had no trouble. Then she entered the shot put event, and got back into the record books – by tossing a 2kg (4.5 pound) shot 2.77 meters (over 9 feet). She had so much fun, she was again talked into doing it at age 105. I finally discovered why it took her 62 seconds to run the 100. It was a cold, blustery day, and she went out there anyway, and ran 20 seconds slower, but also got into a new age category (105 and up). I’ve scoured the internet to find out if she has done it again at age 106, but all I can find is that on her 106th birthday (Feb 10, 2022) she wanted to go at it again. And we’re almost to her 107th birthday.

Julia Hawkins at 103 years at the National Senior Games from doyouremember.com.

This whole story has got me eyeing the nearest track to where I live, and it’s a cinder track in Absarokee (27 miles away), and the snow has melted off….so what am I waiting for? Living far from an urban community and their modern tracks, I have fun driving by the Absarokee Husky’s high school track. Of course it isn’t marked in any way – just a nice smoothish red cinder surface – I imagine it’s most likely a 440 yard track, so no world records could be made here too easily. Oh, that’s right, silly me, I’m not 105 yet – though somedays it feels as if I am.

Here’s the cinder track picture, taken Jan 22nd, looking totally unused since last spring’s track meets.

Of course I have to mention Julia’s diet – she eats a “balanced” diet of yogurt, soups and salads. And being from Louisiana, her most favorite food items are fried crabs and oysters. (Being from the Northern climes, crabs/oysters are definitely NOT on my list of favorite foods! If I were to be asked by some reporter after having set another world record on this track, I would have to say it’s my own recipe of mac & cheese – or a cheese enchilada from Fiesta Mexicana).

I didn’t mention Julia was very active in the Senior Olympics – bicycling. That kept her active, which she has always done. And she obviously thrives on competition. But as the 100 year bracket gets nearer, the competition does thin out a bit, so the chance of winning gets better and better. Do I really have to wait that long? Sheeesh. Thank goodness I’ve found that Fiesta Mexicana restaurants are all over the country, so I won’t waste away while the years go by 🙂

There’s that Fiesta Mexicana cheese enchilada and Corona, yum 🙂

Back to the Senior Olympics, I couldn’t stay away from their Montana nordic races until I moved away from Bozeman. And I can’t justify driving that far just to ski a 5km/10km x-country race. Hmmm, that does bring my genuine dedication to maintaining my fitness level into question (so I can excel in the 100m dash in 30 years!) Julia Hawkins’ point is that she is an athlete, and that means she works a lot, and thus is ready for world records any time. Well, I do “go out” on rigorous daily walks. I constantly push myself, to pound every ounce of fitness into this ‘old bod. So, I’ll be ready. Here’s a quote from Julia in Runner’s World: “I do a little running around each day—not a certain amount or time—but just to keep everything going….I don’t want to waste too many 100-yard dashes, because I only have so many left.” Oh, the joy of being a 105 year old. And here’s a great picture of the women’s 100 meter official start at the Louisiana Senior Games. I just love the image of these three 100+ women wanting to make history.

Start of 100m world record run pinterest.com Julia is on the right, looking oh so confident!

Welcome to a New Year of World Records Being Broken

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The Mature Runner

By David Summerfield

Perhaps you’ve noticed I’m totally obsessed with all the various world records I’ve covered this past year. I don’t doubt it has something to do with my firmly held notion that I won’t be getting my name on any of the lists. And the lists grow every month. Just to make sure I’m not missing out on any “easy” world records out there, I went onto The Guiness World Record website, and quickly decided that it would be embarrassing to actually get my name published there. Besides all the “noble” records (like the Kipchoge or Koskei type), the rest were just publicity stunts. Yes, specific skills were required, which of course took lots of patience to develop. But the end result could hardly elicit admiration or serious consideration. Before getting to the more serious record-setters, here’s a quick look at the ludicrous records! Consider Ashrita Furman, a health food store manager in Queens. He has held (simultaneously) 120 Guinness World Records, and set over 300 records (which really means there are that many people out to break records, no matter what they be!). Examples: under very strict guidelines on April 3, 2005, he walked 11.3 kilometers balancing a cue stick on the tip of his finger.

The “balancing a cue stick” world record under the shadow of the Egyptian Pyramids “ashrita.com/about”, Photograph: Aladin Abdel Naby/Reuters.

Who possibly could have made that one up?? He says he’s not a natural athlete, but meditates, and wants to show others the benefits of the practice. His name “Ashrita” means “protected by God” in Sanskrit. It looks like he’s also doing the setting records on every continent thing: he “hula-hooped” the fastest mile at Ayers Rock (Uluru) in Australia, and then went the fastest mile on a pogo stick in Antarctica. I can’t stop there – he’s also standing on a Swiss Ball for the longest time at Stonehenge (England), skipping rope the most times in a minute while jumping on a pogo stick (he must love pogo sticks) at Angkor Wat (Cambodia), and bouncing the fastest mile on a “kangaroo ball” along the Great Wall of China. Seriously, the list includes over 100 more world records he’s achieved. Ashrita credits his meditation teacher, Sri Chinmoy for his remarkable endurance and strength. “I am not a natural athlete, but my teacher has shown me that if one can be in touch with one’s inner spirit, anything is possible.” Whew.

With that said, here are some admirable, more traditional records broken. Christine Hobson, a 69 year-old “grandmother” from England completed the Antarctic Ice Marathon last month (Dec 12-14th) and is officially the oldest woman to complete the marathon. Her time of 8:11:33 is within my range, but…oh, yes, I’m not a woman. The oldest men’s record goes to 84 year-old Roy Svenningsen from Canada – I wonder if I could do that in 9 years? He “ran” it in 11:41:58. Heck, I can do that…but then I found out the course, which is groomed with snowmobiles (like getting it ready for a good skate ski outing), and was like running on sand, the whole way. Ouch. That’s not for me!

I really enjoy the ingenuity of the human – there’s a growing demand to run marathons on every continent – hence now there are 2 different Antarctic marathons. This one requires a 3 day commitment, going to Punta Arenas in Chile to board a private jet, landing on the Union Glacier in the interior of Antarctica. In case you’re wanting to do something like that, you could also do the North Pole Marathon, organized by the same organization…but then the North Pole isn’t on a separate continent, so why do it?? Anyway, the Antarctic Ice Marathon is different from the original one, the Antarctica Marathon, held on King George Island. A few more facts to whet your appetite…the cost is a mere $21,500, which if paid in full when you register, you get a $1000 discount. Sweet. And this marathon is officially the most southerly marathon on the planet. And last month it garnered 57 contestants from 20 countries, so it’s not too crowded. Snowmobiles comprise the support vehicles, sorta like running around West Yellowstone in the winter. I guess you really have to want to do this! And it’s a circular course, 4 laps of about 10k each….just so you can say you’ve “run” on a snowmobile-groomed snowy path. The more I read Christine Hobson’s account, the more I realized she’s doing something pretty darn special. Here she is on the course:

This is courtesy of the YorkshireLive reporting by Jasmine Norden, reporter, picture by the Antarctic Ice Marathon.

So, get this – she retired and started a “fitness transformation”. Sound familiar, oh you retirees out there? Work is done, so you can spend time doing what you’ve been waiting for!! I like that. I’m planning on “retiring” starting this January 1st…. She actually has become an inspiration for me! Her record? She’s the oldest woman to run a marathon on the Antarctic Continent. There. Then I found out she’s run 117 marathons in her “retirement”. OK…. And she wants older women to dream big and achieve things they don’t think are possible. Richard, her husband, said the cold wasn’t the biggest challenge, it was the blowing snow – trying to run in a whiteout, while negotiating the snow and ice underfoot – sliding with every footstep. Then I found out this is her 7th Continent marathon. And her lips were so cracked from the wind, she had trouble eating breakfast the next morning. OK. Christine, you do become our hero, even though I can’t imagine doing what you’ve done. So, I can’t poke fun at what you’ve accomplished.

Christine Hobson at the finish line, photo credit by the Antarctic Ice Marathon.

It does look like a pretty nice day, and evidently, that is very misleading!! At every Aid Station, all noses were checked for frostbite – oh, it was -50C…there’s a clue! Retiring at 60, her continental marathons have been London, Marrakech, Buenos Aires, Niagara Falls, Tel Aviv and Singapore. Getting inspired yet? The more I read, yes I am!!

Runners participate in the Antarctic Ice Marathon, in Union Glacier, Antarctica, December 14, 2022. (Mark Conlon/Antarctic Ice Marathon/Handout via REUTERS)

But then, there are pictures like this one, showing what the whiteout conditions are like, and evidently, this is what happened those 8 hours Ms Hobson was on the course. Imagine those little blue flags every 4’ so you can see where to go…hmmm, on 2nd thought, maybe the $21,500 entry fee should just stay in my bank account for now! Happy dreaming about the “ultimate” running event for your 2023 calendar, and maybe leave Punta Arenas alone 🙂

Mature Runner: Okay, Here Comes The Next World Record….(again)

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By David Summerfield

I keep wondering if the next time I google “New World Records Set” – nothing will come up. Today of course, it happened again. Many new running World Records have been set this year, and here’s the big one.

I have to bow down to Eliud Kipchoge. Let’s get it over with: he’s 37 years old, he’s 5’6”, and weighs 115 lbs. (He’s already in that class of athletes who are diminutive – in comparison to the rest of humanity). His discipline and strength of mind are over the top. He trains like it’s a business, and admits freely he works so hard to inspire people to go do the same. I think it’s sorta rubbing off on me (okay, in a rather teeny way). It can’t help but inspire anyone who has an ounce of drive to achieve anything. At this year’s Berlin Marathon (Sept 25), he went into it knowing “it would be a good day”. And having won his last 12 marathons with several world records, including 2 Olympic golds, he knows a good day from a bad day. From his interviews, it’s very clear he was totally convinced he would not only win, but lower his World Record….which he did by another 30 seconds. He also told the press he knew he wouldn’t go under 2 hours, which was only 69 seconds shy – but the fact that he knew that going into the race? This guy is totally in control of his running environment. So, he ran a 2:01:09, and looking at the videos, he ran the pace he practiced for many months at his high altitude training camp in Kenya, called the “Global Sports Communications Training Camp in Kaptagat.

Eliud Kipchoge’s WR – outsideonline.com

OK, the amazing stats in Berlin: His 1st 5k was run in 14:14 (yikes). At the 10k mark he did a 28:23….(only 30.2 kms left to go:-) The 1⁄2 marathon was done in 59:51. He was on pace to go under 2 hours again, in a real road race. He admitted to running a minute faster in the 1st half, but as he put it, “my feet were fast”, so he went for it. He had 2 of his favorite “rabbits” who he ran with for the 1st 25k, then it was running with his real competitors (the Ethiopian pair of Guye Adola and Andamlak Belihu) who dropped back (I mean….they couldn’t keep up) and the last 15k he was all alone, finishing almost 5 minutes in front of Kenyan Mark Korir (2:05:58) and Tadu Abate (2:06:28).

I have to also mention the woman’s winner – Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, who set a course record and ran a 2:15:37, the fourth fastest time in history (which was 18 minutes faster than her previous personal best and 1st marathon, earlier this year)…and she was only 12 seconds behind Paula Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 (London, 2003).

Tigist Assefa winning Berlin – Fana Broadcasting Corporate S.C.

Since she was an “unknown” – there is currently no info about her life, training, anything. That’s a shame. Perhaps now that she has run the 4th fastest marathon ever, she’ll be followed more closely by the Wikipedia people
🙂

And now onto my gleanings from Kipchoge’s many interviews, especially from “Olympics.com” – which revealed so much about the man, how he trains, and what he thinks about this whole running stuff. Interviewed the week before Berlin, he said “I am the best one…I am going to Berlin to run a very good race that will make everybody get inspired and love marathons.” And right after setting the WR, “There is still more in my legs and I hope the future is great. The mind is thinking wise, the body is still absorbing the trainings and racings.” He described how he had 4 hard months of intense long runs with fartleks…I also read he got up to 200k running per week (120 miles) with fartleks. OK, that’s what it takes I guess. (I skate-skied that much one week…) I realized Eliud focuses his whole being on his training, as you’ll understand with these quotes: “Marathon training is tiresome, cumbersome, and very long.” The four long months of training in his mind is just the physical part, and the week before the “Big Run” is when the mental game begins: “A human being is his mind. When your mind is okay, then your muscles are good. Now I’m trying my best to convince my mind that I’ve done a thorough training.

I have done enough. My legs and muscles are ready. And on the big day, it will be to implement all these things.” It seems so easy to visualize Kipchoge getting ready to race, knowing his physical training has gone well and is finished; and all that’s left is to set the mind on the goal. He practiced running at race pace (over 13.15 mph, or around a 4:36 mile) and found that if he only did 80% effort, with those spurts (fartleks) thrown in here and there, his body would be ready. His key was a long build-up over months, so the intensity would not cause injury. And these long weeks of running ended with only 1 week of tapering.

Speaking to the “Olympic.com” people, he thought about his future: “In front of my mind, I know one day I will call time on the sport…It’s good to see those that have been high with a huge following, retiring and venturing on other things. And that’s a big inspiration for me, that if you start something then it must have an end. But it needs to end when you have had a huge impact.” As he put it in another interview (I can’t find it again, sorry) – he said after his WR that his feat will reach 3 billion people, and that’s wonderful, just think of all the people being inspired to go do the same thing!

At Eliud’s high altitude training camp runblogrun.com

I know some of you might be interested to know every detail of his training program, so you too can run a sub 2 hour marathon…..ahem….but it is interesting to the rest of us too: go to “https://sportcoaching.co.nz/kipchoge-training-program-guide/” and get your Ugali and Managu ready to give your body what it needs 🙂 (Oh, those are staple foods in Kenya, a type of cornmeal mush and a leafy-green) Happy getting ready for YOUR next marathon!

My New Marathon Hero, Ed Whitlock

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The Mature Runner

By David Summerfield

Due to Stacy and my trip to Canada this October, I had to find out about Canadian runners. We were mostly in Nova Scotia, which has its share of great runners, but I then realized Ed Whitlock (born in London) had emigrated to Quebec and then Milton, Ontario, and further research revealed what a wonderful person he was. He died in 2017, but reading some interviews with him, he instantly became my overall hero. He was known for his gentlemanly demeanor, gracious smile, and flowing white hair. But what got me hooked was his total lack of ego in the face of recording world records over the course of several decades.

(20 year old shoes work perfectly well! “perfectbodybywil.blogspot.com”)

In his youth he did compete a lot (shorter distances) and I couldn’t help but notice his height/weight (something I’ve become a little bit too obsessed with lately). He only weighed 112 pounds at 5’7”. Those statistics seem to be the preferred ones for fast times (see previous articles concerning record-breaking Kenyan and Ethiopian runners). As is the case with the normal lot, he put aside “serious” running for his professional career as an engineer, graduating from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College. He landed in Ontario when he was 41, and only started marathon running when his youngest son had been training to run a marathon himself (his son had run everyday for over a year as his training). He talked his dad into running with him – Ed had tried to dissuade him – but surprised everyone by running a 2:31:23 marathon as a 48 year-old. Yikes. Yes, he enjoyed running fast times on the track throughout his life, but he got really serious about running when he retired. His stated goal was to be the 1st person over 70 to run a marathon under 3 hours. Ed made sure he could do that by running the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon way under 3 hours for the 1996-2000 years. He got his goal when he was 73 at the Scotiabank Toronto Riverbank Marathon by running a 2:54:48. And in Rotterdam the next year “…some of the world’s best marathon runners, Kenyans in their 20s and 30s, could not fathom why a person my age would be running a marathon and certainly not in that time. I did 2:58:40 that day and it blew their minds,” Whitlock wrote in a story for iRun magazine. “This needs to change,” he said. “Because if they can’t imagine themselves doing the same thing, it will never happen. Why don’t they think they can do the same thing?” I like this guy more and more!

(Ed Whitlock’s record “canadarunningseries.com” at age 85).

Here are some of my favorite quips from the National Post interview (Mar 13th, 2017):

“What do you think about when you’re running?” he was once asked. “When will this be over?” he replied. Another one: What makes a good marathon runner? Whitlock’s response: “Shine a light through their ear. If light comes out on the other side, odds are they’re up to the task.” Ed doesn’t use a GPS watch, and his training regimen was doing laps in the local Milton Evergreen Cemetery. He would just do laps until 3 hours were up, and that’s all he needed to do. Alan Brookes (Toronto Marathon race director) said most world record holders would be wearing free shoes from their sponsors. Not so for Ed. Alan noticed Ed’s shoes, and swore they must be 20 year-old shoes. He obviously was running for the pure joy of running, though he did admit to enjoying all the attention he got – but it stopped there. As he “slowed” down (sub 4 hour marathons in his mid-80’s), he adjusted his cemetery loops to just loops around a gravestone. “I like running in the cemetery,” Whitlock reasoned. “Compared to everyone else there, no matter how you look when you’re running, you look pretty good.”

(I’m looking pretty good…in comparison! (The Age of Simplicity “www.runnersworld.com”)

How to describe my new hero? Just don’t make a big fuss about what you do. Just do it, and be consistent about it all. When asked about what he eats, he just shrugged it off as not important. This implies there are no “Whitlock secrets” to running amazingly fast times for an octogenarian. From what I learned, he was obviously born with a good, sound body (I do believe we all are, to some extent). He trained in the rather “normal” way – doing faster-than-normal repeats in his 40’s (this was before he retreated to safe gravestones), some hill work (though all the pictures of him running in the cemetery show nothing but flat, grassy plots), and honing his pace (his engineering background came in handy – floating endless numbers in his head to keep that pace steady). He also chose marathons with very little to no elevation gain (hence Cleveland, Ohio, Rotterdam, and Toronto). But “google” him and see his age-group world records in all distances, from 800 meters and up.

Then I found an article (Ed Whitlock and the Age of Simplicity) written by Scott Douglas forRunners World (Feb 15, 2010). It’s a wonderfully revealing article about the real Ed Whitlock! Here are my favorite parts:

“Whitlock lives two and a half blocks from the cemetery, and does all of his training there. Speed work, daily maintenance runs, long runs of up to 3 hours, everything, meted out in loops that take no more than 5 minutes. He leaves his house with his day’s assignment decided and runs loops until his time is up. He doesn’t count loops or time them. He does look at his watch frequently and think, ‘What is taking so damn long?’ The day’s loop varies occasionally, sometimes dictated by the presence of grounds crew or gravediggers. He never runs the full perimeter loop. The last little section on the southwestern side of the cemetery would add another minute or so, but it includes a rise, perhaps 50 yards long, with the steepness of a handicap-accessibility ramp. ‘I choose not to tackle this hill,’ Whitlock explains. ‘I don’t like hills.’”

“When at the height of marathon training, Whitlock does cemetery loops for 3 hours a day, every day. He doesn’t do pick-ups or progression runs or marathon-pace work. He doesn’t even stop for water. Just 3 hours a day of what he calls ‘plodding’ or ‘jogging.’ ‘I run to race,’ he says. ‘I don’t do it primarily for my health or anything else.’”

“Living in Quebec in the ‘70’s, Brenda was at a school sports day when a teenager told her the running club was looking for a coach. ‘My wife said, “My husband used to run. He knows all about running,” Whitlock says with a laugh. ‘A, I don’t know anything about running. B, I have no ambition to be a coach. I’m too selfish. But I had been committed. When I went to practice, nobody showed any interest in me. I would just lean against the fence. I thought I might as well do some jogging around the track. This was quite a sight, because old men of 40 didn’t run in those days. I kept showing up and jogging around and ended up racing again because of that. It just kind of happened.’”

“Less than six months shy of his 70th birthday, Whitlock ran 2:54 at the 2000 Columbus Marathon. ‘I thought, “We’re okay now,” he says. “Maybe foolishly, I decided to try for sub-3 once I was 70 in London, Ontario. There were only about 300 people in the race, and I got hung out to run by myself the last half of the race.” Whitlock missed the mark with an agonizingly close 3:00:23. The 2- and 3-hour runs built on each other, and at the 2003 Toronto Marathon, at age 72, Whitlock met his goal with a 2:59:09. The following year, with several months of plodding buoying him, he returned to Toronto and ran 2:54:48. About that race, Whitlock, who is not given to rhapsody about life‘s endeavors, says, ‘That was a good day. It was never a struggle.’”

“Whitlock, who says, ‘I stay away from doctors, they’re bad people,’ last had a physical exam when he was 40. His uncle Arthur was Britain’s oldest man when he died in 2000 at age 108. Whitlock last took an aspirin during World War II.”

“‘Running should be a pastime,’ he says. ‘All sports should be a pastime. There shouldn’t be all this professional stuff. I believe that Paula Radcliffe is drug-free, but I do think she pushes the envelope of being a professional runner to the extreme. I don’t mean to single her out, but she’s living an artificial existence. She’s always away from home or sleeping in an altitude chamber. She has this entourage of people constantly around her poking and prodding. That’s so far away from what I do and how I would want to live. Monomania leads to terrible things.’”

(Famous World Record old shoes “timenote.info”)

All I can say at this point is….are there realistically any world records left to be achieved? It’s hard to come up with any for me. Darn. Maybe if I just keep on “doing my thing”, one will present itself, and I’ll get back to hone my body to do the impossible. And I hope I can find a handy cemetery nearby. I like the idea of just getting out there, no counting of miles, loops, or hours. Just jogging along. And I’ve accumulated enough “not worn-out enough Hokas” to last me several more decades. I’m all set. Don’t count me out, okay?

The Mature Runner: The Lure of a Fast 10,000 meter Run

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As fall advances, and I read about all the cross-country races going on locally, I find myself reminiscing about running 10k’s on the track. Here’s the connection: back in the ‘80’s I was among other things (like a college French teacher) a NCAA Div III cross-country coach. Early every Saturday morning, I’d be with the team getting them to breakfast before the normal 10am start of the week’s race. I was also at the height of my so-called “running prowess”. My French class schedule allowed me to do my daily workout right before the team would arrive at the fieldhouse for their workouts, which I would do with them. It was an ideal double-workout. After a few years of getting the team ready for the week’s race, I was always wishing I could be out there running the race with them. That would look bad! So, there I was, having no ability to do a weekly race. Solution: I could get up super-early, and do my own race….before getting the team up and out to breakfast. The result was using whatever school-we-were-at track and do a timed 10k. I could put all the workout finesse I had honed through the week to work. This only happened the last season I was the cross-country coach. As a result, I started bringing down my PR from doing 10k’s out on the roads. I finally broke the 34 minute barrier, and ran a 33:24:40. I put it all on the line, not daring think of what would probably happen while I was running around the course 4 hours later urging on my runners. Yes, I was beat to the bone, but could never show it. And the last meet of the season, everything was set for another try for a new PR. The weather was ideal (no wind and cool), and the workouts had gone perfectly. I knew the spits I had to reach to end up with a new PR. I looked at my watch as I crossed the “finish line” and saw to my amazement, 33:24:23. Victorious, but a little empty since it was only by 17 100ths of a second. And….I’ve never been anywhere even close to that ever since.

And speaking of 10ks, I had to go online and find out what the wide world of running has accomplished since I last looked (so many years ago). I was shocked. The women’s 10k world record times went down below 31:00 (the last time I looked). But as of today, Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey ran a 29:01.03 at the Ethiopian Olympic Trials in Hengelo, Netherlands (June 8, 2021). Her last lap was a 60:03. She traded off world records with Sitan Hassan who ran a 29:06.32 just 2 days before on the same track. So, I googled her to find out a little more….she is 5’5” and is listed at 110 pounds. Of course, she grew up on an Ethiopian farm, and when 13, refused to run as part of her local school’s PE program, which got her expelled from school. She was allowed back into school when she agreed to be part of the school PE program! Little did they know! We can’t leave Letesenbet without mentioning she broke 2 other WR in 2021: the 5000m in Valencia, Spain on October 7 in 14:06.62, and then again in Valencia, Spain on October 24th she ran a WR in the 1⁄2 marathon (road) in 62:52. Frankly, those times used to be WR times for men! Paavo Nurmi ran a WR 14:24 (5000m) in 1924 in Stockholm. And Emil Zátopek ran a 29:24 (10,000m) in 1949 in the Czech Republic.

Letesenbet Gidey Triumphant at 5,000m via tvmax-9.com.

And her 10k record via sportskeeda.com.

And now on to the current men’s records run by Joshua Cheptegei, from Uganda – 26 years old (5’6” and 115 lbs). Notice the similarity of Joshua’s specs with Letesenbet’s? Joshua is 1 inch taller, and 5 pounds heavier. (Looks like most of humanity is nowhere close to breaking long distance world records!) That track in Valencia, Spain also saw Joshua break his 10,000m record on the same day as Letesenbet’s (26:11:00). Wow. And his 5,000m WR came in Monaco on Aug 14, 2020 with a 12:35:36.

Joshua’s 10k record elmercurlo.com.

…and the 5,000m record via triamax.com.

I’m just bringing you up-to-date on the fast people to put my once-thought-to-be glorious DR (David’s Record) of 33:24:23 in proper perspective 🙂 Happy doing your thing this fall – happy dreaming of what you can do, or have done, or will do!!

The Mature Runner: A Tale of Heroes at the 2022 BRR

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By David Summerfield

Since I’m not physically present at the race anymore, this is what I’ve gleaned from conversations. I can’t help but see everyone involved in the BRR as people determined to fulfill their inner drive to be heroes of some kind. This may seem an exaggeration, but everyone in some way is always challenged to dig deeply into the inner self, and struggle in some way – and that’s what the hero’s journey is all about.

This year several sweeps could not show up, so alternates had to show up. One was Darryl Baker, who spent all summer coordinating the hauling of 2 1⁄2 gallon jugs onto the ridge. And he helps set-up the finish line, and helps take it all down. One busy individual, as you all know. But on Aug 13th, he found himself following a runner from Oklahoma, who barely made the Sac summit under 75 minutes (the cut-off). Being told the next aid station was a downhill 5 miles, the runner decided to go on to Ross Pass. According to Darryl, this runner fell over a dozen times coming off Sac – yes, the boulder field is tricky, so this Oklahoman had his own “hero’s journey” – making it down alive to Ross Pass!

This is Darryl’s picture taken that day coming off of Sac.

Another hero was Dean Folda, who tirelessly (actually he did get tired out!) cooked all the burgers on Kurt Buchl’s BBQ for the crowd for so many hours. His brother James had been doing this for many years (with his family) and sadly passed away in April. He asked to take his brother’s place to honor him. A true hero doesn’t take any credit for his deeds – he’s always doing it for a higher good. And that sentiment goes for the horde of volunteers who put on this race, like Boz. He’s always the unsung hero every Ridge Run. He accomplishes the feats of a dozen volunteers. He’ll have to be the subject of the next post-BRR article.

I realized something very important was missing the day after the race. There was no article or results in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, interviewing runners at the finish line. That had never happened before. Yes, there was one picture of Kristina Trygstad (who was the 1st woman down, and with just one male runner in front of her!) – but nothing else. So, I got her on the line, and had a great conversation – here is the fruit of our little talk:

Many of you know Kristina Trygstad-Saari as a member of a storied family of Ridge Runners, and more importantly of Norwegian (mom Anne) and Finnish (dad George) descent. Her mom holds the over 60’s and over ‘70’s records. Kristina held the overall women’s record of 3:40:37 (2019). But this year, the stars all lined up just right, and here’s the story.

Kristina coaches cross-country skiers in the winter (officially she’s the US Paralympics Nordic Skiing Coach & Manager), but keeps up her running year round. As soon as the trails get clear of ice and snow, she regularly trains going up and down Baldy. (My last trip up Baldy her mom Anne passed me going down – oh, and you can see their house on Bridger Canyon Road from the summit.) Wanting to be in really good shape for another fast Ridge Run, she took it easy the months leading up to Aug 13th. She only did one longish trail race – a 30km trail race in Ketchum (Idaho) called the Standhope Ultra Challenge, July 23rd. Oh, she won that race, outright (3:22:13)…98 runners, the guy behind her was 5 minutes back, and the woman behind him was 37 minutes behind. Kristina said this was a low-key race which was perfect for being relaxed come August 13th. Not to be misleading, she did pretty heavy distance work on her favorite trails (going up and down Baldy all summer!!).

I pressed her for her nutrition. Remember, her body is not like yours, so her regimen is what works best for her, not yours! She likes food that’s easy on the stomach, that digests well. This means pasta, rice, eggs, fruit – she prefers bland food, and light on the veggies. The night before was pasta, and just a bit more than usual. Having no ride to the start, she drove herself up, and was the 1st runner to arrive (“I wanted to beat the train!”) She relaxed in her car as the sun rose, and then strapped on her waist belt (3 GU’s, and 1 bottle of water). She also carried one handheld water bottle. She had Chris (her boyfriend of many years who is in his last year in nursing) meet her at Bridger. He handed over 2 more GU’s, and exchanged 2 full water bottles. I was struck by her not having any fancy, chemically enhanced powder in the water. “No, water is best for my finicky stomach!” And 5 GU’s total for the run, like 1 every 1⁄2 hour or so. And that’s it. Period. Talk about different bodies….my last Ridge Run I downed over 3 quarts of strong Gatorade, 6 GU’s, 14 ecaps, stopping at each Aid Station downing as many calories as I could get…potato chips, pretzels, pickles, gummy bears). It also took me over 7:30 to finish 🙂 Back to the rather unreal Trygstad-Saari world…

Kristina did go to the “M” parking lot to examine the new finish area the evening before the run. I’d say she was conscious of the possibility of breaking her own record, and knowing it would take an extra minute or 2 to get to the Fish Hatchery. She said that’s when she realized “I’m just going to go for it!” At the start, she was in a pack of 4 guys, some of whom she knew. And soon she was just behind Zach Perrin (who won), knowing that she wouldn’t catch him, but not having anyone behind her to push her. This meant the pressure was off – she just had to run her own race. Weather? Not a factor since it was cooler than usual, and by Baldy, there was the usual blazing sun.

This is her 6th time to race the BRR, and she’s the type who clearly knows the times needed at various checkpoints, so she was totally aware of her pace and possibilities. She glanced at her watch as she passed approximately where the old finish line was, and her watch read 3:37. That’s a CR (Course Record). And she only needed another couple minutes to cross the new finish line in 3:39:25!!

What type of person can be called a hero who has such an easy time pulling off a heroic feat?? The telling of this story does make it sound like Kristina was just doing a “walk in the park”. But it was the result of not racing the Ridge for 3 years, for starters. You could call her a “one point focus” hero. In talking with her I could hear the unsaid

thoughts – like “I know I can go faster”. She’s 37 and in the prime of her running life. I know of no runners who finish such runs without knowing “I know I can do it faster next time!” They also don’t brag about their exploits. They work harder than most of us know how to work. Fear doesn’t exist – caution, yes, but no fear. Just assurance that if you focus all your efforts, you can do whatever you set your mind to.

And I’ll leave it at that, finishing on a preposition as well…I seem to remember Kristina was an English major 🙂

The Mature Runner: What World Record Fell This Month?

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By David Summerfield

At the Eugene, Oregon World T&F Championships, Sydney McLaughlin (USA) ran a 50.68 in the women’s 400m hurdles – and was just 1:57 behind the winning 400m, without hurdles! And Noah Lyles just lowered the American 200 meter dash time to 19:31. Great…these quick short, little runs were well shy of going 26.2 miles.

Anything else? Well, the fact that I eeeked out one more marathon this year, yes – that’s a Summerfield 2022 Record. Ha! Must I bore you with the details, obviously! Since ending my “real running exploits a few years ago, I only jog downhills anymore. Now all I do is pick a course that gets measured accurately (I used to be a certified USA T&F course measurer, and I would “sanction” races, really). Then I build up to it, and pull it off. I used to do this using Frank Newman’s marathon course going to Livingston (yes, walking the whole way). Moving to Nye, Montana – I found a great course, measured it, and did it last year, with Stacy’s help who did the last 16 mile with me (if you ever need a new marathon course, just get to Absarokee, park near the intersection of the only blinking light going through town, and take off going toward Red Lodge.

(the Absarokee blinking light starting line “everipedia.org”)

After 2.8 miles, turn West onto the Nye Road, and go the 24 miles to the Cathedral Mountain Ranch gate…exactly 26.3 miles. You have the thrill of seeing the snowcapped Beartooth Mountains as a backdrop – just like seeing the Absarokas going over to Livingston).

(CMR Gate Finish Line, “cmra.us/photo/cabins/gagte1a.jpg”)

Back to this year’s 2022 marathon. Instead of the traditional FNM on Memorial Day weekend (we were in France then), we kept waiting for decent weather – not hot, not on a weekend. Too many days in the 90’s, so I got impatient, and decided to start at 2:30am, on the coolest day (only 85°) for weeks.

The next challenge was to find the perfect cache sites for my smorgasbord every 5 miles or so. This year, I discovered that all those metal guardrails along highways always have little curved endings, with hollowed-out cupboards behind, perfect for storing food and drink, and a flat spot on top to sit on while dining along the roadway. Suddenly, “doing a marathon” turned into a stroll along the road in style. What’s in the cache? The obligatory 14oz, 30g Premier Protein drink à la Franklin Coles, a used Coke bottle with Gatorade refill, a banana, a GU packet, a Kirkland chewy granola bar, and a little crisp apple. The last 3 caches had a wonderfully honeyed (moist soaked-through) peanut butter/honey sandwich. I discovered that much food is great for a much longer distance! At the end of the walk, I found out I weighed a pound heavier at the end than at the beginning! That’s something new. (Perhaps I’m putting out too much food.) Oh, I also carry a Scott Jurek inspired waist belt which holds 3 pouches – one for the ibuprofen and HammerNutrition ecaps, the others for the nasty GU packets.

If you’ve gotten this far in the article, my apologies. Here are some of the highlights: at 2:30am July 19th, the moon was high in the SW over my shoulder, with Neptune right beside it. This picture doesn’t do justice to the sight. It was like a huge flashlight.

(Moon with Jupiter “www.theweathernetwork.com”)

I could easily see the white lines telling me where the asphalt ended. The Pleiades rose further to the West around 3:30am. There was NO traffic. I was in my own personal paradise. I wore a headlamp, but only used it to find the various mileage markers so I could compute my pace. My 1st cache was across the street from the Fishtail General Store, next to a perfectly flat sitting rock. 6 minutes later, off I went into the night.

Fishtail General Store “www.whereiscookie.com”)

Around 5:30am, the 1st of 6 big white buses roared by – taking the daytime shift workers to the Stillwater Mine, located just 2 miles down from my finish line. That’s when the traffic started to grow. It wasn’t until past my 2nd cache (mile 11) that I entered the 1st direct sunlight. With a good headwind, I was kept quite cool as I got to the 1⁄2 way point, where Stacy and Morgan (daughter) joined me for the last 1⁄2 of the route! The 3rd cache was by the “Fishtail Creek End-of-the-metal-guardrail Smorgasbord station. I was too full to take much, realizing I wasn’t burning as many calories as I imagined. Up and over the pass, there’s a 5 mile long winding downhill with gorgeous views of the Beartooths. Yes, getting hot, but that headwind was a Godsend. Realizing we were going to go faster than the year before (8 hrs 47 min) we pressed on with blistering soles yelling away. We finished at our car parked next to the Cathedral Mountain Ranch gate in 8 hrs, 28 min. A wonderful walk on a beautiful day, and whew – the 2022 marathon is history – and I’m consciously wondering why I have to do this every single year. Yes, the streak is unbroken since my 1st marathon in 1980. (digression: the 1st marathon was the “Marathon de Martigny”, Switzerland – run entirely on narrow cobblestone, gravel paths through their vineyards…done in 2:59:36…yes, I was trying to get under 3 hours!) Back to streaks, they are made to be broken….just like world records? We’ll see. Frankly, making it a huge production is sorta fun, and with a willing family to put up with this kind of stuff, we’ll keep it going 🙂

Mature Runner: New Over 70 WR Quietly Set A Few Years Ago & Other Musings…

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By David Summerfield

I’m at it again…and another marathon WR goes to Jeannie Rice at the Chicago Marathon, which keeps allowing (facilitating) world records to be set. Yes, this is 4-years old news, but I keep digging up new records. This is the race Brigid Kosgei (see article 2 months ago) ran in a 2:18:35 (getting ready to break Paula Radcliff’s WR of 2:15 in 2019. And, as you might remember, she took another shot at Paula’s record, and ran a 2:14:04 the next year, again in Chicago).

(picture/article by Sarah Lorge Butler – Runners World – Oct 12, 2018)

Back to Jeannie Rice, of Mentor, OH, 25 miles east of Cleveland. She was a 70-year old, and is having the time of her life (pun) right now. I always wonder how on Earth these records keep getting smashed. Jeannie is a realtor (now part-time), going around selling properties, and at 70 – is faster than any other 70-year old. What? My 1st question is why is Jeannie still a realtor….maybe once a realtor, always a realtor? 2 days after her WR, she was back at work (in her realtor heels) wrote Sarah Butler of Runners World. She came to the USA from

Korea as a 19 year-old, and didn’t start running until feeling “chubby” after a trip to see relatives in Korea. She was 34 then. She wanted to lose weight (ever heard that before?…I can relate 🙂 That’s when she found out she could run pretty fast, and started winning local races. From the article, it is VERY clear she is competitive, and got used to winning her age division…and that was 36 years ago. She admits to escaping the brutal Ohio winters by going to Florida for 5 months (all right, she’s probably not selling too many houses in Florida). She started out with a 3:45 marathon after starting running for only a year. That was followed by a 3:16 marathon – I guess she found out she really really loved to run. And I thought I was obsessed: by 2018, she had run 116 marathons, and wanted to win her division in all the world’s major races (Great Wall of China, New Zealand, Prague, Paris, London, Madrid, Dublin, and Iceland). From the Runners World article by Sarah Butler: “Rice makes no concessions to her age. ‘I don’t feel 70 at all,’ she said. ‘It’s too bad the number is there. I’d rather be 50. I’m sure the time will come. I’m probably not going to be able to run like this when I’m 80.’” (Poor Jeannie – is it okay for me to say that?)

(I love the fact that one of my marathon heroes, Joan Benoit Samuelson, was the only female who beat her in Chicago – as a 61-year old – and she ran a 3:12:13. Here’s a picture of Joanie doing “speedwork” at a 5km as a prep for Chicago:

Joanie as a 60-year old “pinterest.com”

Most of you won’t remember my article maybe 20 years ago about my running along a little road on an early Sunday morning near Falmouth, Maine. I was visiting my sister, doing my regular weekend Long Run of the week. I caught up to 2 runners, and they were having a great conversation. They were cool with me running with them. It turns out it was Joan running with her father. (I felt like I had been graced by the gods!)

Back again to Jeannie. After her 3:27:50 in 2018, she entered the BMW Berlin Marathon the next year (I guess Berlin wants to sell more BMWs, or give them to the winners so they don’t have to run anymore?), and she ran a 3:24:38. I believe that’s still the record. While trying to better that, in 2021, she did come in 2nd behind her fiercest competitor Yuko Gordon (70-74 age group!) in a race I had never heard of before. Amby Burfoot (longtime Runners World editor-in-chief and Boston Marathon winner – 1966 – in 2:22) wrote in Outside Magazine about the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships held in conjunction with the London Marathon. Whoa, whoa, whoa. This begs another digression:

Really? They’re sponsoring a world age-group running championship? What are they peddling? I looked them up, of course. And their yearly income is a cool $36 billion, employing a cooler 113,000 employees, and they make Ensure**, Pedialyte, Similac, and untold other medical products. Founded in 1888, they’ve kept up with the times, it seems. So, it looks like this business of running world records in your age group has hit the big time. The 70-74 marathon title was won in 3:25:30 by Yuko Gordon, who finished 34th in the 1984 Olympic Marathon. (More recently, Gordon ran 3:19:37 two years ago in Berlin when she was 68.) Gordon turned 70 last February. I guess digressions is the theme of this article. Did you happen to notice that Yuko Gordon ran the 1984 Olympic Marathon? Hmmm, and who WON that “jog in the park” … of course, none other than Joan Benoit Samuelson (2:24:52).

page3image42647760

Again, “back to Jeannie”…again! With a natural talent and a competitive streak Jeannie averages 50 miles a week all-year round and increases that to 70 miles when she has a marathon in her schedule. I have to keep asking myself, “David, do you realize this is a 73 year old talking?” I ask that because I am a 74 year old, and I’m certainly NOT out there just doing the basic “maintenance” 50 mile weeks, and upping them to 70 the weeks before I go for records at the Boston Marathon. Sheesh.

(Photo: courtesy Jeannie Rice )

**Did anyone notice this little asterisk in the text? It is another digression, a digression inside a digression, and that is probably going too far! So here’s a “footnote” (does that make it feel any better?): While on the subject of Abbott Laboratory’s Ensure, here’s the comment. While in WalMart yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of buying my yearly supply of Ensure, which is used on my once-a-year marathon walk which is soon to happen. This all started because of Franklin Coles. If you don’t know him, you should.

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(Photo: courtesy Jeannie Rice)

He was a past president and super-active member of the BSWD. He valiantly trained for many 100-mile races (notably the BigHorn 100). I emulated his abilities, and casually asked him how on earth he could do those races…what did you eat and drink? His answer has stayed with me, and I still use what he said. Those little bottles of Ensure can be found in the pharmacy section of every grocery store and are packed with the basic ingredients for those who can’t stomach regular food. Yes, I had to get over the feeling that I was buying them for my aging parents who had to be bottle fed in their old age. I down one bottle every 6 miles or so. And his other suggestion was a 16.9 ounce bottle of Coke. Frankly (pun), I reserve that for after the finish line. I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful July full of summertime running 🙂

That Mature Runner: World Records Belong To The Amputees Too!

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By David Summerfield

And I thought I’d finished getting caught up with all the broken World Records out there! Ha!! A new one just happened, and it happened as I write this article – so, many of you probably know all about it! One remarkable Jacky Hunt-Broersma decided to see how many marathon-distance runs she could pull-off on consecutive days. The recognized record was 100 in a row, and as she was finishing her 82nd, along came Kate Jayden, a British lady who did 101. So, Jacky’s quest had to go at least to 102. The Boston Marathon (April 17th) was her 92nd in a row, and finished in 5:05:13 (it was a windy, rainy day). That’s just under a 11:30 mile pace…about her average on her daily marathons. That’s quite a feat, but more so since she was running on one good leg – the other was a stump taped to a carbon-fiber running “Blade”. As it turned out, after she finished #102, she thought “why not do 2 more, so I can finish up April with a marathon?” Here she is on #104:

(Jacky on her 104th marathon from gndiario.com, and #102nd from mybestruns.com)

In April 2020, she took on the challenge of running 100 miles on her treadmill, at home – this was when all races had been canceled due to the pandemic. She took part in the The Aravaipa

Strong virtual race (100 mile division). The races featured over 2,000 runners worldwide from 29 different countries. Ten percent of the proceeds from the race were donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. She finished in 23:38:44…. a world record for amputees! (Just so you know, that averaged a 15 minute mile, including potty breaks, and getting off to eat meals.)

(Just finishing the 100 miler from blocorrendo.it)

“‘I did it!! 100 miles in 23hr 38 on a treadmill,’ she wrote in the caption. Still, don’t let the pic fool you. ‘This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done,’ she continued. ‘I look a little tired in this photo . Everything hurts, my stump is bruised and full of blisters and I will be doing a shuffle for a while, hahaha but it was so worth it.’”
– Korin Miller, April 27, 2020, Women’s Health magazine

It was interesting reading all the articles about her. She grew up in South Africa, and moved to the US, living in North Carolina while going through the tough readjustment to losing a leg (in 2001). It took her 15 years to decide to try running – admitting she always hated to run, but figured it was worth the challenge. She entered a 5k, and finished, and somehow, that’s what lit the flame that completely transformed her life….from being an amputee – to being an exceptional runner who happened to have an artificial leg. Notice the difference in these 2 pictures:

(What 4 years can do! From pinterest.com)

I love her story. It reminds me of Kraig Kempt who finished the 2018 BRR in around 10 hours. He had no blade, only his left hiking boot somehow attached to the prosthetic. And it seems Kraig and Jacky had very similar motivations. Based on what Kraig told me, and what I read about Jacky – they both had a tough adjustment after their legs were amputated. Kraig’s was due to a fall he sustained off a cliff up in Bridger Bowl, while he was filming some of his athletes working out with the Alpine BSF team. He was a strong athlete himself, but NO runner! Losing his leg was akin to losing his life. A therapist suggested he find an impossible challenge to take his mind off his loss…and thus he entered the BRR. He was not a runner by any stretch – and had to learn to run – with only one working leg. And he succeeded.

(Kraig at the finish line – Photo by David Summerfield, Aug 2018)

In speaking with Kraig after his remarkable BRR, I found out he threw his whole life into remaking his self-image (those are my words!). He was determined to do this – obviously an impossibility by all standards. He said he climbed up to the top of Baldy so many times – learning how to negotiate all those tricky spots….I remember asking him specifically about the spot where you get out on a big boulder with a tree growing next to it, and you have to hoist yourself down to the ground below, using the tree. He knew the place well, and had figured it out. When the snow cleared, he practiced climbing up Sacajawea over and over.

This is how he figured out how to deal with the rubbing of the prosthetic on his stump – the blistering, not to mention the pain. And Jacky had to go through the exact same things. I didn’t know the “Blade” costs over $10,000, and isn’t covered by insurance. But it opened up her whole world. Since this marathon-a-day venture, I’ve found out the “rules” are not very clear about how to verify you’ve done it. So, it really enters that gray zone like the popular FKT runners are doing all over the place (Fastest Known Time). You keep your own time, there’s no camera on you all the time, no helicopters hovering, no press – just you and the obviously best route you can figure out. Jacky ran loops in her neighborhood (her family now lives in Gilbert, Arizona), loops around her daughters school (while waiting for school to let out), and the treadmill. One day, “day care” fell through, and she had to run the 1st 1⁄2 marathon in the morning, and the other 1⁄2 that afternoon. So, of course she’s wondering if that will make people frown! But the impact is all that really counts. I saw somewhere she has over 42,000 followers on Instagram, and receives so many posts thanking her for her example – that she has inspired them to go way beyond what they think they are capable of. That’s all that really matters. I’ll close by a great picture of Jacky running side-by-side with her daughter:

(Jacky and daughter from trailandkale.com)

I can’t resist a little postscript: after finishing her treadmill 100-miler, she stopped her watch, with the belt still running, so she just kept on running for a while. Her husband asked her if she wanted to get off….?? This was caught on video. She replied… “Yea, I’m pretty tired”. Many of us know the Tom Hanks movie Forrest Gump pretty well, and remember him running down those endless roads near Canyonlands, Utah – with the throng of followers behind him…with him not saying a word. At one point he just stopped, looked around, and in a very slow drawl muttered “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.” (after 3 years of running…)

(Forrest Gump out in Monument Valley from pinterest.com)

Eliud Kipchoge Was Made A Hero, and Brigid Koskei Was Not

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The Mature Runner

By David Summerfield

Here I am still getting caught up with the breaking of world records. That’s what I get for not running competitively anymore – so, I lost track of the marathon explosions that happened recently. The more I looked into it, the weirder things became. I think this article might disturb some of you, and I apologize in advance. I got sucked into the heroic feats of the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge … world record after world record. Interviews put him in the same sentence as Roger Bannister, Neil Armstrong and stopped short of comparing him with Albert Einstein. My curiosity led me all over the internet. (I have no ill-will towards such this extraordinary runner by the way, only envy!) But the corporate world has gotten a firm grip on our shared everyday experiences such as “going out for a run.” In an article a few months ago I got a little cheeky about Nike sinking millions of dollars into the “Breaking2” project. Hired (and paid mercenaries?) rabbits were given orders to run in a pyramidal phalanx (oops, sorry, that’s from Ancient Greece) uh, formation ahead of the three superstars to reduce wind. They had a perfectly flat paved racetrack – a Formula One racetrack in Monzo, Italy, measured at 1.5 miles (thus 17+ laps).

And Kipchoge emerged as the only one of the elite three to keep the pace and finished in 2:00:25. So, Nike still got to sell millions of $$ of their newly developed “VaporFly Elite” after the race was done (and of course all those runners were wearing the “barrier-busting” shoes). Since it was billed as a “private race” with rotating groups of three rabbits every few miles, this effort could not be counted as a World Record. To make the story even better, Nike “teamed” up with National Geographic, which recorded the whole battle …er race, and got it up on YouTube. When I wrote this part a few months ago, I felt something was fishy. Besides going to such extremes, it seemed a bit inhuman, or plainly not human. The time and effort and money could have been spent on building a running robot that would not have any human-like tendencies/foibles and could guarantee it would cross the finish line in exactly 1:59:59. And then, changing the dial on some of the diodes and transistors, they could program a 1:49:59 “effort” the following year. But surely humanity is not ready for such a blatant usurping of a hugely popular activity called running.

And now on to Oct. 12, 2019 and the INOES 159 Challenge. Again, I’m not really wanting to discredit anyone here, but a little research keeps coming up with amazing things!! First off, INOES is the fourth-largest chemical company in the world. What? And sponsoring an athletic event? Hmmm. I don’t think they need the money, and they don’t have running shoes to sell. They have a $61 billion/year revenue and employ 26,000. Well, Nike employs 75,000 and its yearly revenue is $37 billion. At least it’s clear both companies are putting on these events out of the goodness of their hearts and are not trying to get rich quick.

Back to the name INOES, which combines Latin for a new beginning, and Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, and Neos, Greek for something new and innovative. INOES states its name represents the “dawn of something new and innovative.” Okay, okay. So two years after Nike’s commercial venture into staging an event to display their prowess in running shoes, along comes a global chemical company. (I would have enjoyed listening in on their board meetings back then “Hey guys, let’s put on a splashy running event which has nothing to do with petrochemicals, you know, to relate to the average bloke).

Vienna, Austria was chosen as the venue – they boast a wide avenue in a park-like setting – it runs about 6.5 miles in a straight line, and only has to be run four times. This time Kipchoge is asked (paid?) to be the only runner (what? Talk about a private race), but there’s a phalanx of 41 world class runners to do the pacing. They also had an electric vehicle (no fumes) driving exactly at the 4:34.8 mile pace. In fact (this made me gasp) the pace vehicle blazed onto the pavement behind it a laser rectangle grid so the rabbits had to just run to keep up with the moving laser beam. This means there was no guesswork, and each posted kilometer time was within 3 seconds of each other.

So, Kipchoge ran a completely steady pace, with no variations, no hills, and the date/time (Oct 12) was 48 degrees, with slight rain at the start at 8:15 a.m. …that’s Austrian precision! Everything was calibrated to allow NO flaws. And Kipchoge had trained well and stuck to the script perfectly. With 1⁄2 mile to go he broke free from the rabbits and almost coasted across the finish line. The INOES company obviously had a much better PR manager than Nike – there were thousands of spectators along the course, urging Kipchoge on. Again, this was no private race, it was a spectacle devoted to one Eliud Kipchoge.

What amazed me was the Guinness Book of Records did recognize this as a world record, though the relevant sports federation did not. Oh well. And one last thing, an interview mentioned that the bicycle always by Kipchoge’s side, the one who handed over his drinking bottle (I wonder what was in it…) would quickly send the bottle back to be examined by the handlers where they determined if he was getting too much or too little fluids down his throat so they could tell him to drink more or less the next time. In my book, this is NOT an unassisted race. Yes, Mike Wolfe had friends at each Aid Station on the Bridger Ridge Run to hand him bottles of whatever he was drinking that day. So, he really could just run the darn thing without having to stop. My gosh, I wouldn’t want that! At each Aid Station I counted on the many minutes spent sitting down in the shade of a tree and casually drinking/eating to my heart’s content. Oh, I wasn’t going for any record, that’s right 🙂

In wrapping up this exposé (I mean article) I discovered that the Women’s Marathon World Record was set the very next day (after Kipchoge’s) in Chicago. No hype. No conspicuous sponsorship from big international corporations, no splashy anything. There she was, Brigid Kosgei, also a Kenyan. Oh my gosh. She took a minute off Paula Radcliff’s record from 2003 that had stood for 16 years. So let’s find out about Brigid.

Granted, she wasn’t trying to do anything but run her best. There was no fanfare about breaking a mystical barrier of time. Well, Paula Radcliff’s WR of 2:15:25 had been that impossible barrier to break – for over 16 years. Maybe I’m so amazed and upset that there weren’t thousands of fans urging her on like Eliud had just the day before. But then if I had been following her career, maybe I would have been one of those thousands to cheer her on!

In contrast to Kipchoge, Kosgei is a rather quiet person, keeping her personal life to herself. I did find one interview where she was asked about having children while training to be a world-class runner. She was very frank, and in so many words said it’s just a natural thing, and her advantage was being able to raise two wonderful children. It seemed so obvious she didn’t have a “handler” at her side during the interview and having this other person do the talking. Nothing was rehearsed. Looking over all the statistics, it’s interesting that both Eliud and Brigid won the 2019 London Marathon as well as the Tokyo Marathon. And, like Eliud, Brigid has a long string of winning the world’s most prestigious marathons.

As an aside, I have to comment on the official name of the two marathons where world records were set: the Virgin Money London Marathon, and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon…get my drift? $$$$$). The last similarity I could find: they both were wearing Nike’s infamous Vaporfly shoes.

You just can’t get away from it. I better stop here before the blood pressure goes up any higher 🙂

Hmmm, does this article assuage my not running anymore?