Clear eyes because I only had 1 beer yesterday, something of an anomoly at these annual gatherings. It used to be that all the Major Decisions were made at the conclusion of the day’s official business, while sitting in the bar arguing over beers or other adult refreshments. Blue skies because that paradigm has passed and clarity, thankfully, is the order of the day.
The new catch phrase for this year: “Stake in the ground”. This reflects that territory, and/or a mark, has been made that is significant and will stand as a guidepost. Thank goodness as I was sick of “At the end of the day”.
My Real Battle is coming up at 3:00 & 4:oo this afternoon, you can’t imagine the backlash that is coming regarding the Uniform Compliance Rule. My initial assertion that it is being foisted upon us by a certain swoosh is shared by a growing number of malcontents, going to be Very Interesting.
My pleasure to introduce Linda to Francie Larrieu Smith. If you don’t know who she is, google and be amazed (5 time Olympian, 4:28.5 Mile World Record in 1975 and a fellow Texan).
Other battles: The IAAF still insisting that Masters be defined as 35 years instead of 40. We’ve been fighting this one for years yet it refuses to go away. What it proves is that the USA in some instances is isolated from IAAF mandate. That is one of my key arguements relative to the Uniform issue.
A thorough discussion of mixed gender races, the hows and whys of allowing Paula Radcliffe’s Marathon World Record (NOT World Best!). Existing World Records will be grandfathered in, no retroactive enforcement. Here’s a key component to the future of the debate: the difference between pacing for the duration vs. pacing for a portion. Men can pace women for the duration of an event, if a woman were to pace another woman to a world record, the pacer would be the holder not the recipient of the largesse. See?
Item 2- Arguements for and against naturalized citizens being allowed to compete in USATF Road Championships. Just because an athlete is naturalized does not mean that they are eligible to represent the US in International competitions. Our Road Champs are often used as selector races for those international events and therein lies the rub. The other side of the story are the US athletes that insist they can only get better by competing against the Very Best athletes in the country. Hubris! I love it!
Item 28- GPS devices are now allowed in Road Races as long as the device does not allow for communication to others not on the course. I led the fight back in the day to disallow devices (including headphones) just for that reason.
Ran today with 65 year old Ron Pate of Hawaii, he’s looking to run ~1:20:00 for his next half marathon. Ron has been a national class stud for the last 40 years and is a beacon of competitive inspiration to all of us born before 1980 (or ’70,or ’60 for that matter).
Francie, World Beater and Linda’s new bff.
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