I hope today’s column spurs you, satisfying my credo of stimulation.
In 2006 I was contacted by a dear friend from Austin, Carmen Ayala Troncoso. She was coaching a very talented 37 year old female and wondered if I could get her into the 2007 Lincoln Marathon. Why sure! Chris Kimbrough showed up race weekend, very windy and very rainy. I knew she was going for the sub 2:46 Olympic Trials qualifier (back then we had much too lax standards) and asked how the weather would affect her performance. “Not at all” was her reply. Hell yes!
Chris went on to run 2:44:57 for the win, finishing 10th overall and besting the next finisher (Christy Nielsen) by a whopping 10 minutes. I’d catch up with Chris again in Boston ’08 at the Trials. We’ve been fast friends since. **Of special note on the 2008 Trials, Robyn Friedman 9th, 2:35:02 and Erin Moeller 10th, 2:36:51 both came out of Iowa, how bout them apples**
And then this came across the wire yesterday: The 45 year old mother of six set a World Record in the Beer Mile on Sunday. 6:28. Six twenty eight. Don’t try this at home folks, she’s a professional. And is now the favorite for the Flo Beer Mile World Championships next month.
Cassandra Henkiel (L) and Chris Kimbrough, two of my favorite Texans! From my photo archives of the ’08 Trials. Cassie would run 2:48:54 for 87th, Chris 2:42:54 for 39th.
My gig as champs chair put me on the front line of our Olympic Trials administrative efforts. Here Race Director Dave McGillivray embraces Deena Kastor and Joanie Samuelson. Blake Phillips (#17) looks on as the starting gun nears. Man I had the best seat in the house. Interesting to note that Joanie, like so many others was duped by Lance Armstrong, sporting his Livestrong kit. #6 is Samia Akbar, she was on the team I took to the 2006 Yokohama International Ekiden.
Christy also qualified in ’08 (and ’04, & ’00). Shown here at a pre race soiree with Deeja Youngquist and Teddy Mitchell, two of the more controversial athletes I’ve known. Deeja was an air traffic controller that had a top ten finish at the ’04 Trials wiped off the record when busted for performance enhancing drugs. She’d served her suspension and came back in Boston but was a DNF. Also a bad day for Christy who DNF’d. Teddy keeps hanging in there, surviving clouds of suspicion and accusations, serving on the Athletes Advisory Committee, the most powerful committee in USATF. I’ve got a ton of stories about him.
Hanging out post race with Cassie and Kim Pawalek. I’ve always considered Cassie one of the most eligible bacholerettes in the U.S. Kim and I go back to when she won our USA Marathon Champs at Twin Cities in ’99. She too had a bad day in Boston, finishing next to last in 3:07:27, one of the gutsiest efforts I’ve seen. She is now married to my old buddy and 1996 Olympic marathoner Keith Brantly.
Yep, one of the best seats in the house. From left to right Magdalena Lewy Boulet (2nd, 2:30:19) Deena (1st, 2:29:35) and Blake Phillips (3rd, 2:32:40). Our 2008 Women’s Olympic Marathon Team. Stories and pictures, I’ve got a ton of them.
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