For this edition of our weekly ramblings, I’ll share a few of the races that stood out to me in watching too many hours of the Olympics. There are a few people who I’ve reached out to that didn’t provide their reflections in time for our popular ‘ordinary people achieving extraordinary things’ but they’ll get around to it – as a result, we won’t have one to share this time around. Next week, fellow RE participant Jennifer Elliott will share about her amazing once-in-a-lifetime marathon in Paris when she joined people from around the world who ran on the actual Olympic Marathon course on Saturday evening between the men’s and women’s marathon!
For starters, here are 2 upcoming races that I hope you’ll give consideration to participating in.
Join Us for the 1st Annual Running with Carly 5K! On Saturday, October 12, we will NOT have our weekly Saturday morning group run. Instead, I encourage as many of you that can make it over to participate in the Running with Carly 5K in Girard, KS (Girard is close to Pittsburg, KS – a straight shot down 69 HWY).
Our hope is that this will be a wonderful way to honor the memory of fellow RE participant Carly Carnes, who passed away last year after a valiant battle with cancer.
Here is a race description: Please join us for the 1st Annual Running with Carly 5k, a heartfelt memorial event celebrating Carly’s legacy and her dedication to running, as well as mental and physical health. All proceeds will support the Carly Carnes – A Different Type of Marathon Foundation, benefiting the Crawford County community through cancer and addiction related care, education, and general wellness initiatives.
To accommodate all those who have a long run that weekend, we will move our group run to the next day, Sunday, October 13 at the Brew HaHa Coffeehouse.
Here’s the race link to sign up: https://www.runningwithcarly.com
Even if you cannot make it to the race, go ahead and sign up to donate for a worthy cause 🙂
Join the “Miles for Miles” Head for the Cure Team: This, from fellow RE participant, Dan Jacobsen.
Head for the Cure 5K Sunday August 25 @ 8am // Corporate Woods
I’m working to amass as many people as I can to come out and support our 9-year-old Miles, who was diagnosed this spring with a brain tumor and is undergoing chemo treatments at Children’s Mercy. The team name is “Miles For Miles” and if people register with the promo code EARLYBIRD, they can save $5 off the registration fee. All the money raised goes to Head For The Cure to fund brain cancer research.
When our son was diagnosed, we become acquainted with Head For The Cure – they’re incredible people and are helping to make a difference across the country. I’ve not run this 5K yet, but I’ve learned it’s quite an event with thousands of participants joining in to support the cause.
Runner’s Edge friend Layne Whitehouse has also designed team running shirts for us that we’re selling for $35 as a small fundraiser for our medical bills. Anyone interested can just email or text me how many they want and the sizes and we can settle up on venmo or with cash when we deliver them (219-252-3885 / [email protected]).
Finally, I created a website to introduce folks to Miles, and to help people get signed up to the team – milesformiles.org.
Thank you for your consideration of these 2 amazing events. When one member of our RE FAMILY hurts, we ALL hurt! Let’s show our love and support!
The Paris Olympics Reflection – While there were so many incredible performances and amazing stories from so many of the sports at the Olympics, I cannot help it, I’m a running geek so I was still the most excited about watching the Track events as well as the marathons. Here is my take on a few races that stood out. If you are still catching up on watching all the races, you may want to skip this section 🙂
As a side note, Sifan Hassan’s women’s marathon victory, just 36 hours after RACING to a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters and a few days after a bronze medal in the 5,000 medal is other worldly! The longer she stayed in the lead pack, the more I liked her chances with her obvious kicker advantage, and that’s precisely what unfolded – INCREDIBLE!!!
By the way, I encourage all of you to share your reflections from watching the Olympics with your fellow runners! They only come around every 4 years which make them that much more special to seek out the meaning they have for the human spirit and what we can aspire to, through these gifted and dedicated athletes, if even for a brief moment in time…
There were many races that got me super excited enough to yell at the TV while watching the real life unscripted drama unfold. 3 stand out in terms that I actually got out of my chair and jumped up and down, cheering loudly & passionately, fully immersed in the moment of ‘what if’ for these unexpected jaw dropping performances!
1) The 10,000 meters men’s race was off-the-charts with more than a dozen runners from several countries all going full bore for the ENTIRE race. I’ve never seen so many in contention for a medal while holding an Olympic RECORD pace from the get go. The collective spirit to draw so many to risk it all is something I’ve never seen in watching races for 40 years. It was refreshing to suspend all belief in reality and live through their highest hopes as they kept going as hard as they could, lap after lap.
I was super impressed with American Nico Young who had such an agony ridden look on his face that he not only looked to drop off from the pack at any moment, but also to drop out of the race. Yet, lap after lap, he stuck at the back end of the lead pack until the 25th and final lap – WOW!!! At that point, when the lead pack upped the pace for a 400+ meter all out assault, he simply didn’t have an extra gear, having used up all his ‘bullets’ – there’s still honor in going beyond what you thought you could handle!
I started screaming “Come On, Grant!” over and over while jumping up and down hysterically as our American Grant Fisher hung near the front while the pack of a dozen started finally dwindling in the final 200 meters. I raised my arms in the air and whooped it up for at least a few minutes as he incredibly managed a bronze medal!
How would you like to have broken the Olympic record, and yet, have 12 other guys finish ahead of you? That summed up the intensity of this race with 13 men dipping under the record, all while pushing each other to the very end – AMAZING!
I STRONGLY recommend that everyone take the time to watch this race from start to finish and turn up the volume all the way to let the excitement of the announcers get you even more fired up. Then, abandon all reason and become the ‘fanatic’ loony that gives yourself quite a rush to cheer like crazy!!! It’s quite a ride!
Running Lesson – Grant had reached a plateau with this performances against the top runners around the world in recent years. He changes everything (coaches, training methods, living conditions, etc.) up in hopes of getting a better result. Most important, he developed a BELIEF that he belonged with the big dogs. All those hours of dedicated practice towards perfecting his craft, all while staying healthy and hungry (half the battle!), worked out beautifully as he mustered a final kick on top of the final 1.5 lap surge on top of the sustained Olympic record pace to achieve his dream. Read the last part of this sentence again to digest the enormity of this achievement!
What makes his story even more remarkable was that he came back 1 week later to also take the bronze in the 5,000 meters – a feat no other American has ever achieved, let alone just a small handful of athletes who have medaled in both the 5 and 10!
He climbed a mountain for which he and we can all be proud of for the rest of our lives! That all the sacrifice was worth it! He deserves a well earned vacation to reflect on this off-the-charts double achievement. Then, later on, he can dream up his next adventure 🙂
2) The 1,500 meters men’s race – This was the most hyped race with the last Olympic Champion, Jakob Ingebrigsten, and the last World Champion, Josh Kerr, going back and forth with a war of words – rare for distance runners, especially 2 at the same time at the top of their game. Before the race, at my Monday morning group run, I predicted that the 3 Americans in the race (a first in Olympic history for all 3 from our country to make a 1,500 meter final) would place in the top 5. Of course, I had no idea the placing or order. I just know what I saw in the heats – that they looked strong enough to be right up there with the favorites.
This was the classic race between the strong runner vs. the kicker. Jakob’s best shot at winning was to try to take the kick out of Josh. Josh had one objective, to stick close enough to Jakob and then unleash his lethal kick at the end. Everyone in the race knew this and were off the hook with no pressure on them, including our 3 Americans. Cole Hocker was like Josh in that he was a kicker while Yared Naguse was a strong runner like Jakob and Hobbs Kessler was a mix of the two.
Within 50 yards, Jakob ran to the front and proceeded to push the pack through the fastest 1st lap in the history of all championship 1,500 meter races (World or Olympic) – a sub 55 second lap – WOW! He keeps up this madman pace with a 1:51 800 meter mark. Not surprisingly, one of the Kenyans who was right on his shoulder soon falls all the way off the pace. It was nice to see that at least 1 guy reached his limits during the race, even as he went for broke to test his upper limits and risk everything.
This off-the-charts pace was maintained going into the 4th and final lap. And yet, Jakob had not shaken Josh with the 3 Americans and 1 Kenyan also in the mix – unbelievable!!!
Having gotten out of my seat by the 1st lap, by this time, I’m staring at the TV dumbstruck and wide eyed repeatedly yelling “NO WAY!” (or something like that!).
In the final 125 meters, Cole starts his kick and tries to nudge Jakob out of the inside of lane 1 so he can go, but Jakob doesn’t budge, so he wisely turns off the jets. Yet, when Josh starts his kick on the outside, Jakob tries to respond by pushing him further to the outside. This, of course, opens up a lane for Cole and unbelievably, he restarts his kick again, and catches and passes both Jakob and Josh in the final meters! Meanwhile Yared goes to the outside of all 3 guys and also manages to pass Jakob while gaining on Josh, just missing out on the silver at the line but still achieving the bronze!
Poor old Jakob ends up serving as the de facto rabbit and places 4th, but he makes the race the epic contest that it became with an Olympic record being achieved. He gets his redemption a few days later when he wins the 5,000 meters. In the meantime, Hobbs Kessler is the best of the rest with his sub 3:30 5th place finish! This is the first time since 1912 that 2 Americans medaled in the 1,500 meters.
Oh yeah, I took my yelling and jumping up a notch so that I’m certain that anyone outside could clearly hear this kooky old man going nuts! Frankly, how could you not?!? What an amazing rapid fire series of events that unfolded to make this quite the unexpected result with our Americans wisely flying under the radar and letting their running do all the talking! You all gotta watch this race!!!
Running Lesson – It’s one thing to be confident in your training and capabilities. It’s an entirely different thing to put it out there in public, especially if it involves any version of putting down your competitors. You set yourself up as the villian while providing bulletin board material for your competitors who can wait to try and make you eat your words. This is why I’m not a fan of the sprinters who become equal parts world class talkers / world class athletes.
I so enjoyed the lack of pressure and attention paid to our 3 Americans and it paid off. They had no pressure with all the incentives to prove their detractors wrong.
At the same time, when it comes to racing, you should always go with the strategy that will give you the best chance for achieving your goal. This is where you’ll strive to reach a balance between the art & science of racing and let results guide your actions. Bet on yourself, by all means, just be both brains and brawn about it.
Jakob went with the strategy that most agreed was his best chance to win. He admitted that he went out a little too fast. By winding up the pace vs. starting out so hard, he may have been able to eke out another half to full second faster, putting his competitors in even greater distress before that final straightaway. In any case, he gave it his best shot and that’s all you can ask for. Kudos to everyone in that race for having the courage to test their limits on such a public stage!
3) The 3,000 meter men’s steeplechase – This was another race with 2 heavy favorites – Soufiane El Bakkali and Lamecha Girma. El Bakkali had won the past 2 world championships and last Olympics with Girma finishing 2nd all 3 times. With 2 additional Ethiopians in the race, it was obvious that their number 1 goal was to help their countryman, Girma, try to achieve the gold medal after coming so close on multiple occasions. Besides, he is the current world record holder in this event.
Given the Girma is a strong runner while El Bakkali is a kicker, the tactics unfolded similarly as the 1,500 meters, a very strong pace from the get go. While all attention was focused on the 2 favorites, our lone Amercian, Kenneth Rooks, hung at the back of the pack throughout the race. Absolutely NO one gave Rooks a shot at the medals. He was supposed to be part of the field that filled out the rest of the race and made the favorites look good – a bona fide long shot who was lucky to even make the final.
And yet, in the 2nd to last lap, he starts to move up with El Bakkali who had also been positioned near the back of the pack. It was very interesting to watch his reaction on trying to decide what to do when it came to moving up alongside EL Bakkali and either pass him or fall in behind him. He chose the latter and deferred to the favorite.
As they approached the final lap, the Ethiopians unexpectedly decided to stop working for Girma. From that point on, it would be every man for themself with so many in contention for a medal. As a result, the pace suddenly slowed as no one wanted to take the lead and be the ‘rabbit’ for everyone else.
Out of nowhere, here comes Kenneth, who takes off and bolts into the lead. As he passes the lead Ethiopian, the Ethiopian gives him a look like ‘who the heck are you?’, which shows how little he thought of this American who has the audacity to try to steal the show from the favorite!
And yet, that’s precisely what Rooks does. He GOES FOR BROKE with 400 meters to go. Of all the moments that made me jump out of my chair, this evoked the strongest visceral response from me as it was the MOST unexpected thing I saw in any of the races.
Here was the crazy American, laying it all on the line, in a way in which 9 out of 10 times, it won’t end well. Races are won by the favorites with their superior talent and confidence, not by unknowns. And yet, here was this unknown, about to find out….
As he GAPS the lead pack, it puts everyone into panic mode as they all scramble to catch up. And yet, except for El Bakkali, they cannot. He holds them off, one excruciating moment after the next running wide eyed as he strains for sucking down whatever oxygen he can muster. Even El Bakkali struggles to pass him all the way to the final hurdle. Girma is so caught off guard that he mistimes his jump and lands hard after tripping on one of those immovable hurdles.
By now I am jumping up and down and screaming at the top of my lungs imploring Rooks to finish what he started. Let me tell you, what a beautiful moment to see someone have the balls to shock everyone, including himself, and TRULY GO ALL IN!!! In that moment, he is running BEYOND his self imposed upper limits and discovering what his new limits are – amazing!!!!
After the final hurdle, a Kenyan is gaining on Rooks for 2nd while El Bakkali pulls away. But, Rooks manages to find one more kick to eke out of his already 100% spent body and somehow holds off the Kenyan for the SILVER MEDAL!
This was, BY FAR, the most incredible out of nowhere moment I witnessed on the track. I hope EVERYONE watches this race!!! Kenneth Rooks, you are my hero! It’s a race Prefontaine would have been super proud of!
Running Lesson – While training is the time to settle on your ‘sweet spot’ of effort so that you build up while avoiding the risk of breaking down, racing is the one time where you can take more chances to the extent you have a challenging goal, whether it’s to finish or finish in a certain time or achieve a certain placing.
A race is the time to discover who you are and what you are made of. Having shared this, I’m intimately aware of the pain and discomfort one must choose to endure in order to come out the other end having a better understanding of your limits. As a result, as soon as the pain overrides the motivation, we relent and scale back the effort to ‘survive and advance’.
Every now and then, though, it’s good to keep fighting and see just how much more you can take and keep moving forward. As much as I talk about running smart races, I also believe that part of that valuable experience can be gained in ‘going for it’ in at least a few of your races and seeing what happens.
I have been fortunate to do so on a few occasions and have surprised myself by doing more than I thought I could, such is the nature of the gray area of suffering past a known (i.e. good enough) point. So much that I know understand the role that motivation plays in performance. If I feel extra motivation, I’ll go for it. If I don’t, I won’t.
Kenneth had extra motivation and went for it. He ran beyond what he thought and achieved a 9 second PR at the race of his life while achieving a Silver medal with only the steeplechaser who is considered the greatest of all time, finishing ahead of him. It was very interesting to see Rooks get ignored by his competitors after the race – maybe they were a little shocked and embarrassed that this unknown had beat them. El Bakkali was the only one who came up to congratulate him with a hearty hug while likely sharing a few complimentary words. And you know what, that’s all who really mattered to Rooks!
Alright, let me leave you with this. Here’s a clip of the final women’s finisher in the marathon. What an enduring response from so many spectators who stuck around to watch her finish, with many walking alongside her as she struggled to make it to the finish line. If this doesn’t get you emotional to watch the resiliency of the human spirit in action, down to the last finisher, as well as the collective response to this in real time by the rest of us ‘mortals’ who watch our heroes give it their all, nothing else will!
Streaker Update – Congratulations to Ryan Kimbrell (734 days) for reaching the 2 year mark!
Great job to the following people for keeping their daily exercise streaks going: Michael Andersen (27 days), Laura May (107 days), Scotty Todd (470 days), Megan Hamilton (593 days), Karen Hayse (960 days), Sarah Johnson & Sylvia Davison (1,172 days), Eric Leigel (1,406 days), Greg Schultz (1,545 days), Kenny Miller (1,546 days) Amanda Bradford (1,568 days), Kallie Flexman (1,569 days), John Pitzel (1,583 days), Rebecca Kandt (1,595 days), Dawña Garza (1,609 days), Chau Smith (1,612 days), Micah Jacobsen (2,161 days), Stephanie Michaelis (2,660 days), Tomi Duffett (2,832 days), Ken Skrien (3,038 days), Emily Lott Viebrock (3,182 days), John Crum (3,188 days), Cheryl Lentz (3,639 days), Ben Chan (4,161 days)!
We invite you to consider crafting any type of streak that helps you release stress while boosting your health and joining us for positive accountability but keeping it simple with trusting in the ‘honor system’. I’m happy to add you to our list!
Have a great week!
Eladio Valdez III