Over the course of the previous twelve years I had my share of highs and lows. Athletic careers are like a tough cross country course. Mine was no different, I enjoyed a modicum of success. I did not achieve my ultimate goals, winning the Boston Marathon and making an Olympic Team. I did live the…

As 1985 came to a close I was ready to leave my athletic shoe company position and re-enroll at the University of Lowell as an undergraduate student majoring in American Studies. I would also become the Head Coach for Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field.   It was difficult to leave the highest paying…

When I began my serious pursuit of athletics in 1976/77, I could hardly imagine where it would lead. Would I ever become capable of winning the Boston Marathon or making the Olympic Team? I thought a lot about it on my cross country excursion in 1977 and became determined to pursue this dream “quest.” I…

In late 1983 I had reached a low ebb with my running but I knew what I had to do, if I could. In November 83 after just beginning to resume a good running schedule I was felled by a bad blister on my heal which became infected. I would miss several days before resuming…

1982 had been a very successful year and had ended on a high note with a 9th place finish in the National Cross Country and a 5th place finish, six days later at Fukuoka. I had planned a week of R&R in Hawaii after the marathon but had trouble changing my airline ticket without being severely penalized.…

A Marathon victory, a 10k Best, and an Unexpected Appearance in the USA v USSR T&F Meet After spending the last month of 1980 and the first few months of 1981 re-grouping from the worst injury of my athletics career, I was training with renewed intensity and had my sights set on the Beppu, Japan marathon in…

I began the year hobbling around on my strained/torn adductor through snow drifts on icy cold roads. I balanced this with swimming and strengthening exercises with weights and in the pool. One physiotherapist I visited, and I visited several , gave me a pair of neoprene trunks which I wore for support. Most of the…

In early 1977, during my junior year at the University Of Lowell in my hometown of Lowell, Mass., I made the difficult decision to leave school and travel across the country with two friends, visiting places of interest, hiking some trails, and running – always running. To finance this trip, I got a job in…

Immediately after the Twin Cities Marathon in October 1986, I began to focus on the World Cross Country Trials to be held in February in Dallas. I was also looking ahead to the 1988 Olympic Marathon Trial and thought that training for this event would make a good start to that preparation. 1986 had been…

Tribute to Arthur Lydiard Rich Englehart THANK YOU, ARTHUR. I HOPE THEY DON’T SERVE FISH IN THE AFTERLIFE. In 1977, I was living in Washington, DC, immediately around the corner from the house where Ed Ayres was starting Running Times Magazine on the ultimate shoestring budget. Occasionally, I’d go and help out. My “payment” was…