Running on Empty

Today’s’ article could be considered a Part 2. Or not. Whatever. Here is the link to “Part 1”:

http://yourbestfitnesscoach.blogspot.com/2009/11/mad-as-hell.html

This was written after I had won a lame race in Clermont. I ran really slow but yet finished way ahead of the next person. Some people thought I was wrong to be mad. Most people just didn’t realize how much the quality of runners has gone to pot.

Trust me. It has. I have proof!

I ran around 67 minutes for the 10 Miler in Clermont last year. Again, most people thought that was good but I KNEW otherwise.

The other day I was digging though some old papers and I found a newsletter from the club that I used to run for: Cape Cod Athletic Club. The newsletter had some results!

Back then they used to put on 5k fun runs hosted by members of the club. The entry fee was like $3 and there was plenty of food and beer afterwards. Now, let’s be clear: There events were at people’s houses. No sponsors. No real awards. No water stations. No police escorts; just club members showing up and following arrows around the neighborhood. What follows is the top 10 from one of those fun runs:

5k Jingle Jog. December 22, 1992.
1. Scott Yakola 15:08
2. Andy Rogovin 15:54
3. Rick Copley 16:11 (I had all my hair then to!)
4. Barry Merrill 16:35
5. Ron Cavage 16:55
6. Don Bates 17:08
7. Troy Stack 17:19
8. Carl Tourjee 17:24
9. Mike Sellars 17:37
10. John Davidson 17:39

Do I need to go on?

I was in this race and others from that winter. It was cold and the courses were crappy. What is with the times? Don’t even ask about the distance. It was a legit 5k.
A few weeks ago I won the Faith Lutheran 5k in Eustis. I ran 17:56 and won by quite a bit. Where are all the runners?

When I was 19 I was obviously faster than I am now. I ran in the 15:40 range at my fastest. When I was running the circuit then Carl Toujee wasn’t any good! Ha! We all thought he was slow. 17:24? Really! Now he would win every local race and be thought of as fast.

So what happened in the last 20 years?

I grew up on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. There was a running race every weekend all year round and there were NEVER less that 50 people in a race! Most of the bigger weekend races had 100-500 people. Why did 10 people show up for the race in Tavares a couple of weeks ago? Why did only 5 people break 20 minutes in the Faith Lutheran Race?

I have some theories. What is yours? Please leave a comment below and click FOLLOW in the upper left hand corner of the blog page!