Top 5 Running Memories #3 Running in Kenya

 I was lucky to go to Kenya early in 2002 as part of a running tour with the Discovery Kenya team from Fila.

The Highlights

We were invited to lunch by Moses Tanui. I just remember shaking as we walked up the steps. Moses is a Champion among Champions. 2 Time Boston Marathon winner, first runner under 60 minutes for the 1/2 marathon. 2 time world Champion. World Records on the track. He had a wonderful career and here I was eating lunch at his house. It was simply an amazing day to be with such a humble man who once took it out on any runner who tried to beat him. Moses could live anywhere in the world with the winnings he had but he chose to live in Eldoret, Kenya where he can further the lives of people through running. 

Running with Paul Tergat. A humble man with some very fast legs. At the time Paul was the Current World Cross Country Champion (Many times over). It was such fun running with this man. Everyone knew him and waved to him. I mean everyone young and old. He was a legend then and the legend only grew when he ran 2:04:55 in Berlin.

But the real highlight of the trip was a group run. There were 20-30 runners who started out. The run started on a mountain road at 8,000 feet elevation. It finished 15K later at 10,000 feet. The record for the run was in the 49 minute range. The run finished at a high elevation running camp where injured runners or runners not in competition form stayed. They had no electricity or running water. We took showers under buckets and were fed a feast by the runners. It was fresh lamb and lots of Kenyan flat bread. It was simply an amazing day of running.

It's a good life….

Top 5 Running Memories #2 Ironman World Championships

It was October 1988. There were three of us there to do the Ironman World Championships. Tim Sheeper, Mark "Monty" Montgomery and Myself. Both Sheeper and I were new to the race and the distance. Monty had attempted Kona many times but never finished. In fact his DNF's are stories all of their own.

There was no training plan, we just went hard daily and worked at night. We all arrived skinny. Me, I was 129lbs. Monty was the swimmer and Cyclist, Tim the all around athlete and me just a guy exceeding goals. The anticipation was crazy race week. When the cannon sounded relaxation took over.

Out of the water in good shape I got on the bike and started riding hard. At the 10 mile mark I passed Sheeper puking on the side of the road. He had swallowed too much salt water. At the turn around in Hawi a guy introduced himself. Kevin Moats had finished in the top 15 a couple times. He said "Don't worry, everyone takes it out too fast, they will all come back on the way into town. " Uh Oh, maybe that was me too. At the Scenic point, Sheeper went roaring by me. I didn't see him again until the turn around of the run. He was way in front of me.  I calmed down and tried to conserve for the marathon I had never run.

Off the bike I felt great. I took off running and I was running well. I caught Monty on the way up Palani (this was roughly 6 miles into the run this year). Monty says "Dave this isn't a 10K, you are going too fast." I looked over at him with a quizzical look and just said "Finish the darn thing Monty". Well he was right, at the half way point I hit a wall. For the next 7 miles it was run between the aid stations and then it became walk between them and then run the aid stations. Somehow through that I kept my head. At mile 20 my legs came back and running became "easy" again. I ran down Palani and could hear the finish. I hit Ali'i drive and tears started gushing out. I could not believe I survived the thing. It changed my life forever. Mostly good and somewhat obsessive. I overcame what just 2 years before I claimed "Those people are stupid".

Sheeper finished strong and it was great to see him racing there again in 2013. A bit older but just as fast. Monty finished for the first time. It was amazing that the three of us had done all the training, listened to Monty death in Kona stories and all kept the goal in mind, Finish.

It's a good life...

Top 5 Running Memories: #1 Father-Son

At dinner the other night I asked everyone at the table to give their top 3 running memories. I love to hear the stories. I have a top 5 and I will treasure them forever.

This is Marco (a bit younger than today) at the famous Berlin Track where Jesse Owens made history. It's an amazing place to walk around. But that's not the story.

My favorite running memory is on going. Any time Marco asks to run with me. Typically it's on Sunday when he needs to run 1 hour or more. We always have a great time. It's a time for Father and Son to bond and we both love it.

It's a good life...