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| Monthly Mishmash Expiration Date: November 22 Run-ins with Renown Runners... Geoff P on Jeff G et alThis month’s ramblings on renowned runners comes courtesy of Florida’s Geoff Pietsch and picks up on last month’s query of whether Jeff Galloway is a cult leader. Read on to learn about Galloway’s former life as—get this—a serious running advocate, and Geoff’s contribution to the universal epic, "BR is the Man." Your Web site—well, the C.D. selections—makes me feel old.
Don’t know why—just because I ran the old Washington Marathon in Beltsville in
’67 and ’68 when you were a wee (wee weeing?) toddler and I was already 29/30.
But I like your lists of stuff you don’t like since I share most of your dislikes.
Can’t say about the C.D.s since I haven’t even heard of most of ’em. But,
hey, I’m cool. I coached Mike Malinin, the drummer for the Goo Goo Dolls, when he was
in high school. He wasn’t fast though his older brother was good. Mike’s a
dedicated runner now—and I’ve learned who the Goo Goo Dolls are. |
| afternoon run. Jeff drove us in "Mobley"
—his Volvo with 300,000 miles on it. Couldn’t get back up over the pass unless
we stopped to let the engine cool. Jeff had never made more than $7-8,000 dollars in a
year at that point (he said) and he turned 30 that year. Clearly he does a lot better
nowadays (there’s hope for running bums). Oh, and we didn’t take any walking
breaks in those days. He hadn’t found "the truth" at that point, I guess.
Actually, I think it’s great that he gets so many people to run as much as they do; I
just would find it boring. I’m too competitive by nature.Which leads to how I got to know your co-author, Bill Rodgers. The Miami News
(evening newspaper, deceased a decade ago) found me to be their running columnist for
their weekly People/Sports section. It wasn’t a match made in heaven since they
wanted joggers tips and I wanted... well, you know. Anyway, Bill came to Miami to promote
the old Orange Bowl Marathon and I "interviewed" him by going on some easy
10-milers with him. He is amazing, as I’m sure you know. When he left town after a
couple of days, and three runs, he offered me his home phone number. (I would never have
asked). This was in ’78, I think, when he was #1 in the world and the marathon was
hitting it big and he was in so much demand. The last thing he needed was people like me
calling him up and taking his time. A final anecdote along that line: We kept in touch occasionally, and in ’80 I wrote him to ask if he’d be agreeable to my establishing a Bill Rodgers Award for my cross country kids, and, if so, what criteria he’d like for it. He agreed, said he was flattered, and said he’d like it to go to "the runner who loves running the most." We’ve given it out ever since. That first year I wrote to him to tell him about the two kids who were sharing it since I thought he might be interested. We gave the major sports awards in an end-of-the-year banquet; I wrote him in April to describe the kids. A bit later I got a response from him including two notes—one for each kid, personalized—which I would never have asked him to do, but which the kids treasured. Oh, and the notes were postmarked about two days after he’d won another Boston, been on the Today show, etc. I think they were sent from Dallas, actually. Yet he took the time to write those kids. Amazing. One of the two wound up being the best kid I ever coached, by far. Billy Convey. Graduated the year after you from high school. Ran 4:08.3 at Golden West and 8:57.5 at Florida Relays in ’83. Excerpts from Bill Rodgers’ Biography, as Ghostwritten by Dr. Seuss My name is Bill Rodgers; Bill, I am; But late in my 30s, I had to shift gears, This month’s correspondence consists of a
three-way (hey, get your mind out of the gutter!) initiated when site visitor Phil Wilhelm
copied an old column from the Articles section and sent it
along to a nonrunning friend. Follow the bouncing ball for the kind of digital dialogue
that delights (me, at least). And keep those missives, including the dissenting ones,
coming to scottdouglas@mindspring.com. Phil Wilhelm Phil, Frank, Phil, Scott Scott, At any rate, a little sarcasm and quick wit is always welcome in conversation. I do have one more question to ask though, based on your theory of "reward for amount of adversity over come." As you get older and run slower and shorter distances, will you drink fewer beers? Is the reward directly proportionate to the output? Good luck and keep running and drinking. This has been fun. Phil Overlooked Band o' the Month... Another defunct one this month—this is no doubt an unneeded sign of my encroaching geezerdom—but at least the main members are still active individually and, lately, jointly tripping down Nostalgia Lane with two-man acoustic shows. In other words, The GoBetweens, courtesy of the land of so many great bands, Australia. When I first heard them in 1987, I thought, "They’re either 19 or 35." That sense of mature freshness continues to come through in their music several hundred listens lately. Intelligent lyrics about the world’s injustices, mostly the romantic type; wonderful capturings of the various shadings of giddiness that accompany a new love; the requisite nice-boy pining to be appreciated for, well, being a nice boy—these themes run through nearly all of the six official GoBetweens releases. Add in sometimes pluckish, sometimes lush, always tuneful music, and is it any wonder they never sold any records? After all, what’s the gimmick, besides brains and beauty? The band packed it in after 1988’s "16 Lovers Lane" went, criminally, nowhere commercially. Leaders Robert Forster and Grant McLennan have released a slew of solo CDs, Forster fashioning himself into a faux countryish singer, McLennan continuing, seemingly effortlessly, to pump out perfect pop. McLennan has also twice teamed with Church lead singer Steve Kilbey to release good stuff under the name Jack Frost. For GoBetweens neophytes, two options: Start with "16 Lovers Lane," get hooked, then explore the rest of the catalog, which was rereleased in 1996. Or go with the recently released compilation "Bellavista Terrace," which contains 14 of their most accessible songs. See www.beggars.com. All-Time Top 20 CDs (for this month, at least)... In alphabetical order by artist, sure to change long before this month's expiration date. (In fact, they'll probably change by the time I'm done typing them.)
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