LIVE OR DIE

Just two easy 5 mile runs today, including some strides during the second run.

Normally I don’t bother registering on a website in order to read an article. However, when the Duluth News Tribune published an article on one of Minnesota’s all-time great runners, I went ahead and registered. Chances are you never heard of Dr. Alex Ratelle if you live outside of Minnesota. That’s because he didn’t begin running seriously until he was 40 years old. But you can bet when someone runs 2:30:40 at the age of 56, people will take notice. Hopefully, you’ll check it out. If not, you can expect 3 great quotes from the article over the next week or so.

Anyway, it’s that time of year again, time for Grandma’s Marathon. Is it just me or does the weather in Duluth always look the same on Gma's weekend? 55 for the low, 75-80 for the high, clear skies, and a N/NW wind that never seems like a tailwind. Considering we’ve had about 2 days in the 80s this year, hopefully it won’t be too bad for the runners.

Although I’m not running, I’m heading up late tonight in order to watch and provide some coverage on Down the Backstretch. The course layout – basically a straight line – will make it difficult to spectate and report, but I’ll do my best.

Thanks to Jim for this article regarding the pressure on the Chinese athletes to perform well in Beijing. No thanks.

Oh yeah, after complaining yesterday about the difficulty in finding a good list regarding who's in the trials, the USATF began updating their site. Provisional names aren't listed as qualified or not yet, but it seems up to date regarding who has declared and who has scratched.

Quote of the day;

“During the first half of the marathon you’re afraid you’re going to die and during the second half you’re afraid you’re going to live.” – Alex Ratelle, talking about the effort to run 2:30 at age 56.