So I don’t want to use this place as a name drop, but some of the interactions I’ve had over the past 6 months have been too cool not to share with all of you. I’ve been working in the athletic department at UCLA for about a year and a half now, and one of the biggest perks of my job has been the interaction with various alumni/coaches in the running community. Fortunately for me, UCLA happens to have one of the, if not THE, best track program in the history of collegiate athletics. I work in the development portion of the athletic department, which basically raises money for various entities around campus. As each of us handle individual sport donations as well, I made it a point to work with the Track & Field teams – while I work with men and women, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the men on a far larger scale. Below are some of the interactions of who I’ve gotten to speak with and some notes about them:
Meb Keflezighi – Mostly known for winning the 2009 New York City Marathon, Meb trains in Mammoth, CA which is a few hours from Los Angeles. He comes back a few times a year, and is always great to talk to. Each time I meet him, he reminds me of the first (and only) time he ran at Nebraska in which he was forced to warm up and cool down in negative degree whether….he apparently made the most of it, because he got in trouble making snow angels. He will of course be running the Boston Marathon coming up, and based on last year’s results (he was 5th with a hurt knee and trained on low mileage). His coach, Bob Larsen is around quite a bit and mentioned that Meb will try to run NYC and the Olympic trials next year. Obviously there is not a great deal of money in long distance running, so it’s important to get paid when possible, but with only a few months separating the two, it should be interesting to see what happens.
Johnny Gray – He is the middle distance coach at UCLA and is making some serious waves in the early stages of his coaching career. He also happens to be one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. For those of you that don’t know, he is the current American record holder in the 800 and a four time Olympian. While he retired twice, it is a resounding “no” when asked if he misses running at all. He told me that he was making his comeback (at age 41) and did 15×400 at 55 seconds each, and decided he was done. The most interesting thing about him to me was that he was a 2:06 guy going into his senior year of high school – by the end of his senior year, he ran 1:52. There is no doubt he will be one of the best coaches in the country in the next few years…
Rafer Johnson – I’m too young to ever know what he meant to the world, not just track and field, but from the reception he gets where ever he goes out here – I can only imagine. One of the greatest athletes to ever live, he won the gold in the 1960 decathlon. In addition to his multiple Olympics appearances’ he was drafted by the Rams (NFL) and played basketball at UCLA. Through my conversations with Rafer, he never ceases to amaze me. No matter the topic, he has a story….and it will most likely be better than yours. He lives his life now, “trying to fill the day up” and has never turned down an appearance or speaking engagement. He now focuses very heavily on the special Olympics and will forever be a large part of track and field.
While these 3 guys have many differences as far as their accolades in regards to running, it is always astounding to meet people who have done such tremendous things – and have done them the right way. Learning philosophies or thoughts of other great athletes or coaches can not only be educational, but can be inspiring as well.
