Kudos on a great article there Glen, and here are a few of my observations
for the rest of you if you're interested.
(It's been awhile since I have posted anything, but that is what happens
when you step out into real life from the college scene.)
I rememeber when I was looking at respective schools to run at Fresno
Pacific college was an interested party in having myself coming down and
training to become a 'marathon' guy for their program. Obviously 1, being
NAIA was a turn-off, and 2, a "marathon" was overwhelming when initially
considering the training that I thought would be involved. Now no
disrespect to the NAIA schools, I was an incoming college freshman at the
time. Since being only a ho-hum high school runner I could see where the
coach was coming from in recruiting guys of my ability, but realistically
since the marathon is not a common event throughout the NCAA it seemed
almost like an extreme event.
However, after my tours of duty through Eastern Washington University and
eventually Washington State University, both programs had mileage centered
around 70-80 miles a week for most 5k/10k guys. Personally, I and a few
others thought that wasn't enough and generally tried to go relatively long
on Sunday with a few morning runs to center us 'longer' guys around 90-100
at our peak mid-winter. While I don't consider myself gifted compared to
former teammates such as Nick Rogers and Bernard Legat, many collegiate
programs are not that far away from grooming maybe the occasional few who
could make an impact on the marathoning scene. With over 300+ DI schools
out there, adjusting training in a fashion to appeal to those non 'top 7'
cross country guys around the marathon could be a positive thing. This idea
could provide a deeper distance program for their own team, provide some
potential on the marathon horizon, and while perhaps losing a few is
inevitable...in the end a base from which to build has at least been
established.
--Randall Edens -3-
GO COUGS!!!
GO NCK ROGERS!!!
GO BERNARD LAGAT!!!
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