FEBRUARY 2012

Fully
Fit
RUNNERSWORLD.COM
WORLDS LEADING
RUNNING MAGAZINE
TOTAL
-
BODY
WORKOUTS TO
BEGINNERS
Recharge Your
RunningAnd
Stick With It!
10
Best Winter
Foods For
Runners
BUILD YOUR BASE
The Benets of More
Miles, Less Intensity
Beer Run!
The Surprising
Truth About
Exercise & Alcohol
POST
-
RUN
PAIN?
Stretches &
Remedies
PAGE 38
30th ANNIVERSARY
Chariots of Fire
How a Hollywood
Rebel and His Inspired
Cast Made History
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Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher &
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P. 54
Even though he lives in
Los Angeles, DAVID SIIK
is a year-round treadmill
user. In fact, the running
coach (who will make his
26.2-mile debut this year)
regularly advocates the
benets of the mill and
indoor running in general
to his students. Siik, 31,
spent about ve years
researching his upcoming
book about treadmill
running. I denitely
practice what I preach.
PHOTOGRAPHED exclusively for RUNNERS WORLD by
DYLAN COULTER in New York
4 RAVE RUN
8 EDITORS LETTER
8 CONTRIBUTORS
10 RUNNING COMMENTARY
13 HUMAN RACE Two moms train for
a shot at the U.S. Olympic team.
PLUS: The Intersection (14)
What It Takes To... (16)
Ask Miles (17)
Back Story: Lukas Verzbicas (17)
PERSONAL BEST
19 THE WARMUP Heres how you can
rule the great indoors this season.
20 TRAINING Fun ways to stoke your
winter treadmill workouts.
28 FUEL Unsung fruits and vegetables
can be stars in a runners diet.
35 MIND + BODY Meet your goals with
the help of the right training partner.
COLUMNS
40 THE NEWBIE CHRONICLES Shhh!
I just ran 9 miles (and didnt hate it).
By Marc Parent
44 ROAD SCHOLAR A run with total
strangers can be, well, eerily thrilling.
By Peter Sagal
FEATURES
46 TOTALLY FIT This new, intense
cross-training plan can give you extra
strength and speed for the long haul.
By Selene Yeager
54 BEER RUN! A (somewhat) scientic
look at how a postrun pint (or two)
impacts your favorite activity.
By Christie Aschwanden
2012 OLYMPIC TRIALS
60 SHE CAN DO IT! Desi Davila brings
her Boston-tested, blue-collar work
ethic (and the best QT) to Houston.
By Bruce Barcott
68 THE COMEBACK KID Fit at last,
Dathan Ritzenhein wants to win.
By Christine Fennessy
70 IN CHARIOTS THEY RAN Behind
the scenes of the Oscar-winning lm.
By John McLaughlin
81 GEAR Five wallet-friendly treadmills.
91 RACES + PLACES New Mexicos Mt.
Taylor Quad will test...everything.
104 IM A RUNNER Ben Gibbard, lead
singer of Death Cab for Cutie.
Interview by Amy Reinink
HOME STRETCH
Dathan Ritzenhein in
Oregon. See page 68.
February2012
LOCATION Copper Mountain, Colorado
PHOTOGRAPH BY Ren Pirolt
RUNNER Lisa Harper
THE EXPERIENCE Tenmile Canyon
National Recreation Trail, a no-vehicles-
permitted paved route, is dened by
its towering trees and tranquil streams.
The trail rises to 10,000 feet, but at
some of its lower points, open elds
ofer the best views. Thats where you
can actually see the mountains while
youre in the mountains, Harper says.
FOR DIRECTIONS AND RESOURCE INFORMA-
TION, VISIT RUNNERSWORLD.COM/
RAVERUN. FOR RAVE RUN IMAGES, VISIT
RUNNERSWORLD.COM/WALLPAPER.
5 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Geoffrey Mutais record-setting win was an appropriate
nish to an eventful 2011 ING New York City Marathon.
In the days leading up to the race, RUNNERS WORLD hosted
a red carpet party, exclusive giveaways, book signings,
shake-out runs, and the International Shoe Summit.
The star-studded RUNNERS WORLD party on Friday,
November 4 was a highlight of the weekend and
included a special commemoration for RUNNERS WORLDs
own Editor at Large Amby Burfoot, who was awarded
the prestigious George Hirsch Journalism Award by the
New York Road Runners.
Later, a special tribute video was shown to honor the
inspirational life and career of Grete Waitz, a running
icon who won nine ING New York City Marathons and an
Olympic medal before losing her battle to cancer in 2011
at the age of 57.
More than 350 attended the gala event, including
Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes, world champion
hurdler Lolo Jones, Olympian and Steeplechase record
holder Jenny Simpson (Barringer), two-time USA
Outdoor 5000-meter champion Lauren Fleshman, and
president and chief executive ofcer of New York
Road Runners Mary Wittenberg, among others.
The RUNNERS WORLD booth at the Health and Fitness
Expo was a popular stop as runners enjoyed free
samples of Emergen-C and entered for a chance to win
a Suunto training package and a free set of wireless
headphones from Jabra. Attendees also met up with
their favorite editors and authors, including Bart Yasso,
Mark Remy, David Willey, and more.
Earlier in the week, the worlds leading shoe
manufacturers went toe-to-toe at the International
Shoe Summit, unveiling new product lines for the global
editors of RUNNERS WORLD. The annual summit concluded
at the RUNNERS WORLD party with the annual presentation
of awards. Shoe of the Year was awarded to the
Asics GT-2160, which was named International Editors
Choice. Other awards included Best Trail Shoe Salomon
Spikecross 3CS and International Best Minimalist
Shoe New Balance Minimus Road.
For a full recap of New York, visit runnersworld.com.
1] RUNNERS WORLD party
guests enjoy themselves at
Providence Restaurant in NYC
2] RUNNERS WORLDs
November cover athlete
Lauren Fleshman with
Editor-in-Chief David Willey
3] RUNNERS WORLDs Tara
Salcido and Alison Brown,
Annie Adams from ASICS,
and ASICS athlete and track
star Lolo Jones
4] Chief Running Ofcer Bart
Yasso with Dave Larson from
Brooks, Shannon Duffy from
Fleet Feet Sports, and Jesse
Williams from Brooks
5] J Schaffer from Nissan,
Alison Brown and Stephanie
Kline from RUNNERS WORLD,
and Jamie Suk from OMD
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PROMOTION
6] The ASICS Global footwear team accepts the
RUNNERS WORLD International Editors Choice award
7] Salomons Jeff Dill and Jean Yves-Couput accept
the RUNNERS WORLD Best Trail Shoe award from
Editor-in-Chief David Willey, Associate Publisher
Molly OKeefe, and Brand Editor Warren Greene
8] New Balances JF Fullum and Tom Carleo accept
the RUNNERS WORLD Best Minimalist Shoe award from
Editor-in-Chief David Willey, Associate Publisher
Molly OKeefe, and Brand Editor Warren Greene
9] Editor at Large Amby Burfoot addresses the crowd
after being honored for receiving the George Hirsch
Journalism Award from the New York Road Runners
10] Editor at Large Amby Burfoot, Editor-in-Chief David
Willey, Chief Running Ofcer Bart Yasso, Publisher
Emeritus George Hirsch, Associate Publisher Molly
OKeefe, and SVP/Publishing Director Chris Lambiase
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JOANNA WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHY
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Kids Are All Right
I

m writing this at noon on a Saturday afer returning from one of

my worst runs ever. I actually only ran for a couple of miles, stopping
and starting again and again for half an hour. I barely broke a sweat
and certainly didnt return in the clearheaded, endorphin-rich state
Ive become accustomed (addicted?) to. But this herky-jerky efort
was also one of my best runs ever, because today I ran with my kids. Its
been happening a lot lately. I change into running clothes or talk to my
wife about when Im going to run, and
one or two or all three of them will say, I
wanna come! In fact, Ive had only a few
solo weekend runs since July, when I
bought Lola, 10, and Tristan, 7, their rst
real running shoes. (Brody, 2, does ne in
Velcro-strap hand-me-downs.)
Lola is a natural, with a long, efortless
stride and perfect form clearly inherited
from her mother, an All-American hur-
dler in college. Running beside her on this
December day, I told her she looked great,
and moments later she was peeking at her
shadow, grinning. She says she wants to
join Girls on the Run and do a 5-K. I asked
what she likes about all of this, and afer
thinking about it for a minute, she said,
You always feel better afer a run.
Tristans limbs seem to get longer by
the week, and when he really pushes it,
his knees sometimes knock together. Lola
can take him in a race, at least for now. But
he loves it more, and hes the one who
joins me most ofen. I can tell he relishes
the physicality, the link between efort
and progress. Holy cow, he said today,
thats the rst time I made it up that hill
without stopping! His shoes, blue and
white out of the box, are now the color of
gravel and wearing through in the toes.
When Brody comes along, he does ev-
erything in his power to keep up. He be-
gins every run in our jogging stroller but
never stays seated for long. The four of us
make quite a picture, Im surea three-
foot toddler chasing his siblings, who are
20 yards ahead, with me bringing up the
rear, pushing an empty baby jogger.
Lest this sound too Norman Rockwell,
heres some reality: My running window
today was 10:30 to 11:45; what with all the
outfit-changing, snack-gathering, and
cajoling into the stroller, we didnt start
until 11:10. But the annoyances quickly
slipped away. Lola spotted a woodpecker,
so we stopped to, you know, commune.
When this whole thing began, I vowed to
keep things light. Five minutes later, Tris
asked for a water break. So we took one.
Clearly this is no way to train. No won-
der I ran a half-marathon in November 11
minutes slower (and a few pounds heavi-
er) than a year ago. My Boston qualier is
feeling farther and farther out of reach.
Alas, running is inherently a selsh act.
Its healthy and life-afrming, yes, but we
do it mostly for ourselves, by ourselves.
This gets tricky when you have kids. Its
hard to get away for a two-hour run, even
harder when they want to come along.
But it isnt easy to give up your run, either.
Still, at least for me, the upside is obvi-
ous. Im sharing something I love with
the most important people in my world,
passing along healthy habits and maybe
something theyll love, too. And I see run-
ning differently now, because my kids
remind me how simple and fun it can be.
Best of all, I see them diferently because
running brings up the curtain on us all in
a way that ordinary life does not. The joys
of running arent always about the run.
BRUCE BARCOTT
What makes Desiree Davila run? Hard work, says
Barcott, who proled the Olympic hopeful in She
Can Do It!(page 60). Desi nds her purpose
within her world, he says. Barcott has also proled
Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan for RW.
EDDIE GUY
For Beer Run!(page 54), a semi-scientic look
at how alcohol efects exercise, Guy found a
humorous approach for the opening photo collage.
Guys creative process involved about 100 sources.
Every aspect of the image needed something.
8
REMEMBER: FUN!
Tristan Willey and his cousin Annika
tearing it up on Lake Michigan.
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9 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
10
GIRL POWER
Members of a Black Girls RUN!
chapter gather in downtown Atlanta.
SURVIVE THE
SEASON
When it gets cold and
blustery, and daylight
becomes scarce, it can
be hard to coax yourself
out for a run. Inclement
weather like snow, sleet,
and ice can make it even
tougher. Our winter-
running page can let you
know what to wear, when
to go, and why braving
the cold is worth it. See
it all at runnersworld.
com/winter.
TRAINING, DAILY
As its name suggests, our newest blog, Training
Daily, is updated every day with the latest news,
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vationat trainingdaily.runnersworld.com.
VIDEO SPOTLIGHT SHOES OF THE FUTURE
Get an early, behind-the-scenes look at this years forth-
coming shoes from Asics, Vibram, Saucony, and more at
runnersworld.com/2012-shoe-preview.
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ALL INCLUSIVE
Why Is Running So White? (December)
brought tears to my eyes and joy to my
heart. Im a black woman who has been a
distance runner since age 15. Young black
girls need role models in the community
and in the pages of publications like this
one. Black girls do runand were ready
to become part of the conversation and
the wider running community.
KIMBERLY GLENN, Nashville
I am an African-American distance run-
ner. I ran cross-country in high school,
and I have completed 11 marathons as an
adult. It never bothers me when I am one
of only a few black participants at a race.
I run for the joy I get from moving
through space, which is truly color-blind.
I agree with Geneva Hampton, who said,
What I love about marathoning is the
road doesnt care what color you are. Im
sure all of the 6'7" red-haired marathon-
ers (surely another under-represented
group) agree, too.
JONATHAN LEE, Campbell, California
I was disappointed to read Why Is Run-
ning So White? In a world where every-
thing is dominated by political correct-
ness and racial quotas, I took comfort in
the fact that running is a race- and gender-
neutral sport. The bottom line is that
anyone can do it. You dont need talent,
and you dont need expensive equipment.
We dont need afrmative action to create
a more diverse running movement. We
need willing participants.
LANE GREMILLION, Pineville, Louisiana
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
I have been a Runners World reader for at
least 15 years. The special Readers Issue
(December) was the best ever. I was
thrilled to see articles from cover to
cover about regular peoplerunners like
me who struggle with weight is-
sues, chronic disease, injury,
rough days at work, poor life
choiceswho persist because
they recognize the healing to be
found through running. Thank
you for the stories of Ben Davis,
Christine Orr, Bill OShields, and
all the others who make up the
real stories of the runners world.
LORI CHURCH, Greenville,
South Carolina
ONLINE POLL
What do you do to avoid getting sick?
Eat a healthy diet 41 %
Sleep eight-plus hours a night 37 %
Take vitamins/supplements 13 %
Skip a run if Im feeling ill 9 %
Based on 3,738 respondents to an RW survey
jogging for most of my adult life. I started
competing more frequently five years
ago, and now I ofen nish in the top ve
percent of my age group in 5-Ks and
10-Ks. So to hear my mileage range dis-
missed as newbie stufwell, ouch.
VIKI BOK, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
EMBRACING LIFE
I survived my own attempt at suicide in
September 2010, so Amanda Gladin-
Kramers story (Saved, December)
really hit home. I know I was lucky to be
given a second chance at life. To celebrate
living, I have just started training for the
Disney Princess Half-Marathon on Febru-
ary 26. I was an avid runner before the
attempt, and it is exciting to be running
again. For me, running is life. Thanks for
continuing to share and inspire.
PATTY F., Batesville, Arkansas
FOR THE RECORD: On page 96 of
Why Is Running So White? (December),
we incorrectly stated the year that Ted
Corbitt was inducted into the Distance
Running Hall of Fame. It was 1998, not
1988. Also in the December issue, we
misspelled the last name of weather anchor
Roberta Gonzales (Who Inspires You?).
At the ING NYC Marathon on November 6,
Lauren Fleshman (November) ran a 2:37:22.
Results for other previously featured runners:
Ethan Zohn (July), who is currently undergo-
ing treatment for a recurrence of Hodgkins
lymphoma, 4:20:46; Lyz Best (September),
5:40:59; Nate Appleman (October), 3:45:42;
Gesine Bullock-Prado (October), 4:45:58.
MILES OF EXPERIENCE
One small phrase in Bob Coopers Win-
ter Break (Training, December) raised my
hackles. Cooper refers to a newbie run-
ning 15 to 20 miles a week. I typically
run that mileage in the form of track
workouts and tempo and long runs, and
I definitely do not consider myself a
newbie. Im 50 years old and have been
Benefiting MAYO CLINIC and Women Living with Breast Cancer | Please continue to support and follow us 26.2withdonna
Regi ster Today breastcancermarathon. com
Jacksonville Beach, FL
|
February 12, 2012
MARATHON WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
FRIDAY NIGHT
Special Screening of Joan Benoit
Samuelsons Film - There is No
Finish Line Presented by Key Buick
SATURDAY NIGHT
Pasta Dinner Featuring a Panel of Running
Superstars including Bart Yasso, Joan
Benoit Samuelson, Jeff Galloway and more!
SUNDAY
Marathon, Half Marathon and Relay
followed by Post Race Party with Sister
Hazel! Awards ceremony, refreshments
and pink champagne!

This marathon
weekend will
change your life.

Donna Deegan, Founder and

Event Chairman of 26.2 with Donna
Benefiting MAYO CLINIC and Women Living with Breast Cancer | Please continue to support and follow us 26.2withdonna
Regi ster Today breastcancermarathon. com
100% TO
BREAST CANCER
RESEARCH
AND CARE.
GIVE
$
5
Post Race Celebration Concert
featuring Sister Hazel
13 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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Two Maine marathoners share
an Olympic Trials dream
GOLDEN GIRLS
Kristin Barry (lef) and
Sheri Piers having some
serious fun prepping for
the Houston showdown.
BY SCOTT DOUGLAS
n her drive to work most mornings,
Sheri Piers calls her best friend, Kris-
tin Barry, to plan where and when
theyre going to run that afernoon.
Nothing remarkable about that, ex-
cept that theyll have already spent
most of the early morning together, running between
10 and 20 miles around Portland, Maine, before rushing
home to get their kids to the school bus stop. In the
darkness and extreme cold, theyve logged their miles
and kept a steady conversation goingsometimes
through frozen face masks, occasionally over in-
sults yelled by snowplow drivers. The friendship
14
has propelled both to excellence. Piers,
40, is a 2:37 marathoner and the 2011
national masters champion at the dis-
tance, and Barry, 38, has a marathon PR of
2:40. Next stop is a warmer climate: the
2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Hous-
ton. (See our Trials preview, page 60.)
Although Piers and Barry will likely
trail the top three winners by several
minutes, just lining up at the Trials ranks
as a rare accomplishment. To qualify, a
woman must run faster than 2:46. In
2008, only 124 womenPiers and Barry
among themnished the event.
Theres no way I would have accom-
plished what I have training on my own,
Piers says. Kristin feels the same way.
The two do whatever it takes to meet
their running goals without disrupting
their work and family lives. After the
morning run, Piers, who has three chil-
dren ages 8 to 11, is off to her job as a
nurse practitioner. Barry, a nonpracticing
attorney with kids 7 and 10 and a hus-
band whos often away on business, is
now a high school cross-country coach.
They run early on weekends, too, so they
can be home in time for family activities.
At first glance, the two arent likely
candidates for best friends. Piers is outgo-
ing, a hugger, and seems to be in a difer-
ent outfit for every run. Barry is intro-
verted, a reader, and prides herself on her
15-year-old tights. Piers is the natural
marathoner who thrives on long runs
and tempo workouts; Barry excels at 5-Ks
and pounding out repeats on the track.
But the counterbalance seems to work.
Im more analytical, Barry says.
Sheris better at dreaming big and not
putting limitations on performances.
Kristin is a friggin running encyclo-
pedia! Piers says. If she says we can run
a race in a certain time, we can.
In 2005, they met at a turkey trot,
which Barry won. Although Piers was a
state champion in high school cross-
country and on the track team, at the
time she was running only 20 miles a
week and nished a minute behind Barry.
The two got to talking. Barry encouraged
Piers to join the Dirigo Running Club,
which helped Piers get motivated to train
harder. By that fall, she dipped under 3:00
in the marathon for the rst time.
At the 2007 Philadelphia Marathon,
they ran side by side from the start, hold-
ing hands as they finished in 2:45:37,
good for a 2008 Olympic Trials qualier.
In the years since, theyve increased their
training to 120 miles per week.
They lean on each other for more than
mileage. When Piers was going through
a divorce in 2009, it was nice to know I
had Kristin to conde in. Piers comfort-
ed Barry through a knee injury in 2010.
If you had asked them a year ago how
much longer they planned to keep bal-
ancing high-level running with the rest
of their lives, they would have said the
2012 Trials would be their swan song.
Now theyre not so sure.
I feel like weve been saying one more
year for forever, Barry says. She looks at
Piers, shrugs, and the two laugh.
Adds Piers, It blows my mind that we
never run out of anything to say, even
afer all those miles.
NBC WILL BROADCAST BOTH THE MENS AND WOMENS 2012 OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS ON JANUARY 14 FROM 3 TO 5 P.M. (EST).
MOMS IN MOTION
At the 2010 Beach to Beacon 10-K, Piers (L) and
Barry nished together and hung with their kids.
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TOP SPOTS
Kevin Plank, 39, founder of Under
Armour, and Franz Koch, 32, CEO
of Puma, make it to the front
half of Fortunes 40 Under 40
list (12 and 24, respectively).
SUPER SURPRISE?
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark
Cuban teases a Super Bowl promo
with Skechers Gorun, saying,
Well take the business of sports
to a new level. Tune in Feb. 5.
ULTRA DEBUT
Ultrarunning hits the big
screen: In Unbreakable:
The Western States 100,
Kilian Jornet slips, trips,
gets lostand still wins.
ROCKINHIS BODY
Sprint workouts prepped
Justin Timberlake for his
In Time role. He exes his
comedy muscle next in a
2013 Coen brothers ick.
FAST FOOD
Call Nate Appleman (L) the
fastest chef: He nished
the NYC Marathon ahead
of Top Chef Richard Blais (C)
and Eatalys Joe Bastianich.
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Train in Iraq for a 100-K
Last May, JASON SCHLARB, 33, a
major-select in the Air Force who lives
in Boulder, Colorado, was deployed to
Tikrit, Iraq, to help train Iraqi cadets.
The USA 50-mile trail champion also
squeezed in twice-a-day-training for the
January 7 USA 100-K Trail Champion-
ships in Bandera, Texas. G.K.
It takes passion to do this. I sacriced the few spare minutes
in a day I had to run. The training helped keep me going.
16
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OF THE 72 MARATHON-RELATED GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, THE BOSTON MARATHON CLAIMS THE FIRST ONE: THE OLDEST RACE.
Run 135 marathons in 365 days
ED ETTINGHAUSEN, 49, of Murrieta,
California, logged 135 marathons in one
year, with a 4:30 average nishing time.
Completing that many races wasnt
cheap, thoughhe spent about $15,000.
To save money, the CPR trainer drove
to most events, slept in his car, and ran
three races a weekend. GAIL KISLEVITZ
Im not that talented, but I felt the need to send a message to
all runners that anything is possible if you believe you can do it.
Build a track
on a farm
Build it and they will
come? Organic farmer
VONITA MURRAY, 36,
hopes so. In December,
she started construction
of a 400-meter dirt and
gravel running track on
her four-acre Mariposa
Valley Farm in Woodland,
California. The Navy
veteran and former
bodybuilding champion
plans to open the track
to the public this spring.
BOB COOPER
Eating nutritious food
and getting exercise
are both integral to your
health. My aim is to
improve the health of the
people in my community.
There are many ways to win 26.2. Yes, Elvis?
L
ast april, 20 members of the United Kingdoms Uni-
versity of Hudderseld marching band completed the
fastest (and presumably most musical) marathon by
a band (7:55:00) at the 2011 London Marathon. Keeping the
beat for the better part of a day may sound crazy (tired lips
and feet, not to mention ght-song fatigue), but plenty of
people have covered 26.2 miles in strange ways. Here are a
few of the standout Guinness World Records set while run-
ning a marathon. Megan Hetzel
rope to run the Milwaukee
Lakefront Marathon as one
(6:18:31), raising money
for Jenny Crain (above),
an elite runner who,
in 2007, was hit by
a car during a run
and badly injured.
Juggling Act
Canadian Michal
Kapral (a.k.a. The
Joggler) claimed the
fastest marathon
while joggling three
objects (2:50:12) at
the 2007 Toronto
Waterfront Marathon.
Girl Power
Jill Christie became the fast-
est woman to run a marathon
dressed as a superhero
(3:08:55, as Super Girl) at
the 2010 London Marathon.
Super Speed
In 2011, Michael Wardian ran
the fastest marathon in a
superhero costume (2:34:56,
dressed as Spider-
Man) at Piney Point,
Marylands Lower
Potomac River
Marathon. He
won the race
outright, too.
Rock and Roll
Ian Sharman of the
U.K. ran the fastest
marathon dressed as
Elvis (2:42:52) at the
2009 Seattle Marathon.
Chain Reaction
Last October, 62 runners
hooked themselves to a long
KEEPING THE BEAT
The U. of Hudderseld
marching band races on.
17 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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17 RUNNERSWORLD. COM 17 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
To ask a question, visit runnersworld.com/askmiles, or
follow Miles on Twitter at twitter.com/askmiles.
DEAR MILES,
Theres a girl in my training
group whos constantly jam-
ming herself into tight spots
between other runners.
How can we give her a hint
to back of?
JEFF J., St. Louis
Oh, theres a whole range of
options. At one end, you have
things like handheld air horns
and pointy sticks; at the other,
a refresher course in courtesy.
While the former may be more
satisfyingand less likely to
be misinterpretedthe latter
is more mature. Heres a tip:
Rather than singling this
woman out, take a moment
before your next run to remind
the whole group to please
give others some space. Feel
free to mention nameless
complaints about near-
collisions. And to brandish a
pointy stick. You know, just
to get everyones attention.
DEAR MILES,
Occasionally, when Im about
to pass another runner dur-
ing a workout, hell suddenly
speed up as if he wants
to race. What gives? And
should I take the bait?
ALEX M., Houston
You know, its easy to stereo-
type in a situation like this.
So lets go! The situation you
describe is common, andin
my experiencenearly always
involves runners of the male
persuasion. (Its not just a
running thing, either. Try to
cruise past a guy driving on
the highway and watch his
speed creep up.) Why? I have
no idea. Maybe its a testoster-
one thing. Or a male-pride
thing. Whatever the cause, its
annoying. Especially when all
you want to do is nish your
workout. Im afraid stranger
racing will always be with us,
so the best we can do is try to
ignore it and focus on our own
pace. Or carry a pointy stick.
DEAR MILES,
Im racing and fear the u.
Is it rude to not shake hands?
Refuse handshakes and folks
will think youre weird, not
rude. To save your rep, wash
ofen and hope for the best.
WHEN PASSING ANOTHER RUNNER, 64% OF RUNNERSWORLD.COM RESPONDENTS WILL HOLD THEIR PACE IF THAT PERSON SURGES.
Lukas Verzbicas, 19, Colorado Springs
The high school four-minute miler has a new goal: worlds best triathlete
1] The old college try I tried to
put my future in running
but wasn

t comfor table.
So I decided to leave U.
of Oregon in November.
2] First love Training for
three sports has kept
me happy.
3] Euro ties We
left Lithuania
when I was 8.
4] Hoops I can

t play,
but I

m a Bulls fan.
5] Secret weapon Fartleks.
6] Taste of home I love this
Lithuanian salad my mother makes.
7] Wall of fame I have
posters of Michael Phelps
and Steve Prefontaine.
8] Patience My goal is
the 2O16 Olympics.
9] Early start As a baby I
was around elite runners.
10] Big moment Jim Ryun
(right) hugging
me after my
sub-four mile.
He

s a legend.
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Retrace Walt Disneys footsteps during a magical race through Disneyland Resort, and
run inside Angel Stadium of Anaheim as cheers echo through the crowd. This is The
Happiest Race On Earth! Dont be Bashful. Registration begins January 18 and lls quickly.
Sleepy. Happy. Grumpy.
And Thats Just The First Three Miles.
Disneyland

Half Marathon Weekend Aug. 31Sept. 2, 2012

runDisney.com |
19 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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35 28 20
Bring It In
Treadmill (n.): A torture device perfected in the 20th century, designed
to destroy ones mind through sensory deprivation and monotony.
The Pulse
Which conditions are
most likely to drive
you to the treadmill?
Icy conditions 35%
I run outside no
matter what 26%
Cold rain 25%
Temp below 10F 11%
Snow 3%
Based on 1,151 respondents
of an RW poll
1
TAKE A CLASS The
unstructured period between
your last fall race and the start of
spring training is the perfect time
to try yoga, CrossFit, or Zumba.
Youll broaden your tness with-
out worrying about afecting
key workouts.
2
GET IN WARM
WATER Use a otation
belt and jog in an indoor pool.
Starting in the deep end, go hard
to where your feet touch, and
return at the same intensity to the
deep end. Then do an easy lap.
Repeat for 30 to 45 minutes.
3
BUST MILL
BOREDOM Set your
music player to shufe. Warm
up for one song, then run fast
for 60 seconds at the beginning
of each song before returning
to a comfortable pace. Repeat
ve to 10 times. Cool down
with one song. For more, see
Inside Job, page 20.
Ways to
Overcome
the Cold 3
Bake A
Hot Treat
Use forced indoor time
to bake healthy, delicious
treats like Mark Bittmans
vitamin-packed whole-grain
sweet-potato mufns.
Freeze extras for midweek
snacks. For recipes, go to
runnersworld.com/bake.
Running
the Numbers

The speed, in miles per hour,
a treadmill would have to
reach to accommodate Patrick
Makau running his world-
record marathon pace (4:43)
Breathe
Deep
Researchers in Italy found that
people who underwent focused
deep-breathing exercises before
and during physical exertion had
higher levels of blood oxygen
and were able to perform far
better on exercise tests.
12.7
MARK REMY, runnersworld.com executive editor, in The Runners Rule Book
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W
hen it comes to icy roads,
even the toughest runners
head for the mills. But run-
ning inside doesnt have to
compromise your workoutyou can still
accomplish the purpose of your run with
a few tweaks. First of, be aware that your
form changes on a treadmill, says Matt
Barbosa, coach for Chicago Endurance
Sports and Fleet Feet Chicago. The con-
ned area alters your proprioception, or
the sense of your body in space. You tense
up, shorten your stride, and react to the
belts movement by picking up and put-
ting down your feet rather than pushing
of as you would outdoors. To encourage
proper push-of and compensate for the
lack of wind resistance, raise the incline
to two or three percent and lean slightly
forward from the ankles, says Barbosa.
With that as your starting point, heres
how to translate your regular workouts
to the great indoors.
ROLLING-HILLS RUN
Since most (read: afordable) treadmills
dont come with a decline setting, mim-
icking the stress of running downhill re-
quires an additional move or two of the
treadmill. Like downhill running, both
lunges and squats cause the tissue dam-
age that ultimately creates stronger quad
muscles, says Carwyn Sharp, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of exercise science and
nutrition at the College of Charleston.
TAKE IT INSIDE Warm up for 1.5 to
2.5 miles, then raise the incline to three or
four percent and run for two minutes at
15 seconds slower than your 10-K pace (or
a pace that feels moderately hard). Raise
the machines incline to four to six percent
for two minutes, then six to 10 percent for
two minutes. Run at two percent for two
minutes. Repeat the sequence two to six
times, increasing your speed by ve to 10
seconds each time. Immediately afer your
run, do two to four sets of 10 to 15 lunges
(per leg) and squats.
SHORT INTERVALS
Unless you have a treadmill that allows
for advanced programming of time,
speed, and incline, its very difcult and
even dangerous to try to change the speed
Inside Job
Survive winter treadmill running by doing interval,
hill, and tempo workouts BY LAUREL LEICHT
LOOK UP
Raise the incline
to compensate for
the lack of wind
resistance.
21 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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MAEGAN KRIFCHIN, 23, of
Ithaca, New York, was rst
American at the 2011 Utica
Boilermaker 15-K (52:23).
1
On Track
My staple track session is
6 or 7 x 1000 meters at 3-K to
10-K race pacedepending on
my tness levelwith a 2- to
3-minute recovery jog. Its a good
benchmark to see how t I am.
2
On Trail
If my legs are still sufer-
ing afer a speed workout, Ill run
trails. The sof surface and varied
terrain challenge me aerobically
but allow my body to recover.
3
On Trial
Two weeks before a target
race, I do a time trialeither a
hard tempo or a race of up to
three-quarters of the goal events
distance. Time trials stress your
body without tearing it down.
BOB COOPER
for short intervals, says Barbosa. Avoid
repeats shorter than 30 seconds, he says,
as a good chunk will be lost in the time it
takes to accelerate and decelerate.
TAKE IT INSIDE Reduce the incline to
zero. Warm up, then run at 5-K pace (it
should feel hard) for 45 seconds to two
minutes, depending on your experience
level. Jog easy for up to a minute. Repeat
four to eight times. Cool down. To match
the interval time exactly, add to the end
of the repeat the amount of time it takes
the treadmill to speed up, says Rick
Morris, author of Treadmill Training for
Runners. So if it takes ve seconds to
get to speed, run that fast pace for ve
seconds longer. Ditto for rest intervals.
LONG INTERVALS
Outdoors, we tend to rely on visual
cueslike the end of the track or road
to keep us going. But when youre on a
treadmill, your mind cant visualize the
nish, so it becomes difcult to concen-
trate when the pace gets hard and you
need to start pushing yourself, says
Melanie Schorr, M.D., a running coach at
RunnersConnect in Boston. Most mills
show your progress on a 400-meter digi-
tal trackuse it to envision the end of
your repeat, says Morris.
TAKE IT INSIDE Warm up for two to
three miles, then run 400 meters (one
lap) to one mile (four laps) at 10-K pace.
For the nal 200 to 400 meters of your
efort, increase your speed by ve to 10
seconds to practice nishing strong. Walk
or jog for one minute to recover. Repeat
two to eight times, depending on the
distance and your tness.
TEMPO RUN
This workout is made for the treadmill.
You just dial in your goal pace, and the
machine keeps you at that speed, says
Sharp. Plus, you can make incremental
changes, like picking up the pace by ve
or 10 secondsits hard to make such
small adjustments outside.
TAKE IT INSIDE Starting the tempo
run slow and then getting faster toward
the end teaches your body how to run at
diferent paces and nish fastnot just
hang on, says Pete Rea, head coach at
ZAP Fitness Team USA Distance Running
Center in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Warm up for 1.5 to 2.5 miles, then run
a mile at 15 to 20 seconds slower than
half-marathon pace (talking should take
some efort). For the duration of the run,
pick up the pace every mile by ve to 15
seconds until youre running the nal
mile 15 to 20 seconds faster than your
half-marathon pace.
Boredom Busters
THE WORKOUT SURVIVE IT
Easy Run Engage your brain: Mentally rehearse a presentation for work, repeat vocab words of
a language youre learning, or listen to a podcast. Learning is boosted with the timing
and rhythms of treadmill running, says coach Matt Barbosa.
Long Run Every two to three miles, raise the incline for one mile. Vary the height each time.
Adding changes in incline is a good way to mimic outside conditionsand save
your muscles (and mind) a little bit,says author Rick Morris.
Going easy on a treadmill can be tortureheres how to stay sane
IN A FLASH
Use the machines digital track
to visualize the end of repeats.
22
BUILD GRADUALLY Once or twice a
week, add three to ve minutes to your
workout time. Continue adding time until
you reach 30 minutes of run/walking. At
that point, you can alter your run/walk
ratio, lengthen your run portions, or focus
on increasing the duration of your run.
SET GOALS Theres nothing like a goal
to stoke your motivation. It doesnt have to
be lofy, but a goal should take some work
so attaining it feels sweeter. Simply aiming
to run every other day for two weeks is a
ne target that will get your body and
mind in sync with running again.
START SLOW Plan to run/walk every
other day. Doing too much afer a break
puts you at risk of injury as your joints
and muscles need time (about two weeks)
to readapt to the running motion. Plus,
jumping in with too much gusto can tire
you out, which will set you back and
make it even harder to get on schedule.
WALK MORE If your hiatus has lasted
two weeks or more, lengthen your walk
segments. For example, if you had been
using a run/walk ratio of ve to eight
minutes running with one minute walking,
drop down to a 1:1 ratio.
I
t happens to even the most well-intentioned runner. The babysitter bails, so you
cant get out. Work obligations derail a three-miler, icy sidewalks nix another. Before
you know it, your regular routine is a distant memory. The good news is that you
can start back up right now, and with smart training and a little planning, stick with
it all year. With each brief, easy workout you complete, youll feel energized and
empowered to get back on track. Heres how to safely return to where you lef of.
Kick-start your routineand stick with it all year long
Comeback Plan
Ask Galloway any
running question at
JefGalloway.com
QUICK FIX
Boredom
Q Ive started and stopped
running so ofenwhy cant
I just stick with it?
A Youre likely making running
too hard. Beginner runners tend
to go too fast, do the same route
all the time, and force themselves
through workouts rather than
enjoying them. The result is they
get injured, frustrated, tired, or
bored. Dont be afraid to start
very slow and build up over many,
many weeks, and many months.
You have to breathe hard to
reap the benets of running.
FICTION! Running slowly
strengthens your cardiovascular
system, improves the ability of
your heart to pump blood and
oxygen, and builds stronger bones.
All those adaptations can happen
without making your heart race.
TAKE BREAKS
When starting back
up, walk longer and
more frequently.
THE FIX: JOIN THE CROWD
The dynamics of running with
a group will reinvigorate your
brain. And the friends youll
make will inspire you to aim for
new goalsa longer distance, a
faster pace, maybe a racethat
will keep you on your toes.
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Q I dont like hill
repeats. Can I run a
hilly course instead?
AYes. As you ascend each
incline, surge for 60 to 90
seconds at about 5-K race
pace, or a speed at which its
uncomfortable to talk. Return
to a very easy paceeven if
you havent crested the hill
and remain at this slow speed
on the downhills and ats so
you can recover. If its been
a while since your last hill
workout, start with four to six
climbs. As you grow stronger,
power up 10 to 12 climbs.
The hilly portions of the run
should total 15 to 45 minutes,
depending on your ability.
IAN TORRENCE has won
50 ultramarathons and is a
coach in Flagstaf, Arizona
(mcmillanrunning.com).
Q Whats the best way to
replace one weekly winter
run with a gym workout?
A Do a circuit routine that
moves from exercise to exer-
cise without rest. This will
keep your heart rate elevated
while strengthening your
running-specic muscles for
better speed, efciency, and
exibility. Do three or four
sets of the following sequence:
one to three minutes of jump-
ing rope; 10 to 12 reps of
single-arm, bent-over rows
with a 10- to 40-pound dumb-
bell; 12 to 15 lying leg curls; 10
push-up-to-bird-dogs
(between each push-up, lif
opposite arm and leg); and 10
repsper legof lunge jumps
(remain in one spot, spring
upright to switch legs, land
in lunge position).
NANCY BURNHAM is a
coach and personal trainer
in Charleston, South Carolina
(tlowcountry.com).
Q If I have time for only
one run during the week,
should I run it all-out?
ASave all-out eforts for
your races. If you can squeeze
in only a single weekday run, it
should be somewhat fun. You
dont want to make it so hard
that it blows your motivation
for doing more challenging
runs on the weekends. To
inject a little speed, try a
fartlekthat is, doing short
bursts of speed throughout
your run. You determine how
long and how hard each efort
is, based on how you feel.
Though short, these bursts
will help build your speed and
get your legs accustomed to
a quicker turnover.
EMILY WILSON coaches
the Hells Kitchen Running
Club in Manhattan.
Submit your questions
to asktheexperts@
rodale.com
22% OF RUNNERS SAY THEY REGULARLY HIT THE GYM, WHILE 34% GO ONLY DURING THE WINTER, ACCORDING TO AN ONLINE POLL.
Surge Sets
WHY Brief pickups charge up your run
WHO RECOMMENDS IT Adriana Nelson, 31, of Fort Collins,
Colorado, rst American at the 2011 Peachtree 10-K (32:49)
Warm up, then do pickups: 2 x 90 seconds, 4 x 60 seconds,
4 x 30 seconds, then 4 x 15 seconds. Run the 90-second surges
at 5-K race pace. With each pickup, go slightly faster until youre
running the nal set at mile race pace. Recover between each
pickup with a jog of the same duration. You can adjust your
pace on the y, depending on how you feel, says Nelson.
Disclaimer: Additional charges may apply through your independent mobile service. Third-party fees, including mobile
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marathon or running to pay the billsor
support your alma materyou can begin
your base period at any time.
PLAN IT OUT A base period can last
four weeksor four months. One month
is about the minimum time Id recommend
in which to reap signicant physiological
Return to Base
Forge a strong foundation for better performance
M
y collegiate runners go
through base training twice
a year. For three months dur-
ing the summer and for the
month of December, they scale back the
intensity and run lots of long, slow miles.
This repetitive, low-intensity activity
forges a strong foundation that will sup-
port the hard work of training and racing
to come. That foundation consists of in-
creased blood volume, improved glyco-
gen storage, greater capillarization, and
stronger connective tissue. Its amazing
how fit and healthy runners are when
they emerge from a base period. Follow
these steps to ensure that you, too, are
fortied for the coming season.
TIME IT RIGHT Elite athletes tend to
begin their base period following a one-
to four-week break at the end of their
season. But if youre not coming of a big
gains. My athletes complete a six-week
base period between the end of cross-
country and the beginning of indoor track.
Their weekly base mileage can be as much
as 120 percent of their in-season load. I
generally suggest following high-mileage
weeks with scaled-back weeks of 10 to
15 miles less. Do no more than two con-
secutive high-mileage weeks. If you feel
fatigued, dont be afraid to back of by 20
to 30 percent for a week or two to recover.
TAKE IT EASY During base training,
lose the interval sessions. Initially, 90 to
95 percent of your weekly mileage should
consist of easy aerobic runs and the long
run. Your pace should be conversational,
and the efort should not exceed 60 to
80 percent of your max heart ratewell
below your lactate threshold.
THEN TURN IT UP The primary
emphasis of base building is on aerobic
mileage. However, once you reach week
three of base time, running an occasional
lactate-threshold workout like a tempo,
rolling hill, or marathon-pace run will
improve both your strength and running
efciency. Six to eight weeks in, add a
second threshold workout. If you keep the
efort controlledunder 90 percent of
your maxyou will continue to increase
strength without burning out.
STICK IT OUT Get your long run up
to 90 minutes as early in the base training
as possible. Run at least that long every
two or three weekends. This will further
increase capillarization, improve your
bodys ability to burn fat, and keep you
accustomed to time on your feet.
MILEAGE KEY WEEKLY WORKOUTS
Week 1 60 to 70 90-minute weekend long run
Week 2 70 to 80 6 to 8 x 100-meter strides twice a week; weekend long run
Week 3 65 to 75 25-minute tempo run; long run
Week 4 70 to 80 3 to 4 x 2 miles at 10 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace; long run
Week 5 65 to 75 10 to 15 x 1000 meters at tempo pace with 60 seconds recovery; long run
Week 6 75 to 85 2 to 3 x 3 miles at 10 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace; long run
Build Up Increase mileage and improve efciency
ROAD TO SUCCESS
Logging plenty of long,
slow miles prepares
you for future racing.
Visit athleta.com or call 1.877.328.4538
to request a free catalog.
Get born.
Find a group.
Find a job.
Find the one.
Have one.
Have two.
Roast a chicken.
Cut bangs.
Run.
Breathe.
Run.
Relax.
Run a 5K.
Run a 10K.
Crunch.
Listen. Listen. Listen.
Be loved.
Look lovely.
Do good.
Give back.
We kick asphalt.
Power to the She.
28
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tains more than half the daily require-
ment for vitamin C and four grams of
dietary ber, which may improve heart
health. Stored in a plastic bag, it will keep
in your refrigerator for three weeks.
PREP TIP For a side dish, boil or
steam 2 pounds of peeled and cubed
rutabaga until tender, about 10 minutes.
Mash with 2 tablespoons butter,
1
/3 cup
low-fat milk, 2 tablespoons chopped
fresh sage, 1 tablespoon grainy or Dijon
mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
IF YOU LIKE CARROTS, TRY
PARSNIPS
Nutty and slightly sweet-tasting, parsnips
look a lot like Bugs Bunnys favorite veg-
etable, save their ivory complexion. Yet
M
any runners think that
when the calendar turns,
they need to settle for canned
corn or asparagus that hails
from South America. Not true. Uncom-
mon winter vegetables, like parsnips and
jicama, are a best-kept secret when it
comes to fuel for runners, says Rebecca
Scritcheld, a marathoner and dietitian
based in Washington, D.C. Replace your
usual standbys with these options to help
tide you over until tomato season.
IF YOU LIKE CAULIFLOWER, TRY
RUTABAGA
This large root vegetable, with a purple
skin that fades to cream on the bottom,
has a sweet avor with a hint of a peppery
bite. A mere cup of cubed rutabaga con-
Alternate Sides
These unsung vegetables fortify your workouts
without boring your taste buds BY MATTHEW KADEY
ROOTED IN TASTE
Clockwise, from top: parsnips,
fennel, jicama, sunchokes,
rutabaga, and celeriac. Peak
avor season for each is now.
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they provide 60 percent more dietary -
ber to keep you feeling full longer. Of-
overlooked parsnips also provide potas-
sium, an important electrolyte for brain
and nerve function, as well as proper
muscle contraction and fluid balance,
says Scritchfield. Raw parsnips have a
woody texture, so theyre best enjoyed
cooked. Roasting in particular brings out
their sweetness, she says.
PREPTIP Peel and slice 1 pound
parsnips into thick matchsticks. Toss
with 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon fresh
rosemary or thyme, and season to taste;
roast at 400F until tender, 30 minutes.
IF YOU LIKE ONION,TRY
FENNEL
Extra-terrestrial looking fennel is crisp
and crunchy with a pleasant licorice a-
vor and aroma. Cooked fennel has a mel-
lower taste and sofer texture. All parts,
including the white bulb, green stalks
and wispy dill-like foliage, are edible.
Compared with common onion, fennel
boasts more ber and vitamin C.
PREPTIP If serving fennel raw in
a salad, rst slice the bulb as thin as pos-
sible and soak in ice water with a splash
of lemon juice for 20 minutes to make
it crisp. Toss sliced fennel with orange
sections, baby spinach, sliced red bell
pepper, and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive
oil. Top with chopped fennel leaves.
IF YOU LIKE CELERY,TRY
CELERIAC
This ugly dumpling of the vegetable
world has molted skin but a tender esh
that tastes like a blend of celery and pars-
ley. What it lacks in aesthetics, celeriac
(which is also called celery root) makes
up for with stellar amounts of vitamin
K80 percent of the daily quota in a
single-cup serving. Vitamin K plays a
role in bone development and maintain-
ing exible blood vessels, which are im-
portant for runners, says Molly Morgan,
a sports nutritionist in Vestal, New York.
PREPTIP Small- to medium-size
roots have the best avor and texture.
Peel of about
1
/2 inch of the vegetables
thick skin to get to the roots. In a large
pot, combine 4 cups low-sodium veg-
etable broth, 2 peeled and sliced potatoes,
1 peeled and sliced celeriac, 2 sliced leeks,
2 chopped garlic cloves, and salt and
pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes;
puree soup in a blender.
IF YOU LIKE RADISH,TRY
JICAMA
The crispy flesh of jicama tastes like a
cross between cucumber, pear, and water
chestnut. One cup of sliced jicama (pro-
nounced hick-a-ma) contains only 46
calories but is a good source of ber6
grams per cupand vitamin C. Vitamin
C is essential for the body to make
healthy collagen, which is found in ten-
dons and ligaments, Scritchfield says.
Select only firm, dry jicama roots and
slice of the thin, dust-brown skin with a
vegetable peeler before preparation. Un-
like many other root vegetables, jicama
is best consumed raw.
PREPTIP Shredding jicama with a
box grater is an easy way to add it to
sandwiches and salads. For a quick slaw,
PAPAYA
Slice and scoop
out the esh for
a hefy dose of
vitamin C and
immune-boost-
ing vitamin A.
TRYTHIS Sprinkle papaya slices
with sugar, salt, chili powder, and lime
zest for a snack with a refreshing kick.
Winters Wonders
These deliciously diferent fruits are tasty and delicious
mix together 1 cup shredded jicama, 1 cup
shredded red cabbage, 2 tablespoons
chopped walnuts, 2 tablespoons low-fat
mayo, and 1 tablespoon cider vinegar.
IF YOU LIKE POTATOES,TRY
SUNCHOKES
Also called Jerusalem artichokes, sun-
chokes are gnarled starchy tubers with a
crunchy white esh and a avor reminis-
cent of jicama, water chestnuts, and ap-
ple. A one-cup serving provides 28 per-
cent of your daily iron quota. Runners
need iron to help deliver oxygen to work-
ing muscles, Morgan says. Sunchokes
are also well-endowed with the soluble
fiber inulin, which has been shown to
help improve digestive health, she says.
Unlike potatoes, sunchokes are some-
times eaten raw.
PREPTIP Sunchokes have a very
thin, edible skin. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in
a skillet over medium heat. Cook 1 pound
chopped sunchokes until tender, about
8 minutes. Toss with 2 tablespoons
homemade or store-bought pesto.
KIWI
Under the
fuzzy skin
is a juicy
esh stocked
with vitamin
C, ber, and bone-building vitamin K.
TRYTHIS Whirl together kiwi, ripe
avocado, banana, plain yogurt, and
honey for a deliciously thick smoothie.
PLANTAINS
Bananas big
brother is a
great source
of vitamin B6,
to aid metab-
olism and immune function.
TRYTHIS Toss slices with melted
butter, honey, and cinnamon. Bake at
400F until browned, about 15 minutes.
KUMQUATS
The tiny fruit
(with an edible
skin) is brimming
with vitamin C.
TRYTHIS
Chop kumquats, red bell and jalapeno
peppers, green onion, and cilantro. Com-
bine and toss with salt, pepper, and lime
juice. Use this salsa on sh and chicken.
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V
itamin d is essential for maintaining bone health.
But mounting evidence is revealing many more ways
this nutrient is crucial to a runners overall health
safeguarding muscle strength, shoring up immunity,
and easing inammation. Heres what you need to know about
vitamin D and how to make sure youre getting enough.
Are You
D-ficient?
Shedding light on the sunshine vitamin
THE BASICSAND
HOW MUCH?
Vitamin D is created in
your body from exposure to
sunlight. It travels through
your bloodstream, becoming
a potent hormone that wakes
up receptors in your intestines
to start absorbing calcium.
Recent studies show that
other organs, muscles, and
body tissues are equipped
with receptors, too. To sus-
tain optimal amounts of the
nutrient in our bodies, the
current recommended daily
allowance (which was based
on bone health alone and
assumes little or minimal sun
exposure) is 600 international
units (IU) a day for everyone
through age 70 (800 IU if
youre older). Many scientists,
physicians, and nutritionists
(myself included) dont believe
thats enough to reap the full
benets, and advocate daily
doses of 1,000 to 3,000 IU.
D ON RUNNING DUTY
On top of reducing the
likelihood of stress fractures,
healthy vitamin D levels have
been shown to reduce the
likelihood of overuse injuries
and help quiet soreness in
muscles afer a race or hard
workout. In 2011, researchers
Wheres the D?
at the University of Wyoming
discovered that a key inam-
matory marker rises exponen-
tially in runners when the
amount of vitamin D in the
bloodstream drops below a
certain point. In that same
study, student athletes with
low levels of vitamin D were
more likely to be sidelined due
to a cold or the u, compared
to teammates with normal
vitamin D in the bloodstream.
SUN VS.
SUPPLEMENTS
Experts agree its difcult
for most people to get enough
vitamin D through their diets
(see Wheres the D?). The
suns UV rays are our best
bet, but even during the sum-
mer months the sun is strong
enough for vitamin D pro-
duction only between the
hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
and it needs to hit more than
our hands and faces. Thats
obviously not great for most
runners. And sunscreen,
which we need to prevent
skin cancer, cuts production
by 99 percent. That leaves
supplements. Discuss your
individual needs with your
doctor or nutritionist, who
may recommend a simple
blood test before determining
an appropriate supplement
amount. Once youve had
that conversation, look for
brands that contain vitamin
D
3
(cholecalciferol) rather than
vitamin D
2
(ergocalciferol) and
without herbs, which can in-
terfere with Ds function.
THERE ARE FEW NATURAL food sources of vitamin D. Seek out
fortied dairy products, cereal, and juice, which provide between 40 and
125 IU per serving. And keep these items on your weekly grocery list.
FATTY FISH
400800 IU (4 oz.)
Salmon, mackerel,
and sardines top this
list. Grill or bake for
sh tacos. Or top a
postrun at-bread
pizza with sardines
or mackerel.
MUSHROOMS
380 IU (1 cup)
All varieties have
some D, but growers
have raised IU levels
by exposing cremini,
portobella, and white
button types to UV
light; check labels.
EGG YOLKS
80 IU (2 whole)
In addition to
scrambled eggs for
breakfast, have a
hard-boiled egg as
a midmorning snack,
or enjoy egg-drop
soup before a run.
HALF A
MILLION
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Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide to achieve their
running goals. In this revised edition, the bestselling
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including all-new training plans for half-marathons and
covering everything from GPS watches to questions about
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Let Higdon take the guesswork out of marathon
training so you can experience the joys of running!
unners have used Hal Higdons
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201860701
32 MONTH TK
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Contributing chef PAM ANDERSON savors this healthy
comfort dish afer a long run (and enjoys lefovers all week)
Quick, Creamy Chicken Lasagna
Short of buying it premade, this lasagna is about the simplest there is, says
Anderson. The protein in chicken helps speed muscle recovery. Also try the
spinach-mushroom lling, found at runnersworld.com/spinachlasagna.
15 oven-ready, rippled-style lasagna noodles
(soaked in piping hot water for 10 minutes)
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 teaspoons dried basil
12 ounces cream cheese, sofened
cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups marinara sauce (no sugar added
or low-sugar)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3
/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Heat oven to 400F. Combine chicken, basil, 8 ounces of cream cheese, and
1
/4 cup
broth. Mix remaining cream cheese and broth in a separate bowl. Spread
1
/3 cup
marinara on the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish; assemble 4 layers as follows: 3
noodles,
2
/3 cup sauce, 1 cup chicken mixture,
3
/4 cup mozzarella, and 2 tablespoons
Parmesan. Top with last noodles, the broth mixture, and the remaining cheeses. Cover
with foil and bake 45 minutes. Leaving dish on same rack, turn oven to broil. Remove
foil and broil until golden brown, 5 minutes. Remove from oven; let sit for 10 minutes.
CALORIES PER SERVING: 443 CARBS: 27 G FIBER: 2 G PROTEIN: 33 G FAT: 23 G
PAM ANDERSON ran Octobers Steamtown Marathon (her 10th
26.2-miler) in Pennsylvania and plans to repeat the 26.2 With Donna
Half-Marathon in Jacksonville, Florida, in February. I like to run two big
races a year because it keeps me more or less in constant training mode,
says Anderson, whose latest cookbook, Cook Without a Book: Meatless
Meals, was published last year. For more, see threemanycooks.com.
Tuscan Kale
IN SEASON
Winter to early spring
Good for You
One cup of chopped Tuscan kale provides
more than 100 percent of your Daily Value
for vitamins A and K, which is needed for
bone health. It also provides nearly 90
percent of your DV for vitamin C and three
grams of berall for just 40 calories.
Get the Best
Tuscan kale is an Italian variety with dark,
blue-green leaves that are rough and full
of pebbled ridges. It is sweeter and nut-
tier in avor than more common varieties.
Store in an airtight plastic bag in the
refrigerator for up to ve days.
Kitchen Simple
Try it steamed or sauted with garlic
and lemon juice. Anderson turns it into
pesto: Blanche one dozen leaves, pat dry,
and remove center ribs. Pulse in a food
processor with 1 cup Parmesan;
1
/2 cup raw
whole almonds;
1
/2 cup basil; and 3 garlic
cloves. When combined, add
1
/2 cup each
extra-virgin olive oil and cold water and
continue to process. YISHANE LEE
32
Keep going strong when it matters most. Our 100% all natural Egg Whites
are a complete source of protein and 1/2 the calories of shell eggs.
Egg Beaters. The real thing. Only better.

UNBEATABLE.
For more information and delicious recipes visit eggbeaters.com
Look For New Packaging.
Coming Soon.
ConAgra Foods, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TRAIN WITH US!
Join the RUNNERS WORLD CHALLENGE
today and get a FREE T-shirt and a FREE book!
To take advantage of this exclusive ofer, go to:
www.runnersworld.com/challenge
As part of the Runners World Challenge Team youll receive:
Q 24/7 unlimited access to the Runners World expertsthe advice you
need to run your best race ever!
Q 16 marathon and half marathon training plans
Q Four-month premium membership to Runners World Personal Trainer
Q A full year of unlimited access to the Challenge Communityrunners
just like you all over the country!
Q A FREE technical T-shirt with the Runners World
Challenge team logo.
Q A FREE book: Going Long: The Best Stories from
Runners World, with more than 40 gripping stories of
legends, oddballs, comebacks and adventures.
+
FREE Technical Shirt!
FREE Book!
Join the RUNNERS WORLD team and get
everything you need to achieve your personal best!
2
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Track & Field. The key is to nd some-
one who keeps you focused on your goal.
All runners can benefit from group
training. Less experienced striders may
find that the accountability a partner
provides is what they need to commit to
a 5 a.m. run. More motivated runners
prize buddies for helping them add miles
and shave minutes. To maximize the ad-
vantages of this crucial alliance,
keep a few principles in mind.
Buddy System
Pick the best running partner to help you go faster,
farther, and more ofen BY LOUISE JARVIS
Training partners
can help get you
to the starting line,
but to be ready
for racing solo,
run alone once
a week to practice
pushing yourself.
MEET YOUR MATCH
The perfect running mate
will keep you focused.
A
decade and three children
stood between 37-year-old
Jennifer Lonneman and her
last marathon. Training solo
near her home in a Cincinnati suburb,
she couldnt seem to go faster than 10
minutes per mile and wondered if a little
company might help. So she started run-
ning with a small group. Every little
push, every person who was faster be-
came the invisible rope pulling me
along, says Lonneman. A year later she
ran a marathon in 3:53. My partners keep
me running smart.
Sports psychologists have known that
athletes perform better in groups than
alone since possibly the first study of
social facilitation among cyclists was
published in 1898. Simply put, this study
shows athletes will exceed their expecta-
tions or personal bests when performing
with a group or in front of a group, says
Steve Portenga, Ph.D., the University of
Denvers director of sports psychology.
Youre more focused, and less dis-
tracted by pain when others are watching
or running with you, says Portenga, who
is also the sports psychologist for USA
36
PICK WISELY
Finding others who run isnt hardstrike
up a conversation with a runner you
frequently see at the park, ask a colleague
if you can tag along on his lunchtime
workout, or search the listings at a social
site like dailymile.com. Finding someone
you want to run with again and again is a
little trickier. Be prepared to askand
answerdirect questions about training
schedules, as well as short- and long-term
goals, says Portenga. (See For Better...or
Worse, below.) You want to know up
front if you have common expectations
and a similar workout ethic. Do at least
two trial runs before you commit to
more. Youll know pretty quickly if the
other person is positive and reliable.
MAKE PACE A PRIORITY
The big-picture goal doesnt have to be
the same for each runner as long as an
aspect of the training is shared. For in-
stance, a runner training for a 5-K could
do track work with someone signed up
for a 10-K, while a 10-K racer and a mara-
thoner could pair up for short runs, as
long as they agree about their preferred
pace beforehand. Pace is even more im-
portant than compatibility, says Barbara
Walker, Ph.D., a sports psychologist and
founder of the consulting rm the Center
for Human Performance in Cincinnati.
You arent going to be happy if you dont
run your pace, if you feel too fast or too
slow for the group.
AVOID FRIENDLY
COMPETITIONS
When you get too competitive, you lose
sight of your training program and you
deviate from whats ideal for you, says
Portenga. In the end, it can sabotage your
performance. If youre going to make a
competition out of practice, then you
should compete with only yourself. A
better use of that time together, he says,
may be to help each other through pla-
teaus and work on checking off incre-
mental goals. This is one area where
veterans pair well with newbies: Running
with a beginner can counter the culture
of toughness that can take over between
73% OF RUNNERS WORLD READERS USUALLY RUN ALONE, JUST 7% RUN WITH A FRIEND, AND 5% RUN WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS.
two experienced runners of equal ability.
And practiced runners can help newbies
stick with it.
COMPARTMENTALIZE
The bond between running partners is
unique: It lacks the shifing dynamics of
a typical friendship, the baggage of fam-
ily, and the professional distance of co-
workers. Its like being in therapy, says
Lonneman. The act of running somehow
allows the words to ow easily. We share
things on our runs that I might not even
tell my closest girlfriend. What else are
you going to talk about over 20 miles?
Walker says that maintaining clear
boundaries in her running relationships
has been essential to her success as a
marathon runner and triathlete. My run-
ning partners and I have an agreement
that whats said on the trail stays on the
trail, she says. If were out to dinner, I
dont want conversation crossover.
Biochemistry may be what makes
these highly compartmentalized relation-
ships so fullling. Your endorphins are
owing, so your guard is down, Walker
says. Cortisol is low, so stress is low. Its
this parallel relationship where you
arent even facing each other. Theres a
rhythm; its a meditative state.
For Betteror Worse
To avoid a Felix and Oscar situation, communication is key
ESTABLISH
EXPECTATIONS
Before your rst run,
discuss your schedules
(including duration of
workouts and ideal pace)
as well as training goals
(targeting a race, building
endurance). Your answers
dont have to match
perfectly, but this infor-
mation will help you
plan joint workouts to
benet you both.
DETERMINE
COMPATIBILITY
Similarly competitive
runners tend to partner
well, even if their training
goals difer, says Steve
Portenga. Ask potential
partners (and yourself):
On a scale of 1 to 5, how
competitive are you? Its
also wise to discuss how
each of you will react if
the other has to cancel a
workout or arrives late.
HAVE AN EXIT
STRATEGY
Scheduling conicts,
injuries, or difering rates
of improvement can
undermine the goals of
both runners. If thats
the case, be honest and
move on. More awkward
are the personality issues
that can take you out
of your zone. These are
best dispatched with a
polite, but denitive exit.
GOOD CHOICE
Runners who share a
workout ethic pair well.
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P
iriformis syndrome is a frustrat-
ing condition thats literally a pain
in the butt for runners. This throb-
bing ache originates in the buttocks
and ofen radiates down the legs and/or to the
spine. The culprit is an overtaxed piriformis
muscle (from running on uneven ground or
having tight hamstrings, for example) that
spasms and aggravates the sciatic nerve. This
routine will help keep your piriformis strong
and exible. Do the exercises three times each
week, afer a run. Sage Rountree
The End
Game
SAGE ROUNTREE is a USA Triathlon- and
RRCA-certied coach and yoga instructor.
See a video of this
routine at runners
world.com/piriformis.
STANDING FIGURE 4
Stand on your lef leg. Rest
your right foot on your lef
knee and do a single-leg squat.
With your hands on your hips,
hold this position for a few
seconds. Return to start and
repeat 10 times on each leg.
PIGEON FORWARD FOLD
Begin on your hands and knees. Bring the heel of your right foot
in front of your lef hip. Relax into this position and hold while
taking 10 to 20 deep breaths. Repeat on the opposite side.
CLAM SHELL
Lie on your right side with your knees bent. Rest your head on
your hand or on your arm. Contract your abs and slowly open
and close the top leg 20 times. Rest and repeat; switch sides.
SIDE PLANK WITH LEG LIFT
Start in a plank position. Rotate your
body so that youre balancing on
your right hand. Slowly, with control,
lif and lower your top leg ve to
10 times. Rest and switch sides.
Prevent postrun butt pain
AFTERALONG RUN or
intense workout, end your
stretching session by plac-
ing a tennis ball under your
right sit bone. Put all of
your weight on the ball and
slowly rotate your hips to
release the piriformis. Do
this for several seconds,
and then switch sides.
Postrun
Relief
Y
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40 MONTH TK
My Sweaty Little Secret
Dont tell anyone, but I just ran nine miles. And I didnt hate it
f you live a clean life, you dont have any secrets. That sounds
good, but it isnt true. I live a clean life, and I have a huge secret: I
just ran nine miles. If youre thinking, Hey, how does a newbie run
nine miles?, the answer is, Hey, I just told you a secret, dont use it against
me. I understand what this sort of announcement does. You cant
tell people you ran nine miles and expect to ever be treated normally
again. In the minds of most everyone (not runners, that is), instantly
you are done for, a goner. You are an
other, a them. Youll never be one of
the old gang again, so you might as well
just give that up and move to damage
control. To avoid outright disdain, you
have to qualify your distance in a way
that diminishes it somehowyou ran
really slowly, you walked half of it, you
hated it, hated it, you were out with rav-
ing idiots who made you do it. Or you
have to justify the milesyoure training
for an important race to elevate aware-
ness of such-and-such, in order to raise
gobs of money for so-and-so. Or the wed-
ding is in three months. Or the class re-
union. You can justify almost any ex-
treme personal improvement with
weddings and class reunions. Or you
keep it simple and just say you went for
a three-miler and got super lost. Or if you
still want to be thought of as the reason-
able and balanced person that you are,
you keep the distance a secret.
About a year and a half ago, I com-
pleted my longest run ever, 7.53 miles
according to my watch, a distance that
would seem strange only to a nonrunner.
The limits of stamina and determination
do not fall neatly into whole-mile blocks.
You drive the car until it runs out of gas
and clock where it dies. I tried to build
quickly on that distance but fell short on
every attempt, eventually injuring my
knee and falling back down to difcult
one- and two-mile runs. Because I was
naive to the politics of distance, when
anyone asked how far I went, Id round up
and say, One time I did eight! That was
usually met with a wrinkled nose and the
immediate question: Arent you worried
youll hurt your knees/alienate your fam-
ily/turn into some kind of punk?
You tell a room full of people you ran
one mile, and they will erupt into ap-
plause. Waltz into the same room with
the same people and announce
anything over six, and there will be
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Across the nation, thousands of teams are joining together to battle the ill efects of
exhaustion, erase the grips of physical limitations and redene the rules of running.
Together we can conquer 200 miles in the overnight running relay series known as Ragnar.
FIND YOUR RAGNAR AT RUNRAGNAR.COM
2012 Ragnar Relay
42
I kept glancing at my watch to make sure
my pace was slow enough to go long.
wide-eyed silence and even a few cold
shoulders. But if a single mile is good,
why arent additional miles better? One
pie good, nine pies better. Any monkey
knows. Same with well wishes. Same
with dollars. If one mile inspires, at what
point do more miles inspire suspicion?
You can easily imagine a whole room full
of pies and not an ounce of suspicion.
In my nonrunning days, I gave the cold
shoulder to anyone who ran almost any
distance. My long-standing belief was
that runners were essentially compensat-
ing for inner demons or bad behavior. Id
look at the guy on the road and think, Of
course hes running: Hes getting old, his hair
is falling out, and his wifes coworkers are
extremely attractive. He runs because his
children dont admire him, his own
mother has stopped calling, he doesnt
like what hes become, and hes trying to
run his way out of itactually not bad
reasons to start running, come to think
of it. But if compensation was the only
reason people ran, everyone over 21
would do it. The person who doesnt have
at least one thing in life they could com-
pensate for with running isnt looking
hard enough.
The one- to two-mile runner rounds up,
the eight- to 10-miler rounds down,
which means as far as perceptions are
concerned, there seems to be an ideal
distance to runbelow which makes you
a pansy, above which makes you an obses-
sive. What is that magic number? Is there
a magic number? I believe there is. I be-
lieve the magic number is three. You can
run the magic number three every day of
For more of Marc Parents stories, go to
runnersworld.com/newbie. And follow
him on Twitter at @NewbieChronicle.
dropped the robe, threw on my running
gear, and dashed onto the road. It was 36
degrees, still dark out, still silent. I went
two miles before the rst car rumbled by
with its headlights on. I glanced at my
running watch every several hundred feet
to make sure my pace remained slow
enough to go long. My legs felt heavy, and
I hadnt committed to the new distance
but wanted to keep the option open if the
run began to brighten up down the road.
My route is always an out-and-back. By
the four-mile mark, I was holding steady
and couldnt believe I was still going away
from the house. Half a mile later, I slapped
a lone road sign, did a slow loop, and
nor swimming in a river nor holding a
newborn. Not like music nor mathemat-
ics, not love nor hate nor indifference.
The moment a run becomes indescrib-
able is the moment it becomes private
not secret, just impossible to share.
I suddenly understood the look I got
from people who went long when I asked
them what it was likethe small smile
and sideways glance that I always
thought was hiding something. Now I
knew those people couldnt describe it if
they wanted to. The only thing they
could have said is that Id have to see for
myself. It takes a long time to get there
it took years, in my case. Years of hating
hating the run. But the view from nine
miles is worth the efort.
The rst secret was that I couldnt run
over ve miles; now the secret is that I
can. Either way, you have to keep secrets,
so you might as well run as far as you
want to. Or just get super lost on your
next three-miler and go with it. Distance
is one of the only things in life you truly
earn. Anyone can give you nine pies, but
no one can give you nine miles. Nine
miles you have to take.
the week, tell anyone you like, and theyll
call you a rock star. Go any farther, and as
I discovered on my rst long run, youll
probably have to keep it to yourself.
I began the morning of my nine-mile
attempt slouching listlessly in a chair,
sipping cofee, and pretending I was too
tired to move. When Susan and the kids
gathered to leave for school, I dragged
my slippers across the oor and waved
weakly from the front door as they pulled
away. As soon as they were out of sight, I
headed for home. By six miles, a rare and
unusually long distance in my routine, I
was just beginning to return to familiar
territory. The run itself, though, had sud-
denly become indescribable. It wasnt
easy, but it was not hard, either. I didnt
know until that moment that there was
a hidden gear between hard and easy. I
tried to gure out what it felt like, but it
was unlike anything else in life I could
think ofnot like a sunset, not like an
explosion, not like jumping from a plane
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201914501
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New in Town?
A run with total strangers in an unfamiliar place can be, well, eerily thrilling
t was dark, darker than i expected, and Billy was lost, or said
he was. We were in his car, somewhere near the entrance to Forest
Park, a tract of near-wilderness in Portland, Oregon, perfect for run-
ning or criminal activity. The locals say a man lived there for seven
years, in a tent, before he was discovered. If a living person could go
undetected, it could be pretty easy to hide a body. So, Billy said, youre
not nervous, going out to run before dawn with a complete stranger?
about what group ran where and when
and said, Hey, Ill just run with you my-
self, and proceeded to give me a free tour
of the city the next day.
Sometimes I get invitations from the
local running club before I arrive in town
to do my radio show, which is why I have
a T-shirt from the Landrunners of Okla-
homa City and a bag from the Running
Club North of Fairbanks, Alaska, plus
memories of ne runs through sculpted
suburbs and arboreal forests.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, I accepted an
out-of-the-blue e-mail invitation from
Brian Wandzilak, a Lincoln native who
had come back to town to coach track at
a high school. We talked about motivat-
ing kids to move. In Austin, I ran with the
station director of the local public radio
station, Stewart Vanderwilt, whose sin-
glet allowed me to see his fresh tattoo on
his upper arm: the insignia of his sons
combat company in Iraq.
So when I went to Portland, I shot of
an e-mail to the Oregon Road Runners
Club without a thought. It read:
Hello, my name is Peter Sagal, and I host
a show for NPR and also do a column for
Runners World. I was wondering if any-
body in your club might want to accompany
me on a run through Forest Park tomorrow
morning, Saturday, early...Id love to do 15
to 20 miles, running from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Many thanks.
I got an e-mail right back from the club
president, and she promised to ask
around. I felt pleased.
But it really wasnt until I hopped into
Billy Stricks car in the Portland dark, and
he asked me that question, that I won-
dered...how long would my luck last?
At the trailhead, Billy and I met two
vague shadows, one tall and one short,
that Billy introduced to me as Kevin
Grifth, his college roommate, and Jen-
nifer Mac McDonald, who had caught
one of the e-mails bounding around the
I
Not at all, I said, condently. Besides,
how ofen do you read about a mass mur-
derer getting arrested and the newspaper
says his hobby was distance running?
Heh, heh, said Billy.
So...um, while were on the topic,
youre not going to kill me, are you?
As a matter of fact, Billy said. Ive got
Garrison Keillor in the trunk.
I laughed. Thank God, so did he.
I run with strangers all the time. If Im
traveling to a city where I dont know
anyone to run with, I contact the local
running club and see if theres a group
training run that will t my schedule. If
not, Ill try contacting the running
storesonce, when I was in Seattle, the
clerk got tired of answering my questions
Peter Sagal is a 3:09 marathoner and the
host of NPRs Wait, Wait...Dont Tell Me! For
more, go to runnersworld.com/scholar.
ners, while running, are good company.
When everybodys wearing silly shorts
and sweating and farting and smelling
like mobile sachets of locker-room sweat,
theres no room for pretense. People brag,
but if theyre bragging about running,
they need to back it up, and if theyre brag-
ging about something other than run-
ningwell, who cares? No matter how
much money they make or the awards
theyve won or the names they care to
drop on the trail, its still eight miles out
and eight miles back, and by the end
thats all the achievement that matters.
Mac and I talked about the program
she works with, which trains homeless
people to become runners. Eventually,
she and Kevin announced theyd run
far enough and were heading back to
their cars. As the rising sun finally
pierced through the thick foliage, I
realized that Mac was actually very
attractive, and I almost apologized to
her for not having been self-conscious
and awkward around her, as was her due.
Instead, I waved goodbye, and my new
friend Billy and I, vastly different but
dressed alike and headed the same way
for the same purpose, continued on into
the brightening woods.
running club servers. Both seemed pleas-
ant enough, for vague shadows.
We set of into the dark, with Kev-
ins headlamp lighting the way up
the Leif Eriksson trail as if he were
a tall, lanky Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Runner. We talked mostly about running,
as one does when running, and Billy, as it
turns out, had been a prodigy; he was
once the youngest runner to complete
Hood to Coast, which he ran in at age 7.
He had given up running for a while, then
gotten back into it with a vengeancehe
had just run a 2:29 marathon, and was
hoping to better it next time. I realized, as
we pufed along at eight minutes a mile,
that not only was he being a gracious
host, he was being indulgent.
Truth to tell, had I been murdered by
Billy and his friends, I would have been
really surprised. I will not say that all run-
ners are entirely moralformer Illinois
Governor Rod Blagojevich is an enthusi-
astic runnerbut I will say that all run-
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BY SELENE YEAGER PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN STEELE
FIT
he long run is the cornerstone of marathon training,
yet it trips up many runners. You may be one of them: Once you start
amping up the volume, your body starts shutting down. Another 26.2
dream dashed. Or is it? According to Brian MacKenzie, a power lifer turned ul-
traendurance athlete based in southern California, to go long, you have to be strong.
To that end, MacKenzie, along with partner and two-time California state cycling
champion Doug Katona, created CrossFit Endurance (CFE), a high-intensity, low-
volume training plan that blends CrossFit conditioning (i.e., heavy, explosive strength
training) with sprints, time trials, and tempo workouts. Goodbye, long runs. CFE
reduces mileage to as much as one-quarter the average of a typical marathon program.
Devotees of an intense new training regimen say you
dont need long runs to train for distance running
TOTALLY
BY SELENE YEAGER PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN STEELE
46 FEBRUARY 2012
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POWER UP
Kettlebell swings
target nearly every
major muscle group.
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of kinesiology at Brock University in Ontario. It also makes you
more balanced and likely less prone to injury, he says.
It may also make you faster. In one study, highly trained run-
ners who substituted almost a third of their running workouts
with explosive, sport-specic strength training shaved 30 to 40
seconds of their 5-K times afer nine weeks compared with
those who ran and did minimal strength training.
Put it together
F
or runners, a typical CFE workout week might look like
this: three double daysa strength-building session fol-
lowed several hours later (to allow for recovery) by a
short, high-intensity run; one or two days of longer endurance
workouts like a tempo run or time trial; and one day of rest.
There are no easy days or recovery runs in CFE. Youre either
on or youre of. The act of taking real rest might be enough to
help many runners improve performance, says Gibala. You
have runners going out for these recovery runs, but theyre just
making themselves tired. Youre better of reducing the total
training load, getting rid of the junk, and getting real rest.
Is it for you?
I
f you

re a longtime athlete whos feeling worn down, a

program like CFE could be just what you need, says James
Herrera, M.S., C.S.C.S., owner of Performance Driven coach-
ing and consulting in Colorado Springs. Most runners have
trained in the classic format for many years and have developed
a huge volume base, he says. If you drastically reduce volume
and increase strength and training intensity, such an athlete will
improve on many fronts: speed, power, economy of movement,
lean body mass, as well as condence. Ive taken 40- to 60-year-
old clients whove done endurance training for 20-plus years,
cut their volume in halfstill more volume than what CFE
prescribeswhile increasing intensity, and theyve all posted
PRs, some better than their 25- and 30-year-old times.
Whats less clear is how well the program works for less-
seasoned runners, particularly those gunning for marathon (and
beyond) distances. CFE proclaims that by following the program
to the letter, you can compete innot just completeultra and
Ironman distances on just six to eight hours of training per
week. That includes long runs that never exceed 90 minutes.
But if youve never done a really long run, race day could prove
challenging, says Herrera, an ultrarunner himself.
[Long runs] prepare you for time on your feet, pacing for the
long haul, mental toughness, and, most important, how to hy-
drate and feed yourself for multiple hoursyou dont really
need to eat for a 90-minute training session, he says. Im a rm
believer in HIIT, but I still feel a runnerespecially a new run-
nerhas to cover about 75 percent of the distance in training
for a marathon to prepare for those elements.
What is certain is that most runners can benet from some
components of CFEafer all, who doesnt want stronger glutes,
more stable hips, and faster times? And with the dark days of
winter upon us, now is the perfect time to hit the gym and try
something fresh. Who knows? You might nd a new religion.
MacKenzie developed CFE while training for Ironman and
ultramarathon events. Following long, slow distance (LSD)
training while preparing for an Ironman in 2004, he experienced
knee problems and plantar fasciitis. So he did something radical.
He replaced LSD workouts and easy runs with 20-minute Cross-
Fit workouts, a conditioning program developed by former
gymnast Greg Glassman that takes functional training to the
extreme by combining power lifting, gymnastics, kettlebell
training, and other blisteringly hard strength training. He kept
the high-intensity speedwork found in many 26.2 plans, like
400- and 800-meter repeats. It worked for himhis high-test
training twist helped MacKenzie evade injury and nish ultra-
marathons on less than 10 hours of training a week. In 2007, he
launched CFE and remains vehement that a strongreally
strongbody will carry you as far as you want to go.
Some experts are concerned that forfeiting the long run does
not adequately prepare marathonersespecially newcomers
to the rigors of extended time on their feet. However, even the
most skeptical scientists acknowledge theres wisdom behind
CFE and thatlike most plansit may work for some runners.
Build your basefaster
R
unners spend a lot of time talking about base, the
aerobic tness foundationcharacterized in part by a
stronger heart muscle, thicker capillary webbing, and
improved enzyme productionnecessary for optimum endur-
ance performance. Traditionally, youve been told the best way
to build your base is with long, slow aerobic workouts.
Yet some experts argue such adaptations can occur in less time
with high-intensity runs. If you do 400-meter repeats, the vast
majority of energy is coming from aerobic metabolism, making
sprints a very potent aerobic stimulus, says Martin Gibala,
Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ham-
ilton, Ontario. Gibala and his colleagues found that people who
did short (25 minutes) cycling workouts with a series of 30-sec-
ond sprints improved their tness over two weeks at the same
rate as those who rode for two hours at a lesser intensity. Pretty
much every adaptation we measured could be realized through
high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and lower volume.
Gibala acknowledges that his study reects a short period of
training. What we dont know is how this plays out long term,
he says. If you have 50 runners doing traditional training and
50 doing HIIT training for one full year, who turns out better
trained? We havent done that study. But I bet theyre close.
Build a really strong body
T
he other half of MacKenzies program is building
strength through CrossFit. Workouts average 10 to 20
minutes, and combine metabolic conditioning exer-
cises such as kettlebell swings, handstand push-ups, and pull-
ups with classic moves like deadlifs and squats.
All that heavy lifing can translate to distance running. For
one, it increases the force of your stridethe more powerful
your push-off, the less effort you exert with each stride, the
easier fast running feels, says Stephen S. Cheung, Ph.D., professor
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49 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
WEIGHT GAINS
Use deadlifs to
develop a stronger
running stride.
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Mix and match three to four of the following CrossFit
exercises once a week to boost your strength and endurance
Deadlifts
TARGETS Glutes, hamstrings, hips, quadriceps, back
PURPOSE Strengthens your posterior chainthe stride-
driving muscles in your hamstrings and glutes
Stand with feet beneath a barbell, shins almost touching the bar,
feet under hips. Keeping back straight and chest up, sit back into
hips and grip the bar. Take a deep breath in and hold it as you
push hips forward, keep arms straight, and lif the bar so it travels
a vertical path along your body. Do one set of ve to 10 reps.
BUILD ON IT Increase weight over time until you reach a max
weight you can lif two or three times for one set. Progress to
three sets, aiming for ve reps, three reps, then one rep of max.
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Butterfly Sit-Ups
TARGETS Abdominals
PURPOSE Challenges abs through a full range of motion
Sit on the oor, knees bent with soles of feet together and
toes touching baseboard of a wall. Place a folded towel on
the oor behind you, positioned under your lumbar spine
when you lie back. Extend arms straight so ngertips touch
the wall and, keeping your back straight, lie back until your
shoulder blades touch the ground. Sit back up immediately
and touch your ngertips to the wall. Repeat 10 to 20 times.
BUILD ON IT Aim for 50.
Double Unders
TARGETS Cardiovascular system,
calves, hamstrings, glutes, quads
PURPOSE Builds speed, agility,
coordination, balance, and endurance
Jump ropekeep your head up, eyes
forward, elbows close to the body, and let
your wrists drive the rope around. Jump
just high enough to allow the rope to pass
under your feet. Land sofly on the balls
of your feet. Then swing the rope a little
faster so it passes under your feet two
times per jump. Aim to do 20 jumps
without getting tangled.
BUILD ON IT Work up to two minutes.
GET A JUMP ON IT
Skipping rope increases
your heart rate and builds
lower-body strength.
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Squats
TARGETS Quadriceps, glutes,
hamstrings, core
PURPOSE Builds full-body strength
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart,
arms at sides. Keeping your back straight,
extend your arms for balance and bend
your knees until your thighs are parallel
to the ground (dont let your knees travel
too far forward). Press into your heels
and return to the starting position.
BUILD ON IT Work up to 50. Add
weight with dumbbells or a barbell.
HAVE A SEAT
Perform squats initially
without weights, then add
dumbbells to ramp it up.
L-Sit
TARGETS Abs and hip exors
PURPOSE Increases core strength
Sit on oor between two raised platforms;
keep legs straight and together. Place a
hand on top of each platform. Extend arms
and lif body of the oor while bringing
knees toward chest. Hold for 10 seconds.
BUILD ON IT Work up to 30 seconds.
As you get stronger, extend one leg. Hold
for 15 seconds, then switch legs. Graduate
to holding position with both legs straight.
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HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVALS ENDURANCE RUNS
Warm up, then do 8 x 200-meter intervals. Rest (no
walking or jogging) 1:30 between each. Maintain pace for
each repeat within 3 to 5 seconds. Work up to 5 x 800.
Warm up with a half-mile easy jog. Then perform
a 5-K time trial [covering the distance as fast as
you can]. Cool down with a half-mile jog.
Warm up, then run 1:30 hard followed by 1 minute easy.
Repeat 6 to 8 times.
Run a 15-K time trial (note: do not run longer than
90 minutes). Begin and end with a half-mile jog.
Warm up, then run 1 mile hard. Rest for 5 minutes, then
perform 2 to 4 x 600 meters with 1:30 rest between re-
peats. Run each 600 within 2 to 3 seconds of each other.
3 x 1 miles with 5 to 10 minutes walking recovery.
Keep efort times within 10 to 15 seconds.
Warm up, then run 1 minute hard. Rest for 1 minute. Run
2 minutes hard, then rest for 2 minutes. Repeat until
youre running hard for 5 minutes.
Run a ve-mile time trial. Rest 5 minutes. Do 2 x 1
mile at 5-K time trial pace with 2 minutes rest.
Kettlebell Swings
TARGETS Hamstrings, glutes, core,
back, shoulders
PURPOSE Hits nearly every muscle,
sends your heart rate soaring, and builds
exibility, endurance, and strength
Hold a kettlebell with both hands, arms
straight, feet 30 inches apart. With back
straight and a slight bend in knees, press
hips back and swing the kettlebell between
legs and behind hips. Stand up and use
hips to drive kettlebell forward and swing
the weight over your head. Do 10 to 15.
BUILD ON IT Work up to 50.
RUN IT
High-intensity
short-interval runs
build your top-end
tolerance, while
longer tempo runs
and time trials
improve aerobic
endurance. Perform
these workouts at
the fastest pace
you can sustain for
the given efort.
TAKE IT BACK
...then snap your
hips to drive the
kettlebell forward.
53 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
Box Jumps
TARGETS Quads, hamstrings, glutes
PURPOSE Increases explosive strength and stamina
Stand in front of a stable platform about 12 to 18 inches high.
Push hips back while swinging your arms back. In one explosive
move, swing your arms forward, spring up, and land on the box
with sof knees. Hop down. Repeat up to 10 times.
BUILD ON IT Work up to 50 and/or increase platform height.
Kipping Pull-Ups
TARGETS Core, back, chest,
shoulders, biceps
PURPOSE Turns pull-ups into a full-
body, functional exercise
Consider the Kipping Pull-Up to be your
aspirational CrossFit exerciseits a
challenging move that takes time and
practice to master (and bestows signi-
cant bragging rights once you do). Hang
from a chin-up bar with your hands about
shoulder-width apart, using an overhand
grip with your palms facing out. Snap your
hips to start swinging your body. When
you have enough momentum, bend your
knees and pull your torso up until your
chin clears the bar. Continue in a uid
manner. Do as many as you can.
BUILD ON IT Every week add one rep.
Or two to four if youve nally nailed it.
SPRING UP
Box jumps instill
explosive power
in your legs.
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together, but once in a while I wake up
groggy and wonder: Could my drinking
habit be hurting my running?
Turns out the research on alcohol and
exercise is as herky-jerky as our cultures
attitude toward the bottle. Most early
around the world, which calls itself a
drinking club with a running problem.
Among runners, coffee is perhaps the
only beverage more popular than beer.
My friends and I ofen joke that were
carbo-loading when we split a six pack
I
STOOD AT THE END OF A RIDICULOUSLY GRUELING TRAIL
amid the red clifs of Western Colorado. Around me, runners enjoyed various cold, locally brewed
beers wrapped in neoprene sleeves emblazoned with a sketch of the mountain wed just torn up
and down and the words I survived the Summit and Plummet. It was not yet 11 a.m.; wed just
nished one of the hardest ve-mile runs in North America. Wed earned those beers. At least, thats
what we told ourselves. Its a common ritual among my running buddies. We run, then
we drink. And were not alone. The outt that organized todays informal run ofen congregates
at Grand Junctions Kannah Creek Brewing Company following its weekly trail runs. Paonias
Elegantly Attired Running Ladies, my womens group, meets every Friday evening for a run that
nishes at Revolution Brewing. And then theres the famous Hash House Harriers, with chapters
studies investigated alcohols potential as
a performance enhancer. It seems ridicu-
lous now, but during the 1904 Olympic
Marathon, U.S. gold medalist Thomas
Hicks was given a mixture of brandy,
strychnine, and egg whites in an efort to
57 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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CHEERS TO SCIENCE!
Wed recruited ve men and ve wom-
enmyself includedranging in age
from 29 to 43, all moderate drinkers (de-
fined as drinking less than the recom-
mended daily limits of two drinks per day
for men, one for women) and who ran at
least 35 miles per week. At the orienta-
tion a week before the first Beer Run,
Leadbetter explained the study before
serving us Fat Tire beers. He was trying to
get us to about .07 percent blood alcohol
concentration (BAC), which is below the
legal limit for driving under the influ-
ence. The hope was to simulate a nor-
mal amount of beer a runner might
drink afer a race or workout.
He decided to test whether drinking
beer immediately following a hard run
would sap performance the next day.
Since men and women metabolize alco-
hol diferently, he opted to test both and
look for gender differences as well
something previous studies didnt exam-
ine. Part one of the experimentthe Beer
Runwas a 45-minute, early evening run
at an intensity that would require tapping
into muscle-fuel stores, immediately fol-
lowed by a serving of beer. Part twothe
Exhaustion Runwould take place the
next morning and provide a measure of
the recovery. On this run, volunteers
would run at 80 percent of their max for
as long as they could tolerate.
Researchers tested the volunteers twice,
using two unnamed beers and without
divulging their alcoholic content. In
Round One some runners consumed regu-
lar alcoholic beerFat Tire Amber Ale
while others had a nonalcoholic beer,
ODouls Amber. (In Round Two, the beer
options were reversed.) One would expect
runners to run out of gas faster the morn-
ing afer their Fat Tire run than they did
the morning afer drinking the ODouls.
Real beer might also make the Exhaustion
Run feel more difcult. Finally, real beer
might alter the amounts of fat and carbo-
hydrates our muscles burned for fuel.
gain a competitive edge. Many coaches
then believed alcohol boosted energy.
In more recent years, not surprisingly,
that belief has been largely disproved.
One study on sprint- and middle-distance
runners, for example, found that at most
distances the more alcohol the athletes
had, the slower they ran. Still, another
study on male cyclists found that drink-
ing the equivalent of two shots of hard
liquor one hour before exercising didnt
give athletes any distinct advantages, nor
did it signicantly harm heart rate, blood
pressure, or oxygen uptake. Even a hang-
over doesnt seem to diminish your aero-
bic capacityit just makes you feel lousy,
so you underperform. But at the same
time, theres evidence to suggest that
drinking afer a workout might spoil re-
covery of muscle damage and reduce the
amount of energy stored in muscles.
So what was all this conicting infor-
mation really telling me? Being a former
scientist, I had my own theories about
how drinking and running mix, and I
couldnt resist putting them to the test.
The nearby Colorado Mesa University
had just opened the Monfort Family Hu-
man Performance Research Lab, a state-
of-the-art exercise-science facility that
seemed like the perfect venue to explore
alcohols efects on running performance.
My friend Gig Leadbetter, Ph.D., coaches
the schools cross-country team and is an
exercise scientist at the Monfort Lab. Hes
also a home brewer and winemaker and,
without any arm-twisting, agreed to put
together a study for Runners World.
S
MALL AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL (all types) raise the level of good
cholesterol in the blood, make the blood less sticky and prone to
blood clots, and help the body better regulate blood sugar, says
Kenneth J. Mukamal, M.D., an expert on alcohol and health at Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Brookline, Massachusetts. The problem,
he says, is trying to extrapolate this to the next step. Does alcohol prevent
heart disease or diabetes? he asks. Those are harder questions to answer.
The best available evidence suggests that people who drink within the
recommended limits (no more than two drinks per day for men, one for
women) have 20 to 25 percent lower rates of heart disease and diabetes than
nondrinkers, but this evidence comes mostly from observational studies that
cannot prove causation. Its compelling evidence, but still indirect, he says.
BOTTOM LINE If youre telling yourself youre drinking for your health,
youre kidding yourself, he says. A betterprovenway is to go for a run.
HEADLINES SUGGEST SOME DRINKING IS A GOOD
HABIT. DOCTORS ARENT ENTIRELY SOLD
Postrun
Refreshments
GOOD OLD H
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O tops readers list
of favorite drinks to down afer a
race or hard workout, according to
the nearly 5,000 respondents of
a recent runnersworld.com survey.
Water
Chocolate milk
Sports drinks
Beer
Other
Juice
Wine
5%
2% 1%
26%
31%
20%
15%
58
breathing were ne. With Leadbetter and
the other researchers cheering me on, I
kept going until at 32 minutes and 23
seconds I nally called it quits.
I downed a bagel and orange juice from
the breakfast bufet, and then went home
to rest up for the next run. That evening,
I hit the treadmill and the suds again.
Though Id spent the day napping, this
second Beer Run felt harder than the rst.
By the time I stepped onto the treadmill
for the second Exhaustion Run the next
day, my legs and brain were shot. Still, I
was determined to suffer as hard as I
could in the name of sciencethis was
no time to go soft. But I lasted only 27
minutes and 31 seconds, almost five
minutes less than I had the day before.
GOOD FOR WOMEN,
BAD FOR MEN?
Right afer the second Exhaustion Run, I
sat down with Leadbetter to review a few
results. The first shock was personal: I
had assumed my second Exhaustion Run
was so poor because I had drunk the real
beer the night before. Wrong! I had actu-
ally been served the placebo the previous
evening. Surely my results were a uke.
Leadbetter sent all the data to Bob Pettitt,
Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and statis-
tics expert at Minnesota State, Mankato.
The time diferences between the beer
and placebo Exhaustion Runs varied
considerably from individual to individ-
ual. But when Pettitt averaged together
the time differences between the two
runs, they evened out to a big fat zero.
Why? The women did better afer beer,
but the men canceled it out by doing
worse, says Leadbetter. The ve women
ran an average of 22 percent longer the
morning afer drinking Fat Tire, while the
men ran 21 percent shorter.
Pettitts analysis showed that this gen-
der difference was statistically signifi-
cant. However, concluding gender difer-
ences based on 10 subjects is a big leap,
he says. Leadbetter agrees, which is why
hes spent recent months studying a
larger group of runners. Obviously,
women use and metabolize fuel sources
diferently than men, says Leadbetter. If
we nd the same efect in [later] studies,
then it will be really exciting.
To gure out how many beers equaled
normal, Leadbetter started the orienta-
tion with the governments alcohol im-
pairment chart, which estimates blood
alcohol levels using body weight and al-
cohol percentages. Over the course of the
next hour, everyone drank what the chart
predicted would amount to .07 percent
BAC. Because individual metabolism can
vary, however, Leadbetter invited a cou-
ple of cops to give us Breathalyzer tests to
ensure everyone got the right dose.
Its a good thing he called for backup.
The chart proved right on the mark for
some, but was way of for others. It cor-
rectly predicted, for example, that
29-year-old Daniel Rohr needed to drink
three and a half beers to reach .07. How-
ever, it led Bryan Whitt, a muscular 149
pounds, to drink almost three Fat Tires.
As Whitt strode to the front of the room
and faced the cop for his moment of
Drink More,
Run More?
THERES NO QUESTION that
alcohol is a popular beverage
among active folks. Data from
a large 2009 survey found that
drinkers were more likely to exer-
cise than abstainers. It could be
that the same people who enjoy
a runners high also like a beer
buzz, says Michael French, Ph.D.
truth, he didnt seem at all impaired. But
when he blew into the Breathalyzer, the
number came up to .095 percent. The
chart also wrongly limited a petite Cyn-
thia Malleck to one 12-ounce beer, when
she really needed almost two full bottles.
By nights end, as volunteers met their
designated drivers, Leadbetter and his
team knew exactly how much to pour.
Everyone reconvened the following
Friday evening for the rst Beer Run. We
ran on treadmills for 45 minutes at a pace
that felt steady, like tempo, but not over-
ly strenuous. Then we gathered on the
patio behind the lab and drank cold beer
(or the placebo) and devoured plates of
pasta and tomato sauce (carbs!).
The next morning, volunteers returned
to the lab for the rst Exhaustion Run, a
task as grueling as it sounds. Afer we ran
at a fast clip for as long as possible, re-
searchers measured our heart rates and
metabolic factors, such as oxygen con-
sumption and carbon-dioxide production.
Every three minutes, they asked us to rate
how hard we were working.
My legs ached from the beginning, but
I was determined to tough it out to 20
minutes. The treadmills timer was ob-
scured, but by eyeballing a clock across
the room, I could guesstimate my time.
As I approached what I thought was 20
minutes, my will to continue faded and
my perceived efort soared. My legs felt
heavy and uncooperative, but was I truly
exhausted? Well, no. My heart rate and I
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RATING OF PERCEIVED
EXERTION (RPE)
Quanties how a runner is feeling
HYPOTHESIS If alcohol harms
glycogen replenishment, RPE
should climb higher, sooner (and
at a faster rate) on the Exhaustion
Run following real beer.
RESULT RPE did not signicantly
difer between the two trials.
TAKEAWAY Moderate beer
consumption following a run
did not make runners feel worse
on their next mornings run.
RESPIRATORY EXCHANGE
RATIO (RER)
RER tells us what percentage of
carbs and fat is being used as fuel.
HYPOTHESIS If alcohol harms
glycogen replenishment, runners
should use up their carbs more
quickly and therefore use more
fat at the end of the Exhaustion
Run following the real beer; RER
should go down.
RESULT No metabolic diferences
in RER between the real beer and
placebo trials.
TAKEAWAY Moderate beer
consumption did not signicantly
alter the availability or use of
carbs for fuel the next morning.
RUN TO EXHAUSTION
TIME (RTE)
The amount of time the runner
lasted on the treadmill, running at
80 percent of his or her maximum
HYPOTHESIS If alcohol harms
recovery, runners should feel
depleted sooner afer drinking
postrun beers, therefore reaching
their exhaustion points sooner
during their next runs.
RESULT Men reached exhaustion
points 21 percent sooner the
morning afer drinking real beer
(compared with placebo beer);
women took 22 percent longer to
reach exhaustion afer real beer.
TAKEAWAY Men performed
worse the morning afer drinking
a few postrun beers, while the
women performed better. But
given our small sample size,
these results should be taken
with a grain of (margarita) salt.
IN OUR STUDY, INDIVIDUAL RESULTS VARIED,
BUT OVERALL, BEER AND RUNNING MIXED FINE
study, he competed in the Warrior Dash,
a race that involved an obstacle course
and free beer at the nish.
Trail runner Cynthia Malleck ran 44
percent longer on her real beer Exhaus-
tion Run than she did afer drinking the
placebo, but she attributes the diference
to fatigue. Malleck received the real beer
the rst day, and by the time the second
Exhaustion Run came around, she was
toast. As I was getting on that treadmill,
I thought, I have to do this again?
But Karah Levely-Rinaldi received the
real deal on the second trial and posted
her longest run to exhaustion the next
morning. She wasnt surprised shed
lasted 4.5 minutes longer afer drinking
the Fat Tire, compared with the ODouls.
Last fall, she set a half-marathon PR (1:36)
the morning afer a three-margarita din-
ner. Alcohol doesnt seem to have a
negative impact on my performance, the
mother of four says nonchalantly.
Larry Brede quit sooner on the run to
exhaustion the morning afer the Fat Tire,
but hes not so sure it was because of the
alcohol. (He had to drink four beers with-
in the allotted hour to reach his BAC.) Id
had a long day at work when I had the
beer, he says. I was overall more tired.
As for me, I wasnt ready to give up on
my theory, so I decided to jump of the
wagon for a month. In spite of my results,
I was still pretty sure that without a drop
of beer or wine, Id run faster, sleep better,
and maybe even lose some weight. In-
stead, my speed stayed the same, I still
tossed and turned at night, and I didnt
lose a pound. So much for the beer gut!
The outcome of my monthlong dry
run didnt surprise Brede. A few years
back, he gave up alcohol for four months
while attempting to qualify for Boston.
Id run a 3:28, and I needed to get under
3:10, he says. I ended up running a 3:25,
and I decided it wasnt worth it. Eight
months later, after resuming his beer
drinking, he ran a 3:08. I believe drinking
is pretty independent of how well youre
trained and how well youre eating.
I agree. While I was disappointed to
reap no benets from giving up alcohol,
the project proved that my drinking
wasnt causing me harm. Id answered my
question, and thats worth celebrating.
Ratings of perceived exertion, on the
other hand, showed no signicant difer-
ence between the trials, implying that the
runs didnt feel any easier or harder afer
real beer versus placebo beer.
If moderate drinking has a negative
impact on performance, it seems to be a
modest one, says Leadbetter. But even
without a denitive answer, the results
ofer some assurance to beer drinkers. For
those who are running for pleasure, any
efect is probably no big deal, he says. On
the other hand, if beer turns out to help
women and hurt men like this study
implies, even a single percentage point
diference could mean the diference be-
tween a merely solid run and a PR.
TO DRINK, OR
NOT TO DRINK
Aferward, I called some of the volunteers
to get their takes on their results. Daniel
Rohr ran about 13 percent longer the
morning afer drinking ODouls, but says
he felt similar during both trials. I actu-
ally slept better the night afer I drank the
alcohol, he says. A few weeks afer the
60 MONTH TK
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DESI THE RIVETER
Davila graduated from ASU
without a shoe contract but with
a determination second to none.
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By Bruce Barcott

Photographs by Nathaniel Welch

62 MONTH TK
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The veteran running analyst was working the 2011 Boston
Marathon television broadcast for NBC/Universal last April. As
the leading women made their way through the Newton hills,
just past mile 20, Rawson spotted something unusual.
On the lef of your screen, he said, that is Desiree Davila.
It was the sound of a man not believing his eyes. Where the
hell did she come from?
Though she started with the elite women, Davila, a 27-year-
old American from the Detroit suburb of Rochester, didnt get a
lot of media buildup prior to the 115th running of the Boston
Marathon. Few outside of hard-core marathon circles knew her
name. But by lunchtime on Patriots Day, the entire running
world was buzzing about her 2:22:38 performance.
By nishing just two seconds behind the winner, Kenyas
Caroline Kilel, Davila broke the womens American course re-
cord and vaulted into the league of leading contenders for the
2012 U.S. Olympic teamand possibly a medal in London.
The rst test of that newfound status will come January 14 in
Houston. When Davila and her competitors toe the line at the
Olympic Marathon Trials, they will compose the deepest, fastest,
most competitive womens marathon eld in American history.
In past trials, a sub-2:30 time has guaranteed a spot on the team.
(The top three nishers go on to the London Games.) This year,
no fewer than seven women have posted sub-2:30 marks. The
2004 bronze medalist, Deena Kastor, now 38, will be vying to
make her fourth Olympic team. Hard on Kastors heels are Kara
Goucher, 33, and Shalane Flanagan, 30, world-class 10,000-meter
runners whove turned themselves into world-class marathon-
ers. Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 38, has experience on her side (she
came in second to Kastor in the 08 Olympic Trials) and is run-
ning consistently in the 2:26 to 2:28 range. Stephanie Rothstein,
28, and Clara Grandt, 24, announced themselves last year with
sub-2:30 times in Houston and Boston, respectively. (See 10
Women to Watch, page 65.)
And then theres Desi.
With her performance in Boston and a 2:26:20 nish in the
2010 Chicago Marathon, Davila has posted two of the three
fastest marathon times among American women over the past
two years. She continues to sharpen her game on the toughest
competition. In September, she heard that Boston winner Caro-
line Kilel and world half-marathon record holder Mary Keitany
would run in the Lisbon Half-Marathon. So she ew to Portugal,
bibbed up, and nished as the only non-Kenyan in the top ve.
Though shes no longer an unknown, the question in Larry
Rawsons voice remains: Who is she? Where did she come from?
The answer can be found on the trails and dirt roads that wind
through the northern suburbs of Detroit. She was raised in
Southern California, the youngest daughter in a soccer-mad
family. In college she carved out a solid, if unspectacular,
mid-distance rsum. She was always in the hunt but never won
the laurels. Then she moved near the Motor City. And Desiree
Davila was reborn as a runner.

R
ochester, michigan, is a quiet leafy town
about 25 miles north of Detroit. Its one of the prosper-
ous suburbs where Americas automobile executives
lay their heads at night. Its also one of Americas most
unlikely distance-running hothouses. Most mornings along the
Paint Creek Trail, a wide nine-mile crushed-limestone path that
winds through Rochesters hardwood forests, youll hear the sof
crunch of runners putting in their dailies. And sooner or later, if
you run the trail, youll be passed by a small clutch of athletes in
their 20s. These are members of the Hansons-Brooks Distance
Project. They will be thinner than you. They will be faster than
you. And one of them will be Desiree Davila.
On a blustery September morning, Davila can be found run-
ning on an empty track at Stoney Creek High School. As her
coach, Keith Hanson, calls out splits76 at! Perfect!Da-
vila rips through ten 800-meter intervals.
Theres a core contradiction to Davila. Shes tiny5'2", 98
poundsbut she runs with the power of a linebacker. Watching
her rekindles a memory of the Boston Marathon. As she runs
next to the willowy Kenyans in the nal mile, you worry that
Davila might atten them if they cross her lane.
COAST TO COAST
As a California school girl (lef), Davila won local meets handily but came up short in
big events. At Arizona State (below, fourth from lef), she impressed Coach Walt Drenth
(below, right) with her toughness. Her 2011 Boston breakout (right) impressed the world.
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running. As a ninth-grader, she placed second in Californias
state cross-country meet, which was no surprise to her.
I was kind of naive, she tells me over cofee afer her work-
out. Id always won races as a kid, so I expected to be there at
the end. Winning was normal. That changed in high school.
She won handily at conference meets, but the top spot in state
always eluded her. In state championships she was always in
the top 10 but never in the winners circle. That glory fell to a
California rival, Sara Bei (now Sara Hall, a top middle-distance
runner whos married to Ryan Hall), who took the state cross-
country title four years running.
During Davilas senior year, she considered scholarships from
the University of California, Berkeley and Arizona State Univer-
sity. It was a tough choice, she says. Are you going for your
education, or to run? Because obviously the two schools are
pretty far apart on the academic spectrum.
Davilas a diferent cat. Shes not another generically pretty
white girl on the track. With her olive skin and arresting doe
eyes, its tough to pin her ethnic background. (Shes Hispanic.)
Her intellectual tastes run to the dark and complicated. Donnie
Darko and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are two of her fa-
vorite films. Her prerace psych song is Im Ready, an old,
rumbly Muddy Waters number. When she talks about Cal and
Arizona State, she gives the sense that shes stiing a sarcastic
remark. Berkeley: one of the nations most rigorous public uni-
versities. ASU: one of the nations top party schools. Pretty far
apart on the academic spectrum. Yeah, you could say that.
Halfway through her workout, when rain begins pelting the
track, Hansons older brother Kevin pulls up in his red Hummer
H2. Kevins still on South Korean time, says Keith. The two
brothers share coaching duties on their 21-member squad.
Kevin has just returned from Daegu, South Korea, where he
coached Mike Morgan in the World Championships Marathon.
At the end of her workout, Davila admits she felt a little rusty.
Afer the USA Track & Field Championships in late June, she
took a few weeks of. Now she is paying for it. I keep forgetting
how recent the downtime was, she says.
Kevin Hanson shrugs of her concern. I dont really care if
you look like crap the rst week of September, he tells her.
Yeah, Id rather do this now, she says, referring to the short,
sharp shock of the track workout, than go into the rst month
of Trials workouts and still feel like Im recuperating.
The wind picks up and throws a chill into Davila. Is that a
shiver? says Kevin Hanson.
Its a small running joke. Having lived through six Michigan
winters, Davila is as well adapted to the Upper Midwest climate
as any of the Hansons runners, but her Southwestern pedigree
gives the native Michiganders an opportunity for some good-
natured ribbing when the mercury drops.
In truth, its an unlikely match, Desi and Detroit. She grew
up in Chula Vista, California, the San Diego suburb thats as far
south as you can go without being in Mexico. Soccer was the
family game; her older sister played, her father coached, and Desi
was torn between the family sport and her burgeoning love for
WORKOUT WARRIOR
Putting in the miles last fall
near her home in the Detroit
suburb of Rochester.
64 FEBRUARY 201 2
style, and tragic early death turned him into a local Prefontaine-
style hero. Central Michigans Jef Drenth Memorial now marks
the kickof of the cross-country season in the Upper Midwest.
Walt carved out his own legend as coach at Arizona State.
Prior to his 1996 arrival, ASU owned the Pac-10 cellar. The Sun
Devil women had never been nationally ranked, never appeared
at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, and had produced
just two All-Americans. Drenth changed all that. During his
eight-year run in Tempe, his teams became xtures at the NCAA
Championships (every year from 1998 to 2003), attained top-ve
national rankings, and produced eight All-Americans.
He did it with a tough work ethic. Coach Drenth, hes a mel-
low guy, but when its time to work, youd better show up, says
Davila. He has high expectations for his runners, and a high
volume of work to go along with it. You either get that or you
dont, and if you dont, youre not going to be around too long.
Drenth puts it as tactfully as a coach can: We help them
understand the work necessary to reach their goals, he says.
Wed tell them, If you like the idea of being Pac-10 champion,
heres the work that needs to be done to get there.
Amy Hastings came to ASU one year afer Davila. She recalls
the bond between teammatesand a certain sharp, hip older
girl. Des hosted me on my recruiting trip during my senior year
of high school, she says. She was a little shy, but very cool and
funny. And I could tell immediately that those athletes were
different. A lot of places I looked at, the runners were more
teammates than friends. At ASU it was the opposite.
Davila made steady progress at ASU, earning All-American
honors in track and cross-country during her junior year. With
future NCAA champions Hastings and Victoria Jackson pushing
Friends talk about her preternatural calm and her sly under-
the-breath sense of humor. Shes the co-worker wholl crack you
up with a raised eyebrow when the ofce blowhard takes over
a meeting. Des is one of the quickest, wittiest people Ive ever
met, says Amy Hastings, an American distance runner who has
been one of Davilas closest friends since they ran together in
the mid-2000s at ASU.
Case in point: During prerace festivities in Boston, Davila fell
into conversation with Blake Russell, the American marathoner
and 2008 Olympian. They got to laughing about roommates,
boyfriends, husbands, and household chores. I dont think my
husband even knows where our vacuum cleaner is, Russell said.
A few days later, as Davila navigated the post-Boston media
storm, she took the time to e-mail a photo to Russell. It was a
picture of Davilas boyfriend vacuuming their living room in
Rochester. Cruel, says Russell, chuckling.
Most people dont get my sense of humor, Davila confesses.
People who know me get itor at least they put up with it.
Despite the, um, gap in the academic spectrum, Davila en-
rolled at Arizona State. It came down to the coach, she says. I
really liked [ASU coach] Walt Drenth. I looked at the athletes
hed brought in. They werent superstars in high school, but he
ended up producing national champions.
Though she didnt know it, joining Drenth in Tempe was
Davilas rst step toward Detroit. The Drenth family holds a
special place in Michigan running culture. Walt and his young-
er brother Jef were both standout cross-country athletesand
popular guresat Central Michigan University in the late 70s
and early 80s. Afer college, Jef Drenth joined the Nike-spon-
sored Athletics West team in Eugene, Oregon. The promise of a
brilliant career lay ahead of him when, inexplicably, he collapsed
and died afer a workout in 1986. Drenths great spirit, running
GRIND, AND LIVE WITH GRINDERS
Thats the simple Hanson brothers philosophy, and its just what Davila
has done. Lef, with Kevin and Keith Hanson; above, with team members.
Friends cite her sly humor. Shes
the co-worker who will crack you up
with a raised eyebrow when the ofce
blowhard takes over a meeting.
65 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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her on training runs, her tness rose. But her old high school
pattern reasserted itself: Always among the top contenders,
never atop the podium. In high school she watched Sara Bei
hoist the trophies. In college, it was her friend Amy Hastings.
By the end of college, I felt like I still had more in me, Da-
vila recalls. I could do workouts with these people who were
doing really big things. I didnt want to nish my career and
wonder if it wouldve clicked if Id just given it more time.
Enter, from Detroit, the Hanson brothers.
T
he hansons-brooks distance project is the
kind of heartwarming little-guys-make-good story a
screenwriter might cook up. In 1999, Kevin and Keith
Hanson, two brothers who owned a couple of small
running-shoe shops in suburban Detroit, got fed up with the
dispirited state of American distance running. Were track
geeks, basically, Kevin Hanson, 51, tells me recently during an
interview in the brothers Utica, Michigan, store, one of four
they now own. There werent enough successful American
runners in the 1990s. We gured we should do something about
it. Our whole idea was to get back to group training.
The Hansons remembered the great track clubs of the 1980s
the Greater Boston Track Club with Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyer,
and coach Bill Squires; and Athletics West, a team that included
Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Mary Decker
Slaneyand decided to resurrect the idea. They bought a house
and invited promising local athletes to live there and train full-
time. It worked great, because if they needed some food and gas
money, wed ofer them hours working in the store, says Kevin.
Postcollegiate running programs now thrive in small pockets
around the country: the Mammoth Track Club in Californias
Eastern Sierras, ZAP Fitness in rural North Carolina, Nikes Or-
egon Project on the outskirts of Portland. But when the Hanson
brothers started, they were all alone, using cash from their own
pockets. Brooks signed on as a cosponsor in 2003, but its still a
shoestring operation. I get other store owners all the time ask-
ing, How do you make money on this? says Kevin Hanson.
The answer is, you dont.
By 2005, the Hansons had earned a national reputation for
turning second-tier college runners into national contenders.
The top four or ve athletes coming out of college, the ones
getting $60,000 shoe contractsthose are not our athletes, says
Kevin. Our people have a diferent starting point.
With her strong-not-stellar rsum, Desiree Davila looked to
be the quintessential Hansons team candidate. Her options afer
college were few. Her highest podium was a third-place nish
in the 5000 at the Pac-10 conference championshipsnot ex-
actly a shoe-deal credential. An online search turned up the
Hansons program. She asked Walt Drenth about it.
Are you crazy? Drenth told her. I grew up there. You have
no idea what the winters are like.
She persisted. Davila sent an e-mail to Keith Hanson. No reply.
She lef a phone message. It was never returned. I knew my
credentials werent incredible, she recalls, but when I looked
at who was on the team, I was kind of like, I t in ne there
2012 OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS
10 Women to Watch
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A STRONGER U.S. womens eld
in the Olympic Marathon Trials, says Kevin Hanson, Desiree
Davilas coach. The drama here is epic. World-class marathon-
ers Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan, and Davila will go head-
to-head for the rst time. The top three go to London. (Odds
are for making the Olympic team, not winning the race.) B.B.
Deena Kastor, 38
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:36:20
Greatest U.S. marathoner
since Joan Benoit Samuelson
aims for her fourth Olympic
Games. At 38, her qualifying
time raises questions about
age, but shes still the only
American woman to run
sub-2:20. ODDS: 8-1
Stephanie
Rothstein, 28
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:29:35
Arizona runner does well in
Houston, where she scored
an 11-minute half-marathon
PR. ODDS: 10-1
Clara Grandt, 24
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:29:54
The wild card in Houston.
Young upstart broke 2:30 in
her marathon debut last year
in Boston. The future of
American marathoningor
the present? ODDS: 15-1
Tera Moody, 31
QUALIFYING TIME:
2:30:53
Missed making the
08 Olympic team by
1:14. Has been moving
her times closer and
closer to sub-2:30.
ODDS: 15-1
Colleen De Reuck, 47
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:30:51
Are you kidding? Four-time
Olympian, 47 (!), irts
with sub-2:30 qualier.
De Reuck competed in her
rst Olympic Marathon
when Clara Grandt was in
kindergarten. A Trials podium
would make her the Dara
Torres of the 12 Games.
ODDS: 20-1
Desiree Davila, 28
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:22:38
Posted two of top three
American times in past two
years. At the peak of her
game right now. ODDS: 7-5
Shalane Flanagan, 30
QUALIFYING TIME:
2:28:40
Less experienced at
26.2 than Goucher
and Davila, but her
second-place debut in
the 2010 NYC Marathon
indicated that may not
matter. ODDS: 2-1
Kara Goucher, 33
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:24:52
Afer maternity leave, came in
a strong fh last year in
Boston. Looking for road
redemption afer disappoint-
ing Beijing track experience.
ODDS: 3-1
Magdalena
Lewy Boulet, 38
QUALIFYING TIME:
2:26:22
Rabbit strategy
earned her a spot
on the 08 Olympic
team, but injury
scuttled her Beijing
race. Posting impressive
2010-11 times, and only
Kastor has more savvy in
big races. ODDS: 5-1
Amy Hastings, 27
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:27:03
Davilas former ASU
teammate has been running
strong lately, including second
in 2011 L.A. Marathon. Train-
ing with Kastor and Meb
Keezighi in Mammoth Lakes
cant hurt, either. ODDS: 7-1
whats the deal? Finally she tracked down Kevin on the phone
in the Royal Oak store. He was noncommittal. If you want to
come out and visit, he said, that would be ne.
We negatively recruited her, explains Keith Hanson. Shes
coming out of California and Arizona. She has no idea what the
weathers like in Michigan. We dont get snowdrifs like Bufa-
loactually the winters are pretty mild herebut its not the
desert Southwest. To have success here, youve got to deal with
obstacles. It may take six years of ups and downs, and the people
we bring out have to be motivated enough to deal with that.
They vetted Davila with their fellow Michigander Walt
Drenth. Could she be better than her college record?
I think she can, he told them. She could be exceptional.
Dont misinterpret her easygoing, quiet demeanor, though. Shes
independent. Shes tough.
When Davila ew out to Detroit in 2005, the Hanson brothers
talked up the hardships. The winters will be tough. Your parents
will wonder if youre wasting your life. Youre going to have a
lot of years of putting in mileage that nobody sees, Keith told
her. People wont know your name. It can take ve or six years.
This is what it is.
Davila didnt inch. I know what it is, she said. I still want
to be a part of it.
Okay, Kevin told her. Well give it a try. Well see.
T
he hanson brothers have a lot of theories
about running, and theyll give you an earful anytime
you want. Just drop by the shops in Utica or Royal Oak.
Theyre simple storefront operations, nothing fancy:
running shoes stocked on plain white shelving, posters of De-
siree Davila, Brian Sell, and other Hansons-Brooks runners
decorate the endcaps and the walls. Theres no high-markup
Detroit Tigers, Lions, or Pistons jerseys, nothing that cant be
actually used on an eight-mile run. On most days a couple team
athletes will be working the counter, and Kevin or Keith will be
on the oor, holding court like its a neighborhood barber shop.
Hey! I saw your nieces time last weekend, Kevin calls out
to a customer on a recent afernoon. The man smiles proudly.
A rumpled man comes through the doorcoach of a local
cross-country team. How are your girls doing? Kevin asks.
And so it goes. Hansons Running Shops arent selling shoes.
Theyre selling the fun of running. Marathon clinics, group runs,
middle school campssomethings always going on. Some-
times other shop owners will complain to me that runnings
down in their area, Keith Hanson tells me. And I think, You do
know youre in charge of that, right?
In between the steady flow of customer meet-and-greets,
Kevin lays out his coaching philosophy. If you look at the top
10 marathon times for American men, eight were set by athletes
who set those times when they were over 30 years of age, he
explains to me. So if you graduate from college at age 22 or 23,
how do you get there? What do you do in those six or seven years
to rise to that top level?
The Hansons formula can be boiled down to a sentence:
Grind, and live with grinders. Its simple group psychology. If
2012 OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS
10 Men to Watch
IT'S RARE THAT ALLTHREE marathon favorites qualify
for the Olympics. But this time, the three contenders are
very much a cut above everyone else, and barring injury or
dunderheaded strategy, they should be the top three in the
Trials in Houston. (Odds are for making the Olympic team,
not for winning the race.) PETER GAMBACCINI
66 FEBRUARY 201 2
Ryan Hall, 29
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:04:58
Now primarily self-
coached, Hallthe Trials
winner four years ago
is the fastest American
marathoner in history
and the class of this
eld. ODDS: 1-5
Meb Keezighi, 36
QUALIFYING TIME:
2:09:13
Hes battled back from
injuries that would have
forced lesser mortals into
retirement. The 2009 ING
New York City Marathon
champ set a new personal
best in November. ODDS: 3-2
Dathan Ritzenhein, 29
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:10:00
Ninth in the 2008 Beijing
Olympics, he also ran 5000
meters in 12:56:27. Hes
fragile, but he doesnt take
long to get in shape. Seems
intact now. ODDS: 3-1
Jason Hartmann, 30
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:11:06
The tallest of the serious
Trials contenders (at 6'3")
was the 2009 Twin Cities
champ, but he is still ofen of
the publics radar. ODDS: 6-1
Ed Moran, 30
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:11:46
Moran hadnt banked
on even going to the
Trials; hed had a
honeymoon planned for
afer Novembers NYC
Marathon. But following
his 26.2-mile debut, which
looked easy, a trip to
Houston would be hard
to pass up. ODDS: 8-1
Brett Gotcher, 27
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:10:36
His 2:10:36 at the Houston
Marathon in 2010 was the
fourth fastest American debut
ever. ODDS: 9-1
Mo Trafeh, 26
QUALIFYING TIME: 1:00:39
Trafeh qualied on the basis
of his half-marathon personal
best. A major talent, hes a
whiz at anything from 10-K
to 13.1 miles. Can he handle
a marathon? We can only
guess. ODDS: 10-1
Abdi Abdirahman, 35
QUALIFYING TIME:
2:14:00
The three-time 10,000-
meter Olympian ran
his best marathon in
2006 (2:08:56), but
his racing can be erratic.
We hear hes serious this
time. ODDS: 13-1
Jason Lehmkuhle, 34
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:12:34
The fh-place nisher at
the last Trials, hes the most
unappable personality
among the favorites. If a
handful of competitors go
down from a sizzling pace,
he could be lef in the top
three. ODDS: 15-1
Nick Arciniaga, 28
QUALIFYING TIME: 2:11:30
Arciniaga runs 2:11s with
regularity, and hed
rank higher on our list
maybe even fourthif
we hadnt heard he was
hurt this fall. But by
November, he was
back to work. Sowho
knows? ODDS: 15-1
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and Keith asked her to join the team at the Indianapolis meet
anyway. She sat in the stands with her coaches. That was eye-
opening, Davila recalls. People ran well in those races, espe-
cially the 10-K, but nobody ran completely out of their minds.
There was nothing they were doing that I couldnt do.
She returned to Detroit determined to prove she could run
with the top dogs. I needed evidence, she says. Davila found it
in the ticks of a stopwatch. Id hit a 33:20 during a 10-K work-
out, she recalls. And all of a sudden running at a 5:35 pace didnt
seem all that frightening.
Training with Dot McMahan, Melissa White, and other Han-
sons marathoners, Davila gradually built up her distance. At the
USATF 20-K Championships, the top ve runners would go on
to compete at the World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
Davila came in 13th. Then fate intervened. One by one, other
top-five qualifiers dropped out of the Hungary race. A spot
opened up. Davila grabbed it.
Thats when the Hansons discovered Davilas big-race gene.
Her best time was about three minutes slower than any
American on that 20-K team, Kevin Hanson says. But when it
came race time, she came in as the third American.
That success led her to look at the marathon. Two weeks afer
returning from Hungary, Davila drove to Chicago to support her
teammates running the Chicago Marathon. I went there to
watch the rest of the team run it, and I saw what the marathon
does to people. Its an incredibly emotional experience. That was
the rst time I really considered running it myself.
Davila wanted to make her 26.2-mile debut on a big stage
the 2007 Boston Marathonand go fast. The Hansons had
other ideas. They agreed to Boston, but they argued with Davila
about her race plan. They wanted to slow her down. With the
marathon, you dont swing for the fences on your rst try, Keith
Hanson says. Its a race youve got to learn. It takes time to
master the feeling of a marathon.
Thats the only time Kevin, Keith, and I werent on the same
page, Davila recalls. I didnt want to train for three months and
then race at a level that was less than what I was capable of.
Weather mooted the argument. A noreaster moved through
Boston in 07the BAA nearly canceled the raceand Davila
was happy to nish 19th in her marathon debut.
Her time of 2:44:56 on the rain-lashed course qualied her for
the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials, so the next April, she re-
turned to Boston and lined up with Americas best. The Womens
Trials were held on Sunday, April 20, 2008, the day before the
regularly scheduled Boston Marathon. I thought Id be 2:32 or
quicker, Davila recalls.
Davila ran her plan, clocking 5:48 mile splits. At mile 21, she
was eight seconds behind eventual
youre living with other runners, all devoted to the same thing,
then this life youre leading becomes acceptable behavior, says
Kevin Hanson. Youre not out there all alone, second-guessing
all the time youre committing, trying to justify your life
choices to others who might not understand.
In late 2005, Desiree Davila moved into the Hansons teams
Tienken Road house, a classic 70s one-story rambler. On the
Paint Creek Trail, the Michigan maa gave her a hard time. So
youre from out West, huh? said Ryan Linden, a local runner
who ofen trained with the team. I hear its pretty easy to make
nationals from the West Region. (Condescending jerk, recalls
Davila. I hated him.)
Davila ate, drank, and slept running. It became so consuming,
in fact, that she declined the work at the Hansons shop in favor
of a part-time job at Moosejaw, the outdoor retailer south of
Rochester. She dug the companys irreverent corporate culture.
(Moosejaw proudly refuses to take itself too seriously. The com-
pany once ofered a limited-edition jacket called The Mc Lovin.
It sold out.) She answered customers e-mail inquiries and com-
plaints. Low stress, she says. It was a fun place to work, and it
gave me a chance to not think about running for a while.
Davila trained all that winter for the 10,000 but failed to
qualify for the 2006 USA Track & Field Championships. Kevin
(continued on page 101)
Desi wanted to debut at Boston
and go fast. The Hansons wanted to
slow her down. Thats the only time
we werent on the same page.
LUCKY IN LOVE
Davila with anc Ryan Linden, a local product who went
to Michigan State and ofen trained with the Hansons.
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68 FEBRUARY 201 2
I was 10 when my dad joined a run-
ning club in Michigan. I tagged along. By
the time I was 11 or 12, I was running
5-Ks and 10-Ks. The summer before high
school I ran under 17 minutes for 5-K.
When I was younger, people
said I was like Alberto Salazar,
my coach now. I had a lot of
strength, and I could run well
on my own. Late in a marathon,
you might be alone. You need
focus. Ive always had that.
I broke the American record for the 5-K
in 2009 [12:56.27 in Zurich, Switzerland].
I won a World Championship medal in
2009 in the half-marathon. But I havent
Dathan Ritzenhein,29 Beaverton, Oregon
MY RUNNING LIFE
The Comeback Kid
Afer months of injury, Dathan Ritzenhein is t and healthyand has a plan
to win the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials BYCHRISTINE FENNESSY
IN HIS OWN
WORDS
FAST FOCUS
Afer high school (above), Ritzenhein ran
the 10,000 meters in the 2004 Olympics
and the marathon in the 2008 Games.
69 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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hit it out of the park in a marathon yet.
Ive run ve marathons, and nutrition has
been my biggest limiting factor.
I sweat at a higher and saltier rate than
most people, and Ive had cramping prob-
lems at the end of some of my marathons.
Ive been working on the exact uids and
nutrition I need during a race. Im tolerat-
ing everything great now in my training.
My last injury [to his Achilles] stopped me
dead. From mid-February of last year to
July, I couldnt do anything. When you
cant train like youre used to, its hard.
Without my family, the layoff would
have been torture. My daughter [Addison,
age 4] and I played dress-up games and
board games. My son [Jude, 18 months]
would dump her dolls on the floor.
Theyd ght. Wed play golf on the Wii.
I tend to get in shape fast. My
old coach, Brad Hudson, used to
say I walked around in 14-minute
5-K shape. I did my rst race
in a year [the NYC Dash to the
Finish Line 5-K in November]
afer only a few workouts and
ran under 14 minutes [13:56].
My favorite workouts are long, 15- to 20-
mile marathon-simulation runs. I put on
my uniform, practice my warmup, and
take drinks at the same time as in a race.
In the buildup to the 2008 Trials, I was t,
but the long summer track season caught
up with me. I was tired, anemic, and had
an injury in my ankle. I kind of came
back in the last ve weeks and ran well
it was one of my better marathons [sec-
ond in 2:11:06]. This time, Im really fresh.
Ryan [Hall] is a great competitor, but I do
not base my race of him or anyone else.
As long as I focus on my preparation, I
dont worry about who is in the race.
The Trials course [in Houston] is three
oblong loops. Ive run part of it, and I have
a pretty good idea of what it looks like.
I always show up on race day ready to go.
I perform well under pressure.
The perfect Trials performance? I win. I
was top American at the Olympics [in
Beijing, ninth]. I can compete when its
important. Making the team is the main
goal, but I think I can win the race.
[WHAT I DO
]
WAKE UP SLOW
I cant get up and walk out the door and run like I used to. Before every
run I have a cup of cofeeor two. I come home, take a nap, get up, and
do the same thing before the afernoon session. I start the day twice.
ENVISION SUCCESS
In my training, I think about race
scenarios and self-reinforcement.
Like if someone is breaking away
from me. I use mantras that build
condence, like I will win the Olym-
pic Trials. By the time I get to the
race, my mental game is dialed in.
CONTROL THE FIELD
Im the guy who mixes it up in a
race. You never know if Ill lead or
wait for a kick. In a race, you dont
let certain people go. Id never let
Meb [Keezighi; photo, right] go; hes such a consistent marathoner.
People dont let me go. I like that they think, If he gets away, its over.
*My Treat
I love warm, homemade
seven-grain bread
with honey and butter.
Whenever my wife,
Kalin, makes it, I just
have to have a slice.
She could run a bakery.
My Inspiration
GREG MEYER was the
last American to win
Boston. In high school, he
told me I shouldnt wait
to move up to the mara-
thon. He said I was made
to run the marathon.
[
DAILY DISH
]
BREAKFAST
One or two cups of half cofee/half milk;
thick slice of toasted seven-grain bread with
peanut butter and Nutella
POST-A.M. RUN
Gatorade Pro 03 recovery shake
LUNCH
Salmon burger or chicken and yogurt with fruit and granola
PRE-P.M. RUN
One cup half cofee/half milk; Gatorade Pro 01 energy bar
DINNER
Grilled steak (6 ounces) with two
cups of broccoli and mixed grains
SNACK
Half a bag of microwave popcorn
70 MONTH TK
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ENDURING IMAGE
Ian Charleson, playing Eric
Liddell, leads the cast on
the sands of St. Andrews.
BY JOHN MCLAUGHLIN
In Chariots
They Ran
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In the late 1970s, an idealistic producer struck out on his own
to create a diferent kind moviea movie about self-sacrice
and moral courage, as embodied by two historic British runners.
The odds of getting it to the screen were impossibly long, but
the producer found a way, recruiting a cast of young actors who,
like the aspiring Olympians they were to play, were lled with
restless talent and ambition. The result was Chariots of Fire, which
won the Academy Award for Best Picture exactly 30 years ago
and which, thanks in no small part to the spirit and authenticity
of the running scenes, still resonates with athletes today.
71 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
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72
I
t had been puttnams project from the start, three long
years before. Laid up with the u in a rented house in Holly-
wood, where he was a producer with Casablanca Filmworks,
he had reached for the one book on the shelf that looked in-
teresting, a history of the Olympic Games up until 1948.
Here, he stumbled across a paragraph about Eric Liddell, the
Scottish sprinter who had refused to run on a Sunday and had
switched from the 100 meters to the 400 meters to win gold at
the Paris Olympics. Looking back now, he says it had echoes of
everything I was looking for.
Puttnam, 37, was one of Hollywoods rising
stars. He had earned respect with a number of
imaginative projects from Bugsy Malone, a gang-
ster movie made with child actors, to Ridley
Scotts Napoleonic-era debut, The Duellists. He
had also scored a worldwide hit with Midnight
Express, which starred Brad Davis as an Ameri-
can drug smuggler tossed into the unwelcome
embrace of a sadistic Turkish prison warden.
The films caricature brutality won few
marks for subtlety but proved to be box-ofce
gold, with moviegoers cheering as Daviss
character takes violent revenge on his persecu-
tors. Puttnam was shocked by the audiences
enthusiastic reaction to what he had imagined,
when it was lmed, to be a chilling scene.
I had had success with Midnight Express, but it was not the
type of lm Id come into the industry to produce, he says now.
In this story [of Eric Liddell], I saw something not dissimilar to
A Man for All Seasons, the tale of Thomas Mores refusal to set
aside his conscience by agreeing to the divorce of serial wife-
botherer Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon.
Puttnam has an idealistic, almost romantic view of what
movies can achieve. As he said of A Man for All Seasons in a 1988
PBS interview: The cinema allowed me for one moment to feel
that everything decent in me had come together. His movies
afer Chariots reected that view of the transforming power of
moviemaking, from the quixotic environmentalism of Local
of-mouth enthusiasm fueled by critical acclaim in the United
States would carry it to the Academy Award for Best Picture, one
of four Oscars and countless other prizes it would go on to win
around the world.
Three decades on, this story of race and religion, individual
conscience and team loyalty, centered on the 1924 Summer
Olympic Games, seems faintly quaint. Like a bottle bobbing up
greenishly out of the past, it hymns the old virtues of honor and
self-sacrice with a fervor unalloyed by irony. That alone would
single it out amidst the otsam of 3-D block-
busters and teen comedies on any beach it
might wash up on today. That it still resonates
owes something to the passion that went into
its making, but it is also about timing, and the
echoes between then and now.
Chariots of Fire is a supremely escapist movie,
and in 1981 there was plenty to escape. Just like
today, daily life in Great Britain was darkened
by anxiety, unemployment, and riots in the
streets. There was a royal wedding to divert the
massesfor Kate and William read Charles and
Dianaand the U.S. public delighted in the
royal dress-up as much as the Brits. It says it all
that the two songs that seemed to be playing
everywhere that year in Britain were Vangeliss
elegiac theme music for Chariots of Firewhich would also top
the U.S. charts afer its Oscar triumph the following yearand
The Specials Ghost Town, a haunting anthem for a collapsing
society inspired by the sight of old women selling their posses-
sions on the streets of Glasgow.
And just to underscore the parallels between the times, by an
odd coincidence, the success of Chariots 30 years ago was mir-
rored last year by that of another nostalgia-laced, Oscar-winning
movie focused on Britains ruling class, The Kings Speech.
But on that March evening in 1981, Farrell and Puttnam
parted ways with only an inkling of what was to follow. For the
latter, the movies fate, and his with it, must even then have
seemed to be hanging in the balance.
actor in the spring of his career made his way along Haymarket in the heart of
Londons West End theater district. Casting his mind back, Nicholas Farrell
recalls now that he was appearing in a play nearby, and gures that it must have
brought him by chance past the Odeon Cinema, where his rst movie was now
playing. What he remembers clearly is his surprise at bumping into its pro-
ducer, David Puttnam, standing on the sidewalk outside. There was a House
Full sign outside the cinema and David was very excited. He insisted on taking
a photo of me next to the sign. He said, This is wonderful! You just dont know
how wonderful this is! Farrell adds: I think he knew it was good, but I think
hed made good things before that had just zzled out. Chariots of Fire would
not zzle out. Over the year that followed its limited release in the U.K., word-
In ChariotsThey Ran
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writing at the time was very cool, says Puttnam, but Colin was
about passion. Wellands script would win an Oscar and pro-
duce one of the more memorable acceptance speeches in his-
tory, with Welland roaring gleefully, The British are coming!
Welland threw himself into his research, scouring the ar-
chives of the British Film Institute for period clips of the runners
and interviewing survivors of the events or their relatives, any-
one who might have a story to tell. He also had the luck that
would accompany the movie from day one. An ad in The Times
of London turned up a box of letters written home by Aubrey
Montague, who raced in the 3000-meter steeplechase in Paris.
The letters, read by Nicholas Farrell as Montague, became almost
verbatim the lms voice-over, with Welland changing only the
greeting to Mum and Pa, Mummy and Daddy being a little too
fey for the present day. By the end of 1979, he had produced a
25-page treatment, tentatively titled Runners.
T
o direct, puttnam tapped hugh hudson, one of a
string of British ad men who would make the jump to
feature lms in those years. Hudson, who had also made
documentarieshis rarely shown Fangio, on the life of
the Argentinian race-car driver Juan Manuel Fangio has cult
status among gearheadsand had worked as second unit direc-
tor on Midnight Express, was known as a bravura visual stylist.
Hero to the redemptive power of friendship in The Killing Fields
and the crisis of conscience at the heart of The Mission.
For Puttnam, lming Liddells story would send a are into
the Hollywood sky, a declaration of principle in a ckle universe.
It answered questions I was asking myself: What was I doing
in this business? Could I really make a movie like this?
Seized by the story, he searched for more. I wrote to the
Amateur Athletic Association of England, which sent me three
huge scrapbooks covering 1922, 1923, and 1924, with a note
saying, Please return afer use. The story of Harold Abrahams,
the Jewish sprinter running as much against anti-Semitism as
his athletic rivals, emerged as a parallel tale to Liddells Christian
journey. Puttnams contract with Casablanca had ended, and he
returned to the U.K., determined to develop the lm on his own.
Puttnam needed a scriptwriter and chose Colin Welland, an
ebullient English writer and TV actorwho also appeared in
the 1971 hit movie Straw Dogswho combined a love of sport
with the mordant wit and class consciousness of his native
North of England, the countrys industrial heartland. English
Laid up with the u in 1978, Puttnam
stumbled across the story of Eric Liddell.
Looking back now, he says, the sprinters tale
echoed with everything I was looking for.
FIRE STARTERS
Producer David Puttnam (lef) and director Hugh Hudson (right) on the set
with Dodi Al Fayed, who scored a credit when his father helped nance the lm.
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McNab, who coincidentally had won the Eric Liddell Memorial
Trophy for best junior athlete in Scotland before becoming a top
triple jumper and then a British Olympic coach, was drafed in
as script adviser and consultant. David said, Your job is to make
sure the athletics look real. If it doesnt, were stufed.
The first look at the 31 skinny actors who turned up in
Chiswick was not encouraging. Hudson describes the audition
as a shambles. Sent out to run around the track, some of the
actors stomped of in disgust afer a few yards; others were part-
ing with their breakfast afer a few more. McNab, who had to
choose potential Olympians, albeit 1924 Olympians, from this
motley crew, sounds horried still: They werent like American
actors. I mean, Burt Reynolds was a halfback. Paul Newman
drove race cars. Robert Redford was a good skier. But these [Brit-
ish] guys did for sport what Quasimodo did for coat hangers.
Theyd clearly never done anything. I picked out Ben Cross and
Ian Charleson, and I heard Hugh and David let out sighs of relief.
They were the ones they wanted.
Casting Lord Lindsay, the aristocratic hurdler, was even more
difcult. A rising Scottish actor came down from Edinburgh to
audition. According to McNab: We put a hurdle up and he paled
visibly. He refused to go over it. If hed been a horse, youd have
shot him. Eventually, they found Nigel [Havers], who looked
as if he could hurdle. He didnt show fear of it, anyway. Havers,
who had been playing blue bloods all his life, got the part.
As training began, there were a few early shudders about the
actors tnessMcNab says Charleson turned up at his house
for the rst time and hed pulled a muscle running for a bus!
but excess of zeal seems to have been more of a problem. I was
But Puttnam also had other reasons for his choice. Hudson
was a reluctant product of the upper classes, an alumnus of Eton
College, no less. Hudsons rsthand experience of a class-bound
society, says Puttnam, gave the film its authenticity. His
distaste for the arrogance of privilege gives the movie an anti-
establishment edge that was only reinforced during lming.
The Cambridge colleges where Abrahams ran and studied
recoiled when they saw the script and refused Hudson access.
Gonville & Caius said anti-Semitism didnt exist at the college
in the 1920s, Hudson says, still furious three decades on. Trin-
ity implied the same. Of course it exists. I can be critical because
Ive seen it at close quarters. I lived among those people.
For the athletes, Hudson and Puttnam chose to cast promising
unknowns, the dew still on them, whom they would then sur-
round with experienced pros. Casting began in 1979, and the
older parts duly went to some of the great names of the English
screen and stage: John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson as the
sneeringly anti-Semitic Cambridge University masters; Ian Holm
as Abrahamss pugnacious running coach Sam Mussabini.
Hudsons condence in them freed him to concentrate on his
young charges, in whom he saw something of Abrahams and
Liddell. You felt that trepidation in the young actors. They were
trying to do things in their lives, trying to become somebody.
He was counting on that restless ambition emerging on-screen.
He remembers seeing Ben Cross, who would play the notori-
ously prickly Abrahams, in the musical Chicago, and I liked all
that angst and aggression, the chip on the shoulder of an out-
sider. Ian Charleson would have the fearsome task of playing
Liddell, a man widely regarded as a secular saint, without mak-
ing him dull or preachy. He had a smallish part in Piaf, says
Hudson, and about halfway through David and I looked at each
other and said, Hes the one. He could play anything.
Before nal approval, though, they had to go through a dif-
ferent audition, at Chiswick Stadium in West London. Tom
100-METER MEN
Ben Cross was cast as Harold Abrahams (right), who in reality won the 100
meters before losing the 200. Winning it later, though, made for better cinema.
In Chariots They Ran
British Olympic coach Tom McNab was
recruited to train the actors and was told by
Puttnam: Your job is to make sure the
athletics look real. If it doesnt, were stufed.
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doing 10-mile runs at one point, says Farrell, getting a bit
overkeen, and I sprained my foot. Tom said, Calm down.
Fitness wasnt the only issue. They had to look like athletes
a little easier task when their models were the gifed mortals of
1924. As Havers says: You could get away with a certain phy-
sique. Where they could, the lmmakers made it easy on them.
Though McNab says Havers was a competent hurdler, the ob-
stacles in the lm were 2'6" high rather than the regulation 3'.
The young actors turned up twice a week for training at
Wormwood Scrubs Stadium in West London, hard by a notori-
ous prison. Still unpaid, they arranged their schedules around
collecting unemployment and whatever work they could nd.
They got by, though. And they got competitive. They were like
athletes in many ways, says McNab, insecure, all about perfor-
mance. He adds: Most of these guys had athletic ability they
had never tapped. Ben Cross got to the point that he thought he
was fast. He said, What do you think I could run for the 100
meters, 11 at? I said, Youd be lucky if you could run 12.6. I
put a veteran female runner against him. She was over 50 and
she slaughtered him over 40 yards. He never mentioned it again.
Havers, meanwhile, took a tumble while showing off his
hurdling technique to Cross. He dislocated a shoulder and, as he
waited in agony for an ambulance, realized with a sinking feel-
ing that he had also broken a wrist. A cast would have ruled him
out of the movie, so he taped it and disguised it with a sweater
and later a huge wristband. Havers says, The wrist never really
recovered. But as shooting began, he was on the set.
Afer three months of boot camp, they all were. A tter, faster
bunch than when they started, theyd become a tight-knit group.
They were friends, and it shows on-screen. As Havers says: We
were like a little Olympic outt ourselves, a very close group.
We forgot about the camera being on us. Hugh just let it roll.
F
inancing the movie posed problems of a diferent
order. Puttnam and Hudson may have been sold on the
treatment, but it was tough to persuade anyone else to
share their enthusiasm. (British lm company Goldcrest
did put up some money to help pay for the development of the
script, but Hudson says, It was the best investment they ever
made. A few thousand dollars and theyve been claiming the
lm as theirs ever since.)
Their rst big break came at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.
As Puttnam and his former business partner, Sandy Lieberson,
then president of 20th Century Fox, were falling asleep in a
shared bedroom, Puttnam told him the story line of the movie.
Lieberson liked it enough to put up half the $5.5 million Putt-
nam needed. The other half was tougher.
Hudson says: The American studios rejected it. Why? Be-
cause the two main characters barely meet. There is no shoot-out
at the end. They support each other because they are both run-
ning for Great Britain. He adds that afer weeks touring the U.S.
in a fruitless search for nance, I remember sitting with David
in a hotel room almost weeping. It seemed impossible to get
anybody to understand why this was a lm worth investing in.
Puttnam says it reached the point where we were thinking
of pulling the plug. That or remortgage the house. My wife said,
Dont think twice. Just do it. Luckily it didnt get to that. By
1981, Allied Stars, a British production outt owned by Egyptian
mogul Mohamed Al Fayed, agreed to stump up the other half.
There were strings attached. Fox, which Puttnam says devel-
oped cold feet about the movie afer Lieberson lef the company,
demanded two American marquee names for the cast. And
Allied Stars wanted a producers credit for Al Fayeds son Dodi,
who would later acquire a tragic kind of fame when he died in
a Paris car crash alongside Princess Diana. Naturally enough,
afer more than a year searching for investors, Puttnam was not
about to quibble over these details.
Finding a U.S. distributor was no less difcult. In a 25th an-
niversary lm on the making of Chariots, Puttnam describes how
the production head of one U.S. studio slipped out of a screening
to answer the call of nature and failed to return. We never saw
him again. The head of sports for a major network, ofered the
project as a made-for-TV movie, turned it down at. He didnt
want to buy it at any price. We were saved from going to TV
ALL ABOUT TIMING
Ian Charleson played Eric Liddell (right), who in 1924 switched from the 100
meters to the 400 meters months before the Olympics, not as he was arriving.
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brothersand in many ways the consummate insider. Not only
did he convert to Catholicism in 1934, but as a U.K. athletics
administrator, he argued against a boycott of the 1936 Olympics
in Berlin to the consternation of many British Jews.
As for Sam Mussabini (real name, wonderfully, Scipio Africa-
nus Mussabini), who in Ian Holms brilliant hands almost steals
the picture, McNab says that, while Mussabini was a ne condi-
tioner and motivator, he had no idea at all technically. He be-
lieved in forward-leaning all through the race, not just at the
start. And he believed in a cross-arms movement, like a walker.
Abrahams seems to have ignored him on both counts. As McNab
says, he also talked very matter-of-factly about several supple-
ments that might raise an eyebrow today: strychnine for dulling
fatigue; cocaine lozenges as a stimulant.
It was, of course, a very diferent time in athletics. In Britain,
not long before, the idea of training at all would have been seen
as dreadfully poor form by the sports upper-class custodians.
And as McNab says, in 1924 coaching at the amateur level was
almost nonexistent, and diet barely gured. You ate what was
put in front of you. Mostly it was university students competing
because they were better fed than working-class lads. Any profes-
sional training was very much about the professionals.
Scotland was one of the hotbeds of professionalism, with large
crowds flocking to watch, and bet on, the sprinters. McNab
himself was once suspended by the amateur authorities afer
competing, and winning 10, at a Scottish meet, and the sporting
year still features handicapped professional races.
In Mussabinis day, McNab says, Theyd give you purges to
clean out your stomach, and laxatives like Black Jack that would
have gone through you like thunder. It was what they did with
animals. Long-term health was irrelevant: The pros were
competing for big money, so they were peaking for one event at
a time. Mussabini, who in real life was introduced to Abrahams
by Liddell, adopted a lot of the attitudes of the pros.
Ian Holm threw himself into the role, grilling McNab for
hours about coaching, adding small touches to build the char-
acter. A very private man, Holm declined to be interviewed for
this story, but McNab says it was he who thought of holding his
cane above Abrahamss knees to force him into that high pranc-
ing gait designed to help him shorten his stride. Nicholas Farrell
because they didnt think it was good enough. Finally, Warner
Bros. and Ladd Co. stepped in, treating it like a newborn child.
It would still be a strain to bring Chariots in on budget, not
least because producer and director were eager to give it an epic
quality: They even took the cast to see Lawrence of Arabia before
shooting began to show them the emotion and sweep they were
after. Hudson kicked in 70,000 of his own money to see it
through preproduction. And Cambridges late refusal to cooper-
ate meant they started lming with a key sequence unbudgeted
and unscheduled. In my weekly progress reports [to Fox], says
Puttnam with a smile, I somehow managed to evade the issue.
W
ellands job was to craf a winning story out
of great raw material. It was not to make a documen-
tary. The nished script included a string of elisions
and inventions for dramatic effect, most signifi-
cantly that Liddell discovered that the 100-meter heats were on
a Sunday only as he was taking ship for France. In fact, he knew
months before and trained for the 400 meters instead, though
he was as much of an outsider in reality as he was in the lm.
Abrahams, meanwhile, had already won his 100-meter gold
before he was run down by Paddock, Scholz, and, yes, Liddell in
the 200 meters, the only time they ever raced each other, what-
ever the movie says. Capturing the blue-ribbon event afer he
had lost once made for a redemptive climax, and better cinema.
More signicant is the question of Abrahamss portrayal as a
Jewish outsider running as much against anti-Semitism as his
opponents. Though he seems to have encountered anti-Jewish
hostility along the way, and to have drawn motivation from it
in his running, he also went on to become a pillar of the English
establishmentas did his two very successful, very sporting
THE HAT-PUNCHER
Coach Sam Mussabini was played by Ian Holm (lef), whose brilliant
portrayal almost steals the movie. In real life, Mussabini (right) was a ne
conditioner but technically inept, which Abrahams apparently understood.
In Chariots They Ran
Hudson played the theme music when lming
at St. Andrews. I wanted the crew to get a
feeling of movement, he says, of this posse
of greyhounds moving down the beach.
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also recalls the scene in that garret at (in Paris) when he hears
Harold Abrahams has won. He said to Hugh, Keep the camera
running, and at the end he grabs his hat and punches his hand
through it. He took you with him as an audience completely.
C
hariots of re was shot in less than three months
under intense pressure, cast and crew constantly on the
move between locations. With money tight, the shooting
schedule had to be completed each day because they
could not aford overruns. Thankfully, the locations made this
possible. Hudson says, We were in Scotland, which is a wonder-
ful place to lm: There is usually a ltered sun, constant chang-
ing of the light, and the most spectacular terrain. And then there
was Cambridge, which is beautiful.
Barred from Trinity College, Hudson shot the Great Court
Run, with Harold Abrahams beating Lord Lindsay to become
the rst man ever to make it around the inner courtyard before
the clock tolls 12, at his old alma mater west of London. Etons
quad was dangerously tight, McNab says. Thankfully nobody
was hurt, though history was a little roughed up. In actuality,
Trinitys Great Court Run was rst managed by one Lord David
Burghley in 1927 (see Who Beat the Clock?, above). A year
later Burghley won the Olympic 400-meter hurdles in Amster-
dam. He was the basis for Nigel Havers character, but it seems
he refused to allow his name to be used in the lm because, al-
ways the competitor, it had him losing to Abrahams.
INOCTOBER 2007, Sam Dobin heard
the last chime of 12 a split-second afer
crossing the nish line in the courtyard
of Trinity College, Cambridge. It was
the moment he entered history as only
the second man to nish the Great Court
Run before the clock tolled its last.
The run that forms a centerpiece
of Chariots of Fire was lmed at Eton
College, but the traditional course takes
runners approximately 370 meters
around the Trinity courtyard. Its origins
are obscure hardly surprising since the
college was founded by Henry VIII back
in 1546but for decades it has been run
by optimistic freshmen on matriculation
day. They run to win, but better still to
make it round before the courtyard clock
strikes the nal note of 12, a time that
varies between 43 and 44.5 seconds,
depending on when the clock was wound.
Dobin was a 19-year-old student.
Today, an economics teacher and athletics
coach, he recalls that nights unrestrained
celebration, the media swarm that had
him waking at all hours for interviews
with Australian radio, and details that
disappeared from news accounts.
For one thing, he says, he did not run
the same race as Lord David Burghley,
who managed the feat in 1927 and went
on to win Olympic 400-meter hurdle gold
in Amsterdam the following year. Until
recently, Dobin says, You had to stick to
the paving. Now they allow you to cut
across the cobbles, which makes for
curved corners rather than right angles.
Which makes Burghleys feat amazing,
he says, even more so since the rumor
is he did it at midnight as they used to
before the dead hand of safety regulations
outlawed it (though well-oiled students,
pursued by college staf, still try), and
probably afer a big meal and a few drinks.
Olympians Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram
tried the same course in 1988, for charity
and quite sober, and failed. J.M.
Yes, it was done, but only
twice, and not by Abrahams
Who Beat
The Clock?
The lmmakers stayed lucky, even when luck seemed to have
deserted them. Hudson remembers shooting that signature, and
much-parodied, opening scene, actors and local athletes cut
slow-motion running along a beach at St. Andrews in Scotland
to the Vangelis theme tune (this before lolloping, to the horror
of golf purists, across the fairway of the famous Old Course).
Hudson shot it to music. I wanted the camera crew to get a
feeling of movement, of this posse of greyhounds moving down
the beach. The day was, he says, Absolutely at, dead, but as
luck would have it, there was a scratch on the lens. We had them
running through freezing water, and they had to come back and
do it again. Luckily the next day was rougher, with a shifing sky
and whitecaps on the water. It turned prose into poetry. As Eric
Liddell would have said, God was with us.
They were just as blessed shooting the movies climactic
scenes at the Paris Olympics. They found an old stadium a ferry-
ride from Liverpool and transformed it, with scafolding and
ags and cutouts of spectators, into the Stades Colombes. They
also wanted live bodies, 7,000 of them, for the main grandstand.
They advertised locally for extras on a holiday weekend, of-
fering the chance to win prizesincluding a Fiat carto anyone
who showed up and stayed until 5 oclock. Shooting on a holi-
day was very expensive, but we needed a crowd, says Hudson.
We had a start time of 9 oclock, and at 8:45 the stadium was
still empty. We looked at each other and said, This is a disas-
ter,Puttnam calls it one of the most terrifying moments of
LAP PRANCERS
Cross, as Abrahams,
circles the courtyard.
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78
Gielguds dresser. The two young stars arrived before they were
due to start lming, riding up to Liverpool on the train from
London. Davis was to play the amboyant Charley Paddock,
Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the 100 me-
ters, instantly recognizable for his trademark leap for the tape
at the end of a race, in many ways the sports rst superstar.
(An alumnus of legendary coach Dean Cromwells track
program at USC and a virtual professional in an amateur world,
Paddock appeared in a string of Hollywood movies afer Paris,
was engaged to silent lm star Bebe Daniels, and was almost
banned from the 1928 U.S. Olympic team for writing newspaper
stories about his meets and appearing as himself on-screen. He
would have merited a movie of his own.)
Davis, though, whose hard-partying lifestyle was beginning
to overwhelm him and who was eager to sofen his public image,
wanted Dennis Christophers less extrovert role as fellow
sprinter Jackson Scholz. They discussed the switch on the train,
but almost missed Liverpool, falling asleep and almost having
to jump of before it hauled them back to London.
With time on their hands, and aided and abetted by Dodi Al
Fayed, who Christopher says was very excited to be hanging out
with his well-known American stars, they partied heavily
enough to be ejected from two hotels before taking up residence
in an unrestored wing of the landmark Adelphi, a ghost city of
a hotel where we could cause as much trouble as we wanted
without anyone knowing.
McNab recalls his rst impression when they arrived on set:
They were nice guys, but it wasnt going well. I said to David
Puttnam, They dont seem to be listening to me. Its not that
theyre doing anything bad, but youd need a Ouija board to get
through to them. He said, Dont worry, Ill sort it out. And the
next day they were ne. The partying was ofcially over.
Nicholas Farrell remembers Davis being very t, for all the
carousing. He did a handstand and had someone hold his an-
kles, and he did push-ups in a handstand. I thought, Thats taking
it a bit far. Christopher conrms that Brad was very gung-ho.
my lifeand then we started to see them coming over the brow
of the hill, in tens and then hundreds and then thousands.
About 2,500 turned up. They were given period hats and
programs to wave, and Hudson and his crew took all the long
shots and wide shots they needed. There was no CGI in those
days, and in places it shows, but they had their Olympic Games.
The Fiat was drawn for, and won, and the winner eventually
tracked down. The rain, miraculously, held of, and the cast and
crew came back for the close-ups the following day.
There was the odd mishap along the way. McNab recalls that
they wanted to show pole-vaulters, but steel poles werent used
until 1948. They found a bamboo pole that hadnt been used for
40 years, and got this good 4.40-meter pole vaulter who ran up
and put the pole in the hole and the whole pole exploded.
They were a week setting up the stadium, with McNab show-
ing the actors how to behave, digging holes for their feet in the
cinder track with a trowel. Charleson had been working on Lid-
dells running style, head thrown back to the heavens and arms
ailing as he approached the tape. Hudson says Liddells sister
Jennie later praised the portrayal, but said the one thing we got
wrong was that Eric never ran like that with his head back. You
made him look very odd, she said. But that was the one thing
we did know, because there is the lm to prove it.
Charleson, who had become wholly absorbed in the part,
retreating to a cab to rewrite a postrace sermon in a way that
captures Liddells quiet appeal perfectly, concluded that when
his head went back and he powered for the line, he was surren-
dering to faith, or as the lm has it to divine inspiration.
McNab sees it more prosaically. When Liddell got tired, he
started to roll about. You try to hold your shape through the
whole race. When you start to lose it, the force goes all over the
place. It was more divine desperation than divine inspiration.
B
y this time, the americans had also arrived. brad
Davis and Dennis Christopher were hot properties at
the time, Davis for his starring role in Midnight Express
and Christopher for the cult bike movie Breaking Away.
Puttnam says they agreed to work for little more than expenses.
When David Puttnam called, you answered, says Christo-
pher, adding that, Frankly, I wouldve signed on to be John
STATESIDE STARS
Brad Davis (274) played Jackson Scholz (in blocks); Dennis Christopher
(264) was Charley Paddock (far right), the 100-meter world record holder.
79 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
David and I gave him the chance, says Hudson, but then he
would have to come and play it to David. It was a kind of chal-
lenge. Shortly afer, says Hudson, Puttnam and his wife were
dining out in London when an excited Vangelis, who had
tracked them down to the restaurant, tipped up in his big Rolls
Royce and asked them to come out. They climbed into the
Roller, and he played his music over its big speakers. It blew
them away. Hudson adds that Vangelis told David, My father
is a runner, and this is an anthem to him. So there was a per-
sonal reverberation running through it. It was one of the rst
electronic sound tracks, and it won Vangelis an Oscar.
Almost everyone who worked on the movie seems to have
won out somehow. The young actors, middle-aged now, remem-
ber it a little wistfully as a golden experience. I thought every
lm afer would be like this, but it wasnt, Havers says. It was
a very happy time. We ended shooting at Eton with the run
against the clock. It was a beautiful midsummer day. I kept say-
ing to Hugh, Are you sure you dont want to do another take?
And hed say, No, I think Ive got it. I didnt want it to end.
Farrell says Puttnams sense of mission helped convince them
they had been part of something unrepeatable: The delightful
thing about the man is that he is so passionate. It seemed to me
that he was always there in a constructive way. There was no
sense of, Oh, my God, the producer.
When we nished lming, Farrell continues, Puttnam sent
every member of the crew, from the scaffolders to make-up
people, a personal letter saying how he didnt think wed get
there and that, though it may not amount to anything, just
looking at it, he feels proud. Then he took some points of prot
and divided it about 140 ways, saying that everyone would get
a tiny share of any prot, if it ever goes into prot. And for two
decades, those checks came innot huge but not unsubstan-
tial. This, says Farrell, at a time when most producers were
hiring armies of accountants to massage the numbers so their
lms would apparently never make money.
Chariots of Fire grossed more than $58 million in the U.S. alone,
10 times its budget, with Warner Bros. Entertainment marketing
it cannily to every demographic they could nd. Hudson says
they even pushed it to churches as a Christian morality tale for
the modern age. Its appeal is more universal than that.
Eric Liddell had died in 1945, in a Japanese concentration
camp in China, where he had returned years before to work as
a missionary. But when Colin Welland began his research in
1978, Harold Abrahams had only just passed away.
Welland went along to the memorial service, which inspired
the opening scene of the movie. It returns to that London church
at the close, with a stooping Nigel Havers telling a cadaverous
Nicholas Farrell: We ran them of their feet. But Hudson says
that he and Puttnam were determined not to end the picture
with an old man in a memorial service.
Instead, they very deliberately bookended the movie with the
boys on the beach in 1923, running through the surf and into
the future, their lives ahead of them. It was about the wind, the
sea salt, and the pure physical joy of being young. It makes you
want to run, and what could be better than that?
He really wanted to get into the thing. Id already done this. I
knew you cant turn yourself into a champion in two weeks.
He also knew a little bit about lming a race from Breaking
Away, most obviously that what they were lming wasnt a real
race. At the beginning it was a pissing contest. Everyone
wanted to show what they could do. I thought, Bollocks to this.
He approached the cinematographer, David Watkin: Id say,
Where does the frame end? Hed say, That post. So I put myself
in a position where theyd re the gun, the race would start, and
Id have the lead I needed.
Sadly, with cuts to be made, much of Daviss and Christophers
contributions never made it on-screen (nor did a shipboard ro-
mance for Eric Liddell). Originally, Christopher says, the rivalry
between Brits and Yanks was more explicit. There was also more
humor, with Paddock smuggling a apper and a case of cham-
pagne into his quarters in two steamer trunks, and the U.S. coach
lecturing sternly on the importance of a sex-free run-up to the
Games. We signed on to play Americans with a signicant part
in the movie, Christopher says. But the nal version was cut
down because of time, for marketing purposes. As he also con-
cedes: Their main responsibility was to tell Ben and Ians story.
According to Nigel Havers, one famous scene survived the cut
only afer he pleaded for it to be reinstated. It has Lindsay train-
ing in the sumptuous grounds of his stately home, the hurdles
erected by the side of a lake and topped with champagne
glasses. McNab says the aim was to show how the upper
classes busted their balls at everything they did, but they didnt
want it to show. There always had to be a feeling of efortless-
ness. He suggested showing blood on the hurdles from the in-
side of Lindsays ankle, a common hurdling injury. That didnt
y. I said, What about putting matchboxes on the hurdles?
as Burghley reportedly did. But Colin said, No, thats far too
mundane. Well use champagne glasses. We had to tape them
to the top of the hurdles, which was fairly plebeian. Sadly, the
champagne never arrived either. The beverage that Lindsay
worked so hard to avoid spilling was warm ginger beer.
T
he moment the music started, says nigel havers,
people moved forward in their seats. The Chariots of Fire
theme, composed by Vangelis, was so critical to the feel
of the movie that Hudson says it was almost like an-
other character in the lm. The original idea was to use Vange-
liss LEnfantwhich would underpin the romantic tension
in The Year of Living Dangerously a few years laterbut the Greek
composer swore he could do better and went away to try.
In Chariots They Ran
We ended shooting at Eton on a beautiful
midsummer day, says Nigel Havers. I didnt
want it to end. I kept saying to Hugh, Are you
sure you dont want to do another take?
81 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
LIVESTRONG 13.0T $1,299
At most paces, the 13.0T provides the kind of comfortable ride
youd expect from a more expensive unit. The consoles blue screen is
easy to read and includes a workout journal that tracks your PRs, so
youre always motivated to run better today than you did last week.
At top speeds, the 13.0T tends to shake. And the plastic plate
covering the front roller is hugesome testers stepped on it midstride.
TESTER SAYS For medium-paced running, this is a solid treadmill.
JEFF DIMMIG, 38, a 2:53 marathoner from Coopersburg, Pa.
Tread Lightly
High-performance treadmills that wont bust your budget
BY BRIAN SABIN
Top speed
12 mph
Up to 15%
incline
Negative
inclines
Fan
available
Arm-rail
controls
One-touch
quick keys
USB
drive
Wi-Fi
enabled
iPod
dock
Foldable
platform
14%
Y
ou want a treadmill, but dont want it to cost as much
as your rst car. The problem? Treadmills that cost less
than $1,000 cant handle the pounding runners inict.
The good news? Your dollar goes a lot farther in todays
mill market than it did a few years ago. To help you shop
smarter, we tested 13 of the newest treadmills. Here are ve
with the coolest features and smoothest rides at the best
prices. (And nd other reviews at runnersworld.com/mills.)
BELT SIZE 20"W x 60"L
DIMENSIONS
79"L x 36"W x 58"H
MAXIMUM SPEED/INCLINE
12 mph/14%
PROGRAMS 14
WARRANTY Motor:
Lifetime; Parts: 5 years;
Labor: 2 years
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RUNNING INDOORS, at home or in the
gym, can be hot, sweaty, and, well, boring.
But with these ve accessories, you
can stay cool and comfyand even be
entertainedon your next treadmill run.
Gym Dandy
NORDICTRACK 1750 $1,500
You can run virtually anywhere on the 1750. Its WiFi-enabled
console uses Google Maps with Street View to let you download
running routes from around the globefrom the Golden Gate
Bridge to the hills of Central Parkand see the sights on a color
video screen. The machine also comes with an online training
journal and an iPod dock. The consoles touch-and-go speed and
incline keys are as user friendly as it gets. And the treadmill can
decline to -3%, which is almost unbelieveable at this price point.
The video screen is about the size of a postcard, and speakers
sound a little hollow. Treadmill can lag on shifs between speeds.
TESTERSAYS I liked being able to e-mail my workout data
to myself, but the screen was a little hard to read.
DAVID GRAF, 28, a 1:57 half-marathoner from Hellertown, Pa.
BELTSIZE 20"W x 60"L
DIMENSIONS 80.6"L x
36.63"W x 73.35"H
MAXIMUMSPEED/INCLINE
12 mph/15%
PROGRAMS 30
WARRANTY Frame/Motor/
Deck: Lifetime; Parts: 5
years; Labor: 2 years
15%
PRECOR 9.23 $1,599
No frills, no gadgets, no gee-whiz-look-at-me console. The
9.23 is meant to do one thing: perform. You want to go faster?
Press the arrow up. Its one of the most responsive treadmills we
tested; this machine catches up to speed changes in a hurry. And
because the engine can hit ve-minute pace, anyone whos not
training to medal in London will nd all the speed they need. Of
course, when you do push the pace, be careful: There are no side
handrails. If you lose contact with the console during your race
simulator, youll give new meaning to the phrase of the back.
Speed can only be changed with arrows, so you have to
press-and-hold a lot. Console has no entertainment value at all.
TESTERSAYS I liked the open design. The absence of side
rails was striking and refreshing.
MICHAEL MARTINEZ, 42, a 2:48 marathoner from Allentown, Pa.
15%
BELTSIZE
20"W x 57"L
DIMENSIONS
81"L x 31"W x 54"H
MAXIMUMSPEED/INCLINE
12 mph/15%
PROGRAMS 6
WARRANTYFrame: Lifetime;
Parts: 5 years; Labor: 1 year
Are you a sweaty Betty? No worries. The
LULULEMON SWIFTLY HEADBAND
($14) will chicly tame your tresses. It
features Silverescent stink-ghting fabric
and two rows of
silicone gripper
to resist slippage.
lululemon.com
The BETTER THAN
NAKED COOL S/S
($50) from The
North Face has
whisper-light fabric
that wont cling or stick,
no matter how wet you
get. thenorthface.com
85 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
LIFEFITNESS F1 SMARTTREADMILL $2,499
Folding treadmills get knocked for having decks that feel
short, but the F1 SMART provides plenty of room for even the
longest-legged runners to lope freely. Your feet will enjoy the
platforms sof ride underfoot, which rms up and feels even
better at faster paces. Transitions between speeds and inclines
are slow but butter-smooth. The on-board iPod dock has hard-
to-miss buttons, so you can cycle through songs with ease.
Afer a workout, just press a button to put the treadmill in
energy-saver mode, cutting its power use by 90 percent.
Top speed is 10 mph, so anyone who needs to run sub-six-
minute pace should look elsewhere. Bottles rattle in holders.
TESTERSAYS I love running to music, and the dock let me
do that while also charging my iPods battery.
DAVID FAUST, 48, a 1:22 half-marathoner from Macungie, Pa.
12%
LIFESPAN TR5000I $1,999
Say youre running and the phone rings. You hop of the mill
to answer. On most machines, the belt keeps spinning, which is
dangerousespecially if you have kids playing nearby. But the
TR5000i has a safety-stop feature that automatically shuts of
the engine when it doesnt sense a runner on the belt. During
workouts the console sends data to a USB stick, tracking your
heart rate (sensors on the arm-rails make this especially easy)
and other vitals. You can pair the treadmill with an optional scale
to record changes in your weight and body-fat percentage.
Quick keys are available only for pedestrian paces (36 mph).
Icons on the display screen are difcult to decipher.
TESTERSAYS Provides a quiet platform and user-friendly
controls that are great for walking or jogging.
BRIAN HENDRICKS, 39, a 2:59 marathoner from Bethlehem, Pa.
15%
BELT SIZE 20"W x 60"L
DIMENSIONS
74"L x 33"W x 53"H
MAXIMUM SPEED/INCLINE
11 mph/15%
PROGRAMS 25
WARRANTY Frame/Motor:
Lifetime; Parts: 7 years;
Labor: 1 year, 2 years in-store
BELT SIZE 20"W x 55"L
DIMENSIONS
77"L x 34"W x 59"H
MAXIMUM SPEED/INCLINE
10 mph/12%
PROGRAMS 7
WARRANTY Motor: 10
years; Parts: 5 years;
Labor: 1 year
If your run leaves the treadmill looking like
its been through a rainstorm, you need
the REI MULTI TOWEL LITE
($12.50, including case) to sop
up sweat before it leaves
a mess. It absorbs eight
times its weight, then
dries in a jify. rei.com
When your personal micro-
climate starts to rise, cool
of with the CAMELBAK
INSULATED WATER BOTTLE
SLEEVE ($10) and EDDY
BOTTLE ($14), which keeps
up to 25 ounces of H
2
O ice
cold all run. camelbak.com
Run and rock on with the YURBUDS
PERFORMANCE FIT SPORT
EARPHONES ($60), which
feature a three-button-
control dry-mic that lets
you change songs and take
calls without shing for
your iPhone. yurbuds.com
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ALABAMA
Birmingham, (205) 970-6620
Huntsville, (256) 650-7063
ARKANSAS
Fayetteville, (479) 571-8786
ARIZONA
Tucson, (520) 886-7800
CALIFORNIA
Aptos, (831) 662-0886
Chico, (530) 345-1000
Davis, (530) 758-6453
Encino, (818) 986-8686
Fair Oaks, (916) 965-8326
Menlo Park, (650) 325-9432
Monterey, (831) 372-5664
Pleasant Hill, (925) 827-4772
Pleasanton, (925) 426-5576
Redding, (530) 226-0600
Roseville, (916) 783-4558
Sacramento, (916) 442-3338
San Francisco, (415) 921-7188
Santa Rosa, (707) 569-1494
Stockton, (209) 952-1446
Vacaville, (707) 449-9266
COLORADO
Boulder, (303) 939-8000
CONNECTICUT
Hartford, (860) 233-8077
FLORIDA
Orlando, (407) 772-2233
Sarasota, (941) 894-3338
Stuart, (772) 232-9225
GEORGIA
Atlanta, (404) 255-3338
Decatur, (404) 371-0208
Johns Creek, (678) 475-1555
Lawrenceville, (770) 338-2996
Savannah, (912) 355-3527
IDAHO
Coeur dAlene, (208) 765-7604
ILLINOIS
Chicago
-Lincoln Square, (773) 271-3338
-Pipers Alley, (312) 587-3338
Elmhurst, (630) 559-3338
INDIANA
Schererville, (219) 864-1000
KENTUCKY
Louisville, (502) 479-8786
LOUISIANA
Baton Rouge, (225) 448-2878
MARYLAND
Annapolis, (410) 268-6290
B
West Lafayette, (Coming Soon)
altimore, (410) 484-6565
Gaithersburg, (301) 926-6442
MISSISSIPPI
Jackson, (601) 899-9696
MISSOURI
Chesterfield, (636) 532-0522
Fenton, (636) 343-6300
St. Charles, (636) 939-0161
NEVADA
Las Vegas, (702) 458-3338
NEW JERSEY
Hoboken, (201) 533-1200
Mahwah, (201) 828-9880
Marlton, (856) 810-0051
Montclair, (973) 509-9707
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque, (505) 299-8922
NEW YORK
Albany, (518) 459-3338
Buffalo, (716) 332-3501
R
-Ridgeway, (585) 270-4334
-Monroe, (585) 697-3338
ochester
Syracuse, (315) 446-1444
NORTH CAROLINA
Carrboro, (919) 968-3338
Hickory, (828) 304-4786
Huntersville, (704) 896-2202
Raleigh, (919) 832-8275
Winston-Salem, (336) 722-8477
OHIO
Cincinnati, (513) 793-8383
Cleveland
- Northfield, (330) 908-3234
- Pepper Pike, (216) 464-3234
Columbus, (614) 846-5625
OKLAHOMA
Tulsa
-Blue Dome, (918) 492-3338
-KingsPointe Village, (918) 492-3338
OREGON
Bend, (541) 389-1601
PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh, (412) 851-9100
North Wales (215) 646-8510
SOUTH CAROLINA
Columbia, (803) 407-1223
Greenville, (864) 235-4800
North Augusta, (803) 426-1474
TENNESSEE
Brentwood, (615) 373-1123
Kingsport, (423) 230-0002
Knoxville, (865) 675-3338
Memphis, (901) 761-0078
Murfreesboro, (615) 494-3141
TEXAS
Corpus Christi, (361) 225-3338
Houston
-Louetta, (281) 370-4140
-Rice, (713) 520-6353
-Woodway, (713) 465-0033
San Antonio, (210) 805-0845
UTAH
American Fork, (801) 756-5800
VERMONT
Burlington- Essex Junction,
(802) 872-8662
VIRGINIA
R
Virginia Beach, (757) 226-9619
oanoke, (540) 777-1166
WASHINGTON
Bonney Lake, (253) 862-8890
Seattle, (206) 329-1466
WASHINGTON DC
Adams Morgan, (202) 387-3888
WISCONSIN
Brookfield, (262) 786-7463
Fox Valley, (920) 830-7867
Madison, (608) 833-9999
,
Visit a Fleet Feet Sports near you.
91 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
The 2012 USA Cross
Country Champion-
ships take place
February 11 at
Forest Park in St.
Louis. The event is
expected to draw
600 elite runners.
A Hill of a Race
The Mount Taylor Quad will test your wintertime
staminaand lif your spirits, too BY DIMITY MCDOWELL
W
ith about half a mile to go
in the ve-mile run of the
Mount Taylor Winter Quad-
rathlon, a gust of wind blew
so hard that I had to stop on the dirt road
to brace myself. Already I had a veritable
sandbox in my mouth and had been bat-
tling the winds, which at times gusted to
35 miles per hour, for more than five
hours. Whats more? I still had 13 miles
on my bike to go afer I nished the run.
I had been obsessing over the wind for
about 36 hours. The day before the race,
I started checking the weather almost
hourly as I drove from Denver, my home-
town, to Grants, a town of 9,000 people
in northwestern New Mexico, and home
of the Quad. The race employs four
modes of transport to cover 43 miles and
4,770 feet to ascend Mount Taylor. Solo
or on relay teams, athletes bike (13 miles,
1,700 feet); run (5 miles, 1,250 feet); Nor-
dic ski (2 miles, 1,200 feet); and snowshoe
(one measly mile, 600 feet). Then, once
they tag the summit, they head
back down, reversing the order.
QUAD BUSTER
Racing up Mount Taylor features varying terrains
and four diferent means of transport: (clockwise)
biking, running, Nordic skiing, and snowshoeing.
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Ever since I heard of the Quad 10 years
ago, its been on my to-do list. Last fall I
nally signed up for it. I gured it would
force me to stay in racing shape during
the winter when I tend to hibernate. But
I couldnt fully anticipate what the Quad
entailed until I arrived in Grants.
On race day, standing at the starting
line, I checked out the competition, the
majority of which were bearded; of the
402 total participants in the 2011 race,
171 were solo racers, and only 31 of them
were female. Despite being outnum-
bered, I was surprisingly relaxed.
When the lead pack of cyclists took of,
I went out slowly, noticing cattle-crossing
signs dotted with bullet holes. I was
amusednot alarmed, as I shouldve
beenwhen I saw tumbleweed skip
across the road. As the landscape changed
from red desert to ponderosa forest, the
final miles of the bike were steal-my-
breath steep. I cant wait to see these hills
going the other way, I told myself.
Running uphill ve miles proved less
inspiring. Afer about half a mile of shuf-
ing, I reverted to a power hike and com-
plimented the few people who were actu-
ally running, breaking the silence that
permeated the forest. During the ski por-
tion, I kept losing traction as the skin
the rubber strip on the bottom of my
skikept coming of. Afer snowshoeing
to the summit, I glanced all around, then
blasted downhill, past the aid station of-
fering shots of Jack Daniels. On the now
slushy 12-foot-wide track, I fell at least
seven times, each fall reminding me how
glad I was to have passed on the JD.
When I was nally of skis and running
again, my calves were so tight each step
ricocheted through my body. I chatted
with a guy who had done the Quad ve
timesthe race has lots of repeat custom-
ersthen I met the worst gust of the day
head on. By then I just wanted to be done.
At the bike transition, I downed a few
Fig Newtons, and started to pedal away
into what felt like a washing machine. I
spent most of the descent heading into
the dust storm brewing in Grants.
The fastest racers, who were down the
mountain before I even got to the top,
were milling around the nish line when
I crossed it in six hours and 44 minutes. I
placed second in my age group; only two
of us were in it. I didnt care. The award, a
hefy, silver Namb paperweight, felt as
solid as the efort it took to win it.
RUN IT: February 18
mttaylorquad.org
Snow What!
Winter triathlons that will spice up your of-season
GUNSTOCKWINTER
TRIATHLON
Gilford, New Hampshire
January 22, 2012
4-K run, 3.5-K bike, 3-K
cross-country ski
THE LURE Breathtak-
ing view of Lake Winni-
pesaukee; prerace wine
and cheese. wintermulti
sport.com/GWT.html
POWERHOUND
WINTERTRIATHLON
Butte, Montana
January 29, 2012
5-K run, 10-K bike, 5-K
cross-country ski
THE LURE Rolling
meadows that are dotted
with evergreens and
granite clifs.
bozemantritons.org
POLE PEDAL PANT
WINTERTRIATHLON
Maple Grove, Minnesota
March 10, 2012
10-K cross-country ski,
7-K bike, 7-K run
THE LURE Americas
oldest winter tri ofers
awards for best costumes.
polepedalpant.com
DANA BLINDER
HIGH ACHIEVER
At the peak, competitors enjoy the
view, then quickly reverse course.
At one time the Millrose Games was
Americas greatest indoor track meet,
selling out Madison Square Garden.
But on February 11, afer 98 years at
the Garden, the meet moves to the
much smaller Armory New Balance
Track and Field Center. Millrose
Games president DR. NORBERT
SANDER talks about the change.
QThe Armory seats only 4,000.
Can Millrose retain its status there?
A Millrose is a track meet, but in
recent years, its kind of gone of the
rails. [At the Garden] they tried to
introduce more of a circus atmo-
sphere. They had an NFL sprint and
a rock n roll concert in the middle of
it. Were going back to having a
rst-class track meet.
QWhat can the Armory ofer?
A The Garden, as fabled as it is, is
too big for this meet, and its track is
outdated. Its about 145 meters and
four lanes; its so small its difcult to
have world-class performances on it.
The Armory track is 200 meters,
which is standard, with banked turns
and six lanes, and its considered one
of the fastest tracks in the world.
QWhat else is new this year?
A The Wanamaker Mile is probably
the most famous event of any indoor
meet. For the rst time, well have a
womens Wanamaker Mile. Both are
sponsored by the New York Road
Runners. Its a great partnership, and
its part of being in New York City.
MEGHAN G. LOFTUS
93 RUNNERSWORLD. COM
Mardi Gras Mambo 10
-
K
February 25 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
H
ere

s an upbeat way to cap

off Mardi Gras: The Mambo
10-K, which features feather-
masked and boa-costumed
runners weaving through the streets of
Old South Baton Rouge. At the two-mile
mark, the sight of Louisiana State Univer-
sitys mascot, a live Bengal tiger named
Mike, should give you a boost. Between
miles four and six youll run atop the
Mississippi River levee as you make your
way back to the downtown nish line.
RUSH PARTY
Mambo 10-K nishers are treated to a Mardi
Gras-inspired medal and down-home cooking.
FEBRUARY
3-4
Tybee Run Fest
Tybee Island, Georgia
2,200 RUNNERS
WHY RUN IT?
For a wide array of races.
Runners can enter all or any
combination of distances,
including a 5-K, 10-K, half-
marathon, 2.8-mile beach
run, and one-mile race. Com-
pleting all ve races equals
26.2 miles, making this event
(below) the ideal marathon-
training tune-up. Afer the
race, stick around for stew,
chili, pizza, and beer.
critztybeerun.com
5
Lehigh Valley RR
Super Bowl 10-K
Allentown, Pennsylvania
550 RUNNERS
WHY RUN IT?
To get pumped up.
Are you ready for some...hills?
Held on Super Bowl Sunday,
this 10-K (right) takes runners
through the rolling (and
ofen snow-covered) Lehigh
Parkway. The traditionally
frigid race-day temps dont
stop participants from
dressing up in their favorite
football team colors and
chowing down on pizza and
soda at the postrace bash.
lvrr.org/events/superbowl-10k
5
El Paso Marathon
El Paso, Texas
2,000 RUNNERS
WHY RUN IT?
For a wild downhill run.
Watch the sunrise from atop
the Franklin Mountains, then
drop 1,584 feet as you head
to the nish line in this border
citys historic downtown. With
race-day temps in the mid-
60s, its the perfect race to
run a PR. elpasomarathon.org
11
Virginia Is for
Lovers 14-K &
1.4-Mile Run
Virginia Beach, Virginia
5,000 RUNNERS
WHY RUN IT?
To spread the love.
Run through Lovers Lane
and snag a chocolate at the
Candy Curve aid station. At
the nish female participants
receive a carnation from a
Virginia Beach reghter.
vi14k.com
19
Birch Bay
Marathon
Birch Bay, Washington
1,000 RUNNERS
WHY RUN IT?
For the incredible scenery.
This nearly at, all-pavement
route (below) boasts stunning
views of the snow-capped
Cascade Mountains. Look
for the Peace Arch, a symbol
of international harmony.
birchbaymarathon.com
BESIDES THE LSU MASCOT, THE MAMBO 10-K PASSES TIGER STADIUM, HOME OF THE UNIVERSITYS TOP-RANKED FOOTBALL TEAM.
Pre- and postrace festivities take
place inside the Belle of Baton
Rouge Atrium, where a live
swamp pop band adds to the par-
ty atmosphere. Jambalaya, chicken
wings, and beer are provided. And
because a Mardi Gras party wouldnt be
complete without beaded necklaces, n-
ishers earn a Mambo medallion strung on
traditional purple, green, and gold orbs.
brasf.com/mardigrasmambo.cfm
For more events, search Races &
Places on runnersworld.com. Race
Directors: Enter race information at
runnersworld.com/racedirectors.
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RACING AHEAD ADVERTI SI NG SECTI ON
FOR ADVERTI SI NG RATES CONTACT JACKI E CAI LLOUET AT 214. 252. 9971 94
NORTH ATLANTIC
MAR 11 - Capital Running Company
St. Patricks Day 8K & 1K Leprechauns Leap
Washington, DC
Contact: Capital Running Company,
15739 Crabbs Branch Way,
Rockville, MD 20853.
(301) 871-0400
office@runwashington.com
www.stpatricksday8k.com
MAR 24 - 13.1 New York Half Marathon &
5K
New York, NY
Contact: US Road Sports & Entertainment,
5080 Spectrum Dr., Ste. 609E,
Addison, TX 75001.
run@131newyork.com
www.131newyork.com
MAR 25 - Ocean Drive Marathon, 10M & 5K
Cape May, NJ
Contact: ODRC Inc.,
P.O. Box 1245, Southeastern, PA 19399.
(609) 523-0880
odmracedirector@comcast.net
www.odmarathon.org
MAR 31 - Garden Spot Village Marathon,
Half Marathon & 4 Person Relay
Amish Country, Eastern Lancaster County, PA
Contact: Alyssa Kurtz, Asst. Race Director,
433 S. Kinzer Ave., New Holland, PA 17557.
(717) 355-6000
akurtz@gardenspotvillage.org
www.gardenspotvillagemarathon.org
Run in beautiful Amish Country with horse &
buggies and one room schoolhouses!
APR 28-29 - Tough Mudder Pennsylvania,
10M & Obstacles
Pocono Manor, PA
Contact: Tough Mudder,
45 Washington #221, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
info@toughmudder.com
www.toughmudder.com
MAY 5-6 - Tough Mudder New England,
10M & Obstacles
Mt. Snow, VT
Contact: Tough Mudder,
45 Washington #221, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
info@toughmudder.com
www.toughmudder.com
MAY 27 - KeyBank Vermont City Marathon
& Marathon Relays (2 person & 3-5 person)
Burlington, VT
Contact: Peter Delaney,
1 Main St., Suite 304, Burlington, VT 05401.
(802) 863-8412
info@runvermont.org
www.vermontcitymarathon.org
Beautiful Course, Unbelievable Spectator Support.
JULY 8 - Mad Marathon, Half Marathon,
3 Person Teams & Walkers
Waitsfeld, VT
Contact: Dori Ingalls,
P.O. Box 28, Waitsfield, VT 05673.
(802) 363-9863
dori@madmarathon.com
www.madmarathon.com
The Worlds Most Beautiful Marathon, Sponsored
by Sugarbush.
SOUTH ATLANTIC
FEB 3-4 - Critz Tybee Run Fest, Half
Marathon, 10K, 5K, 2.8M Beach Run &
1M Run
Tybee Island, GA
Contact: Robert Espinoza,
3405 Waters Ave., Savannah, GA 31404.
(912) 355-3527
robert@fleetfeetsavannah.com
www.critztybeerun.com
A Fun Twist on the typical 26.2!
FEB 4-5 - State Farm Melbourne & Beaches
Music Marathon Weekend, Marathon,
Half Marathon, 8K & 5K
Melbourne, FL
Contact: Mitch Varnes,
P.O. Box 33100, Indialantic, FL 32903.
(321) 759-7200
info@themelbournemarathon.com
www.themelbournemarathon.com
20 Bands and Warm Winter Run On
Floridas Space Coast.
FEB 10-12 - 26.2 with Donna, Marathon,
Half Marathon, Marathon Relay & 5K
Jacksonville Beach, FL
Contact: Amanda Napolitano,
2107 Mango Pl., Jacksonville, FL 32207.
(904) 355-7465
info@breastcancermarathon.com
www.breastcancermarathon.com
FEB 11 - Hilton Head Half Marathon,
10K & 5K
Hilton Head Island, SC
Contact: Bear Foot Sports,
20 Towne Dr., PMB #200, Bluffton, SC 29910.
(843) 757-8520
bfs@hargray.com
www.bearfootsports.com
FEB 11 - Virginia Is For Lovers 14K & 1.4M
Virginia Beach, VA
Contact: Amy Frostick,
3601 Shore Dr., Virginia Beach, VA 23451.
(757) 412-1056
info@vifl14k.com
www.vif14k.com
FEB 19 - Publix Fort Lauderdale A1A
Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K and Kids Race
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Contact: Exclusive Sports Marketing,
6421 Congress Ave., Suite 103,
Boca Raton, FL 33487.
(561) 241-3801
a1amarathon@exclusivesports.com
www.a1amarathon.com
Boston Qualifer. Beautiful Beaches and Soft
Ocean Breezes.
MAR 3 - Albany Marathon & Half Marathon
formerly the SNICKERS MARATHON
Albany, GA
Contact: Rashelle Beasley,
112 North Front St., Albany, GA 31701.
(229) 317-4760
rbeasley@albanyga.com
www.albanymarathon.com
MAR 3 - Sombrero Beach Run,
15K Challenge, 10K Run & 5K Walk Run
Marathon, FL
Contact: Jane Packard,
1501 Sombrero Blvd., Marathon, FL 33050.
(305) 289-9868
sombrerobeachrun@bellsouth.net
www.sombrerobeachrun.com
MAR 4 - 13.1 Miami Beach Half Marathon
& 5K
Miami Beach, FL
Contact: US Road Sports & Entertainment,
P.O. Box 56-1081, Miami, FL 33256.
(305) 278-8668
run@131miamibeach.com
www.131miamibeach.com
MAR 17 - Senecas SC 2nd Annual Half
Marathon & 5K
Seneca, SC
Contact: Riley Johnson,
221 E. N. First St., Seneca, SC 29679.
(864) 885-2700
rhjohnson@seneca.sc.us
www.seneca.sc.us
MAR 17-18 - Yuengling Shamrock
Marathon, Anthem Half Marathon &
Townebank 8K
Virginia Beach, VA
Contact: Amy Frostick,
3601 Shore Dr., Virginia Beach, VA 23451.
(757) 412-1056
info@jandaracinginc.com
www.shamrockmarathon.com
MAR 24 - Palm 100 Ultramarathon,
100M Team Relay, 100K & 50K Individual
Races
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Contact: Bob Becker,
P.O. Box 2065, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33303.
(954) 439-2800
bob@ultrasportsllc.com
www.palm100.com
MAR 25 - NC Half Marathon at Charlotte
Motor Speedway - Half Marathon & 5K
Concord, NC
Contact: Kristi Kimura,
P.O. Box 56-1154, Miami, FL 33256-1154.
(800) 733-7089
info@nchalfmarathon.com
www.nchalfmarathon.com
MAR 31 - Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K &
1M Kids Run
Richmond, VA
Contact: Race Director,
100 Avenue of Champions,
Richmond, VA 23230.
(804) 285-9495
info@sportsbackers.org
www.sportsbackers.org
APR 1 - Covenant Health Knoxville
Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 5K
Knoxville, TN
Contact: Jason Altman,
P.O. Box 32035, Knoxville, TN 37930.
(865) 684-4294
info@knoxvillemarathon.com
www.knoxvillemarathon.com
APR 7 - Tenth Annual Charlottesville
Marathon, Half Marathon & 8K
Charlottesville, VA
Contact: Gill - Race Director,
110 Old Preston Ave., Charlottesville, VA 22902.
(434) 293-7115
rungillrun@comcast.net
www.charlottesvillemarathon.com
Exciting Marathon Course Change for 2012!
One of the Best Marathons in the USA - Runners
World Magazine.
CLOSI NG DATE FOR THE APRI L 2012 I SSUE I S JANUARY 13, 2012
ADVERTI SI NG SECTI ON
APR 13-14 - Palmetto Half Marathon,
Youth Half Marathon, 5K & Kids Run
Columbia, SC
Contact: Anna Schrall,
6515 N. Trenholm Rd., Columbia, SC 29206.
(803) 206-3123
palmettohalfmarathon@hotmail.com
www.palmettohalfmarathon.com
APR 21-22 - Flying Pirate Half Marathon &
5K
Outer Banks, NC
Contact: Outer Banks Sporting Events,
2004 S. Croatan Hwy., P.O. Box 265,
Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948.
(252) 255-6273
info@obxse.org
www.fyingpirate.org
APR 28 - Park to Park Half Marathon
Waynesboro to Stuarts Draf, VA
Contact: Ben Lancaster,
Waynesboro Parks & Recreation
Scenic Mountain & River Views
(540) 942-6735
parksandrec@ci.waynesboro.va.us
www.runthevalley.com
MAY 19-20 - Run For The Dream,
Half Marathon & 8K Run/Walk
2012 USA Masters 8K National Championships
Williamsburg, VA
Contact: Kelly Cannon,
10858 Warwick Blvd., Suite A,
Newport News, VA 23601.
(757) 599-9472
kcannon@achievabledream.org
www.runforachievabledream.com
MAY 20 - Divas Half Marathon in North
Myrtle Beach - Half Marathon & Girls 5K
North Myrtle Beach, SC
Contact: Kristi Kimura,
P.O. Box 56-1154, Miami, FL 33256-1154.
(800) 733-7089
info@runlikeadiva.com
www.runlikeadiva.com
NORTH CENTRAL
MAR 17-18 - Tough Mudder Indiana,
10M & Obstacles
Attica, IN
Contact: Tough Mudder,
45 Washington #221, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
info@toughmudder.com
www.toughmudder.com
APR 14-15 - GO! St. Louis Marathon
Weekend, Marathon, Half Marathon,
5K, Relay & Kids Runs
St. Louis, MO
Contact: Brian Lyons,
300 Hunter Ave., Suite 107, St. Louis, MO 63124.
(314) 727-0800
info@gostlouis.org
www.gostlouis.org
25,000 Participants
APR 14-15 - Tough Mudder Michigan/Ohio,
10M & Obstacles
Cleveland, OH
Contact: Tough Mudder,
45 Washington #221, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
info@toughmudder.com
www.toughmudder.com
APR 21 - Carmel Marathon Championship
Weekend, Marathon, Half Marathon,
8K & 1M Walk
Carmel, IN
Contact: Todd Oliver,
3575 Inverness Blvd., Carmel, IN 46032.
(317) 407-8489
todd@carmelmarathon.com
www.carmelmarathon.com
APR 28 - Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon,
Half Marathon, Relay, 10K, 5K & Youth Run
Champaign/Urbana, IL
Contact: Jan Seeley,
P.O. Box 262, Champaign, IL 61824.
(217) 369-8553
jan@illinoismarathon.com
www.illinoismarathon.com
MAY 5-6 - Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon,
Half Marathon, 4-Person Relay, 10K, 5K &
Kids Races
Cincinnati, OH
Contact: 644 Linn St.,
Suite 626, Cincinnati, OH 45203.
(513) 721-7447
info@flyingpigmarathon.com
www.fyingpigmarathon.com
MAY 12 - Journeys Marathon,
Half Marathon, 13.1M Power Walk & 5K
Eagle River, WI
Contact: Kim Emerson, Eagle River Area
Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 1917,
Eagle River, WI 54521.
(800) 359-6315
info@eagleriver.org
www.journeysmarathon.org
MAY 19 - Geist Half Marathon & 5K
Indianapolis, IN
Contact: Race Director,
16851 Southpark Dr., Suite 100,
Westfield, IN 46074.
(800) 498-1130
info@geisthalf.com
www.geisthalf.com
MAY 20 - Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, Half
Marathon, Relay, 5K & WPS Kids Power Run
Green Bay, WI
Contact: Sean Ryan,
1173 Lombardi Access Rd.,
Green Bay, WI 54304.
(800) 889-1859
infocgbm@netnet.net
www.cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com
Run Through Titletown and Finish at a Lambeau
Field Tailgate Party!
MAY 20 - Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon,
Half Marathon, 10K, 5K & Kids Run
Cleveland, OH
Contact: Ralph Staph,
29525 Chagrin Blvd., #215,
Pepper Pike, OH 44122.
(800) 467-3826
info@clevelandmarathon.com
www.clevelandmarathon.com
JUNE 2 - 39th Annual Hospital Hill Run,
Half Marathon, 10K & UMKC School of
Medicine 5K
Kansas City, MO
Contact: Beth Salinger,
P.O. Box 27204, Overland Park, KS 66225.
(312) 925-6067
beth@hospitalhillrun.com
www.hospitalhillrun.com
JUNE 23 - Summerfest Rock n Sole Run,
Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon & 5K
Milwaukee, WI
Contact: Race Director,
200 N. Harbor Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53202.
(800) 837-3378
rocknsolerun@summerfest.com
www.rocknsolerun.com
AUG 18 - 4th Annual Madison Mini-
Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K
Madison, WI
Contact: Race Director,
16851 Southpark Dr., Suite 100,
Westfield, IN 46074.
(800) 495-0474
info@madisonminimarathon.com
www.madisonminimarathon.com
SEPT 15 - Air Force Marathon Presenting
Sponsors: Northrop Grumman, USAA &
Boeing, Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K
Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH
Contact: USAF Marathon,
88 ABW/CVM, 5030 Patterson Parkway,
WPAFB, OH 45433.
(800) 467-1823
usaf.marathon@wpafb.af.mil
www.usafmarathon.com
SOUTH CENTRAL
FEB 11 - Founding Fathers 5K Fun Run &
Health Fair
Laredo, TX
Contact: WBCA, 1819 E. Hillside Rd.,
Laredo, TX 78041.
(956) 722-0589
wbca@wbcalaredo.org
www.wbcalaredo.org
FEB 11 - Jail Break Run, Half Marathon
Baytown, TX
Contact: Mary Zaruba,
P.O. Box 893, Mt. Belvieu, TX 77580.
(832) 767-8535
eventdirector@jailbreakrun.org
www.jailbreakrun.org
MAR 31 - Bentonville Running Festival,
Half Marathon, 5K & Fun Run
Bentonville, AR
Contact: Ronnie Calva,
215 SW A St., Bentonville, AR 72712.
(479) 464-7275
rcalva@bentonvillear.com
www.runbentonville.com
MAR 31-APR 1 - Tough Mudder Dallas,
10M & Obstacles
Dallas, TX
Contact: Tough Mudder,
45 Washington #221, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
info@toughmudder.com
www.toughmudder.com
APR 15 - Austin 10/20, a Ten Mile Race with
Twenty Music Stages
Austin, TX
Contact: Turnkey Operations,
4018 Caven Rd., Austin, TX 78744.
(512) 299-9190
info@austin1020.com
www.austin1020.com
Fresh Distance, More Music, Big Prize Money,
Great Runner Perks! Dont Miss Inaugural Race!
95
RACING AHEAD
FOR ADVERTI SI NG RATES CONTACT JACKI E CAI LLOUET AT 214. 252. 9971 94
ADVERTI SI NG SECTI ON
APR 15 - The Big D Texas Marathon,
Half Marathon & 5K
Dallas, TX
Contact: Melony George,
P.O. Box 852856, Richardson, TX 75085.
(817) 706-0368
melony.george@mellew.com
www.texasmarathon.com
MOUNTAIN PACIFIC
FEB 25 - Arizona Half Marathon, 5K &
Free 1 Mile Kids Run
Fort McDowell, AZ
Contact: Karen Barnett,
P.O. Box 1206, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86405.
(928) 855-4887
karen@ioevents.com
www.arizonahalf.com
MAR 25 - Wine Country Runs,
Half Marathon Run/Walk, 5K &
Kids Grape Stomp
Paso Robles, CA
Contact: Steve McAllen,
295 Posada Ln., Suite C, Templeton, CA 93465.
(805) 226-9911
mcrundoc@digitalputty.com
www.winecountryruns.com
Win Your Weight In Wine!
APR 1 - Divas (Wahine) Half Marathon at
Honolulu - Half Marathon & Girls 5K
Honolulu, HI
Contact: Kristi Kimura,
P.O. Box 56-1154, Miami, FL 33256-1154.
(800) 733-7089
info@runlikeadiva.com
www.runlikeadiva.com
APR 7 - Hollywood Half Marathon & 10K
Hollywood, CA
Contact: Kenneth Nwadike,
2127 Olympic Pkwy, Suite 1006,
Chula Vista, CA 91915.
(415) 889-9595
run@superheroevents.com
www.hollywoodhalfmarathon.com
APR 14 - Havasu Half, Half Marathon, 5K &
Free 1Mile Kids Run
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Contact: Karen Barnett,
P.O. Box 1206, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86405.
(928) 855-4887
karen@ioevents.com
www.havasuhalf.com
APR 29 - Eugene Marathon, Half Marathon,
5K & Kids Run
Eugene, OR
Contact: 541 Willamette St., #212,
Eugene, OR 97401.
(877) 345-2230
info@eugenemarathon.com
www.eugenemarathon.com
Finish Inside Historic Hayward Field!
MAY 6 - Avenue of the Giants Marathon,
Half Marathon & 10K
Weott, CA
Contact: Cynthia Timek,
P.O. Box 214, Arcata, CA 95518.
(707) 822-1861
ctimek@aol.com
www.theave.org
MAY 6 - Divas Half Marathon in San
Francisco Bay - Half Marathon & Girls 5K
San Francisco Bay, CA
Contact: Kristi Kimura,
P.O. Box 56-1154, Miami, FL 33256-1154.
(800) 733-7089
info@runlikeadiva.com
www.runlikeadiva.com
MAY 6 - The OC Marathon, Half Marathon
& 5K
Newport Beach & Costa Mesa, CA
Contact: Gary Kutscher, 4500 Campus Dr.,
Suite 570, Newport Beach, CA 92660.
(949) 222-0456 (x2)
gary@ocmarathon.com
www.ocmarathon.com
MAY 20 - Kaiser Permanente Colfax
Marathon, Marathon Relay & Half Marathon
Denver, CO
Contact: Andrea Dowdy,
1490 Lafayette St. #206, Denver, CO 80218.
(303) 770-9600
andrea@runcolfax.org
www.runcolfax.org
Denvers Ultimate Urban Tour
JUNE 3 - Steamboat Marathon,
Half Marathon & 10K
Steamboat Springs, CO
Contact: Sarah Leonard,
P.O. Box 774408, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477.
(970) 875-7002
marathon@steamboatchamber.com
www.steamboatmarathon.com
JULY 29 - The San Francisco Marathon,
Marathon, 2 Half Marathons, 5K & Kids Race
San Francisco, CA
Contact: Race Director,
P.O. Box 77148, San Francisco, CA 94107.
(888) 958-6668
info@thesfmarathon.com
www.thesfmarathon.com
Run The Golden Gate Bridge!
AUG 19 - Big Wild Life Runs, Marathon Run/
Walk, Relay, Half Marathon, 5K & Kids 2K
Race (Sat, 8/18)
Anchorage, AK
Contact: Sharron Fisherman,
P.O. Box 243362, Anchorage, AK 99524.
bwlr@anchoragerunningclub.org
www.bigwildliferuns.org
SEPT 15 - NordicTrack Top of Utah
Marathon & 5K
Logan, UT
Contact: Bob Henke,
P.O. Box 414, Providence, UT 84332.
(435) 753-3064
topofutah262@yahoo.com
www.topofutahmarathon.com
SEPT 28-30 - Lake Tahoe Marathon Events,
Marathon, Triple Marathon, Super Triple,
Marathon Walk, Tahoe (2 x 72M) Double
Dare Ultra, Half Marathon, 20M, 10K, 5K,
Kids Fun Runs, 72M & 50M Ultra, 2 + 5
Marathon Relays, Triathlon, 72M & 35M Bike
Races/Rides, 5M Kayaking & 2.5 Mile, 1 Mile,
1/2 Mile Swim and Speed Golf
South Lake Tahoe, CA
Contact: Les Wright,
P.O. Box 20000,
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151.
(530) 544-7095
leswright@sbcglobal.net
www.laketahoemarathon.com
INTERNATIONAL
FEB 26 - Off The Beaten Track, 30+ Miles,
Individual or Relay
Grand Cayman
Contact: Kenneth Krys,
P.O. Box 31237,
Cayman Islands, KY1 1205.
(345) 947-4700
kenneth.krys@krys-global.com
www.ofthebeatentrack.ky
MAY 5-6 - Mississauga Marathon Full
Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K , 2K &
Relays
Mississauga, ON, Canada
(905) 949-2931
info@mississaugamarathon.com
www.mississaugamarathon.com
Under Armour participant shirts available.
Regarded as the Greater Toronto Spring Marathon.
The Toronto International Airport is actually in
Mississauga!
MAY 25-29 - Lake Atitlan Challenge
Marathon & Half Marathon
Panajachel, Guatemala, Central America
Contact: Richard Morgan,
P.O. Box 526150, Miami, FL 33152.
(+502) 7762-2093
info@atitlanmarathon.com
www.atitlanmarathon.com
MAY 27 - 48th Annual Scotiabank Calgary
Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K & Kids
Calgary, AB, Canada
Contact: Lynn Cox, P.O. Box 296, Station M.,
Calgary, AB T2P 2H9.
(403) 264-2996
info@calgarymarathon.com
www.calgarymarathon.com
Boston Qualifer.
MAY 27 - Ottawa Marathon, Half Marathon,
10K, 5K & 2K
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Contact: Jim Robinson,
P.O. Box 426, Station A,
Ottawa, ON K1N 8V5.
(866) RUNOTTA
info@runottawa.ca
www.runottawa.com
Join Over 40,000 Runners in Canadas Capital!
NOV 11 - Athens Marathon, 10K & 5K,
Original Historical Course
Athens, Greece
Contact: Apostolos Greek Tours Inc.,
2685 S. Dayton Way #14,
Denver, CO 80231.
(303) 755-2888
www.athensmarathon.com
Various Support Packages.
JAN 27-FEB 3, 2013 - Cruise To Run
Caribbean, Prediction Run, Trail Run,
Group Runs, 5K Race & More
St. Criox, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia,
Barbados
Contact: Jerry Friesen,
38 Viking Dr., Grimsby,
ON L3M 3V3 Canada.
(905) 309-8669
instride@primus.ca
www.cruisetorun.com
Hosted By Bart Yasso
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DESI DAVILA
Continued from page 67
ing. Eighteen months earlier in Berlin, Desi
had been ve seconds slower than Kara. And
then Kara took a year off to have a baby.
With no disrespect to Karashes a factor in
any racethat year of made a diference.
During that year, Davila had shaved a half-
minute of her 5-K, a full minute of her 10-K,
and nearly 90 seconds off her marathon
time. With all those improvements, are you
telling me Desi isnt better than she was in
Berlin? Of course she is.
It was bafing to us that people had Kara
as a potential winner and Desi as a cute side
story. We knew better.
As if to drive home the point, Desi asked
the Hanson brothers whod be there to greet
her at the nish line: Kevin or Keith. We
talk with our runners on the course, not at
the nish, Keith says. By that time the race
is over. And its a bit presumptuous to as-
sume your runner will be snapping the tape.
Desi had no problem with that. Im going
to contend for this win, she told them.
There was something in Dess voice
when I talked to her on the phone before
Boston, recalls Amy Hastings. Something
diferent. Hastings wasnt running Boston,
but she ew out anyway. She had a feeling
Davila might do something special.
Goucher, Davila, and the elite women
started in Hopkinton 28 minutes ahead of
the elite men and the 26,000-plus eld.
Kim Smith, the New Zealand distance
specialist, bolted out of the gate. Smiths plan
was to blow the eld away early, pull ahead,
and dishearten the pack. Through Framing-
ham and Natick, the pack following Smith
surged forward, energized by the crowds,
before falling back into a more normal pace.
Davila hung about 20 seconds behind,
running her steady 5:30-per-mile race. She
focused on getting to the 20-mile mark as
efciently as possible. On the TV broadcast,
Davila was mentioned once near the start
and then forgotten for the next two hours.
Keith Hanson trotted alongside her at the
10-K mark. Theyre running a bunch of
stupid surges, Davila told him with a smile.
As if to say, I was hoping theyd do that.
This is another key component to the
Hanson brothers' philosophy: Run your own
marathon. People used to talk about Brian
Sell running from behind, says Keith Han-
son. Sell, the former Hansons-Brooks runner
(he retired in 2009), competed in the mara-
thon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Brian
didnt run from behind. He ran his own pace
and let the race come back to him.
Leg cramps took Kim Smith out of the
race at mile 18. As the road sloped toward
Boston, Davila fell

E
lite marathoners think in
years, not months. A typical world-
class marathoner may compete in
two races a year. Two. Most cant
handle more than that because the training
is so demanding. The regimen leading up to
those races may stretch for weeks, months,
and literally thousands of miles. Before she
starts her taper, Desiree Davila will run 120
miles a week to prep for a 26.2.
When you only run one or two a year, you
pick your races carefully. So when Davila sat
down with Kevin and Keith Hanson in the
summer of 2010, the three of them looked
over the big five: Berlin, Boston, Chicago,
London, and New York, the marathon ma-
jors. London was enticing. The course was
at, fast, and ofered a taste of the next Olym-
pic venue. Davila could easily lay down a
new PR in London. But Boston loomed large.
At the end of the day, Davila says, Bos-
ton is Boston. Thats the big race. If youre an
American and you win there, its a big deal.
They talked about times. We gured Id
run 5:30s for the rst 20 miles, Davila re-
calls, then cut it down to 5:20s or 5:15s. Get
into that uncomfortable range. One thing
Ive learned is the race really starts at the last
10-K. I want to get to that point as comfort-
ably as possible. Then youve got to do
something to force the race to go your way.
In that meeting, Kevin Hanson laid some
splits on the table. This is what Margaret
Okayo did in her course record run in 2002,
he told Davila. Okayo, a Kenyan marathoner
who rose to the top of the sport in the early
2000s, still holds the womens course record
in both the Boston and New York marathons.
She ran the last 10-K in 33:17. So running
fast, that nal section is right around 33:20.
Davila nodded. She could do that.
The Hansons-Brooks team showed up at
prerace events in Boston in full tracksuit
splendor. When they started the team 12
years ago, the brothers wanted uniforms that
would get their athletes noticed. So I sat
down and started sketching, Kevin recalls.
He came up with a brick-and-yellow sema-
phore pattern. Some might call itugly.
Many did. People would come up to me and
say, Man, you guys are doing great, but you
gotta do something about those ugly uni-
forms. And Id say: So you noticed the uni-
forms. Because if you notice them, I won.
One thing not getting a lot of prerace no-
tice was Desi Davila.
Kara [Goucher] was being talked about as
a major factor in the race, a potential win-
ner, says Kevin Hanson. But we knew the
kind of year Desi had been having, and we
knew what kind of year Kara had been hav-
third-place nisher, Blake Russell. And then
I just completely fell apart, Davila says.
It was a fueling issue. As a track runner,
competing in the 1500, the 5000, and the
10,000, Davila never had to take uids. More
to the point, she couldnt. When she tried,
everything came up. I thought, Well, I dont
want to lose breakfast, too, so Ill just stop drink-
ing uids on the course.
That doesnt work over 26.2 miles. Or at
least not for her. She struggled to cross in
2:37:50, for 13th place.
The fueling issue would be addressed
directly. During long workouts, Davila
would force herself to drink. Her system,
well, rejected it. It was actually kind of dis-
gusting, she says. But week afer week, her
body eventually adapted. Gross, she says,
but necessary.

T
hat september, she went to
the Chicago Marathon determined
to lay down a time that would
qualify her for the IAAF World
Championships Marathon in Berlin. Keep-
ing fluids and breakfast down, Davila re-
corded a 2:31:33, the top time for an Ameri-
can and fh woman overall. That was just
the prelude, though.
The 2009 IAAF World Championships
wasnt the strongest eld ever assembled. A
number of the worlds top marathoners,
having given their all at the Beijing Olym-
pics, were taking the year of. Davila saw a
chance to turn a few heads.
Before every big race, Kevin Hanson sits
down with each of his athletes to plot strat-
egy. With Davila, he wanted her to quote
him a time. What do you want to shoot for
in Berlin? he asked.
Id like to aim for the top 15, she said. I
think Im ready to run 2:28. Davila expected
her coach to ratchet her back. Shed never
been considered a sub-2:30 marathoner.
Perfect, said Kevin Hanson. Thats just
what Id been thinking myself.
In Berlin she finally brought it all to-
gether. She ran a 2:27:53 marathon, five
seconds behind Kara Goucher. Davila was
the second American and 11th overall.
Afer toiling in the obscurity of the De-
troit suburbs for five years, Davila was fi-
nally making a name for herself in the run-
ning world. I think that was shocking for a
lot of people, she says. I broke 2:30, not by
a little but by a lot. It was a big surprise to
everybody but us. It was exactly what we
were shooting for. (continued on page 102)
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PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
102 FEBRUARY 201 2
DESI DAVILA
Continued from page 101
Later this month in Houston, Davila is
hoping to get an Olympic bid out of her
years of hard work in Detroit. Shes in an
enviable position coming into the race, hav-
ing posted two of the three fastest marathon
times for an American woman in the past
two years. There are plenty of others who
could outduel her: Goucher, Flanagan, Kas-
tor, Lewy Boulet, even her friend Amy Hast-
ings. And theres the course itself, the sheer
distance. Mary Keitanys performance in last
Novembers New York City Marathon, in
which she sprinted to an early course-record
pace only to be caught and passed in Central
Park, reminded Davila of the toll that 26.2
miles can take on the body. Everyone looked
to Mary Keitany as the best in the world,
capable of handling 2:20, Davila says. Keit-
anys letdown at the end, she says, was a
warning that its not the competitors that
will do you in. Its the distance.
However things turn out in Houston, and
possibly in London, there is a sense that
Desiree Davila will do just ne regardless of
the results. After Boston, she enjoyed the
spoils of her performance for a few weeks.
The Brooks-Hansons team gave her a nice
bonus. (Her contract is a pay-for-perfor-
mance deal. The faster she runs, the bigger
her paychecks.) She appeared on TV shows,
gave radio interviews, and threw out the rst
pitch at a Detroit Tigers game. She has her
options open. A lucrative shoe contract with
a bigger company is hers for the asking, but
shes staying with the Brooks-Hansons team
for now. Her roots in Detroit are about to get
a lot deeper. Late last summer she and her
boyfriend, a hometown Rochester boy, got
engaged. They will marry next year.
Whos the lucky guy? I ask.
Ryan Linden, she says.
The same condescending jerk from ve
years ago? I say.
Thats the guy, she says.
What happened?
Davila laughs. He grew on me.
This is the constant lesson of Desiree
Davilas life. People can improve. They just
have to work at it.
edge of menace. Shouts went up from the
crowd. U-S-A! U-S-A! They didnt seem to
know who Davila was, but they sure knew
where she came from.
As Davila dueled with Kilel down the
stretch, her coaches scrambled to get to the
nish line. Keith fast-talked his way past the
credential cops. Kevin careened through the
Boston streets in a rental van. One of Davilas
Hanson teammates sat shotgun relaying
play-by-play from Mike Morgan, who
watched the streaming Internet feed back in
Detroit and barked updates into his phone.
Shes got it! No, wait. No, she doesnt. Now
nowshes back in the lead! No, she lost it
again. Wait a minute
With 200 yards to go, Davila retook the
lead. Twenty seconds later Kilel grabbed it
back and found an extra gear, opening up a
two-second gap. Davila had nothing lef in
her legs. Caroline Kilel snapped the blue
tape in 2:22:36, the fourth fastest time ever
posted in Boston. Desiree Davila followed
two seconds behind. It was the fastest an
American woman had ever run at Boston,
breaking a record set by Joan Benoit Samu-
elson in 1983. Only two American women,
Samuelson and Deena Kastor, had run a
faster marathon, anywhere, ever.
Their race plan had Desi running the last
10-K in 33:20, three seconds behind Margaret
Okayos kick in her 2002 Boston record.
When the dust cleared, the Hansons realized
Davila had run it in 33:19. And she lost the
race by two seconds.

I
n six years, desiree davila went
from the third-fastest runner on a
Pac-10 team to the third fastest Amer-
ican female marathoner of all time.
Thats no miracle. Its a transformation that
came about through thousands of mornings
and 10,000 miles on a creek-side trail north
of Detroit.
Walt Drenth, Davilas college coach, has
an explanation for her success. Are you fa-
miliar with the hedgehog theory? he says.
Its pretty appropriate for distance runners.
The idea is, you put your head down and do
the same thing consistently for a long period
of time. Eventually you become successful
at it. For runners, the key thing is to do that
and remain healthy.
For Davila, its a conrmation of her faith
in the simple rewards of her sport. Running
is just you, the work you put in, and the
clock, she says. You cant cheat yourself. If
you dont put in the miles, you cant go to the
starting line thinking youre going to pull a
miracle out of nowhere. You get out exactly
as much as you put in.
into rhythm with a group that included the
best of East Africa: 2008 Boston Marathon
winner Dire Tune of Ethiopia, and four
world-class Kenyan runners, Caroline Kilel,
Sharon Cherop, Caroline Rotich, and Alice
Timbilili. This is where the race really starts,
Davila thought.
Then Davila, before God, Larry Rawson,
and half the town of Newton, did the aston-
ishing. She ran in front of them.
Davila, formerly at Arizona State, now
running for Hansons-Brooks in Michigan,
Rawson said. And that is her pushing the
pace a little bit. Wow.
Davila dropped Dire Tune. Then Alice
Timbilili fell back.
Two miles later, Davila had dropped all
but two of her competitors, Kilel and Che-
rop. On the broadcast, you could almost hear
the clackety-clack of production assistants
Googling data on the frontrunner. Davila
was a 4:53 miler in Chula Vista, California,
ran well, got a scholarship to Arizona State,
continued to improve, said Rawson.
Al Trautwig, Rawsons partner in the
booth, asked him to fess up.
Larry, how many times have you seen
Desiree race?
This is the first time Ive seen her in a
marathon, said Rawson. Ive read about her
exploits, but this is the rst Ive seen her.
At mile 24, Davila pushed the pace to a
5:14 mile. Kilel kept up. Cherop could not.
And then there were two.
Over the final miles, it was all about
keeping the pressure on, Davila says.
Youre worried about a nal kick, whos got
one in them. Sometimes people look at 10-K
specialists running marathons and think,
Shes so fast, shell kick down anybody. But its
not what you can run in the 10-K. Its what
you can kick of 26 miles. The speed isnt the
same as in a track race. You want to take the
others through on dead legs, hope the mara-
thon takes the kick out of the kickers.
She pauses and smiles. It worked on one,
she says. Not on the other.
The one was Sharon Cherop. At mile 25
she fell back and, tellingly, began looking
behind her. Out of gas, she was more con-
cerned with who was charging from behind.
Davila and Kilel traded the lead a half-
dozen times. Davila is not a large woman,
and years of 120-mile weeks have winnowed
every ounce of fat from her frame. But next
to the string-thin Kilel, Davila looked posi-
tively robust. Her wraparound sunglasses
pushed the efect from intimidating to the
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104
Ben
Gibbard
Lead singer, Death
Cab for Cutie
35, Los Angeles
Interview by
AMY REININK
Photograph by
AMANDA FRIEDMAN
One of my favorite books
is Haruki Murakamis What I
Talk About When I Talk About
Running. He says that writ-
ing is a bad habit. You sit
for hours, dredging up your
innards. To balance that, he
says, you need healthy habits.
Running is that for me.
I started running in
2007, afer the elliptical got
boring. Becoming a runner
coincided with me shedding
some unhealthy habits. I
used to be a heavy drinker.
My body hated me. It
took six months for the rst
mile not to be the worst
feeling in the world.
Now, its like when youre
taking a dog for a walkI
put my shoes on and my
body says, Oh, good, were
going to do this!
Afer we nished
recording our album Codes
and Keys (released last May),
I bought a book on marathon-
ing. I followed the training plan
rigorously. I relished getting
up at 5 a.m. for my long runs.
The day of the 2011 L.A.
Marathon was a monsoon.
My shoes and clothes were
soaked. But I loved seeing all
the people out cheering.
I was hoping to run a 3:30.
But I got caught up in the
adrenaline. Around mile 19 or
20, I hit the wall. I had to walk
a little. I nished in 3:56:34.
My goal was to beat Flea [of
the Red Hot Chili Peppers]. He
got me by about four minutes.
The band carries a treadmill
on tour now. Nick Harmer, our
bass guitarist, is also a runner.
We realized if we took the
money we used to spend on
booze on one tour, we could
easily buy a treadmill. We
used to spend $300, $400
a night on booze.
When I wake up, the rst
thing I want is cofee. Once
I get jacked up on cafeine,
I want to go for a run.
I listen to an ESPN Baseball
Today podcast or a random
playlist. I preview records, too.
How you transcend the wall,
as a runner or a musician,
denes who you are.
Running and songwriting share similar principles.
When it doesnt feel good, you just work through it.
Go to runnersworld.
com/imarunner for a
video interview, photos,
and the full Q&A.
GRAMMY-NOMINATED DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE IS ON A YEARLONG, WORLDWIDE TOUR TO PROMOTE THEIR ALBUM CODES AND KEYS.
Prototype shown with optional equipment. Production model may vary. 1. Do not rely exclusively on the Blind Spot
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limitations and directions regarding use of the monitor, please see the Owners Manual. 2. Blind Spot Monitor available
on XLE and Hybrid XLE models only. 2011 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
toyota.com/camry
You cant always see whats coming. But the reinvented, technologically advanced 2012 Toyota Camry has got
eyes where you dont. With the available Blind Spot Monitor (BSM), youll be alerted to vehicles that are
hiding there on your left and right. And when combined with a cabin thats redesigned for better visibility,
youll be able to see like never before. Because one of the best ways to avoid an accident is to see it coming.