Thanks for Sharing

Today marks the end of my three week, three day run as "custodian" here at DtB. I've enjoyed the experience, had fun getting back to my "roots" in the community I've called home since 1972. I moved here in June of 1972, just graduated from Bowling Green State University where I had the privilege of running on the track and cross country teams.

I was welcomed with open arms by the Minnesota running community. I ran in races, did volunteer work for the MDRA and other running groups in the area, and wrote a running column for the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch a long time ago. I've met a lot of great people, heard and told a lot of stories. I've lived on both coasts in the US, in London, England, and seen a good bit of the world(including a recent trip to the Great Wall in China, pictured here). Minnesota ranks right up there as a running community in all aspects of the sport.

One of the first people I met when I moved here was Ron Daws, an Olympian, an artist, an original. Ron's great talent was to be able to absorb ideas from others and put them to use. The reason people were attracted to him is that he gave as much as he took. Distance running is ultimately a test of energy management, and Ron maintained that for him to succeed he had to manage his limited natural talents better than those who were better athletes. So he sought to find the best training methods, the best equipment, clothing, anything that could give him a better chance.

To perform better in hot weather races, he would run in the sweat suits in the spring and summer. To minimize the weight he had to carry he would rebuild his running shoes, making them lighter, more flexible, whatever worked. He approached the sport like a coach and a scientist, deconstructing everything and building himself as an athlete.

I had to laugh looking at the University of Minnesota Field House where the Big Ten Indoors was held last weekend. The new synthetic track. The modern facility. Back in 1972 we called it the barn for good reason. The "track" surface was dirt so that the baseball team had a place for spring practice. We used to joke that we all would develop "brown lung disease" from working out in there. In fact, rather than run on the dirt and tight turns of the indoor track Daws found refuge in the winter on the Washington Avenue Bridge.

The enclosed walkway on top of the bridge that connects the east and west bank campuses was perfect for interval workouts. We'd run the quarter mile from one end to the other and grab onto the poles at either end, swing ourselves around the corner, and take off back to the opposite end. Great for half mile and mile repeats, as it had just enough heat to prevent frostbite and a surface free of snow and ice. It was a typical Daws low-tech solution to winter training in the frozen tundra.

To simulate running on the hills in Boston for the annual spring marathon, Daws would do workouts up and down the inclines that rise up on either side of Riverside Park on the Mississippi River Boulevard between Franklin and Washington Avenues. He didn't invent specific training, just utilized it as much as he could to bolster his confidence and prepare himself physically for the challenges. He didn't keep any of this secret. He shared his methods with everyone.

That was the Minnesota ethos, not all for one, but rather one for all. That's sort of what DtB is, a collective effort to share information about the Minnesota running community. My time here wasn't spent doing original reporting. I collected information, packaged and distributed it. My thanks to those who contributed. Pete Miller, Sean Hartnett, Gene Neimi, Pat Goodwin, the sports information departments of the MIAC, NCC, NSIC, Big Ten, U of MN, Bob Gustafson of Grandma's Marathon, Kristine Smith of TCM, Bill and Tim Miles, Tim Zbikowski, Tom Langenfeld, and all the athletes and coaches who shared their stories.

We didn't have the Internet back in 1972. Our social networking was done the old fashioned way. Now we can electronically share information, swap stories, and keep people all over the globe informed on what's happening in the Minnesota running and track community. Keep spreading the news and sharing the information. It's a grand Minnesota tradition.