Monday, May 1, 2023

Looking back - May 1983

40 years ago (May 1983): saw me finishing up my freshman year of outdoor track at U-Lowell.  It was not a pretty month.  I’d been plagued with injuries and my fitness suffered from the lack of miles.  I’d qualified for the 5,000 meters at NCAA D2 nationals, but I would not reach the finish line.  There were 13 entrants, so a preliminary round was held to eliminate one person!  I was on the bubble during the entire race and finished in 12th place (14:58).  One of the guys from Keene complimented me for running a smart race, running as slow as possible to qualify for the finals.  Unfortunately, I was running all-out.  Two days later the heat and my lack of fitness combined to knock me out of the race at 2.2 miles.  I spent the night in the hospital with severe dehydration.  It’d be a couple of years before I made my way back to Cape Girardeau and got redemption (All-American in the 10,000 meters).

No comments: