Conversations of a Long Distance Runner – A Minneapolis Runner's Blog

Roger Bannister

On 6th May 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4-minute mile at Iffley Road, Oxford. He held his world record for just six weeks before his great rival, John Landy of Australia, broke it by more than a second with a time of 3:58.0. The stage was now set for a dramatic showdown between the two runners in the final of the One Mile at the Empire Games in Vancouver.
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Duel in the Sun

In the universal scheme, a decade is a veritable blink of an eye. In the world of marathoning, where fame is fleeting, a decade can seem like a lifetime. Surely to Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley, two athletes who staged an epic duel in the 1982 Boston Marathon, one that has not been and is not likely to be repeated for years to come.
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Deena Kastor

She holds American records in the marathon, half-marathon, and numerous road distances. She won the bronze medal in the women’s marathon at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She is also an eight-time national champion in cross country.
Meb Keflezighi

The silver medal earned by Meb Keflezighi at the 2004 Olympic Games represented a renaissance for distance running in the United States, the first American Olympic medal since the silver medal earned by Frank Shorter in 1976. Keflezighi’s medal was more than simply an American athletic triumph; it was also a demonstration of the resilience of the human spirit.
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You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.–Steve Prefontaine

Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'.–Paul Tergat

Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right.–Henry Ford

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