Ten Questions: Ryan Foster

I took Ryan Foster away from his preparations for the 1,000 Mile Relay to benefit the Kevin Dare Foundation long enough for him to answer our Famous Ten Questions. Please give your consideration to donating to their cause.  It was great having Ryan golf with us this year, adding a great international flair to the event.

1. How was coming to America different than you first imagined?

1) A really big thing I noticed was the formality when being served by someone. Going through customs in America there is a lot of "Hello sir, can I please see your passport sir?", in Australia, you get to customs and receive a "G'day mate, got ya passport?". I've certainly picked up a habit of using sir and ma'am on a daily basis.

2. What do you miss the most when you are here?
2) Being in central PA, I miss the beach the most. I never lived more than 5 miles from the beach before I moved to the US.

3. How much more uptight are Americans as compared to Tasmanians?
3) I think that Americans are unnecessarily uptight about a number of things, particularly gas prices. 

$4 a gallon hasn't been seen in Australia since the 90s so I still think it is absurdly cheap.

4. How does distance training differ compared with Australia?
4) Training is very similar. At Penn State, I certainly do more volume and less workouts. In Aus, I would typically do 3-4 workouts a week. I was also hurt a lot more back then...

5. How do the climate patterns in State College compare to those in Hobart?
5) Hobart is a mild-temperate climate so reasonably consistent year round. The record low is 27 F and high is 105 F, winter averages low 50s F, and summer right about 70 F.

6. Budweiser or Fosters?
6) I have to admit, I have never had a Fosters... Budweiser is okay, but the king of this category of beer is Miller Lite. Hands down.

7. Who came up with the 1,000 Mile Relay idea?
7) He's going to be a professor one day, so no surprise Luke Watson came up with this one. We were on a run one day with the team and somehow got talking about doing a crazy run. Luke happened to mention it was almost exactly 1,000 miles from Minneapolis to State College. I put two-and-two together pretty quick, and within a week, Ed Dare had agreed to throw his hat into the ring.

8. You do know that it will be really, really difficult, don't you?
People keep saying that it is going to be hard, but I think we have a very, very good strategy. I interviewed Vince yesterday about question marks that had been raised about his fitness by a few unnamed sources, and he said, "at the end of the day it's not going to be about how fit I am, it's going to be about determination." Vince is crazy though. It's definitely going to be about fitness, and I think we are all in really good shape (except Vince apparently).

9. Do the efforts of our rag-tag Alumni Group mean anything to the current team members?
9) Oh man, I love the Alumni Group. I read this blog everyday and try to get involved as much as possible. It's been really great to see the alumni come out of the woodwork the last few years and get more involved with Penn State track. There have been guys who gave me support and advice through my college career, and continue to regularly now as a post-collegiate.

 

 10. Who is the most famous Physicist in Australia?

 10) I can't think of anyone off the top of my head. I can't imagine we have many. In my personal experience, most of our best and brightest do economics.