#PSUXC's tweet of the team's first run brings back many memories for me from August 1977. I distinctly remember those first runs with team captains
Bruce Baden and
John Zeigler. They welcomed me with open arms and
"showed me the ropes" as if we were childhood friends. John has been a friend ever since. We cross paths frequently, being in the same profession. And it was a huge pleasure when I last saw Bruce at
Coach Groves' Retirement Celebration in 2006. I am sure we will resume a great relationship the very next time we cross paths. Maybe someone out there will convince him to thrash the greenery on the golf course next year.
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| Coach Gondak and the team's first run in the State Game Lands. |
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And in those early years, Coach Groves always somehow appeared at least
twice every distance run, just like Coach Gondak here. Out of the blue, there he was, somewhere in the woods, holding his stopwatch
and barking things few of us actually heard.
Certainly, the rural setting of PSU gives us an advantage in the myriad of running trails right next to campus to entice future distance stars. It's about time we start promoting that more broadly.
I'm in for promoting the great training grounds around Centre County. I always said the only thing we are lacking is being at a higher elevation.
ReplyDeleteEvery October I would take a morning run in the Game Lands, not remembering that small game season had started. Always a start when a gun goes off next to you or you round a corner with a man in orange handling a gun.
ReplyDelete"The first 45 mile week I ever ran, I ran in the first 3 days at PSU- Thank you very much, Bruce Baden!"
ReplyDelete-Larry Mangan, 2012.
I stand by this statement!! LTM
Oh to be 45 years younger! 1968, last year for a freshman team, first run - 1 lap of the old white golf course (about 1.7 miles), then we took a break. After a 5 minute rest we repeated the lap for a total of 3.4 miles. greg
ReplyDeleteI would now have to drop out with 0.4 to go on the second lap!
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, Harry was not in State College when we arrived in August of '77. I believe he was in Australia with an international team.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my first three days would have been any different - we still would have run 15 miles a day, I just wanted to point out that little bit of trivia.
Another bit of trivia is that on my recruiting trip as a senior in HS, I went on a morning run with Ziggy. A couple of noteworthy points: 1) it was my first morning run, ever; 2) it was a legit 6 miles, not my normal "6 miler", which I ran infrequently, and 3) it was at a legit 6 minute pace - the only other 6 minute pace morning run I ever went on was with Frank Shorter and (I think) Alan Scharsu. I kept my mouth shut and didn't complain about the pace because it was Frank Shorter - '72 and '76 Olympic Marathon Champ (don't quarrel with me about '76) LTM
All this talk of first days back in town caused me to look at an old log book. The entry for August 29, 1978 - ran around State College with Greg Fredericks and Charlie Maguire, pretty brisk pace for most of the run. 9 miles.
ReplyDeleteGLF - my notes didn't say how long or where we ran, but I was pretty notorious for a lack of precision on the mileage front - unlike Ziggy! Perhaps your log says it was a 6 mile jog at 7 minute pace!!!
LTM