Masters mentor

M60 thrower Tom Fahey calls himself discusdoc, and it's no exaggeration. In 1972, he earned his doctorate in education from the University of California, Berkeley. (His specialty was exercise physiology with a minor in motor development and biomechanics.)

Three years ago, California State University Chico named Dr. Fahey its outstanding professor for 2005-2006 -- the school's premier award, given for scholarship and outstanding teaching. And did I mention that he throws?

In 2007, competing in the M55 age group, Fahey took silver at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Riccione, Italy, tossing the 1.5-kilogram disc 167 feet, 3 inches. And did I mention he could write?

"His textbook, co-authored with George Brooks, 'Exercise Physiology: Bioenergetics and Its Applications' (1984), is used in exercise physiology graduate education throughout the United States and worldwide," the university reports. "The fourth edition of the book was published in 2005. Fahey's publications include 19 books, 38 refereed journal articles and more than 200 professional articles in journals and in popular magazines."

And that doesn't include one 609-word posting on my Forum at masterstrack.com.

When I read it, it blew me away like a 50-mile quartering wind at Salinas in the summer. It so perfectly distilled his decades of wisdom and experience. It was just an answer to one Masters athlete's question: "What would be the best weight training routine for track and field?" But it spoke volumes.

Fahey began his reply: "We are track athletes who lift weights -- not weight lifters who throw, run or jump."

Then Tom's terrific advice continued:
" Strength and fitness are important, but technique is essential. Use film and groove your technique.
" Use whole body, functional training exercises. Typical bodybuilding weight training routines do not develop the muscles the way we use them on the playing field. Wrist curls and heel raises do little to improve performance in the shot or high jump. Power comes from the lower body. In many events, we transfer power from the lower body, across the core, to the upper body. Train this movement.
" The abdominal muscles often prevent movement and stabilize the spine during track and field movements. Yet, we build them by doing sit-ups and similar exercises. Build the abs by making them act as stabilizers, using exercises such as wood choppers (cables, sledge hammer, chopping wood), standing presses and pulls on functional training machines, overhead squats, etc. Do McGill's big three spinal stabilizers every day: curl-ups, side bridges, bird-dogs. Avoid exercises involving force generation with the trunk flexed (i.e., leg presses).
" Do most exercises from the floor. Dumbbells and kettlebells are excellent tools for track athletes. Include unilateral exercises, such as one-arm dumbbell snatches, clean and press, and one arm-dumbbell high pulls.
" I don't think supported lifts, such as bench press, knee extensions, and incline bench press are good for athletes. While they provide excellent overload, they create excessive torque on the joints. I do not know any old "bench pressers" who have normal shoulders. I benched 450 lb in my 30s and 370 pounds in my mid 50s and developed chronic shoulder pain and had shoulder surgery. I stopped bench pressing and my shoulders feel great. My throwing went into the tank, but that might be due to old age. I think kettlebell training improved my shoulder strength and flexibility.
" Use body weight for resistance. Most people have trouble doing pull-ups, unloaded squats, and push-ups. Start with those before moving to weights. If you can do a push-up from the floor, do one from an incline against the wall. If you can't do a pull-up, start by hanging from a bar.
" Maintain a neutral spine when you exercise. A recent study showed that you can load the lower body with front squats just as well as using back squats but with less stress to the spine and knees.
" Use non-traditional overload techniques. For example, exercise with a 20-40 lb rock. Throw it overhead, under your legs, and from the side. Carry it and squat with it. Find one at a local stream or in your neighbor's yard. Rocks are free and work better than most exercise machines or exercise equipment you buy at Costco. Buy a heavy sledge hammer and hit it against an old tire. It will build tremendous whole body strength that might transfer to the playing field.
" While high tension exercise is important for building base strength, always train explosively-- even when using heavy weights. Power is critical for every event in track and field. Even marathon runners must run fast to win.
" Do a few whole body exercises and get on with your workout. The important thing is to train regularly. See Dan John's website for some great information on weight training for track athletes. (www.Danjohn.org).
" Sprinters and distance runners benefit from strength exercises and plyometrics. A classic study from Finland showed that 5k runners took 30 seconds off their time in 12 weeks by adding power training. Interestingly, their maximal oxygen consumptions decreased by 3 percent. They ran faster with no changes in oxygen transport capacity.

Me again: It's often said that Masters athletes are wonderful mentors. Fahey's case is one gold-medal example.

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A busy summer meet schedule

This summer, four major meets will compete for the attention of Masters track athletes -- the USA Track & Field outdoor nationals in Oshkosh, Wis.; the National Senior Olympics in the San Francisco Bay Area; the World Masters Athletics Championships in Lahti, Finland; and the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia.

Whew!

Don't expect many Americans to hit all four.

But according to a German Masters track magazine, Lahti is doing all it can to take itself off the travel list. An article in the December issue of Senior Athletics said Lahti is booked solid during the meet, and horrific rates -- much higher that those charged at previous world meets -- await those who book with the official tour service.

"This is a real cartel!" one observer was quoted as saying. "You do not need a prophet to see that these prices will discourage many athletes from coming to Lahti."

Lending support to the booked-up claim is Ohio's Rex Harvey, a vice president of World Masters Athletics and a candidate for WMA president this summer at the Lahti General Assembly.

This month at the USA Track & Field annual meeting in Reno, Harvey reported that Lahti lodging is essentially sold out. But Harvey said that commuter trains will run from Helsinki (an hour and half to the south) straight to the WMA venues during the meet, and that most events won't start until 10 a.m., giving Helsinki-stayers plenty of time to make it to their events.

Even so, the acting president of WMA -- Monty Hacker of South Africa -- made haste to reject Harvey's claims and that of the German magazine.

Writing on the WMA Web site, Hacker says: "At a meeting held in Lahti with Virpi Hurri and Tiina Kovisto of the Lahti Organising Committee on 8th December it emerged that false rumours are circulating to the effect that there is no accommodation currently available in Lahti for the forthcoming WMA Stadia Championships during July and August 2009. Furthermore a German Masters magazine, published and distributed this month, perpetuates this false rumour.

"Please therefore take note that THERE IS NO TRUTH IN THESE RUMOURS and that I have been satisfied, on facts placed before me by Virpi and Tiina, that there is presently an abundance of accommodation available in Lahti for athletes and their accompanying companions, before, during and after the event."

Hacker continued:

"However, athletes and affiliates who delay in making their reservations with Tiina do run the risk of making their reservations late and at a time when all the available accommodation in Lahti will have been taken up. If so, accommodation will then have to be obtained outside of Lahti proper, even as far afield as Helsinki."

Hacker said athletes and affiliates hoping to make their reservations with Tiina can contact her at LAHTI TRAVEL OY, Rautatienkatu 22, PL 175, FI-15111 Lahti, or Tel +358 (0) 207 281 750 and Fax +358 (0) 207 281 751, or by e-mail at tina.kovisto@lahtitravel.fi.

Despite such official assurances about Lahti, some Americans aren't buying.

Commenting on my blog www.masterstrack.com, Masters sprint champion John Simpson didn't mince words:

"Good!" he wrote. "Further justification for not going this summer!" WMA worlds remain the gold standard of the Masters track movement -- the most prestigious title to own. But if reports are true that Lahti hotels are going for the gold, Masters from both sides of the Pond may find incentive to travel Down Under this summer.

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USATF Masters blog on the way

Gary Snyder of Boston, an M65 sprinter, recently was elected to a four-year term as USA Track & Field Masters T&F chairman. He ran unopposed but made news at the USA Track & Field annual meeting in Reno by saying he'll start a blog sometime in January. This is huge.

Although Snyder and previous national chairs have been reachable by email and have written columns for National Masters News, this new means of communication takes openness to a new level.

Gary joins new USATF CEO Doug Logan in accepting public comments. (Logan's blog only recently added a feedback function.)

The Masters T&F Executive Committee also is making progress in pursuit of a stand-alone, separate USATF Masters Web site -- which we've been seeking for years. The current Masters section of usatf.org is weak, hidden and lacking lots of information.

Bob Weiner, Masters T&F mediameister reported results of a closed portion of yesterday's Masters T&F Executive Committee meeting:

E-com authorized this statement following today's meeting just concluded: "The Executive Committee is very supportive of the Masters Track and Field website development through the efforts of Dave Clingan and details are being worked out."

The exec committee earlier approved a 2009 budget that allocates $4,500 for the new masters Web site. But back to Gary's blog.

Gary says he'll use it as a way of answering questions about the program. This is a great opportunity for the grassroots to reach the top of the food chain. Better yet, if the blog is set up properly, Gary's replies will be archived and searchable. But the best part is that Gary will go on the record about issues of concern to y'all. I suggest you take advantage of it. I'll report the Web address when I learn it.

After two years as chair, Gary got a little introspective in his closing comments to the open MT&F session, saying he had no hesitation to stay on four another four years.

"I'm having a good time doing this," he told an audience of about 45. "I think there's going to be a number of changes (imposed by USATF restructuring and a new board of directors). But he added, optimistically: "We have a more solid financial position than we had a year ago."

That was a reference to a budget deficit of about $18,000 after the national USATF office failed to give the Masters $20,000 it was owed. Some deal has been arranged in the past few days to let Masters have access to that extra money -- part of the windfall accrued when annual membership fees were raised a couple years ago. But they money has to go to a specific class of programs (grassroots). Not just anything.

Gary also pledged to do his part in growing the Masters ranks by speaking to community groups where older adults congregate -- especially folks who work out.

"We're going to ask you to go to the YMCA and have a chat (with fit members)," Gary said. "You need to have a little courage to do these things" -- talk to groups about Masters track. "I want you to try it this (coming) year, and next year it'll be like an AA meeting (at the USATF convention)," where people share their experiences.

To help masters leaders present the program to novices, a DVD is being prepared that can be shown to groups. Gary promised it won't focus on our sport's superstars (which can intimidate potential Masters athletes). It'll show that anyone can do track.

Also an update on previous posts: On Dec. 5, former world-class hurdler Stephanie Hightower was elected president of USATF, a post that may have been watered down in clout under USOC-mandated restructuring. (Hightower isn't automatically the leader of the Board of Directors, for examples.) She defeated longtime USATF official Dee Jensen 328-300 in a runoff, after Bob Bowman was eliminated in first-round balloting at the USATF annual meeting at the Silvery Legacy Resort Casino in Reno.

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Missing Bob Fine

Reno's daily newspaper and local TV stations treated it like another traffic fatality -- a jogger, 77, was killed while crossing a major artery in the pre-dawn darkness. The woman driving the 2000 Pontiac that hit him wasn't speeding. Alcohol wasn't involved. End of story.

But the victim -- Robert "Bob" Fine of Delray Beach, Fla. -- wasn't just another jogger. He was among the handful of men who founded Masters track, and wrote the Constitution of the World Association of Veteran Athletes (now WMA) in 1977. He competed in all 17 masters world outdoor championships, usually as a racewalker, and most of the 40 U.S. Masters championships. He was inducted into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2002.

Fine's death on Dec. 3 came hours after attending a Masters Committee meeting at USA Track & Field's annual convention, held at the sprawling Silver Legacy Resort Casino in downtown Reno. Word of Fine's passing shocked hundreds, leaving many in tears, especially the Masters delegates. Some had known him for 40 years.

"Heartbreaking," wrote Mary Woo of Northern California.

"This is so shocking," wrote Liz Palmer, a writer for National Masters News. "Bob and I had made plans to start a traveling trophy competition between Golden West Athletics Club and (his) Florida Athletic Club based upon points scored during our association championship meets. Bob's emails were full of fun and good humor. He teased me about hurdling and said that being racewalker made him a 'feet on the ground' type of guy."

Said Rob Norton: "I still won't let myself believe it. One of the first people to welcome me into Florida Masters Track and Field was Bob Fine. To me, Bob was like a force of nature in Masters track. We worked hard to promote Masters track/field and sometimes singlehanded organized and ran a meet, while competing, in order to keep the tradition alive."

USATF immediately put out a news release in Reno, quoting outgoing federation president Bill Roe: "Bob's contribution to USA Track & Field has been enormous, and we are all stunned by this terrible tragedy. To get news like this is always devastating, and to have it happen here at our Annual Meeting adds to the shock of what has occurred. Our deepest sympathies go to his family, and to the many, many people who benefited from his tireless work."

A New York lawyer who resettled in Florida in 1978, Fine was the East Coast version of David Pain, the West Coast lawyer who founded Masters track.

Stephen Cohen, an Illinois lawyer, led a moment of silence for Fine at the first Masters meeting last Thursday, a day after his death. Distance runner Norm Green, an ordained Baptist minister, led a 20-minute "We remember Bob" memorial at a meeting Friday. They recalled Fine as irascible, combative and contrary -- but always devoted to the best interests of his sport and a friend to many.

"He was a 'hard hitter' in life because he cared so much and worked so diligently," wrote Peter Taylor, who announces most Masters national championships and met Fine about 1978.

A Track & Field News message board carried vivid remembrances.

"My Lasting Bob Fine image: Aug. 1975 Westchester, N.Y., just prior to the first World Vets Champs in Toronto," wrote one poster. "Bob put on a Masters meet with top international and USA guys at White Plains High School. It was HOT and Bob lugged water to the officials, runners and fans  -- hot like 178 degrees or something and Bob pouring sweat from every pore, going back for basket after basket of water all day long."

Another post: "In the 1970s and the early 1980s, before he moved to Florida, he tirelessly organized Masters competition for the many people interested in our fine sport. Without his efforts many of us would not have had the opportunity to begin competing again. He always had time to talk to you. He was a wonderful man."

Bob founded an early newsletter for the New York-based Masters Sports Association, which grew into National Masters News, a monthly still serving the Masters track world.

Born June 15, 1931, Fine attended Bronx High School of Science, where he won a city title in the 880-yard run and took ninth in the state cross-country championships. At Syracuse University, he helped his team win an NCAA cross country title.

Fine discovered Masters competition in 1969, entering a race as a Sub-Masters race walker, admittedly in bad condition.

"As my rival was coming across the finish line, half a lap ahead of me, the announcer intoned: 'There goes the youngest 75-year-old around,' " Fine recalled in the book "Masters Track & Field: A History."  "I was afraid that he would then say of me: 'There goes Bob Fine, the most decrepit 38-year-old around.' That's when I decided to get into shape."

In 1971, Fine led an exodus of Masters track from a general track committee of the Amateur Athletic Union. The AAU had rules against "tainted professionals," which included athletes who worked as coaches. Such athletes could get others disqualified just by being in the same meet. Masters risked being barred from international competition under such rules.

Fine fought them. The International Amateur Athletics Federations finally agreed, exempting women over 35 and men over 40 from what Fine considered a ludicrous decree.

A lawmaker until the end, Fine had proposed a USATF rule change in Reno that would have established a club-scoring system for race walkers at Masters nationals. The consensus, as voiced by delegate Sandy Pashkin, was: "We don't have team scoring for the 10K at nationals. . . . . Why should we have it for the racewalk?"

The proposal went down to defeat. Only a couple dissenters backed it, including Dave Clingan, a Masters runner from Portand, Ore. "I voted for Bob," he said.

On my blog, M55 hurdler Jim Broun wrote:

"Bob was instrumental in helping me as I slowly got involved in Masters track and field. He was unique, to say the least, but totally commited to helping the sport and especially in furthering the Florida Athletic Club and its members in their masters pursuits. I will always remember his enthusiasm at the WMA Indoor in France and his accomplishments there. I may not always have agreed with him, but I will always remember him with great respect as he was a giant in the Masters movement! God bless you, Bob, and Godspeed!"

Fine was cremated a couple days after his death, and his family took his ashes back to Florida, said a representative of John Sparks Memorial Cremation in Reno. He is survived by his wife, Gloria, and four children.

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The record run around

John Hinton is a 45-year-old runner living in North Carolina. Kay Glynn, a grandmother of two, is a 55-year-old pole vaulter hailing from the Hawkeye state of Iowa. He's black and she's white, but they share a unique bond besides their love of Masters track.

In 2008, they both beat world age-group records.

What else in common?

Their marks will never show up in the record books.

Oregon's Sandy Pashkin, chairwoman of the USATF Masters T&F Records Committee, reports that applications for Hinton's M45 world indoor record in the mile (4:20.18 set last January in Ithaca, N.Y.) and Glynn's W55 world outdoor record in the pole vault (10 feet, 1 1/4 inches set last June in Los Gatos, Calif.) have been rejected.

Why? In both cases, the meets lacked sanctions from USA Track & Field.

What's a meet sanction?

The group's Web site says "a USATF sanction is an official designation issued by USATF, through a local association, which approves and licenses the holding of a competitive track & field, long distance running or race walking event in the United States. The sanction is also a contract, which evidences the event's commitment to follow national and international rules and regulations of the sport and to provide a safe environment for the participants and spectators. Once the event has satisfied the sanction requirements, the event's application for sanction is approved."

Benefits of sanctioning include liability insurance for event organizers, medical insurance for athletes and promotion advantages -- such as a listing on USATF's online meet calendar.

So what kind of podunk meets failed to have USATF sanctions -- and rob Hinton and Glynn of world record recognition?

Hinton won the prestigious and long-running Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile at Cornell University -- whose meet director, Tom Hartshorne (son of the event's late founder), had received record ratifications at least three times in the past. Glynn won the vault title (and several others) at the USATF Pacific Association Masters Championships. Yes, a local USATF championships without a USATF sanction.

"In September," Glynn wrote me, "I was notified by Sandy that there was a mix-up with the meet directors and the (USATF) meet had not gotten sanctioned."

In the mile case, meet director Hartshorne wrote me: "I am sending this to you so that others like myself, who are attempting to direct quality Masters competitions, do not fall into the same snake pit I just fell into. I really did my best to insure that the Masters athletes who made the effort to come to Ithaca and compete would have the opportunity to set American and/or world records in our venue and receive credit for those performances. We have received credit for at least two world and one American record over the recent years."

But he said that he only recently learned that records had to be set in USATF-sanctioned meets, but "nowhere on the USATF application for track record form that I downloaded with Pashkin's assistance does it state that USATF sanctioning of the meet is also required to qualify for an American or World Masters record."

So Hartshorne tried to get a "post-event" sanction -- like postdating a check. That effort bounced, too.

Gary Snyder, the national chairman of USATF Masters track, concurred with Pashkin, saying: "No sanction, no record."

Said Hartshorne: "Again I believe that USA Track & Field has the athlete's best intentions in mind. However, with regards to my best efforts to ratify John Hinton's record, I truly feel I have been given the blank end of the starter's pistol."

I gave Pashkin four days to give her side of the story in the Hinton case.

She never responded to my e-mail inquiry.

But athlete outrage was immediate.

"How sad for John, but more importantly for Masters athletes," wrote Tony Young of Washington state, who holds the outdoor world record holder in the M45 mile. "I have become very disenchanted with the whole record process over the years. Many times, I have raced and then said 'Why bother?' to get it recorded. Others have taken on this task and have done ALL of the necessary groundwork/paperwork to record these marks. With today's ability to research a time or mark on the Internet and to have marks set at established meets, it seems ludicrous to go through all of these hoops. Very frustrating. John's mark should not have a footnote when it is talked about years from today."

Nolan Shaheed of Pasadena, who holds the M50 mile world record, wrote: "John's race was run on a certified track, was timed by a certified electronic timer, was started by a certified starter, had certified officials, was witnessed by more than 200 people and the WHOLE RACE WAS VIDEOTAPED!!!"

Pete Magill of nearby South Pasadena, who holds several American distance records, wrote: "When an organization chooses the validity of its own strict interpretation of rules over the validity of the world record performances of its athletes, then it has lost its legitimacy. I understand playing by the rules. But I also understand that the M45-49 world record is held by Hinton. The question is: Does USATF understand this?"

Bill Pontius, a Masters hurdler in New York wrote: "This is sad. Track and Field has always been a stats-driven sport. Record lists that are knowingly wrong do no one a service. . . . If you have trouble drawing a reasonable distinction between an honest, well-run meet and a fly-by-night hand-timed-by-thumbs-on-one-watch time trial, appoint a review committee to look at instances like this.  . . .  Let's do our best to honor the record holders and keep our lists accurate."

Finally came the wisdom of Kevin Foley, an M35 runner out of Massachusetts.

"As for the USATF sanction, what a lot of hooey," Foley wrote. "Or rather, what a quaint echo of a bygone day. Nolan Shaheed's post summarizes quite succinctly why a governing body sanction is superfluous in today's world. A certified track, certified electronic timer, certified officials, witnessed by more than 200 people, and videotaped. and, I might add, widely reported on the Internet at the time. . . .  The very concept of a governing-body sanction dates from a time when none of this technology existed. 

Foley concluded: "Nobody who saw with their own eyes or read credible reports of John Hinton's achievement needs the USATF to tell them what they already know. The USATF no longer has the power to diminish Hinton's achievement.

"By insisting on something that clearly isn't so, the USATF only diminishes itself."

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Medal counts

Why do we oldsters run, jump and throw? For fun, of course. Health and fitness, fersure. We also like the social aspects, or just to be in touch with our inner track stars. But meet Ganga Prasad, an M45 Australian athlete.

He competes for medals -- as many as he can get his sweaty hands on.

Prasad has taken hardware-coveting to new heights, according to a recent article about him. He boasted about winning eight medals at this month's Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast.

"Prasad won two golds, five silvers, and a bronze medal in the 45-49 age group," the article said. "He was aiming to reach a career tally of 1,000 medals, but after the Gold Coast was happy to give his body a rest."

Prasad is quoted as saying: "For three days after, all the muscles couldn't move. If I did any more, I would have died."

Well, well.  Then Mr. Prasad must have loads of talent! So I checked out his recent marks -- and nearly choked: 16.67 in the 100 meter dash, 36.16 in the 200-meter dash, 10 feet in the long jump, 3 feet 5 in the high jump, and on and on. Weak.

"Men in the 90-year-old age group category have better performances in most of the events in which he received medals," wrote world-class M60 thrower Tom Fahey on my blog. "He is still a young man. I applaud Mr. Prasad for showing up, but he doesn't understand the purpose of our sport."

Many comments on a blog I did on this were shocked at how such an athlete could even accumulate this many medals.

Nolan Shaheed, a world-record holder in middle distances, wrote: "If he has won several hundred medals, it means he's in shape -- but no one can compete that much and not improve on his performances. Then he says he was sore for three days afterwards, but Earl Fee at 76 can warm up faster than this guy competed and not feel tired. So I think he must be a special athlete who is doing the best he can and probably appreciates the medals much more than we."

That angle didn't fly with M55 high jumper Milan Jamrich, who wrote, "Laughable performances might earn you a medal, but please do not brag about it. Quality, not quantity, counts."

David Ortman, an M55 multi-event star in Seattle, provided a link to a 2006 column he wrote about medals, saying: "You can't really wear them to work pinned to your chest or draped around your neck. Once while hitchhiking I was picked up and later the driver picked up two more guys. One of them was a Native American who had been a track runner, and we compared events and times. The other hitchhiker, who had just gotten out of the Louisiana State Prison, asked me whether any employer had ever given me a better job or more money because I'd won all those medals? And I had to admit that no one ever had. So why does our satisfaction level at a track meet drop if no medals are awarded?"

Another mid-50s decathlete, Stefan Waltermann, wrote:

"Don't get me started on medals! You guys simply cannot believe the yelling, screaming, fighting, backstabbing and mobbing that happened during my first participation in the WMA World Championships in Puerto Rico (on the German team). I remember that it was mainly the spouses who created the ruckus in the relay selection meetings. The reason? Medals. If they could have broken my legs, they would have done it just for the chance for their hubbies to win a medal in a darn relay race!"

Same thing happened at 2005 worlds in San Sebastian, Spain.

"By then, spouses were no longer allowed to the team meetings," Waltermann wrote. "They did their mobbing outside of the meeting room. . . .Medal inflation (or is it deflation) starts on the last day of our nationals with the start of relays. For a few years now, I watched in disbelief how folks jog around the oval in club and non-club relays . . .  to win a mighty medal. Most of these medals should be cut from toilet paper and not even resemble the medals won in close competition with an honest effort."

One friend wrote me privately, informing me of the name given such people: medal whores.

But it's the love of money that's the root of all evil -- not money itself. Same for medals, whose acquisition can do societal good.

One athlete queried: "What's that website that was in a recent Runner's World article -- I believe that you can go to in order to donate your medals to children in hospitals? To each his (or her) own, but to me putting a smile on a child's face is a much better use of a medal than putting it in a shoebox in my closet as I've done."

Liz Palmer, a W45 sprint and hurdle medalist at recent Masters nationals, gave the answer: "It's www.medals4mettle.org. I've already sent some in and got a 'warm and fuzzy' out of it."

And she concluded in the spirit of the holidays:

"Another fun use for medals: Save a few special ones to hang on your Xmas tree."

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Steps in the right direction

Liz Johnson is home. She's back working at the Siskey-branch YMCA in Charlotte, N.C., where she teaches a chair aerobics class to wheelchair-using members.

But when her mind wanders, she relives her athletic adventure in Africa, as far removed from running hurdles in Masters track as a 52-year-old pilates instructor can get.

Less than a month ago, Johnson was battling what she calls the "Egyptian death virus," an intestinal illness, on the eve of Sahara Race 2008. She fought cramps, nausea and "sun poisoning" to complete 20 miles on Day 2, stopping only at the behest of race officials "because of upchucking," Johnson wrote from home.  "I think they thought I was endangering the ecosystem of the desert with my excessive fluid expressions."

Last weekend, this tough-as-steel runner wrote her friends about her dune-marathon experience and the soft spot she carried for an aerobics student of hers at Siskey.

"Thanks for good wishes while I was attempting to race Sahara," she wrote. "I now truly understand the phrase 'pray for death.' Actually got in a 5K the last day to finish at pyramids. It was also great fun to volunteer and help others with the race. Seems some good always prevails."

Johnson recalls the race more for its treasures than torture.

"It really was stunningly beautiful and transcendent," she said. "There were actually shells on the bottom of the desert from where ocean used to be. The challenge was fun, as were my 10 mates."

Among her main motivations for hanging tough was Tom Wrenn, "the real hero in all this." Wrenn is in Johnson's chair aerobics class at Siskey. "I bet him in April if I crossed the Sahara, he would have to try and take two steps out of his wheelchair. We started in the pool, where Tom could barely make it a few steps walking. Eventually he was up to over 20 laps. I was thrilled to greet him in class today."

"The first thing he did -- he got up out of his wheelchair with minimal of help. He looked so shaky, about to teeter over at any moment. Then he found the strength to will his body to take five absolutely picture-perfect steps. Upon sitting back down, his response was not to soak in the celebration but to ask what the bet was for next year.

"He said he knew he could do 20 steps or more and was expecting to hear my side of the bet soon. So . . . there just may be another desert race in the future. But in the meantime, I have seen what real courage and greatness is. Maybe we all need to take the time to see greatness in others and appreciate the fact that life is only as great as your friends. And my life is great!"

Of the race itself, Johnson says she suffered from having gotten dehydrated the night before the race. "Somehow, the scene from 'Alien' kept coming to mind, with live creatures bursting through the abdominal cavity.   . . .  No hospitialization was needed. However, there is always questionable issues in regard to my mental health and choices of adventures. I started four legs and finished two." She's now fully recovered, she said.

In Egypt, as I reported here earlier, Johnson completed a leg that was over 23 miles.

"The conditions (were) sunny and sandy, then sunny and sandy some more," Johnson said. "The course we ran was mostly very soft, deep sand. We raced through the white and yellow parts.  There were amazing high dunes, with water stations placed evily, just at the top. So we got to use our climbing skills. If not sand, there was craggy, sharp plains of rock. The temps reached 115. I am not sure of adequate synonyms for really, really hot. The scenery was breathtaking.

"I especially loved the quiet and serenity."

Of course, she learned a lot about herself in the immense North African desert: "You can't control the variables. I really thought I would cry and feel sorry for myself. Instead I tuned into the lesson that something better always comes along. It was a time of deep introspection and peace. I was awed by vastness of the desert and how transcendent, quieting the mind can be."

Back home, she said: "I learned I really have the greatest life with the best friends imaginable. I really thought I would return home cured of my need for high adventure. Instead my mind is already envisioning the finish line of a future desert race."

In a short query note, I asked Johnson -- a pentathlete with specialties in the hurdles and jumps -- if she had tried to interest her desert teammates in Masters track.

She replied: "I gave it my best to try and recruit them to the brevity of our sport. Instead they were were strong-arming me to join them in their ultra-jaunt races around the globe. I am not sure I took the time to process through the event, until now. Thanks for the inquiry!  Much cheaper than therapy!"

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