the runner eclectic

I’d like to take a short hiatus from the world of running to talk a little World Cup Futbol.

As everyone knows, the U.S. team lost to Germany on Thursday afternoon and finished with 4 points in their group. But that was enough for the Americans to advance to the Round of 16 by virtue of a better goal differential than Portugal. After hearing of Portugal’s 2-1 win over Ghana, which sealed the deal, the Americans celebrated with the fans, some of whom had walked miles to the stadium after torrential rains and biblical floods had made roads impassable for taxis.

What I found particularly fascinating was the struggle going on in the media to figure out how to report the results of the match. Continue reading →

I’m writing this on Tuesday night, and it’s late enough to expect that the thousands of runners who descended on Boston Common earlier in the evening for the annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge have by now dispersed. Throngs of work colleagues sporting company-designed race t-shirts have gathered in restaurants and bars to socialize, tell stories, and relive the events before, during, and after the race.

In spite of the fact that my company had a team there and my club had 35 volunteers working the race, I stayed home. So it’s possible that even as I write this, everyone who was there is talking about what a wonderful, special event it was, and how they can’t wait to do it again next year. But I suspect that the race went off in much the same way that it always does, which is to say that it was another missed opportunity to be something really great. Continue reading →

On the campus of Virginia Tech, the football stadium dominates the landscape. From Southgate Drive, which winds its way through the Athletic complex, a visitor gazes up at the massive structure — the multi-story edifice, the stands that rise steeply up to the sky, the flags flying from the ramparts — with feelings of awe. On this, the summer solstice, a great quiet surrounds the towering edifice, but one can imagine game days in the fall when tens of thousands of people pass through those forbidding gates and sit in those impressive stands. Continue reading →