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Thanks, that was very interesting. I had the opportunity to run with Scott on several occasions years ago. He has always been open and very friendly.
I found his comment about soccer taking a lot of talent away from the track interesing. I agree completely. My son had a fantastic 9th grade track season showing great promise in the 4 (52) 8 (2:02 in only one attempt) and 16 (winning in 4:42 in only one attempt) unfortunately he found the sport "boring" and is planning on only playing soccer next year even though he has more ability on the track. He likes the team aspect.
Scott's comments about not being asked for advice is also interesting. A wasted resource. The most accomplished middled distance runner in the country and he was never asked for his advice...what a shame.
Thanks again for sharing.Leave a comment:
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Yes, good stuff...thanks! Scott had one of the longest AR "runs" one could imagine...Good for him, and good that he is so gracious in passing the torch, so to speak. At the time he did it, of course, it was history´s no. 2 performance all-time. While the time itself will inevitbly drift down the all-time list, that performance will never lose its significance.Leave a comment:
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Spoke with Steve Scott
Last weekend I was in San Diego for a Corporate Track meet. On Saturday morning I saw Steve Scott and asked him if he thought his record would be broken today. He said "Yes, Webb has done everything else he said he would do this year." I told him I would prefer that it be Webb or another American born runner and he seemed to agree. I told him that I hoped it would take more than one try just to prove how really difficult his AR is. He said thanks.
Later in the day, I checked online and watched Webb's AR. He looked like he had just run a workout when he finished. I was impressed. In the evening Scott spoke to our group at dinner. He was asked lots of questions but a few things stood out in my mind. He raced FAR more than runners of today at consistently fast paces and against tough competition. He also said that he felt that other sports, especially soccer were pulling runners from middle distance running as these type of athletes make very good soccer players. I noted that track can be a very harsh environment for the up and coming. However, soccer or other team sports are not so harsh when comparing yourself to others (anybody can score a goal sometime). Generally you are compared to your peers of the day. Historical comparisons are difficult. Track is different. Say you are running 4:25 in HS and you realize that the AR is 3:47.7 and you can see just how far away that is. Scott corrected me and said it was 3:47.69!
Again, Sunday I got the chance to speak to him with a friend of mine about various topics. He talked about coaching, training, other stresses in life. My friend asked if he had raced less, would he have run faster. His answer was an emphatic yes. My friend also asked if any companies or world class runner had seeked him out to ask him about the things he did right and wrong. The answer was no - Not even by phone. We thought that was a real loss especially given how long it took for anyone even to knock on the door of his AR. Obviously he knew something that most people don't.
My thanks to Steve Scott for being such a nice guy and being a great host of the event. He genuinely loves track and loves to see others succeed. If he was disappointed to see his AR fall, he never let it show and was very complimentary of Webb. And remember that his speaking engagement stock just went down a little bit because he is now the FORMER AR holder. However, he is still the 12th fastest human ever to run the Mile.
I have briefly spoken to him on other occasions and he is always friendly and approachable. Everyone I know who has met him says the same.
Anyway, I thought I would share the highlight of my weekend with the people on this board who I know care about such things.
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