Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Here's a good one for all us wonks to gab about it bored....

List your 5 greatest athletic thrills as a competitor, hopefully including T&F. As an imaginary example:

1. clearing 16' for the first time
2. my first Little League home run
3. running Chicago Marathon
4. winning sectional high school PV championship on my last jump
5. setting school record in PV at Purdue

A friend of mine and had a lot of fun with this, and I thought it would be fun to see people share the "thrills of their youth." Any takers ?

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

Feeling horrible in my first cross country race, thinking with each step I couldn't continue, and continually passing a lot of guys until I ended up finishing fourth out of about 40 guys. Sure, they weren't that great, neither was I. But it taught me a lot, and there's nothing like the feeling of running by a competitor who's giving it his all.

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

The first time I broke 12 flat in the 100 yard dash. Tha was actually majo, because I come from atrack family and my Parents, my brother and three sisters were excellent in their events. But through 8th grade, I was like the number 8 sprinter on the B squad and I could barely break 13 flat (my PR then was 12.7). The cinder dust that flew in my facewas rather bad for my allergies. My family moved before my 9th grade year and when track season rolled around, low and behold, the first meet of the season was against my old school & 2 other schools. I was slated to run the 100 yard dash. The day before the meet, I went to our assistant coach and tried to talk my way out of running the 100, but he said, "you're one of our fastest runners and we really need you. So I went through with it. I only got fifth place, but my time was a scintillating 11.2 seconds. I had chopped 1.5 seconds off of my PR and what put the icing on the cake, was when the announcer called off the results of the 9th grade boys 100 yard dash and called my name out. Up to that point I had already witnessed world-class runners in action, but to me, it was a thrill to be acknowledged. That's my great track accomplishment.

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

Hey, I wish I could say it was the time I beat Peter Snell and and set a US mile record of 3:55.3 back in '65, but I can't--it wasn't me! Perhaps it was improving my HJ best all the way from 5'4" to 5'8" in a meet as a sophomore in 1968 (and landing on a HARD mound of weedy dirt--no foam pads then, I distinctly remember).

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

ok, since I started this and at least 1 person has responded, here's mine but they are all pretty pathetic:

1. 1965: beating Tom Clark from North Carolina,who was best jumper in ACC and undefeated within the ACC for 2 years, in Duke-UNC dual meet, in Duke SR of 6'5 1/8" on fewer misses. He had a bad day and I had a PR !

2.also 1965: a week earlier, breaking old school record with a 6"5".

3.1987: running NY Marathon, my one and only, in a swift 3:50.

4. 1961: breaking old Huntington HS ( NY ) SR
with a stratospheric 5' 10 3/4".

5. 1962: breaking the "six foot barrier" for the first time as a college frosh.


As Dean Martin said, " Memories Are Made Of This."

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

not that anyone in the world cares except me, but I got my years wrong up above. The first two were in 1964, not 1965.

Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

Well, this pales in comparison to the previous posts, but it was asked.

Running third leg on an undefeated 7th grade 4 x 100 shuttle relay team until our conference banned it.

The first track team meeting of that year,when our coach Brooks Johnson said "I know we can get points in the field events...Bayne can jump out of the building..."

Practicing relays in our high school corridor in 11th grade, and running a dead heat leg with the city's best long jumper, who was a senior.

Pathetic, but I didn't fill out physically until 25-26.

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person with very average accomplishments.

1) The first race I ever won. I was a terrible runner when I started, but the new coach we got my junior year (HS) believed I could be halfway decent. I took the lead in a dual meet 2-mile with three laps to go and with 800m left realized no one could catch me. I have never felt so light on my feet.

2) The day my name was listed on the travel roster to the All-Ohio collegiate cross country championships. I beat kids that were high school state champs to make that squad. I still have that piece of paper.

3) The moment I turned the corner and had one block to go to qualify for the Boston Marathon. A year earlier I couldn't go 8 miles without stopping.

4) Carrying the state championship trophy around the Ohio Stadium track with my teammates. This one's a little hollow since I didn't run at the meet, but it's something that I'll never forget.

[jhc68]

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

1) Winning the Orange League B high jump in 9th grade with a 4 inch PR. I kept competing for 7 more years but as far as emotional thrills go, I could have stopped right there.
2) PR and school record at the old West Coast Relays in Fresno. The field of vision for jumpers was a grandstand full of people behind the bar, Randy Matson was throwing life-threateningly close by and the great SJ State "speed city" relay teams were on the track. I thought I was really cool until I lost on misses and got a 2nd place tie clip instead of a first place wristwatch... oh, well, I still wear the thing to work!
3) First 6'6" clearance... at an all-comers at Santa Ana City College. I'd been stuck jumping 6'4" forever and trying way too hard to improve. I happened on the meet by chance after having downed several beers one afternoon... I was a bit overweight but carefree and 6'6" seemed like the easiest thing in the world!

[Arnie]

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

Being the third leg on my 440yd relay team that won the Brooklyn N.Y championship in 1949, and i was the guy that gave them the lead, we also set a meet record.

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

'65 NY state meet, Ithaca - was 5th in LJ with 1 jump left, see my brother in stands(drove from Providence), run over,get a swig of Coke,go back out and PR on last jump to place 2nd. First ever state placer from my HS.(as read in Monday morning homeroom bulletin ..by a girl I had hots for. Great t&f moment) b) finding out I'd won national masters HJ('83), when I thought all the guys around HJ area were waiting to take their first jumps.. (in masters field events,it sometimes just depends on who shows up)

[HitTheTrails]

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

1. Winning a varsity high-school cross-country race. (Just a duel meet, and the only reason I won was because the County meet was the next morning and our coach left our top 5 runners at home to rest. I was normally our 6th man, so I ended up being our top runner by default. We still placed 8 guys in front of their first runner. Yes, a hollow victory, but it was indeed thrilling to win a race. A win is a win.)

2. Running/walking (not too swiftly at 4:14) the New York City Marathon at age 13 in 1982. (I had to lie about my age to get in - they thought I was 16.)

3. Running the Indianapolis Marathon in 1998 in 3:04:57 and qualifying for Boston. (It wasn't thrilling at the time as I was sobbing with pain and the disappointment of not breaking 3 hours, but I look back on it as my best race ever.) I blew up at Boston and crawled in at 4:04 (see #5).

4. Running a 1:23:58 in the Georgetown to Idaho Springs (Colorado) Half Marathon in 1998.

5. "Running" (I'm stretching the meaning of that verb) the Boston Marathon in 1999 (just being there was special).

[ndamix]

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

My winning the high school district title in the 300 hurdles as a senior. I beat out the two guy who had been kicking my butt all season to make state's. Unfortunately, I didn't make the finals.

My junior year in high school, being part of the winning 4 x 100 relay team that set a conference record on our home track (in front of 500 screaming fans). The time we ran put us among the ten top fastest teams in the state that year.

Winning a 200m 5th place medal at the Carmel Classic after coming back from running the 400m.

Setting my 400m PR of 48.1 (finishing fourth in the race).

Running a 200m race against prep sensation Clinton Davis in the 200. I always said when the gun sounded he was crossing the finish line while the rest of us were coming outta the blocks (I think I finished 5th or 6th).

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

1. I won ONE XC race my Sr yr in HS - the CIF-SS large school champs
2. 3 months no training ... 60 days training = 2nd place NCAA XC College Div. Missed by 12 sec or so. Dang
3. Arrive 5 minutes before 10k on beach - jump in to run. In the zone - win by 90 sec vs some 'recognizable names'. time - doubt you would believe
4. First slam dunk in game
5. non-competitive - but a 23 m run/workout that told me "I was very much right there". In the zone again

Re: Greatest Track/Sports Thrills as a Competitor !

Winning a 200m 5th place medal at the Carmel Classic after coming back from running the 400m.
Setting my 400m PR of 48.1 (finishing fourth in the race).

Hey ndamix:
I ran in the Carmel Classic in 1975 in the 14-15 age group 440 yard dash, and finished last in my heat , running a whopping 73 flat. In he event that you were in my heat or in that age group. Good race!