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> Q & A On The Boston Marathon Dropping the USATF Membership RequirementWell, now we find out how much people really care about USATF. The decision by the Boston Athletic Association to drop the USATF membership as a requirement for entry into the Boston Marathon may be a victory for the free market, but it will undoubtedly be a blow to the fiscal health of USATF, especially the local New England Association.
> World Track and Field Championships in Athens: Expect A Wild (Card) AffairWelcome to track and field, 90s style. The sixth World Track and Field Championships will be held starting Friday in Athens, Greece. The most notable aspect of this world meet is the inclusion of star athletes through the back door via a wild card provision. This means that winners of past World Championships events may enter the world meet without qualifying at their national trials. Why wild cards? Why now?
> Catching Up With Infobytes and Opinions From The World of RunningWhat a difference a year makes, at least for Michael Johnson. Considered unbeatable at this time 12 months ago during the 1996 Olympic Games, he has lost a lot of altitude in a short period of time. First was the embarrassing loss to Donovan Bailey in the "World Fastest Human" competition. Now his 57 race 400 meter win streak is gone. The adage that "you are only as good as your last race" is very applicable to Johnson. The 400 meter World Record, which was considered a mere formality last year, all of a sudden looks awfully tough to beat.
> The Western States: Welcome to 100 Miles of HellThe amazing thing about the Western States 100 Mile Endurance run is not that anyone would run it in the first place, but that anyone would go back to do it again after running it once. Welcome to 100 miles of hell, otherwise known as Western States.
> Test Your Competitive NatureTake this test to determine just how competitive a runner you really are.
> Keep the Fire Burning: How Competitive Can You Get?Here's the most sure-fire way to become the best runner you can possibly be: get competitive. Really competitive. Down and dirty, nasty, refuse-to-lose competitive. It's not the healthiest way to approach running, but it sure does work, for a while anyway.
> Match (Races) Made in Heaven: Sprinters Bailey & Johnson, Distance Runners Gebrselaisse & Morceli, Go One on OneWell, this will be something of a first for the sport of track and field: a day of one on one match races, with millions of dollars in prize money at stake. Taking a cue from golf and tennis which have staged big money exhibitions for years, all the glitz and hoopla will be centered in Toronto, Canada on Saturday June 1, where Olympic champions Donovan Bailey (100 meters) and Michael Johnson (200 meters) split the difference and square off at previously unheard of distance of 150 meters.
> The Mary Slaney Case: Here We Go AgainGee, it's been a tough couple of weeks for running. Just when we were recovering from the Murphy's, it seems Mary Slaney is undergoing a USATF drug investigation, stemming from last year's Olympic Trials. This one is going to be really tough for fans of the sport to handle. Slaney has been a big part of the running landscape for the better part of three decades. She has grown up along with the sport, right through the running boom and beyond. She has won just about everything there is to be won, except an Olympic medal. Her pursuit of that goal has been an ongoing soap opera, ever since she was inadvertently tripped in the 3000 meter Olympic final in 1984 by a then barefoot teenager named Zola Budd.
> Those Cheatin' Hearts: Why do they do it?Thursday, May 1 was a big day for John and Suzanne Murphy from Cypress, California. They were front page news in the Boston Globe, and a lead item on the local sportscast on the evening news. Not bad for a pair of little known marathoners. We should say alleged marathoners, since there is no proof either ever went the full 26.2 mile distance.
> Comparison Sheet: A 10 mile race in the UK vs. a 10 mile race in USAComparing a race in England to a race in the United States. An ocean apart, but many similarities.
> Impression of Boston 101Of the previous 100 Boston Marathons, the one most closely resembling the 101st edition, not surprisingly, was the 99th Boston in 1995. After all of the anticipation of the 1996 100th anniversary race, the event has now settled back into its comfortable position as America's most prestigious and historic marathon, rather than a huge mega-event. Now that the dust has settled, lets take a look at what the Boston Marathon has really become in the late 1990s.
> London Calling: Road Running the Old Fashioned Way in the Queen'sSo it was, on a recent trip to England, that I had the opportunity to immerse myself a bit in the British running scene, primarily by running a local ten mile road race, then a few days later meeting up and running with a local club, the Blackheath Harriers. For an American schooled in the ways of running in the USA, it was an interesting and educational experience.
> Does Anyone Care About Track and Field?In late July of 1996, millions of Americans anxiously sat in their living rooms, eagerly awaiting one of the most anticipated sporting events of the entire year. The build-up was dramatic; tension hung heavily in the air. In a shade over 19 seconds, it was all over -- Michael Johnson had completed his improbable double in world record time, turning back a star-studded field in the Olympic 200 meter final.
> The Boston Indoor Games: Big Names, Exciting RacesIt is clearly evident that the promoters of the Boston Indoor Games, held this past Friday at the Reggie Lewis Arena, have a flair for the dramatic, and are looking to make their meet a fixture on the US indoor circuit.
> A Review of 'Pre'All right, so it's not "Gone with the Wind," but It's still a darned entertaining hour and 46 minutes.
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