Frank Shorter wore pantyhose?

(and other) notes from the comments section!

Time to open the mailbag! Or, in this case, revisit comments from some recent posts! I’m grateful for every subscriber and for those who take the time to open the posts and read them. Greatly appreciated, as I approach the two-year anniversary of this Substack experiment. Thank you.

--From the “olive oil post” about the BYU cross country teams’ use of olive oil to stave off the cold weather en route to NCAA Championships.

Kieran Stack:

Iona resorted to olive oil in 1985 at the NCAA national championships in Milwaukee … not sure if it helped me.

Note: Kieran was a national/international-caliber competitor for many years and he remains an avid cyclist, having not missed a day of hard pedaling in 2024. And oh, by the way, his son Conor was a great and valued member of our Marist team from 2016-2020. Neat!

Matt Williams:

Back in the early 70s, Frank Shorter went on a run of winning the AAU cross country championship several years in a row. One in particular brought him a lot of attention because he wore woman's pantyhose to fight the cold.

Shorter did other things that were unusual for the time. He sometimes took scissors to his competitor number, trimming away any part of the paper that was not necessary. He also defizzed cola the night before a race to be ingested during his race.

I don't know how much of an impact these things had but you can't argue with his success.

Note: Along with being a good friend, Matt is an avid fan and historian of the sport. And also? Back in the 1970s and 1980s, trimming back the race (bib) number was a common occurrence, sometimes to an art form. Oh, and lastly? Defizzed cola is a go-to for ultra runners to this day.

--From the “under the influence’’ post about running while high or drunk …

William Hiemcke

Very interesting topic. Not surprising you wrote it; it is quite a legitimate topic in today's society. I am into sober running yet have tried a drink that was cannabis infused as a pre-run drink. The drink had minute trace of THC in it however, so there was no "high" experience. Was it impactful? I thought maybe?? Not so impactful that I will purchase again, I may have started out that run a bit more relaxed, and seemingly less achy. But again, slightly impactful.

I do have friends that party down in Disney on the last leg of the Dopey Challenge, the marathon. Actually, they drink in the other races too. The marathon, though, is a different animal for them. They stop and eat in the parks, hop on rides, and drink a lot. Takes them close to eight hours to complete. I have been invited along but I always pass. I can celebrate after. They do have a great time and stay just ahead of the sweepers with turkey legs in one hand and a margarita in the other. I would never tell them what to do, nor am I offended in any way.

I am also not triggered by that woman in the NYC marathon, and I could be, I have been denied lottery entry nine years in a row. For people to get mad at her is beyond my scope of understanding, people just want to mad at something these days. My only concern would be their well-being, I think they are risking a lot for themselves running those type of distances drunk. In the end, I do try and keep an open mind, the reason I tried that drink, but for me, I'd rather run under the influence of happiness.

Note: Bill’s input was awesome, as always, and he is big an expert on the Disney Dopey Challenge as anyone we know. Neat!

Todd Coulson:

I've only run with alcohol, beer, in practice runs but I found that very difficult. I would never race with alcohol.

Marisa Sutera:

Interesting article- my son and I have discussed this as he is a grower and knows the many weed customers. But- it’s still not legal if you are tested, until it’s federally OK, you can be banned if randomly tested.

Fred Policastri

Very enlightening article. Those idiots should stage their own “IDIOT” races and not mock the serious runners. I do enjoy a cold beer after a 5k though. I met my lifelong friend Pete Sanfilippo at the Dutchess Classic at Robinson Lane. After the race, I got him a beer from the truck that used to be in the back of the Park. We were friends ever since. I guess beer does have its place, but not during a race. Please keep these articles coming. Thanks.

Note: Fred! What we would do to have the opportunity for another beer with our old friend Pete S. Thank you for your thoughts.

Gary Wiesinger:

I don’t get why anyone would run any race under the influence. I have enough trouble just finishing races straight, definitely not my definition of fun. I’d like to know what her marathon training plan was. Did it include 2X Huang Fartlek, 5min, 2 shots, 5min, 2 shots, 5 min, vomit. What’s next on her racing agenda, a beer mile?

I guess if you’re not hurting anyone and not breaking laws, go for it.

I’m sure her employer must be thrilled to see this up on social media and her future is bright. Just dumb if you ask me.

--From the “spitting” post …

Kent Rinehart

I'm a spitter when I run, especially in cooler temps as my nose tends to run (as my legs run!)

When I was in Tokyo for the marathon, I wanted to respect their norms. The Japanese culture is all about order and cleanliness. I restrained from spitting during the race and it wasn't that bad. I honestly thought it would be worse.

Once I got home to New York and on my back roads running by farms, I resumed my spitting habit.

Joaquin Aymerich

At a cold winter 5-mile race in Buffalo my buddy Chris and I were leading a race. I let a snot go that hit his bare leg. He looked at me and said “thanks.” Then we pulled away to win the race. When I moved to Millbrook and joined the Junk Yard Dogs one of them was surprised to see me in shorts on a “cold” day. I told him it was a Buffalo thing.