Dan's Complete Running History in ten-year increments.

Memories. They're all I got right now.

There will be no current running content in this post. I will say that it was kind of cool to meet up with some of my MCRR friends for a group run at Brunswick Lake yesterday. Of course, I scooted while the rest of them ran.

It occurred to me, however, that twenty years ago, I successfully completed a 100-mile run, the 2001 Mohican 100. Then I began to think about my second attempt, ten years later in 2011. And then I started to wonder what I was doing ten years before that, and so on. Here then, is a chronology of Dan's Running History in ten-year increments.

1971 (Fifty Years Ago)

Not much to report here, running-wise. I graduated from Holy Name High School and began college at The University of Toledo (I later transferred to Cleveland State University). I only ran one year of track in high school, and that was during my first year. I will say that I did, very occasionally, go out for a run. This was pretty unusual in those days, however. People didn't just go out for a run. But then, I was somewhat on the strange side. I should note that I consider the start of the running boom to be the following year, 1972, when Frank Shorter won the Olympic Gold Medal in the Marathon. I didn't really become serious about running until a couple years after that.

1981 (Forty Years Ago)

I ran the Athens Ohio Marathon in 1981. My first marathon had been in 1978, and this was my second. I crashed badly and struggled in for a time of 3:21. Although the 3:04 I did three years earlier was faster, I was now two for two in wall-crashes at marathons. It probably would have been a good time to quit. But I didn't. I ran Athens again two years later (with similar results) and started running more of them in the late 1980s.

1991  (Thirty Years Ago)

Four marathons in 1991. That tied 1989 for the most marathons in a year. And they were all pretty decent. 

Note that there were no sub-3 hour ones, however. I did break 3 in 1989, earning myself the right to run Boston in 1990. I suppose you could say that 1991 was a down year because I did break 3 again in 1992. 1992 was also the year of my first ultra: the Olander Park 24-Hour Run.

2001 (Twenty Years Ago)

As was typical by now, I ran four marathons in 2001:

The big news about 1991, however, was my completion of the Mohican 100. I'd never even come close to running so far, and I really didn't know what I was doing. But somehow I made it, and it was one of the most memorable runs, not to mention greatest accomplishments, of my running life. 

2011 (Ten Years Ago)

2011 saw another attempt at Mohican. It was ten years after my first, and I shouldn't have tried. It was a complete disaster.

Ironically, 2011 was a stellar year, otherwise. 

The marathons were okay:

But the ultras were really good (for me):

Those included PRs at 50K and 100K. But no matter what, that Mohican 100 failure managed to define me. And not in a good way.

2021 (Today)

Well, you know the story here. 

I will say that I do plan to be making more running memories. Just not for a little while.