Birthday running = 23

Fifth-year senior Conor Shelley turned 23 on Tuesday. Happy birthday to Conor!

To celebrate his birthday, Conor decided to run 23 miles to mark his 23 years on this earth. He probably mentioned that he was planning on doing this to me, and of course I forgot. Had Conor still been "in season" with cross country eligibility, such a stunt definitely would not have been approved by me, although I do have a history in this area (Side note: Back in 2004, I ran the Forest Park 40-mile ultramarathon race in Queens a few days prior to my 40th birthday; it was also my 40th marathon/ultra, making that crazy stunt a 40-40-40)

But since Conor is in hard base training for his track seasons, in which he DOES have eligibility, running 23 miles on his 23rd birthday -- while not the smartest thing in the world -- also served to pose little or no harm.

With a little help from his friends -- mostly notably Shane-o Reilly -- Conor hit his mileage goal after his third run of the day. I received the following text message at 8:58 p.m.:

DONE!!!!!!!

Conor is often the punch line for many jokes, and he has certainly caused me a bit of consternation through the years here. But make no mistake: When he puts his mind to it, Conor is a GREAT runner and his legacy of success here (to date, hopefully more to come!) is something that we can all be proud of.

Conor's completion of 23 miles on Tuesday is also noteworthy in that:

1. He completed the hard track workout in the wind at Vassar last Friday.
2. He ran the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club race at Bowdoin Park -- and won it! -- on Sunday, despite legs that were totally fried from the workout.

Talk about a hard-easy schedule ...

Well, now Conor can chill for a few days, get his legs back, and resume training for what will hopefully be a record-breaking final two seasons of track.

Happy Birthday, BRO.