Excellent half-marathon results for Phil and Caitlin

Congratulations to Coach Emeritus Phil Kelly (1:56:19.0, second in his age group!) and Marist Running Alum Caitlin Garrity (1:41:13.8, sixth in her age group!) for their excellent races at the Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon on Sunday in Portland, Maine.

There was some initial confusion with the race scoring, due to multiple wave starts. But once the dust settled, it was determined that Phil was second in the 65-69 division with an average pace of 8:53/mile. I hope to be able to run such a swift pace at age 69! Caitlin was 92nd overall and averaged 7:43/mile. Nicely done to both, and thanks to Caitlin for sending in this nice post-race photo.

A Hall of a nice guy …

If you are looking for someone to root for in the upcoming Olympic Games, I would like to humbly submit that it would be American marathon hopeful Ryan Hall. If you have not already done so, please read this linked article that was published last week in the NewYork Times.

While some of the religious/running stuff may seem kooky to some of you, one thing cannot be denied: Hall is genuine about this stuff. Also, I just got his wonderful biography entitled “Running With Joy” out of the public library yesterday. After one sitting, I am already through 50 pages of it (not bad for me, as I am a notoriously slow reader, routinely nodding off after about a dozen pages). I will review the book once I complete it, but so far I am enjoying it immensely. I would strongly recommend it to any competitive runner, as it gives a glimpse into the life of an elite level athlete’s training regimen.

There is a lot about Hall’s religious beliefs throughout pretty much every sentence of the book so far. But again, he comes across as 100 percent genuine with this stuff. He seems like a truly “nice guy.” Hopefully, in the case of the upcoming London Olympic Games, nice guys will finish in first (or, at least, in the top 3?).

Penn State and the Death Penalty

Please forgive me for being a few days behind in the 24/7 news cycle. The NCAA sanctions against Penn State are pretty much old news at this point, but I thought the NCAA’s swift and decisive stance in the case deserved a quick mention of praise. Was their punishment perfect? I do not think such a perfect punishment exists in a case like this.

However, I am somewhat surprised at the sentiment -- at least among some student-athletes who I spoke with about this that are here on campus this summer -- that the punishment was too harsh. What, exactly, did you want the NCAA to do? They had to do something, right? The reason the NCAA is justified in its harsh treatment in this case is because of the lack of institutional control at Penn State. Institutional control: That’s a big point in the world of the NCAA.

Do student-athletes and others, who had no direct or indirect connection to the scandal, get punished for crimes or cover-ups of which they were not a part? Of course they do! Collateral damage is unavoidable in situations like this.

A lot of people were calling for the “Death Penalty” for Penn State, shutting down the football program indefinitely. That would have done even more collateral damage. Again, while there was no perfect punishment in this case, I would submit that the NCAA did an admirable job here. Of course, this is subject for debate, as is this: When talking about the Death Penalty and the Penn State scandal, how about we include in the discussion the possibility of the real death penalty for the abhorrent monster sitting in jail for committing these atrocities? Something to think about.

A baby girl hits double digits

Our daughter Natalie turns 10 today. This, of course, is difficult to fathom. It seems like last week that she came into this world via unplanned C-section – the only one of our children to be delivered in this fashion. Because of this, she came out looking perfectly angelic – let’s face it, “normal” birth babies use their heads as battering rams to get out and gasp their first breaths, and their tiny skulls reflect this!

Of course, being our only daughter, naturally she is our “pretty little girl.” Or, as I like to call her, “my favorite daughter,” to which she replies that I’m her “favorite dad.”

Anyway, as always I harken back to older friends and family members who told us in finger-wagging fashion that “it will all fly by” once you have children. Of course, they were and are correct. Our baby girl is 10, and our oldest son will be a teenager in a matter of weeks. The gray hair on my head reminds me that time is whirring by rapidly.

Chris McCloskey: Ironman

We are extremely thrilled and proud to report that Marist Running Alum Christopher “Chomps” McCloskey is now an IRONMAN.

On Sunday, Chris finished the Lake Placid Ironman in 10 hours, 31 minutes, 27 seconds. Here are the stats I could cull from the official race web site:

Swim: 1:05:20

T1, SWIM-TO-BIKE: 5:36

Bike: 5:29:03

T2, BIKE-TO-RUN: 2:52

Run: 3:48:36

Overall: 10:31:27

Great job by Chris in completing one of the most grueling tests of endurance there is out there.