TBT: AAU Championships, circa 2012

Thanks to Tino for sharing this Throwback Thursday (TBT) photo from the AAU Championships practice from March 2012. As a quick reminder/explanation for newcomers, the AAU Championships was the name given to the epic, end-of-winter practice we used to have in the McCann Center on the McCann Indoor Track, which met an untimely demise after the 2011 AAU meet. The practice protocol went like this: All-out 3,200-meter run (20 laps on that old 160-meter oval); 10-minute jog recovery; repeat with another all-out 3,200-meter run. Very tough. As an aside, as the wind whips and the snow continues to pile up, we continue to miss that old track each and every day and with each subsequent winter. You don't know what you miss till it's gone ...

Anyway! The last time we held the AAU was three years ago, when we carried on the tradition at the Vassar Track. We have not held it since, but there is a groundswell of support for a redux of this fine tradition. Of course! It would be quite helpful if it stopped snowing so we can get on the Vassar track in a month or so. Judging by the current forecast, that does not seem overly likely.

This photo is fantastic in that only grad student Ken Walshak and some of Tino's current senior class remain on the team from it. You can see the cheesy high school singlets, and shirtless Stanley, despite the breezy 50-degree day, and a special guest alumni appearance from Justin Harris, one of the founders and creators of the original AAU practice.