Owen Anderson

    My Wednesday night marathon clinic is run by Owen Anderson who is quite a knowledgable man when it comes to running. He just got back from a race director's conference in Houston and had some wry observations about the "celebrity" status enjoyed by Dave McGillivray, race director for the Boston Marathon. Owen's sense of humor is definitely one of his strong suits. He promotes an interesting vision for a less is more philosophy in running. Also he was glad to share that there will be some Kenyans running this year at the inaugural Lansing Marathon event and to say that an exciting new running program for kids is beginning within the Lansing schools. Obesity being a problem plaguing Michigan's youth, I'm sure this will be just the thing for some deserving and motivated young people. 
     One thing that Owen talks about, that I've never really heard too much about, is the importance of the nervous system and developing an overall level of fitness to enhance running, not just "heart size and leg speed" development. We did an interesting array of drills tonight that included soccer balls, cones, and a plastic ladder that we basically hopscotched through. Not at all what I was expecting but very fun things to do with my cross country team next fall. As I look back on my running life I realized I've never really been coached for a marathon before. I just went out and did them for fun. Now I think I'd like to qualify for Boston (before they make it even harder) and I think I've found a coach to get me there.