Age: 32 Kevin during the New Haven road race MAYOR'S CUP FRANKLIN PARK, BOSTON, MA, OCTOBER 26, 2003 Photo courtey of the New York Road Runners High School: Cicero-North Syracuse High School College Name: Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Occupation: Runner/Salesperson, Fleet Feet Sports Personal Records: 5k - 14:28.6 10k - 30:12.3 Half-Marathon - 1:04:49 Marathon - 2:15:31 Favorite Races: Boston Marathon - exibits class, organization, and rich history. Swamp Rat Runs in Cicero, NY. - My 1st road race in my hometown. Favorite Workouts: 1) - By far my favorite!: 15 minutes easy, 30 x 1 minute very hard with 1 minute very easy between, 15 minutes easy 2) - 90 minute run over rolling hilly farm roads/fields. Favorite Places to Train: Local - Green Lakes State Park's "Serengetti" Statewide - Mohonk Preserve's Shawangunk Trails (New Paltz, NY) Nationwide - ANYPLACE in California south of Los Angeles Worldwide - Wine orchard fields in Bergamo, Italy Important Races on your 2003 Schedule (Date/race/location) June 7th/ U.S. Half Marathon Championships/ Kansas City, Missouri August 29th/ IAAF World Marathon Championships/ Paris, France Outlook on Running: If everyone on Earth could find a mere 30 minutes of their day spent running/excercising, we would live in a society of people who are more positive, introspective, wiser, thinner,.....how much room do I have here? What Most People Don't Know about You! Running is not my greatest talent by a long shot. I just happen to work at it. My running goals fit into a personal mission of much larger proportion founded on very deep-set values that will continue long aftermy life as a runner.

News

submitted for the newsletter on January 26, 2004 "There is a saying among competitive distance runners: "THE TRACK DOESN'T LIE". This resounded in my head when I left the Samford University Track yesterday morning with five of my training partners who are among the many now whom are gathering in Birmingham, Alabama as we approach February 7th (A.K.A. Judgement Day).

Clint Verran - Boston Marathon 2002

Since last week, nothing has been so enjoyable as seeing my World Champs teammate Clint Verran (photo at right) again and now joined by two other Hanson guys Mike Franko and Carl Rundell who have made buffet raids following morning runs a lot more enjoyable. Additionally Scott Strand (a 35 year old veteran track star whom I met in 1997 when we were in a training camp in Park City , Utah ) and Todd Meyer (Reeser) have made up a very nice pre-trials brotherhood of Olympic hopefuls. Runners, as we all know, bond very quickly. Hugs come very quickly, deep emotions are expressed here on the roads and trails and tracks received both verbally and instinctively - particularly after the most satisfying performances that validate our own paths to personal excellence as they unfold magnificently one day, one week, one year at a time. You wish each other well and even if you don't accomplish your own dreams, chances are a friend of yours will in your place and you still feel a sense of happiness as you watch them soak in the end of a long road you know so well yourself and mutter softly in your head "Good for you, man...".

Scott Strand- New Balance Games - Armory Track & Field Center. January 20, 2001

Such is the strange world of athletics when it comes to marathoners. We don't throw fits. We don't punch our lockers after our God decides our fates. I saw Scott Strand,(see photo at left) last year's 5th place finisher in the U.S. Marathon Championships when I arrived in Birmingham . This is Strand 's hometown and he is embraced here as real sports hero. This can be found as I drive down the highway and - I kid you not - I actually see bumper stickers on cars that read "Run, Scott, Run!" Scott is the kind of marathoner that makes you really lose sleep at night. Nearly 28:00 flat 10k track speed, a long career and unassumingly silent and driven. When one of these guys decides to turn his attention from the track to the marathon you realize that "time" is truly your enemy, because time is all it takes for a fast 10k guy to get comfortable with the least understood distance in distance running which is the marathon. Why so many fast guys fold in the marathon is no better to understand as some others find their niche in it. Scott is finding his quick. I actually beat Scott head to head in the 2002 U.S. HALF-marathon Championships. It was the first time he had actually raced that far. Experience on my part was my savior, but this past weekend, crushing all but 2:11 marathoner Dan Browne, photo below)(whom I actually met in the 1997 Utah camp the same time I met Strand ) in a blistering 1 hour, 3 minutes plus put us all in check. He will be ready.

Dan Browne - New Haven

Many others will, too. I am learning that all those runners who have been rumored fit (not discounting myself) are indeed REALLY fit, and those that are rumored to be having difficulties REALLY are having them. There have been a tremendous amount of casualties not exclusive to American Record holder Khalid Khannouchi, many of which were major players in the pursuit of Olympic berth. On the other end, guys are lining up liked greased up race cars - their bodies are sleek with training all of which when one hears what the others are doing, you must shun or else be drawn into an intimidation game. Psychological warfare is the most paramount pre-race strategy for thinning the field at this stage before the race.

My own training for this event has been discussed. I'm proud of what I have to report and I know it's broken some confidences out there while reassuring my own. Not in 20 weeks since Paris until my taper did I dip below 110 miles per week! . In all I only went under 120 three times and held a 6-week stretch that went between 146 - 172 miles. I incorporated every kind of workout, religiously, and had spurts of evidence along the way that I was morphing my body toward becoming what has become necessary. One piece of evidence was the Run for Hospice 10 miler in Rochester 3 months ago. I had just completed a 138-mile week and expected no more than a dead-legged tempo run. But it ended with my having disbelievingly out kicked a pair of African runners in a new 10 mile PR of 49:29 (4 minutes and 57 seconds per mile pace).

The second sign came while in Albuquerque , New Mexico . Training one month with 2:12 marathoner Eddy Hellebuyck and some foreign runners, Eddy and I found ourselves on a record pace duel on his tempo run course dropping everyone by mile 6 on a 12-12.5 mile course at 5500 foot altitude and climbing above 6000 feet. The old record standing at 1:05 was set by Eddy before running 2:12 this past year winning Twin Cities. No one else in the group seemed confident that it could be bested, yet Eddy and I and a Frenchman ran maniacally shattering it, Eddy 1:02:48, Me 1:03:03 and I had just run a 170-mile week! Eddy, a 43 year Olympian and Masters sensation told the others afterward over coffee: "What do you think, Eddy?"
"He will run 2:12," the former Belgian Olympian said. True or not, the wash-over of confidence was well received.

The last piece of evidence came yesterday, after a somewhat ho-hum performance last week at the Houston Half Marathon (I ran 1:06:41 - 5:02 per mile pace for 10th). I began to struggle with a bit of confidence, not discounting that perhaps the beginning of my taper (dropping mileage to prepare for February 7th) had not yet hit me or perhaps a 45 minute tempo I had done just three days prior had been too close. Strangely though, during the race, I just plain remember feeling absolutely terrific in the lungs and little buildup of lactic acid. Even Birmingham 's Race Director Valerie McLean, who had gone along with us (5 of us were competing. Clint stayed home in Birmingham for another workout) remarked that I looked awfully easy coming in. I felt good.....What gives?

Turns out it may have been what I thought. Upon arriving home, Clint told me had a bad one (2x 6mile) and described the same feelings I did: Felt strong, but legs a little wobbly from Wednesday's tempo. Now with my second week of taper upon me, I started to feel infinitely better. Mileage will dip under 100 miles by the end of the week and chop in half by the week of the marathon. The results of this so far have been absolutely fantastic. Clint, his teammates and I joined Strand and Meyer (Reeser) at Samford University track for 5 x 1 mile with an 800m jog between - the exact same workout I attempted to do with Clint the week before Paris . In that workout, I was unable to dip under 4:40. I was on Clint's heels after repeat #1 only to have to slow down to do 3 more in 4:48 and higher before dropping out. Still a good workout, but not something I really could ever do much better before anyhow. Once in front of Mr. Nastasi's group, I was able to dip under 4:40 once following 3 others 5-10 seconds slower. I had considered that to be the best mile repeat workout of my career...until yesterday.

Todd Meyer (Reeser) - NEW HAVEN ROAD RACE 20K - NEW HAVEN, CT, SEPTEMBER 2, 2002

Clint Verran, Scott Strand, Todd Meyer (Reeser), photo at left, and I (a mean personal best average between the four of us about 2:15:00 flat!) covered 5 x 1 mile tightly bunched. I ran 4:39, 4:38, 4:37, 4:35, 4:34 (Note: to remind us we are all just a bunch of kids in the track world, Strand ran his final repeat in 4:23, yes...that's correct, 4 minutes and 23 seconds). I've been running mile repeats on the track for twenty years folks and this pretty much obliterates my best regardless of any length of recovery time between.

Afterward amidst the gasping for air, one could whirl around and see what I'm sure a lot of you would love to see - a bunch of 2:14-2:16 marathoners, hands on their knees in real pain. Standing erect, smiles exploded, we were ready. Are the Olympics in store for any of us? That is not certain, but clearly certain was the satisfaction that we were not entering this competition short of our bests."

Cheers all, stay warm..
- Kevin Collins

Kevin Collins of Syracuse is in Alabama as he gets ready to toe the line with the best marathon runners in the United States . Kevin will be running in the US Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in Birmingham on February 7, 2004 . You may recall Kevin placed 2nd on virtually the same course last year at the US Men's Marathon Championships.

While in Alabama , Kevin has been keeping a journal of his experiences and here is part one

Kevin Collins has updated us several times from the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Paris. Here is Kevin's final report on the marathon where he finished 32nd overall, first American and just missed a PR by 6 seconds. x

.....Well, I am back in the States now typing from good ol' Copake/Craryville, NY which is my parents home in the furthest Eastern part of upstate New York only a scant two miles from crossing over into Massachusetts. Tomorrow morning I make the drive back to Syracuse where I will be recovering from tremendous jetlag, but I am anxious to be back into a routine and enjoying the company of my Fleet Feet co-workers again.

So much had happened over the final days in Paris worthy of storytelling I hope I can get it all down here though a lot of it is blurry as I was pretty fixated on the race. The race is probably what you'd all like to hear about first so I guess I'll get right down to that.

Basically after my last post, a lot of the athletes who had finished their competitions were clearing out of the village back home, though a lot stayed. My remaining teammates who opted not to spend the entire week before the marathon rolled in and so my social group changed a bit as Deena went back home for her wedding plans, while Meb, Dan Browne, and Elva went back home for the New Haven 20k. Culpepper left also. Meanwhile in rolled the marathon women and on the men's side, Keith Dowling and Jimmy Hearld. As a matter of fact, by Saturday, the entire cafeteria started to look comprised of marathoners at certain times of the day with both races in the coming days (and I'm sure there was little food going to waste!).

Among the new faces around the cafeteria, I spotted a familiar one: Sandy Jacobson, a Canadian marathoner who I had not seen since I was a member of Fila Discovery USA, a marathon training group I was a part of for nearly two years in Southern California. I lived up in the mountains 60 miles inland from San Diego in the Cleveland National Forest with eight other aspiring world class marathoners. It was a spartan existence where we lived in cabins training eating and sleeping to no end with periodic visits from Kenyans and Italians. In spite of her nationality, Sandy had begged the recruiters of the Fila USA Team if she could participate. She had passed the series of recruitment tests and pressured the camp organizers until they pretty much invited her, tired of her phone calls. Sandy was 36 years old and I remember her as a very smiley, quirky, yet very focused runner. She was so driven because she knew her career at this level was shorter than most given her age (I understand this fully now). She was also a resident in her home city of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada - where the 2001 World Championships were to be held and she wanted above all things to make the team, befitting of a solid ending to her running career. Well, she did it, lowering her personal best by two minutes and became a big-time Canadian celebrity in Edmonton.

After that one might think Sandy would've retired. I sure thought so. She was a parent and from her post race articles that year, she certainly sounded satisfied such that you were certain she was ready to move on. After that, you didn't hear much about her. Then I'm on the internet one day and I see a link with my name to an article from a Canadian article written this year. Not only had Sandy NOT retired, but he had suddenly up and shaved an additional SIX MINUTES off her pre-existing personal best. In all: her marathon best went from 2:38 to 2:33 since I'd known her. She had suddenly risen to the #1 rank in Canadian marathoning at 38 years old and would be in Paris representing her country for a second time. Evidently, she never abandoned the coaching by a former staff worker under the head coach, Dr. Rosa, who was sent over by Italy we had as temporary coach while a replacement was found after our first one resigned.(His name is Claudio Belini and he is an awesome funny little guy, as Italian as you can imagine). In Sandy's article there was a quote: "I'm most excited to be reunited with my two former Discovery USA teammates Kevin Collins and Jill Gaitenby, who I've not seen since we trained together in Discovery USA." (Jill Gaitenby, the 1st U.S. female finisher at the 2001 and 2002 Boston marathons was also representing on the U.S. team in Paris)....

So there she was, sitting in the cafeteria, looking quite a bit leaner and fitter as I expected her to be, and quirky as ever, carting her giddy son around with an autograph signing book dodging other athletes carrying their trays. I abandoned my seating area, rushed over and she was indeed excited. I felt a wave of flashbacks from the happiest days while I was a member of Fila. She begged me to draw her son a picture as I used to do cartoons of our adventures in the camp in a sketchbook the ladies bought for me that was for viewing at the dinner table in the kitchen. "Have you seen Jill!" she wanted to know. "Of course!".

Both Sandy and Jill ran the races of their lives two days later. It went a little under-recognized at first, but I took it all in from the stands noting that all three of us were leading our teams and ironically doing just fine even with the Fila project now long over. Jill, actually performed the best of the three of us, leveling her own PR by a minute and a half after about two years of stagnation. Sandy had a three second PR though finishing about a minute ahead of Jill while I was just shy of a PR by about 6 seconds.

Kevin - top row, third from right , with a few members of the Fleet Feet marathon training group

My race? Yeah I suppose I better get to it. Well, my thoughts are certainly positive about it. I was shooting for a personal best, a 2:14 pace in fact, but I didn't know how realistic that might be given the severity of the course compared to Birmingham, where I'd set my existing PR. So when I peered at my watch a little less than 2 miles from entering the stadium to finish, I realized that I was going to have one heck of a clock finish. That moment was eerie. I won't forget it. It was the only quiet section of the course. It had a relaxing feel to it after your ears ringing deaf from all the crowds miles earlier and in the distance, the stadium loomed, but inside? The sounds of faint thundering stomping and applause reminding me of chariot gladiator battle of old in the Colloseum. It woke me as if I'd been in some sort of trance..and..I had! After the race, I was told by viewers that I ran with eyes fixated as if possessed. I do that sometimes. When I'm in that state I'm usually feeling awfully good, riding the brain waves and a massive endorphin rush. If you've ever seen me on the indoor track at Manley Field House, this is usually the state I'm in that is probably how I'm able to get through those boring 18-22 milers in there. I don't really see anything in front of my face at this point, like when your driving down the thruway and you just sort of read all the exit signs and suddenly wake up out of a trance when your mind reads the exit you were looking for. I did this from the races beginning, bolting out and hitting the 1 kilo split dead on the mark I wanted. Then it all got better from there. A pack formed around me after a few miles and I led the charge: a guy from Greece, a Columbian an Aussie, and two Frenchman. Once in awhile a guy from the group would take the lead from me as if they almost felt bad about how much work I was doing, but I let my body do the talking. If the pace was too slow, I took the lead back. If the course got difficult, I let the others pull me, but I never ran anyone else's race. The basis for this performance was built on that. I didn't allow my position in the race to intimidate me or the splits. I let go of everything and let my body do all the talking, and my body ran wildly on this.

So, in my consciousness during the final mile, my first thoughts were on the rest of my teammates. I'd passed Ryan Shay around 14 miles and I already knew he was having some trouble... How was Clint doing?.. Was Jimmy ahead of me or had he never passed?.. Were any of them still even running?.. Am I the only one out here? Then the others came:..'

Damn, what place AM I in anyway?...How many people HAVE I passed?' (I learned later I had passed over 35 runners since mile 3, fifteen of them between 18-21 miles). 'Who is that up ahead I'm catching?....Am I still on 2:14 pace?.. I think I'm actually going to PR! Damn, I feel good! I never hit the wall' (That's very good news at this mile marker).
The next guy came into view and given the Moroccan uniform, and the hunch of the shoulders, I recognized his unique running style as I'd seen it many times on TV and videos: Khalid Skah, the 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 10k (see photo). Before I could take a deep breath, I was upon him. I took another breath as I somewhat timidly passed him, realizing from memory on the videos that I had better put some distance on him before I reach the final track lap in the stadium where the marathon finish would be waiting (marveling in utter disbelief that a chapter in my life was actually to be involved trying to formulate a race tactic strategy to beat the great Khalid Skah).

Then there it was...the Tunnel. The very tunnel for which I would pass under into the stadium looking like the Carrier Dome's colossal big brother. Inside, I ran like a did for much of the last 3-4 miles: alone. I took note that I had some incredible turnover going (at least as good as it gets for me) and my strides were long, fluid and very controlled as they had been for the entire race since the very first kilometer. Why was I feeling this good now? The tunnel was dark, the pavement, wet and slick. It bent to the right and the walls shimmered with a low rumbling, around the bend, an opening of light, and then I could see it and almost like feeling of being on stage at a big show with the curtain poised to be drawn, I felt a dryness in my throat unrelated to any thirst I felt (but I did have to pee),and then the rumbling and the light culminated into transformation that became so surreal, I nearly lost balance. I was entering the stadium and as I ever imagined it would be, the noise was incredible. Three decks high of screaming track nuts, and I was one of only two guys on the track. I was in 32nd place and yet it was tenfold louder than any race I had ever won outright. As I looked into the stands amidst the waving flags and hands, the people would cheer louder for the mere responsiveness of an athlete. You're looking at a wall of faces and they're all on you. Behind me, over the tunnel, my U.S. teammates and officials were sitting where they had all week in the athletes-only section of the stands.I could hear none of them, yet all told me later they saw it all and were joining in on the screaming. Then I remembered the clock, and I tried to imagine myself kicking the finish of a 10,000m as if this could somehow milk out some fast twitch fibers to start working to make up some seconds. I kicked..HARD. Suddenly a little robot like creaturesque thing wined and pulled up alongside me on the inside lane looking like a little R2-D2 skimming on a rail. Well, it WAS a robot, but it was also the big screen camera, and suddenly I realized I was on the enormous T-V screens that hung above the track on the top decks. People could now get a look at my face's exertion which I'm sure is the true marvel of watching us marathoners finish. In Europe, EVERYONE can tell you how far a marathon is (in kilometers..) and there is a respect for that they find amazing. The stands prove it.

This is also apparent in the youth. After the race, I was exiting the stands screened off only to the athletes and officials and made the mistake of wearing my complete USA uniform where I entered a hoard of European kids of many countries. Pens drawn and paper pads in hand, they couldn't have cared less who came out that fenced area. One little shy girl looking a lot like my niece asked for an autograph and, me, now relieved that my race was over and feeling a bit festive myself. I was on my way back to the Athlete Village to get dinner, but hey, how often do I get I get to enjoy this? "Oh, sure!", I said. Well, one autograph became two, then two became 6, and before long I was there at least 20 minutes encircled by kids getting numb fingers, but enjoying the experience. The kids were so cute I couldn't say 'no'. I couldn't really say 'no' to really just about anything. When it was over (or at least I had a moment to escape), I had signed about 35 notepads, and had lost two shirts, including my race jersey, which a Belgium boy pleaded to trade for my race singlet. Then the others wanted one, and the next thing I knew, I was standing there Adam Crandall-style searching in my bag for something to wear back to the village other than the Belgian singlet. Trading uniforms is old tradition at these European meets and the U.S. uniform is a hot item.

When I got back to the village cafeteria (after a pretty cool visitation with legendary steeplechaser, Moses Kiptanui and 800m star Dave Krummenacker during the train ride), I found Clint Verran, who had just finished trading his singlet with Khalid Skah. Verran had ended up being caught in the aformentioned kick down the home stretch by Skah which I desperately tried to avoid. Ryan Shay was disappointed as he dropped out at 18 miles, but I thought he ran pretty valiantly running up near the leaders after the gun shot off in the early going. He DOES have speed to compete with these guys and he needed to find out what his limits are. He's young and so he can afford to experiment with these things. This will not be his only U.S. World Team berth I can
assure you!

I ended up meeting Amy Acuff afterall (see photo). Deena stuck to her promise by introducing us and Amy, after shaking my hand, became very curious as to why my hands were all wet and cold. I did my best to give a quick stifling response (I have condition called hyperhydrosis where my hands will sweat uncontrollably triggered by even the mildest nervous anxiety), but Amy became extremely interested. Later, she cornered me with more questions about it until she pretty much got my life story for the next half hour. So here I was sitting here in the lobby and my marathon teammates passing through enroute to dinner asked no questions as she was checking my pulse and enjoying the sweaty hand demo I gave her (my most impressive yet!). During her competition (the high jump) she actually borrowed a spare pair my gloves (clean!) knowing full well I'd have plenty to spare. Such was the content of my long-awaited encounter with Amy Acuff.

I went to the closing ceremonies and got some good pictures, even one finally with Haile Gebrselassie, (see photo - #426) and pretty much partied until 4:30am. The village was literally turned into a carnival in the back courtyard complete with an outdoor dance floor that played freaky techno music and then turned to gothic by 2am which is really weird with all the old statuesque architecture bombarded with all the dance floor lighting.

I'll bypass the details on how nice about 100 perfectly fit women look when they're are all decked out, but I'm sure you can probably get the picture. I'm sure a few women I know would've liked the way some of the Pole Vaulters, sprinters, and decathlete guys looked, too (do I dare say scrawny distance runners?). I was so tired when I got back to my room, I literally packed all my stuff and went right down to the lobby and passed out on a couch for fear I'd miss my shuttle to the airport.

Mission accomplished and I am forever changed.
- Kevin Collins

Kevin (2nd from left) with his USA teammates from left, Jimmy Hearld, Kevin, Clinton Verran, Ryan Shay, and Keith Dowling

 

For Immediate Release - August 30, 2003

Kevin Collins places 32nd in World Championships, first American

Kevin (2nd from left) with his USA teammates from left, Jimmy Hearld, Kevin, Clinton Verran, Ryan Shay, and Keith Dowling - click to enlarge

Kevin Collins of Syracuse finished 32nd in the Men's Marathon at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Paris, France today. Collins' time of 2:15:38 on a demanding course in Paris was just 6 seconds away from his personal best of 2:15:32 set at the United States Men's Marathon Championships in February. Full Results

Collins ran a smart race and went from 64th place at the half marathon mark to 32nd place at the finish, passing many competitors over the final 10 miles of the 26.2-mile race. Collins was the top finisher for Team USA.

"I couldn’t ask for much better," said Collins. "I was about five seconds or so off of my personal best. I had never felt that good in a marathon, ever. It was fantastic from the start and I’m going to go home a real happy man."

Other finishers for Team USA include Clint Verran, 39th in 2:16:42, Keith Dowling, 47th in 2:18:17 and Jimmy Herald, 64th in 2:26:59. US Men's 2003 Marathon Champion Ryan Shay pulled out of the race after the 30-kilometer mark.

Jaouad Gharib of Morocco won the marathon in 2:08:31, a new course record.

Collins will be training this fall for the US Men's Marathon Olympic Team Trials to be held in Alabama in February. Collins is a member of Fleet Feet Syracuse Racing and will participate in several local events over the next few months.

Collins is a graduate of Cicero North Syracuse High School and Rochester Institute of Technology. He resides in Syracuse.

For more information, contact Ed Griffin of Fleet Feet Sports at 315-430-4774.

Update Wednesday, August 27, 2003
FYI: Kevin Collins of Syracuse is representing the USA in the marathon at the World Track and Field Championship in Paris this Saturday, August 30. Here is his latest journal entry.

The internet has been on again off again here ..and alot of the most incredible things I'd ever seen (as a great many of you know) have been over the past couple of days, so I'll begin with that which I think everyone would like to know up front: Did I see the mother of all races? The dual between Haile Gebresalaise and the heir to his mighty throne, Kenenisa Bekele? Answer -

YES INDEED! Seated against the railing off the final turn in ROW #1!
the greatest distance runner the world has ever seen paced his two countrymen to a medal sweep for Ethiopia breaking the American record for 5k in THE SECOND HALF of the 10k, running a mind-boggling 12:57 5k (3.1 miles) after running the first half in 13:50's. I watched this man drop a 4:02 mile in the middle of this race cruising like a skater on ice. The real beauty which I think many of you others who follow this man's career will read about this race for years to come time and time again will be the final backstretch where Bekele pulls alongside Gebresalaise, and both, running at completely full throttle are eerily striding in absolute synchronicity right down to the snap of their wrists as they drive down the stretch. I heard it time and time again from both Olympic athletes and guru-coaches around the village that it was one of the most beautiful moments they had ever seen in the history of sports let alone track and field.

I have pictures of the kick off the final turn going into the straight.
He and his young successor, Kenenisa Bekele were in full sprint, running at sub 50 second quarter mile pace for the gold medal. The stadium, three decks high filled, was thundering with screaming Europeans and stomping and chanting for the length of time Haile had taken the lead. My eyes almost misted over and I don't think I was the only one in my party who's eyes had done the same. If not for looking onto the infield, you'd have thought you were at a football game. It was an experience I will never, ever forget. USATF CEO Craig Masback told a group of us later "That doesn't even
compute". Kenenisa won the race (10k) in 26:49 one second ahead of Haile. I had always wanted to see this man (is he?) Haile in the flesh, the first of what will soon be a new race of men who are "sprinting distance runners" which I did two days prior in the cafeteria. Now I wished I'd gone over and gotten a picture with him and brought Ed's poster in the store for an autograph signing. In case you all wonder what Haile looks like (he has set 12 World Records on a 4 foot, something barrel chested frame), his poster is hanging in the Fleet Feet store behind the counter off to the right, but I think Ed ought to hang that puppy front and center now. If you all buy them out before I get back, just please spare me one because they are for sale!!
Anyhow, today I got a good one with Kenenisa who seemed to enjoy it as much as I did (World's 2nd fastest woman marathoner..I told you! How could he resist?).

Prior to the 10k, I had an exciting couple of days. Two runs I did which
I enjoyed that will be something to see in my training logs for years to
come for any future young runners in my family to enjoy: One is a run I did which was completely comprised with U.S. Champions - 8 in all (and one runner-up. I was the tag-along!) and 4 of which were past Olympians: Robert Gary, Deena Drossin, Meb Keflezighi, Dan Browne, Jorge Torres, Ryan Shay, and Alan Culpepper, and Elva Dryer. This was fun for awhile but it still gets old when you run in the same place over and over. Finally Ryan Shay and I got about mid-week and realized we had seen virtually nothing as far as sights go. So what, of course, is the best way to sight-see when you are a distance runner?.........
........Maximizing our time to its fullest, Ryan and I could next be found
humming through the Paris streets at about 6:30 pace along the Siene River, passing tourists by the hundreds particularly as we neared the actual Notre Dame Cathedral. So there I was following Ryan again for the first time since my race in Birmingham replaying over and over the irony as we passed the cathedral that he was a Notre Dame University grad. The cathedral was pretty creepy looking actually from afar, then you got close and that didn't help the situation much with all the gargoyles all over it. We moved on further and then I can say, it was Paris in all it's glory....an enormous courtyard that was so magnificent you could no longer run because of all the 360's you found yourself doing just to take it all in...and in the distance, two things - The Arch of Triumph and poking out over the the buildings in the distance, the Eiffel Tower. Ryan knew what I must've been thinking and we picked up the pace through the crowds of tourists straight toward the Arch of Triumph. I think that's another moment I'll always remember. At the Eiffel Tower, we clicked our watches. It took exactly 1 hour of running. We reached into our pockets, pulled out our subway passes, and took the train back to the Village. I am zeroing in now on the race so my mind is mostly on it - particularly after yesterday. This may be last update before the race.The best thing you can have happen before a race is to feel good before your last workout, during, and afterward. Believe me, folks, I am ready. Everything just feels "there". You can never really describe the feeling fully, but you know it when you feel it. I'm up against Olympic champions and Boston marathon champions in this race, but what concerns me is stepping stones toward the Olympics. A top twenty finish puts me in that position and every country has runners eyeballing the same prize. I can tell you that I
am going for it. I will fight for it and rest assured I will reach that
stadium to meet the thundering applause of that track stadium. Know that win or lose, in the way of my race goals, I will be smiling and expelling all that I've ever been in that final lap.

See you when I get back.

Thanks all,
Kevin

Kevin Collins of Syracuse is representing the USA in the marathon at the World Track and Field Championship in Paris this Saturday, August 30. Kevin has been sending us updates from the athletes' village at the University of Paris. Check our website daily for updates this week.

"I was selected randomly as one of the US drug testers today by the French Federation and the IAAF. I thought 'Boy are they ever wasting their time'. I don't even like aspirin, The other elite runners used to call me 'Mr. Clean 2:17'.

Anyway it was very strange. Remembering a lot of Max Vo2 tests I've had and blood work done where the atmosphere was a bit less serious to say the least, the process was taken very serious as the U.S. Team head doctor would not leave my side through the process. I was taken down a long dark corridor in the athlete village and was approached by some very important looking French officials, one was the head doctor for the IAAF. They brought me into an empty room with a table and a lamp and that was pretty much it for decorating. I had to go through a careful process of signing papers and witnessed signatures and co-signing by a number of U.S. officials. The air was thick with tension as I had to confirm that all numbers on each urination bottles, forms, needles, and even bottle caps matched. The U.S. doctor made certain I withheld no information about anything I had consumed, even multi-vitamins and skin creams. I was even offered a canned drink and remembering our U.S. team meetings, I refused as I was told. Like being taught to fly a plane from scratch as if by air traffic controlmen, I was instructed by officials to transfer my own bottles and pick everything down to needles by random selection while they carefully recorded numbers on each followed by more signatures and witness co-signing." (click here for the rest of Kevin's Journal)

"In the morning, I ran with Deena, Clint Verran, and Robert Gary at the track. I heard I had just missed mile world record holder El Guerrouj in the track stadium. Deena paced Clint around the track gliding a beautiful fluid and controlled 65 second quarter completely unwinded and I once again felt excitement and yet disheartened that my mother would not get a chance to watch her run the finals of the 10k. Deena promises to introduce me to high jumper Amy Acuff before the end of the week as I've had a sort of magazine crush on her since the 96' Trials.

This afternoon was very cool. We had our U.S. Team meeting in the back courtyard of the University De Paris where I literally sat with every top athlete in United States Track and Field and thensome. I had to take look backward at the faces around me (sat like a giddy nerd in the front row) and saw Track and Field news faces everywhere. Maurice Greene, Kevin Toth, Dave Krummenaker, Alan Culpepper, Amy Acuff, Jearl Miles Clark, Amy Acuff again, Gail Devers, and around me distance runners of all types. We had a host of speakers from every department speaking about everything right down to what the French and British press were spreading about the U.S. team and how to handle questions. Just then a papparazzi guy snuck in a photograph behind the speaker, bolted and literally got chased away by officials. It was cool to be someplace where news about track and field held such desperation for shreds of info. We closed the meeting by selecting our team captains (Kevin Toth and Jearl Miles Clark) followed by a massive group chant "U-S-A!...U-S-A!!".

I have been spending alot of time in the cafeteria, mostly just to hear stories from the other runners and coaches. I listened to the Colorado University guys (Torres, Slattery, Culppepper) share stories and recounts in Boulder, as well as the Stanford grads (Jason Lunn and a very cute Lauren Fleshmann) and listened to Coach John McDonnell of Arkansas share some of his memories from past NCAA Championships.

Tommorrow is another group run. I did 4 times a mile today with Clint and I am running again tomorrow with a pretty sizeable group. Everyday they meet in the lobby of our building and someone chooses a sight. We have a free transit pass which is helpful for this and a station is just across the street from the athlete village.

More updates soon,
- Kevin

Kevin writes about the "9th World Championships in Athletics" in Paris France:

I arrived in Paris two days ago. Unfortunately without my luggage,
which took about two days to recover, but thanks to an attache' French women named Cecile' and a tiny French student named Alexandra, my bags were recovered with speed that rivaled my mother's.

When I stepped off the plane, my chief worry was finding where to go even though I had a detailed athlete manual of what to expect, but at the baggage claim, I was immediately surrounded by the event staff. These are the "attaches" which are uniformed French interpreters that accompany you through the orientation process. The loss of my bags didn't bother me at first as all I could really think about was the cafeteria inside the Athlete Village which was held inside a walled and heavily guarded compound which is the Univerity of Paris. The security is so tight that there are gunned soldiers guarding at checkpoints around the edge at each 100m. Like a plane ride, my bags had to be put through scanners, I was photograghed for a picture ID and even my uniform had to be photographed though I'm not really sure why (stuffed it in my carry-on and this became my training outfit until I found my luggage. Clint Verran thankfully lent me a pair of shoes).

As I expected, the treatment therein is as about as close to royalty as I've ever been treated in my athletic career to the point of a little embarrassment. I was actually signing autographs to French girls out to the shuttles waiting for me outside the airports and people were taking pictures. I'm sure they had no clue who I was (the world's 2nd fastest female marathoner?...Why not? I shave my legs!), but I guess they figured with the entourage of event officials around me, they figured I must be somebody important.

Once inside, it was like a magnificent garden and the U.S. athletes stay in one wing of one of the dorms. There is a massive courtyard in the back with an outdoor theater and porch with servants working 24-7 serving food and drinks, mimes, magicians, and musicians, massage, even two movie theatre's playing a string of movies everyday. You pretty much just read the schedule, walk in and sit down. The same as the cafeteria's. The lobby operates like a big athlete lounge with ping-pong, DVD's, and there are glass refigerators everyday constantly stocked with bottled drinks. This is probably the closest I've ever been to being on a cruise (but not QUITE, Mom,..hint,hint!).

Well, this is all great, but the real pleasure I get out of this
experience is hanging out with the truly fast and famous. Just behind me as I type, former World record holder in the 100m dash (the World's Fastest Human), Maurice Green is lounging on a couch. I ran this morning with Deena Drossin, who is certainly one of my favorite people in this sport, Meb Keflizhighi who holds the American record in the 10 kilometers in 27:13, and a host of other glittering names: Jason Lunn, Lauren Fleshman (very cute), Elva Dryer, and Dan Browne, who was on the cover of Runners World last fall.

At dinner, I made new friends and saw old aquaintances: Michael Aish, a 2000 Olympian, Amy Acuff (very, VERY cute) - the American record holder in the high jump, NCAA cross-country champion Jorge Torres, and also Steve Slattery who was one of the Colorado runners in the book "Running with The Buffalos". Then there was a long awaited meeting: Alan Culpepper. Back in 1993, midway through college a couple of college guys and myself, curious about
the idea of sampling altitude training in what was the then (and pretty
much still is) a training mecca of sorts, made popular by a host of world-class marathoners who trained there in the 80's. With little food and money, three of us blindly drove out there in a small car and arrived completely unemployed wit no place to live that May. The first night, we actually slept in a hospitality center for the homeless when the reality of our situation began to take form. I continued to train on an empty stomach with the hopes of finishing my final cross-country season at my finest, and all the while holding onto dreams of one day running among the world's best.

As luck would have it, in less than a week we had a completely furnished house for our use for the entire summer and jobs, thanks to a high demand for service sector employment with the end of the Colorado University finals and a woman who was leaving for the summer and wanting someone to feed her two Siamese cats and mow her lawn. We had her entire place for a mere $100 per month per person, which we pretty much paid in full up front.
My job was a mere dishwasher in a small pizza shop run by an ex NYC native. The man fed me his leftover pizza daily and I was to be appprenticed under my fellow dishwasher for the summer. Puffing his cigarette, my new boss called out his name and a scrawny sophmore C.U. university runner came out from the rear of the kitchen: Soft-spoken and seemingly shy yet embodying underneath a radiating confidence I heard him speak: "Hi! My name's Allen, nice to meet you!". It turned out he was a runner, and a good one and this led to fabulous running story that I'll tell another time, but I can tell you that Allen and I talked alot about our futures as runners and it is only befitting that after 10 years and after only seeing each other's progress and pictures and results in magazines, we came face to face today at the World Track and Field Championships for the first time today since the end of that summer in 1993.
We grinned and shook hands:

"Well,.... here we are!" Indeed. Here we are.

-Kevin Collins

Runner's World August 6th Interview:

Kevin Collins was second at the 2003 U.S. Men's Marathon Championships in a personal best 2:15:32 and will represent the U.S. in the marathon at the World Championships in Paris
Collins, now 32, set his previous best of 2:17:31 in winning the 2002 Valley of the Sun Marathon in Phoenix. He ran 2:17:47 for sixth place at the 2001 City of Los Angeles Marathon. Collins was a five-time NCAA Division III All-American runner at Rochester Institute of Technology. He now resides in Syracuse, NY, where he works at Fleet Feet Sports.

Runner's World Daily: Have you done any racing recently?

Kevin Collins: I haven't done any in the last two months. The last race I did was the U.S. Half-Marathon Championships (he was 14th in 1:07:42). It was not the best effort, I'd give it a C-plus. But my training was pretty heavy during that time, so I'm not really worried about that. It was probably an indication that I'd overraced. I'd raced the preceding five weeks in a row, all long races, 10-K and up. I had a flash of brilliance in the first three weeks and then I started to decline. I said, "I'm going to abandon the races and just focus on the training." As a matter of fact, I did the same thing before the Birmingham race, and I ended up showing up fresh.

RWD: Have you increased your mileage since the U.S. Marathon Championships?

KC: I have an 18-week average of about 130 miles. I have ten weeks now over 140. More importantly, the content of that mileage has been really good. I averaged two hard sessions a week, which were very diverse. I made sure I got in long runs, tempo runs, intervals and long intervals. I do some tempo runs as long as 14 miles, pretty close to an all-out race -- which is another reason why I had to get rid of the races. When I was at the (Olympic) Training Center working under (Joe) Vigil, I used to do them with Peter de la Cerda. We'd come close to 5:05 pace for half-marathons. My effort here is the same, but I don't time anything.

RWD: What led to your nine days of training in Michigan with Clint Verran of the Hansons Running Shops team?

KC: I was approached by Kevin and Keith Hanson at the U.S. Marathon Championships. They told me they were looking my way for awhile as a potential athlete. My interest has always been there with them because I really, really like what they represent. They have honest reasons for what they're doing, with the intention of improving U.S. distance running. That's a big thing for me. That carries a lot of weight. Home here in Syracuse, things have been going real well, and I'm improved, so that's a big restraint for me budging from this place. But for more peace of mind's sake, I had to see what was going on over there and see the decision I made was right. My stint there was a curiosity thing, but it was definitely good for my confidence, going over there and getting under a stopwatch and being paired up with a bunch of very talented runners and seeing I was doing very well.

RWD: What did you learn from training with Deena Drossin in 2002?

KC: There is no runner I have ever met like Deena. She has all the tools as an athlete. Nothing is missing. The biggest thing that impressed me time and time again is that she is absolutely certain about herself. Her self-belief is so strong, and I consider that a problem area for me. So meeting her was huge, and I think I drew inspiration from her for the confidence that enabled me to run that marathon in Birmingham. I definitely developed a more professional way of thinking. She's willing to try new things, where I'm a little more bullheaded and reluctant. She was doing some things on the track that were unbelievable. She did 16 quarters (400) with me. I did those all in 66 seconds, and Deena was right behind me in 67, 68. If I'd have backed off, she would have run right by me. I remember standing next to Vigil at the OTC and she was doing 600s on a grass field. And it was not like old Deena, with a little shuffling stride. Her fists were driving up and hitting her cheekbones.

RWD: Everyone seems to believe at least three Americans will get the 2:12 "A" qualifier for the 2004 Olympics. Are you confident you have the ability to run under 2:12?

KC: I go over that question many times, almost every day. If somebody had asked me a year ago what chance I had to make the World Championships team, I probably would have let out a pretty big laugh and I never would have believed it in a million years. I'm in a position where I'm ready to believe any consequence at this point. I still have not broken 30:00 for 10-K, and I'm on this five-man (marathon) team for the World Championships? That blows my mind. I'm reading Ron Daws' book "Self-Made Olympian." Here's a guy who didn't have anywhere near the credentials I have, and he somehow landed a spot on the Olympic team. I'm really banking on that and thinking if there's even a one percent chance that I can make it, it's worth all the effort in the world. Because I've given 20 years to this sport, to this dream, and here I'm watching this thing sort of materialize before my eyes. You know, everybody talks about sacrifice, and what you give up in pursuit of a dream. I've already sacrificed, at 32, and what's left now is I want what's due to me. So no matter what, when I toe that line (at the Trials), I'm going to be ready to run 5:00 miles start to finish. If I bow out at 18, or if I fall flat on my face with blood coming out of my nose, that's what I'm there to do, oblivious to Khannouchi, to Culpepper or Browne or whoever is in the mix. I figure 5:00 miles start to finish is going to be what it takes to make it. It may not happen, but what else can you do when you show up at the Olympic Trials?

News added - July 28, 2003

I've been asked if I'd be interested in giving you all some final thoughts on my preparation for Paris and I've got a moment to spill some of it here. I can say that I'm truly happy with my preparation. My training log reflects a lot of good evidence that I am going into the event ready. There are basically 4 key ingredients that comprise my training's measure for success and at the closure of each week, on Saturday; I review each of those four:

1) QUANTITY: Did I do a lot of running?
2) QUALITY: Did I do a lot of HARD running?
3) DIVERSITY: Did I do a lot of DIFFERENT kinds of running (long/short tempos, long/short runs, long/short/strength/speed reps, long/short/strength/speed intervals, hills/flats)?
4) CONSISTENCY: Have I been doing all of the above regularly?

My training log answers these questions with a big fat 'yes'. Furthermore, I don't feel run-down or particularly 'yuck' about the idea of racing a marathon soon. There is no listlessness or lack of desire to run. Feels like I've only been building momentum. One thing I've learned about training over the years is that no training is a waste. Even a great stint of training that ends in disappointment will reward you later if not for the moment. Never give up! Everything sets you up for something bigger waiting for you further down the path you tread.

The trip to Hanson's, I actually questioned whether or not would do me any good, actually turned out to be a magnificent gain - not in fitness, but in the way of confidence. I don't clock any of my workouts. They are all effort based, so to show up to a spartan training camp lifestyle littered with 18 hungry young athletes and have somebody put a stopwatch on me was revealing. I found I was able to roll along comfortably with the group and was one more clear-cut piece of evidence that my training in Syracuse has been so very much the right thing for me. I'm just very comfortable here. My heart is happy and it shows through in my performances. I was told by another athlete, who trains in her own hometown in So-Cal, that real improvement might happen, by the comforts of home. There are other factors, too, but this is one that has become clear to me."

At the Hanson layout, I had one final workout with the group. Following a 7-day stretch where I set a record number of miles at 157, I was participating in a 10 mile 'step-down' with the team. Thinking I wouldn't have a prayer hanging on to the group after such a stretch of running volume, I was even more tense because both Kevin and Keith Hanson (founders of the team) were going to be administering the workout from their team van (looking oddly like the Scooby-Doo mystery van) from a road paralleling the bike path where we were running.

We started off down the path after a two-mile warm-up and we were to be read off our splits at every half-mile on a two loop course. The idea was to hit mile splits of 2 x 6:00, 2 x 5:50, then 5:40, 5:30, 5:20, 5:10, 5:00, and (ugh!)...4:50 on the last mile. The ten-mile had a designated leader until the 9th mile then it was every man for himself. Having done leg work the night before in the gym, I wasn't surprised to feel my legs a bit sluggish off the line and one of the runners only made it worse as we passed through our second 6:00 mile: "Just so you're aware, Collins, the 4:50 mile is uphill!"Thanks, I thought!

Now I'd done stuff like this on a treadmill before. Those ugly upstate winters used to frustrate me so that I'd sometimes angrily rip out the last mile around 5:00 on that dang machine (as if I'd hope the treadmill would just break and I'd have no choice except to move someplace warmer), but a 4:50? That's tough, especially with so many of the prior miles so fast and carrying around so much mega-mileage junk in your legs. That means we had to run the final 5k of the 10 miler in around 15:20 or so.

I was supposed to take charge on the 5:20 mile. By the time we got there, only Clint Verran (who is on the World Champs team with me) and Jeff Campbell (who is representing the U.S. at this year's Pan Am Games Marathon and himself has made 8 national teams total in his career) remained. In the nearby van, the Hanson brothers looked delighted. Here they were watching 3 of the top ten ranked U.S. marathoners tooling each other as they were closing in on the end of brutal workout. It was enough to buy tickets to see
how the egos would play out in the final mile.

Well, the egos already started to fly as we went 5:17, 5:06, and 4:57 by the ninth mile. Clint labored a bit in our tightly bunched pack of three with several clusters of other Hanson runners strung out far behind. Saving the best for last I shifted into my best gear and Clint waved us to go on without him. To my left only Campbell remained - A former sub 14:00 5k runner on our Festival of Races 5k course. I began to strain as he fought furiously to match my stride (and vice versa!) on the long, final incline. Finally he made up a yard or so on me and we crossed together, stopped and gulped for air. Kevin Hanson called out the split with a wide grin "4:43 guys! GREAT job!". Campbell turned to me and slapped hands, smiling and gasped " When you went through the half around 2:23 and Clint gone, I thought "Dude, I've gotta pull one for the team!". Later, when Clint had heard my 157 mileage total for the week, he overheard me wine that my legs definitely felt that workout, he said "Collins, I hope you'll
understand when I say I'm glad to hear that. I was seriously beginning to think you weren't even human!" We slapped hands and I cut back across Canada back home (no, I didn't run...) - a gorgeous trip this time of year.

Onward to Worlds. I leave August 17th or so. I got the official word today. All I can say is what I took from Jerry Smith's book "The Self-Made Olympian" by Olympic marathoner, Ron Daws, which he had been urging me to read for the past year. In it was a quote he included by Alexander Pope:

"Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall never be disappointed."

Cheers and thanks to all of you,

Kevin
Collins

News - Friday, July 04, 2003
Just giving everyone a little on my Hanson's experience thus far.

I am living in the "Bloomer" House which is one of two Hanson houses North of Detroit. So far I've met just about everybody.

The first team run began with Jeff Campbell, Donnie Franzen and Joe Gibson (Meany's ex-teammate I'm told). We started off briskly for a planned 14 miler where we were to meet the other runners about a mile and a half away. I could tell these three guys have spent alot of time at fast tempos as they immediately rolled into a clip of about 6:15. When we arrived at the"meeting area" in the middle of a park it seemed the rest of the group had already taken off without us, so we continued heading toward as a bikepath when suddenly 10 or more shirtless, shredded guys came wailing out of the woods and nearly knocked us all over. I (the only one wearing a shirt) was recognized instantly by Clint Verran and we immediately broke into forthcoming training. Suddenly I found myself in a running group that was over 14 strong.... I had run into Kevin Hanson himself when I got into town after finding the location of his store through a phone book and the use of maps. Before seeking them out however, I found a good park on the map of Northern Detroit and decided to get in a 16 miler. Surprisingly the Hansons lived right at the entrance of this very park, so I actually ran right past the house by sheer consequence. When I arrived he had called the guys right away. I took them all by surprise because I only told them I would be looking at training with them "around the 1st of
July". So his jaw dropped when I came into his store suddenly finishing a Subway Tuna Sub. Again I was lucky because of a ll four stores in Detroit Suburbs, he just happened to be in this one. ..running with the team, I learned that of all 14 runners, only ONE guy had been logging under 120 miles weekly and he still was around 105.

Before the pace turned torrid and I felt the ears pricked up my every runner as Clint drilled me with training questions. I could not impress these guys as they told me stories of Jim Jurcevich and Chad Johnson having "mileage wars" where they had both gone at an average 165 miles weekly for nearly two months in an attempt to out duel the other. Even Jurcevich had held a year's average at slightly above 140, a feat not even I had ever matched even in
my craziest days.

More later.
Kevin