This is my first time on outsports.com. It's great to see other gay/lesbian youth interested in sports. I run NCAA Div. I track/cross country. I am curious if there are any other gay college runners out there. If so, email me at johnmulan@hotmail.com. Thanks.

John, welcome! Good luck to you and thanks for representing us in your sport!

Thanks, Brad. I guess it's even more strange that I go to a Catholic college on top of that. It's been a lot of fun running so far and the whole college experience is one that I learn a lot from each race. I love traveling to different states and competiting with the best schools in the U.S. It's a big sacrifice to train so much, but it helps build confidence and self-esteem above all else. I'll be running at Lehigh U. this weekend.

John, welcome! This is a great board and you will be most welcome here. Running doesn't get a lot of press on here, but that doesn't diminish the hard work that harriers go through. There are a bunch of Stanford supporters on this site, so don't let them think that they are the #1 team when Colorado obviously is!
The Paul Short Invite is a good one; Villanova is obviously the class of that meet, with the Hoyas not too far behind. How's that for a trio of Catholic schools!
Seriously, good luck and come back often!

Go, John, and kick some Lehigh butt this weekend. (Not opposed to Lehigh, but just wishing you luck).

Yeah, Lehigh should be interesting. Our team is kind of going through a transitional stage. It is our first year without International help. Of all of our cross country runners, only 1 is a pure cross country runner, the rest of us are 800m/1500m track runners who run the 8km cross country to stay in shape and to remain competitive for the track season. I ran well at Lehigh last year, but college running is so tough! No matter how good you are (I was a state champion in track in high school), you can still be at the back of the pack. We only have had one meet so far (one was cancelled due to the Attack), so this season is diminished to 5 meets (including NCAA Regionals). NCAA Regionals was fun last year, but the competition is outrageous. Lehigh is a pretty flat course, so I hope for a PR out of it. We run at 9:30am, so it is sure to be chilly. I will be sure to report back how I do. Yeah, Stanford gets all the recruits... I know they put in 100+ mile weeks in track, so I can imagine what they do in cross country.

Hey John..... I forwarded some info to you about a book to your direct email addy. Did you get it by chance?

I did. Thanks. I found the author's site and emailed him. It's a really inspirational story that brings back some memories for me. I saw your tennis post, and I must say that Andy Roddick is by far the hottest tennis star, or maybe I'd say Michael Chang is... hehe Who do you think the hottest runner is? I even have to think about this one.... I think Dathan Ritzenhein is cute (for college). As for Pro Runners... Mark Croghan is cute (I haven't heard much about him lately though). Something cool... Mark and Gwyn Coogan live near me. Gwyn is a professor at the college I first went to and I got to meet her.

Hottest runner? Hmmm... I'll have to think about that one, too. Glad you like Andy... he's really hot up close, too.

This goes back a number of years, but Dick Fosbury (the high-jumper) and Ralph Doubell (one of the great middle-distance runners) were very hot. In fact, one of the reasons I took to running (steeplechase--ran twice at US champs, screwed up my knee in '75--the pins still go off at airport checkpoints! ) was Doubell.

By the way, welcome to the club; you'll find it very friendly.

~Adam

Propaganda about the event: http://www2.lehigh.edu/page.asp?page=article&SectionID=sportstopxc&Ar ticleID=17181&PartID=2&db=LehighUpub://http://www2.lehigh.edu/page.asp?pag...2&db=LehighUpub://http://www2.lehigh.edu/page.asp?pag...2&db=LehighUpub
Cold and rainy, I hear.

[ October 03, 2001: Message edited by: twin58 ]

Just want to weigh in on "hottest runner" conversation. Paul McMullen is choice meat, and Kevin Little, 200m US runner is easy on the eyes as well. Hank

Paul McMullin, yes I did forget about him. But, he's married... Did you know he only has 9 toes? One got cut off by a lawnmower. He has a brother, Phil, that does the decathalon, btu I have never seen his picture. Kevin Little is adorable! It is supposed to rain on Sat., oh well. It was 80 F in MD yesterday, so we are going to get a big temperature shift. I hate the cold. Traning for indoor track is the worst... We have an indoor track, but only train outside because the turns on the indoor one are not good to train on. It gets so cold here in the winter.

Oh yeah, how could I forget, Hicham El G from Morocco is a total babe!

Paul is an absolute sweetie. I've raced against him several times. Very good hearted guy, not to mention gorgeous.

Either this board uses Pacific Standard Time or it's screwed up.

Yes it is on Pacific time. Outsports is out of California.

Thanks GVF. Thought I was going crazy.

More power to you, John, for sticking the track thing out. I couldn't stand all the long hours plus the school work plus trying to be social and trying to work part-time. That was waaaay too much for me. I loved track meets (even though my team at Duke sucked), but not enough to stick with it. I sorta miss it a little bit. Good luck. And go ANDY RODDICK too (since you guys brought him up)!!!

dunumber44: What did you run at Duke? They have some good cross country runners on the women's side I know. When did you graduate?

zaac: When did you race Paul? That is really cool! He wasn't even going to try to qualify for World Champs and ended up making it and the final! His wife Jill just had a baby I hear. I haven't really raced anyone at that level (unless you consider some college guys up there), but I have met 2 Olympians (one I was coached by). Peter Rono, the 1988 1500m gold medalist used to go to college here and I met him. He is coachign at FDU I think now.

I sat last year out because of a hernia, plus I just needed a break. I'm going to try to at least make it through the 2004 season , but who knows. I've been running against Paul and company for years. Perhaps you and I will race against each other soon.
I do a lot of running in Europe because track rules over there.

Zaac*
You should email me sometime, since it is easier. I am really interested in hearing more about your running experiences. I will have to look for you in some of my old magazines.
John

My vote for the coolest runner goes to Gabe Jennings, the Stanford iconoclast. Jennings grew up in rural Northern California in a national forest, in a house without running water or electricity (by his family's choice, not because they were poor) and was home-schooled by his parents. The only TV programs he saw were Sunday NFL games the family watched on the only set in town. He said he had a ball.

``I think the way a lot of Americans live these days, with TV and being driven to school, makes them lazy,'' he told Runner's World magazine. ``And since I had chores and had to hike 2 miles every day to clear out the spring to get water, and had to get firewood every day and stuff like that, it's more parallel to the Kenyan lifestyle. I don't know if that makes me stronger.

``I will never own a TV. First of all, it takes time. It's pollution. Every time I watch it, it just grosses me out, the commercialism. When I am ready to settle down, I'll go back to that simple lifestyle.

He's easy on the eyes to boot.

Just thought I would post a celebrity running sighting I had today. Live in NYC and was in midtown, at a vegetarian spot. And in line in front of me was Regina Jacobs, the great women's distance runner. I, quite impolitely for NY, asked her if it was really she. She said, yes, she was doing some promotional duties here. She looked fantastic, really petite in person. Hank