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Over my career in the sport of running, which spans, twenty seven years, there are about a dozen people that I would put on my all star team. Keith Peters would be one of them. I first met Keith in 1986, I believe, as I began traipsing around road races at the behest of the publisher of Runner's World at the time, Mike Perlis.

Here is an interview with Keith Peters, which Keith completed a week or so ago. Read his comments, check out his website. As you will see, there is alot we can do to improve how our sport reacts to the world around us.

I met Amy White at the NXN Championships on December 6. We got to check in for a few moments, talk about the event and her new job. While most of the time spent were pleasantries, I liked her enthusiasm. I sent the questions out a few days later. Amy replied by email just before I left for vacation. Here are her responses....

Pat O'Malley is the zen master of performance running footwear. A man who has gone from running promotions to special make ups at Nike, to redefining running footwear at Reebok and now, at Saucony, fine tuning a well oiled machine.

I sent these questions to Pat last week and they showed up Sunday, on my I-phone, as I was trying to recover from an aborted take-off in a commercial air carrier. His answers got me laughing and smiling, which Pat can do frequently. My worries vanished..

Mark Bossardet has been involved in the sport of running at all levels. A 2:17 marathoner, Bossardet was one of the youngest qualifiers for the 1980 Olympic Trials. He worked for Gary Murkhe at Super Runners shop, then moved on to Reebok, where he moved from sales to the Global Director of Athletics, 1985-1994. He spent 1994-1999 at Nike as their Global Athletics Manager, and then assisted FILA in its entree into running. From 2001 until June 2008, Mark returned to Reebok, helping them resurrect a running line with one of the longest heritages in our sport.

Now a consultant, we caught up with Mark earlier this week to discuss some of the current issues in our business. Here is what he had to say:

The fourteenth annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games is going to happen this weekend! From 5:30 to 8:30, on Saturday, February 7, 2009, the Reggie Lewis center will be rocking to the sounds of elite athletes competing in the intimate indoor facility.

At the early afternoon press conference, here are some of their comments:

What a way to start a new season! At the Pole Vault Stars Meeting in Donetsk, Ukraine, Yelena Isinbayeva, broke the world record twice today, clearing 4.97m and 5.00m! Details from Bob Ramsak!

John Rogers is one of the examples of the high quality of people in our sport. JR, as he is known, was an executive twice at Reebok, and was also at Mizuno, Nautica and Sebago, after a second tour at Reebok, founded the Maine Running company, an excellent example of the specialty running store. JR has influenced the development of Reebok and Mizuno running footwear among others. An excellent high school and college runner, JR ran 29:06 for 10,000 meters on the track.

The picture located just north of these comments are from the ING Bay to Breakers. The ING B2B is one of the largest races in the world, and is one of the true rites of spring in the City by the Bay. As a former Bay area resident, I must admit to having run the Bay to Breakers a few times. I did participate in a centipede in 1980 with several of my young athletes from Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, Ca. I saw it as a very plausible part of their education-they had never seen anyone fun running, nor had they seen people in all stages of dress and undress celebrating over twelve kilometers of San Francisco's most beautiful neighborhoods. Did you know that the ING Bay to Breakers was the birthplace of the Centipede ( thanks Peanut Harms, the Aggies, plus the creative moment for giving the sport the Lenichi turn, and centipede racing!)?

Spencer Nel is the Head of Global Sports Marketing: Running/Track & Field and Federation sat adidas. In that position, like John Capriotti at Nike, Todd Klein at Reebok, Ben Cesar at ASICS, Matt Taylor at PUMA and their counterparts at New Balance, Mizuno, Brooks, these men and women influence our sport.

Spencer Nel, from Id photo.

Bernard Lagat is the latest American star to bow out of the US Indoors, which happens this weekend in Boston. Bernard had hurt his ankle running the 1,500 meters in Aviva Birmingham last weekend.

At this time, Lo Lo Jones running the 60 meter hurdles and Jenn Stuczynski in the pole vault look to be two of the major events at the U.S. Indoor championships.

Over the past thirty years working in the sport of running, I have been fortunate enough to work with some exceptional individuals. You have recently read some columns by Mark Bossardet. Another one of the friendships that I have prized is Michael Payton, a man, who helped me appreciate the need for public relations and marketing communications in our sport. In our current economic turmoil, public relations, marketing communications and advertising, which many American companies race to cut during down times, can make the difference between a brand thriving and a the collapse of a brand.

We hope that you enjoy the interview:

Pat Butcher, our friend from across the pond, wrote a superb piece on meeting Arne Andersson and Gunder Hagg six years ago. A touching, thoughtful piece on two men, who competed against each other all out, changed our thoughts on the mile and kept the sport alive during the dark days of the Second World War, http://www.globerunner.org/blog/?p=127.in neutral Sweden. (If anyone has found video of their races, would love to pass that on to our readers! )

A very nice interview, done exclusively with Universal Sports, with Mary Wittenberg, Guy Morse and Carey Pinkowski on the World Majors Marathon: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3708554. The point is made that while these events are highly competitive with each other, they also feel a greater need to support the global health and focus of the sport. In other words, some folks in running are actually looking at the big picture. And that, I believe, (to quote Martha Stewart), is " a good thing."

Please note that Universal is now carrying the feeds for BAA Boston, Flora London, real, -Berlin, and Bank of America Chicago Marathon on their websites and cable network, which is growing each and every day. Check your local listings for a station near you, or just, do what works best, send a note to your local cable provider suggesting that they pick up Universal so that they can justify their continuing increases in charges without more benefits or services ( good, I got that out, now I feel much better).

Updated May 1, 2009

Marc Bloom first came into prominence with the Harrier magazine, then his wonderful collaboration with George Hirsch and the Runner magazine. Bloom is a keen observer of our sport-he loves it and challenges it to be better. Bloom's mentor was and is James Dunaway, editor of American Track & Field and one of the best and most prolific writers on our sport in North America. Bloom is now one of the key role models for another generation of running media. His lessons have been hard won.

Marc Bloom has written a timely book: Young Runners: the complete guide for Kids running from 5 to 18. We wanted to get a few minutes with Marc to ask him his thoughts on a variety of subjects. His response, shown in its complete form below, is both entertaining and educating. I hope you concur!

This is the first of several interviews you will be able to read over the next week, courtesy of adidas. In the middle of March, I had the luck to spend several days in Santa Monica, with the adidas team, checking out new product, and speaking to adidas' Icon athletes.

Spring 2009 gives us a bit more contemplative Jeremy Wariner. He knows he has to train hard, improve his race and run his own race. In that way, perhaps the defeats in 2008 were good for Jeremy in the long run....

Blanka Vlasic, photo by Photorun.net.

Blanka Vlasic is a high jump warrior. Blanka Vlasic is also a rock star. Watch the women clear 2.02, 2.05 and listen to the crowd roar and Vlasic perform! She may be at her most complete during competition.

Blanka Vlasic seems to have this absolute need, much like breathing, to compete almost constantly. That seems to be acknowledged after her silver at Beijing. The focus now is on Berlin this coming August.....

Bryan Clay was the 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist, the 2005 World Champion at the decathlon and the 2008 Olympic gold medalist at the decathlon. He was featured in Nike media day for their Nike Training launch. RBR was able to get Bryan on the phone for fifteen minutes, here is what we spoke about:

photo by PhotoRun.net

In an interview prior to the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, Carolina Kluft told RBR that she was using a shortened run up for the long jump, as she is still recovering from a stress fracture. " I am training well, but this is still quite early in the season. I am using a shortened run up as I am short on training and I want to be careful with my leg. I really wanted to compete in New York and visit Reebok (in Boston), so, while I am back at training, I am still a bit short of where I would like to be."

Leonel Manzano is up and running for 2009. After a tough race at the adidas Track Classic, Leonel ran a 3:55 mile in St.Louis, then a very gutty run, winning the Reebok GP 1,500 meters in a world leading 3:34.14!

The following interview is from late April. We provided Leonel with questions and he responded. For our spanish speaking friends, we just had a nice piece in Latinos Corriendo no.19, refering to Leonel as David vs. the Goliaths.

Photo courtesy of Photorun.net.

Pre Classic press conference is always a good place to reach some of the top athletes in the world. This year, we have Pamela Jelimo, La Shawn Merritt, Dawn Harper, Sanya Richards, Anna Willard, Andrei Silnov and Jesse Williams....

These are the shoes that Sanya Richards will wear tomorrow, and she also wore them in Beijing in the 400 meters and 4 x 400 meters.

The business of running publications has had some real trail blazers: The Nelson brothers, who founded Track & Field News in 1948. Browning Ross, who founded the RRCA and newsletter in 1958, Bob Anderson who started Runners World in 1968, and George Hirsch, who founder the Runner, and nearly a decade later, reinvented a combined Runner's World and the Runner, and saved national running publications from an ignominious demise.

I caught up with George at the London Marathon this year, and asked to interview him on his beginnings in publishing, and running, and his thoughts on the changing landscape of media. His answers are thought provoking. RBR thanks George Hirsch for taking the time, but also for what he has done for our sport!

We caught up with Khalid Khannouchi, one of the most prolific marathoners of the past decade. In the famous 2003 FLORA London race, Khannouchi took on Paul Tergat, Haile Gebrselassie and came out victorious! Khannouchi has been dealing with injuries for the past few years, and his 2008 US Olympic Trials fourth place was done on little training. We asked Khalid about his recent surgery and his vow to return to world class racing...

Khalid Khannouchi at the US Olympic Marathon Trials, NYC, November 2007. Photo by Photorun.net.

Allyson Felix has been racing, and winning for nearly a decade now. She has been a professional athlete since she graduated high school. Racing from 100 to 400 meters, plus a requested member of either the long or short relays, Allyson Felix has not reached her best--that could be two Olympics away!

Jeremy Wariner is defending champion at 400 meters in Berlin this coming August. A two time World Champion, a one time Olympic gold medalist, Jeremy answers some of the questions here about his 2008 season, where he took the silver in the Beijing 400 meters, loosing to LaShawn Merritt....

Richie Woodworth, President, Saucony, photo courtesy of Saucony communications

In the world of performance running, the brands on top are the brands willing to a) focus on consistently strong product,b) be willing to promote the product, c) invest in events, athletes, and local brand support, d) vigilantly watch their customer service and e) invest in long term relationships with specialty retailers.

What is fascinating to me, is that the CEOs and Presidents of the major brands are a fascinating bunch. What is interesting, at least to me, is how the managers like Woodworth use their brand's key strengths to help them excel.

Adam Johnson-Eder is my son. His mother, Christine and I started our first publishing venture when he was six months old. He has seen the positives and the negatives of a family involved in the media business. From the time he was three to his tenth birthday, I coached at Foothill College. Adam was at the track most every day, and he saw, for first hand my love of the sport, shared with my fellow coaches, Joe Mangan and Hank Ketels. I have always told him to chase his dreams, then worry about making a living.