by Larry EderThis is my daily chat with #RunBlogRun viewers and track fans on track & field!
This is #CoffeewithLarry for February 27, 2025.
#CoffeewithLarry is sponsored by OMIUS, the cooling technology people. To learn more about the headband used by Sifan Hassan and Bashir Abdi, go to www.omius.io
#CoffeewithLarry and #RunBlogRun are supported by #GlobalAthletics&Marketing, producers and managers of the 2025 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.
Track & Field meet
February 2, 2025
Boston, MA USA, photo by Kevin R. Morris
Please check out www.brooksrunning.com for all your performance running and performance apparel needs!
Our topics;
1. Our main focus today is Jan Johnson, 1950-2025. Jan was an evangelist of the pole vault, encouraging athletes young and old to try his beloved event.
2. Jan Johnson was the Olympic bronze medalist in the pole vault in the Munich 1972 Olympics.
3. Jan founded Skyjumpers, one of the country’s most original, creative pole vault camp programs.
4. Jan championed the pole vault his entire life. From Bloom High School, where he vaulted with his brother, to Alabama, where he also helped Alabama football players get fitter.
5. Jan was loved by family, friends, and the vaulting community.
6. I met Jan in 1983, when he was at HIND, and he was a character from the very beginning.
7. In 1989, Jan purchased the first ad in my magazine, #AmericanAthletics , for HIND and #Skyjumpers vault camps.
8. In 1992, we did #howardgoestocamp in American Athletics, written by Jim Harmon, former editor of Runners World.
9. Jan Johnson and John Powell were two of my three spiritual advisors as I tried to stay afloat in the media biz. Their business and life advice kept me going during some really tough years.
10. Jan was always there and provided me with advice on business, life, and the world of athletics. I suspect that he was like that for most.
11. Jan Johnson helped advance the pole vault over his lifetime, bringing in new vaulters and encouraging safe training and promotion of the event. He wrote several articles for #AmericanAthletics and #AmericanTrack&Field, as well as several books.
12. My thoughts and prayers are with Jan’s family, friends, and believers. Here is an obituary that was posted: https://countylocalnews.com/2025/02/25/death-of-jan-johnson-olympic-medalist-and-world-record-holder/
13. Some more comments on USATF Indoors.
14. The European Athletics Indoors are March 6-9, 2025, in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
15. Picture of Guttormsen brothers (from father, Atle), Jan Johnson predicted that Sondre Guttormsen would hold Norwegian record 7 1/2 years prior to when Sondra did hold NR!
15. See you tomorrow on Coffee with Larry
