The Meme Thing and Runners Who Rock
One of the things going around the blogging community is memeing. (I hope I did OK on adding the -ing suffix there.) It is essentially a challenge, in which, when you are tagged (sent an e-mail), you are supposed to respond with the list that is requested, then tag a specified number of other bloggers.. My stance on memes - "Homey don't do that!" This is partially because I don't share an e-mail, thus making tagging me an iffy proposition (or perhaps indicating no readers), so I haven't been tagged. Second, I feel like the concept of memes underlies a degree of mental laziness on the part of blog writers, though it does often bring out interesting aspects of the bloggers personality.
Two memes that are drifting around the running community are: "five random things" and "runners who rock." The first is sort of a challenge to open yourself up, the second is to list some runners you respect and tell why. You can see some examples of the first meme by clicking these links: Alison's Blog - Start Now; Running Chick with the Orange Hat; and The Thinking Runner. Some examples of the second can be found here: Running With Jack; Weighty Words; and you can see this meme get started in A Passion For Running. The first has no real appeal to me, but the second, because it involves recognizing excellence (perhaps in unusual ways) appeals to me. So, I've decided to tag myself on the second meme, Runners Who Rock.
Since this meme originated the Mark, the running blogfather, I've copied his rules here:
1-Create a post titled Runners Who Rock.
2-List three runners who rock and tell us why they rock. Make sure you provide a link to their blog!
3-Tell those three runners about the meme and tag them so they can keep it going.
4-Link to runners who rock and to the blogger who tagged you so we get a ping and can keep track of all the participants!
Now, since I've ignored normal rules, I'm going to modify them here a bit. Since a meme must grow, it requires other bloggers to get involved. Since, I wasn't tagged, I don't feel an obligation to name bloggers as my Runners Who Rock choices. Therefore, I have a level of freedom that normal memers (again a questionable word) don't have. So, here's my list of Runners Who Rock:
Toshiko D'Elia - Toshi, as she's known, is a top national level age group competitor. Toshi came to running relatively late - I think a bit over 30 years ago. She and her late husband, Fred, were involved in founding the North Jersey Masters Track and Field Club. Toshi holds numerous national age group records, and now competes in the 75-79 year-old age group. She's in the midst of recovering from missing most of her Fall training, the result of a broken arm suffered when she was knocked down at the NewAlliance New Haven 20K Road Race over Labor Day weekend. I recently had the chance to see her as she watched her grandson, Ben, competing at the New Jersey Cross-Country Meet of Champions.
Roger Price - Roger is another national class age-group competitor. He works at the Sneaker Factory running store, where he shares his shoe and running expertise with their customer base. Roger is an active member of both Raritan Valley Road Runners and USATF-New Jersey and has served both organizations as a volunteer.
Patti Lyons Catalano Dillon - Patti was the first American woman to run a marathon in less than 2:30. She's an extraordinarily upbeat person, who, with her husband, Dan, coaches the Connecticut Home Schooled Harriers. She also shares her experience with the next generation of runners on Dyestat's Girl Talk! thread and elsewhere. Patti's current running goal is to qualify to run in the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon (when she will be 55 years old!). In order to do this, she'll need to meet the qualifying standard by running a marathon in 2:47:00 or faster. If she succeeds (and I think she'll do it as long as she can stay healthy), she'll be rematched with the woman who beat her at Boston in 1979, Joan Benoit Samuelson, who has already qualified.
So, for both competing at a high level and working to pass their love of running on to others, these are my runners who rock.
Two memes that are drifting around the running community are: "five random things" and "runners who rock." The first is sort of a challenge to open yourself up, the second is to list some runners you respect and tell why. You can see some examples of the first meme by clicking these links: Alison's Blog - Start Now; Running Chick with the Orange Hat; and The Thinking Runner. Some examples of the second can be found here: Running With Jack; Weighty Words; and you can see this meme get started in A Passion For Running. The first has no real appeal to me, but the second, because it involves recognizing excellence (perhaps in unusual ways) appeals to me. So, I've decided to tag myself on the second meme, Runners Who Rock.
Since this meme originated the Mark, the running blogfather, I've copied his rules here:
1-Create a post titled Runners Who Rock.
2-List three runners who rock and tell us why they rock. Make sure you provide a link to their blog!
3-Tell those three runners about the meme and tag them so they can keep it going.
4-Link to runners who rock and to the blogger who tagged you so we get a ping and can keep track of all the participants!
Now, since I've ignored normal rules, I'm going to modify them here a bit. Since a meme must grow, it requires other bloggers to get involved. Since, I wasn't tagged, I don't feel an obligation to name bloggers as my Runners Who Rock choices. Therefore, I have a level of freedom that normal memers (again a questionable word) don't have. So, here's my list of Runners Who Rock:
Toshiko D'Elia - Toshi, as she's known, is a top national level age group competitor. Toshi came to running relatively late - I think a bit over 30 years ago. She and her late husband, Fred, were involved in founding the North Jersey Masters Track and Field Club. Toshi holds numerous national age group records, and now competes in the 75-79 year-old age group. She's in the midst of recovering from missing most of her Fall training, the result of a broken arm suffered when she was knocked down at the NewAlliance New Haven 20K Road Race over Labor Day weekend. I recently had the chance to see her as she watched her grandson, Ben, competing at the New Jersey Cross-Country Meet of Champions.
Roger Price - Roger is another national class age-group competitor. He works at the Sneaker Factory running store, where he shares his shoe and running expertise with their customer base. Roger is an active member of both Raritan Valley Road Runners and USATF-New Jersey and has served both organizations as a volunteer.
Patti Lyons Catalano Dillon - Patti was the first American woman to run a marathon in less than 2:30. She's an extraordinarily upbeat person, who, with her husband, Dan, coaches the Connecticut Home Schooled Harriers. She also shares her experience with the next generation of runners on Dyestat's Girl Talk! thread and elsewhere. Patti's current running goal is to qualify to run in the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon (when she will be 55 years old!). In order to do this, she'll need to meet the qualifying standard by running a marathon in 2:47:00 or faster. If she succeeds (and I think she'll do it as long as she can stay healthy), she'll be rematched with the woman who beat her at Boston in 1979, Joan Benoit Samuelson, who has already qualified.
So, for both competing at a high level and working to pass their love of running on to others, these are my runners who rock.
posted by Scooter at 1:24 PM
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