Running to the Edge by Matthew Futterman

Author:Matthew Futterman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2019-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

Kirk Pfeffer has a ritual. At some point every day, sometimes on the way to class, sometimes on his way to track practice, sometimes during practice, he likes to take a glance at his hero. Frank Shorter is never hard to find. He trains at 11:30 each morning and at 3:30 every afternoon. Right there in Boulder. In good weather he’s out on the streets or in the trails under the Flatirons, or on the outdoor track at the university. In bad weather he’s on one of the highest indoor tracks in the country. The 1972 Olympic marathon champion is out there, effortlessly clicking through his road miles, or churning out his half-mile intervals. He is the apotheosis of efficiency. If running is a small but growing cult religion, Shorter is its prophet, especially now that Pre is gone. Shorter is why Pfeffer is here in Boulder.

After two years of running for Bob Larsen at Grossmont, he had the times to write his own ticket at a major college program. Pfeffer wanted Boulder for one reason—Shorter had settled there. Shorter had grown addicted to the cool, dry weather and the mile-high altitude, ideal for training. If it was good enough for Shorter, it was good enough for Pfeffer. Since showing up in August not a day has passed when he felt like he made the wrong decision, even if Colorado’s coach is an old-school interval guy, and Kirk is all about those thresholds on the roads. Kirk trains often on his own. In early mornings. At night when he is antsy. It makes no difference. He’s even got the wavy brown hair and the Shorter mustache. Boulder is his spot, has been since he first landed here.

Then in mid-October, Bob Larsen calls and asks Kirk if he wants to be a part of the Toads team going to the AAU Cross Country National Championships in Philadelphia the next month. Pfeffer doesn’t take a minute to think. Of course he does. Once a Toad always a Toad, he tells Larsen. That’s exactly what Larsen wants to hear. Also, Larsen has been reading up on some of the early studies about altitude training. He’s beginning to believe that it can make a pretty big difference. Hearing Kirk say he’s ready to sign on makes him even surer that this really might be the year of the Toad. Kirk was a demon running at sea level. Train him a mile above sea level, and perhaps there’s no telling how far and fast he can go.

When Kirk arrives at track practice a few days after his chat with Larsen, he is told that Colorado athletic director Eddie Crowder needs to have a word with him. Pfeffer has no earthly idea why Crowder might be interested in him. Crowder spent eleven years as the football coach in Boulder. Like most athletic directors with football roots, that’s mainly what he cares about. He’s got nothing against the track guys. It’s just not his thing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.