A/Rist in the spotlight (drquirky)

Will try to plow through these!


How long have you been Ireland?
I moved to Ireland in 2007- just as the Celtic Tiger was topping out.
Why Ireland?
Its a bit of a long story that involves women, politics, wanderlust etc etc. Do a long run with me sometime and I'll tell you the whole thing
What thing/item do you miss most about not living in the US (outside of family)?
Decent pizza and church/state separation. Outside of that not very much
What do you like most about Ireland that you would not get in the US?
The Phoenix Park, black pudding, no guns and really really long summer evenings.
What is your opinion on hot dogs?
Funny you ask. I'm not a huge fan myself but my Grandfather was brought over to the USA from Hungary by his father. They opened a bar and began selling sausages/ hot dogs to get the customers to drink more beer. This small enterprise turned into a massive meat/hot dog company that at its apex used to
supply Madison Sq. Garden in NYC w/ hot dogs. The entire thing exploded in massive family acrimony in the 1970's (so unfortunately I'm not a hot dog heir)
Why were you banned from the weather forum?

Are you from Boston itself or a city outside of Boston? If so, which one? Have relations there so wondering if you are originally from close by…
Suburban hell. 15 miles west of the city.
Still looking at Boston Marathon in 2015?

Yup. sub 2:40 Boston 2015 is the long term goal.

What are your Senior PBs in 5km and 10km?
15:4x and 32:50 both run at age 19.
Who has been the biggest influence in your running life and why?
My high school coach. Not only did he influence me in running but he introduced me to punk rock, beat generation literature and Scorsese movies.
If you had only one sentence to influence a novice person’s running life what would that sentence be?

Don't over think or over analyse your running- run more and more consistently and you will improve.
What is your favourite race to date that you have ran and why?

Hmmmm….I really enjoyed the Budapest Marathon this year. Simply because it was fun to run a marathon and not blow up.
What do you consider to be your all-time best running performance? Tell us a bit about it. (making it sound like you are old and retired here! )
1996 New England Small School X-C Championships. I finished 3rd- don't actually remember tons about the course but there was this Ethiopian fella who ended up winning (he went on to be pushing a sub 4 mile in college) . He was a bit of an unknown to us going in and I think he put 45 secs on me and the second place guy before we even knew it. Ended up in a battle royal for 2nd place w/ my nemesis for the entire race. Fell at the bottom of a hill but it was muddy and I kind of slid back up into a standing position w/out losing any time. Ethiopian lad won by a bunch I got out kicked for 3rd.
What do you enjoy most about running?
The silence/ the camaraderie and the balance it gives me.

Why do you guys hate on Alan Webb so much??
This question presupposes I'm one of the let's run trolls that starts thread after thread openly mocking America's greatest ever high school runner. I'm not. That said, I think the unfulfilled potential annoys people

what was the trigger that turned you from a nice happy poster into the angry bollox you are today?
Always been an angry bollix on the 'net!
-favourite place to train? (Ireland and US)
Phoenix Park and Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Ma
-Typical training week while running in college?
Monday 1hr easy/ Tuesday am 45 mins easy pm Session /Weds 1 hr easy (though easy runs never actually done easy and always turned into a ridiculous race) Thurs am 45 mins easy pm Session/ Fri 1 hr easy /Sat. race/ Sunday 15miles through Amish country w/ coach trailing in a "meat wagon" to pick up stragglers/ lads who managed to get out on the beer the night before.
-List of full track PBs?
800m 2:04 Mile 4:32 3000m 8:58(indoors) 5000m 15:42 10000m 32:50
-Favourite meal?
Pizza from one of the old school (circa 1920' era) first generation/ coal fired East Coast Pizza Places (Frank Pepe's in New Haven, Santarpio's in Boston and Totones on Coney Island would all be examples of this style
-Why do you hate the Canadians?
They are in denial about having a separate culture to the USA. They are essentially the Americans who were too afraid to get rid of the monarchy.
-What exactly did you do to get banned from the weather forum?
-Do you feel ashamed that one of the sister pearse joggers finished ahead of you last Sunday?
Not ashamed, just annoyed.
-Favourite training session?
5 mile tempo
-Views on drug taking?
Recreationally, they should be legalised. In sports, I support lifetime bans.
-Baseball is a sport played by fat unfit men who can throw or hit a ball, it's not really a sport. Discuss this statement*

Mostly true. but for me nothing really eclipses the theatre and drama of baseball. It is called America's pastime for a reason- it has immense importance to the social fabric/ culture of the USA. Also there aren't many better ways to kill a few hours then to sit in a baseball stadium, drink some beers and passively watch a game.

- How long have you supported Arsenal?
- Top 3 Arsenal players of the last 20 years?
- List your dream times you'd like to run for 5k,10k,10 miles,half marathon & marathon over the next 2-3 years (you're old so need to get it done soon )
- Would you enter one of those races were you push your kid in a jogging buggy (I'll find a link later).
- Boardsie you'd most like to beat.
- Irish breakfast or US breakfast?
- In terms of races you'd like to run what is your bucket list?
- What race would you never run again?

Are you really canadian or american or irish?
American! I also have an Irish passport though now
How many LetsRun poster names do you have?
TBH I mostly just lurk there- though I do recognise I share some of the snakiness of some of the posters on there.
How do you rate your chances of getting Nick Symmonds or Josh Harris over for the next beer mile?
Low. I will say though- I am actually trying (not making this up)
Favorite (sic) pub in Leitrim?
As my OH's family lives pretty close to Sligo town, we usually just go out for a drink there(I'm afraid of Leitrim culchies). Shoot the Crows in Sligo is really good.

Weather models or Big Als burgers - which is worse?
European Championships or NCAA? If you could win either which one?
Favourite US athlete (aside from Symmonds)?
Most dreaded session?
More proud of - Track or Road achievements?

Why did you do to get banned from the weather forum?

How long have you supported Arsenal?

I lived in Finsbury Park from 1998-2001 and began supporting them around 1999.

- Top 3 Arsenal players of the last 20 years?
Henry, Bergkamp, Viera

List your dream times you'd like to run for 5k,10k,10 miles,half marathon & marathon over the next 2-3 years (you're old so need to get it done soon )
sub 15:40 5k, sub 33 10k, 55 10 miles sub 1:15 HM sub 2:35 Mara (realise these are pretty ambitious.)

Would you enter one of those races were you push your kid in a jogging buggy (I'll find a link later).
Yup would want my kids to taste victory early.

Boardsie you'd most like to beat.
You or KU

Irish breakfast or US breakfast?
I like both for different reasons

In terms of races you'd like to run what is your bucket list?
Boston 2015
Falmouth RR
Beer Mile
Berlin
The Havana Marathon
Hood to Coast Relay
Spawell Gift
An Indoor DMR
That HM in Spain Ecoli goes over to
Tokyo

What race would you never run again?
Bohermeen 5k or any 10k in NYC in the middle of July!

Who on boards annoys you most with their posts.
won't name names but not a big fan of people posting ridiculous workout splits (relative to their PB's) usually on short intervals and then claiming they are targeting times that are 2-3 mins faster than their current PBs in the next race. I think loads of people don't really understand the work required to get times down by big margins.

Who would you hate to be beaten by?
The Boy Blunder in DCM '14

If you could re-run one race from the past, which would it be an why, what would you change? 1998 Regional XC's in College. I was 5th man for the team that day and ran w/ a stress fracture. Very very stupid and the ensuing worse injury ended up being the catalyst for my 13 yr. running break and 30lb weight gain!

Are you going to step up and run the next beer mile?

Hopefully but it depends on numbers and quality of field!