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Jenny Spangler - Olympian and Role Model

08/27/2012 in Running Posts

js2 Jenny Spangler Olympian and Role ModelSince Adventures In Running came into being, we have made it a priority to provide information and editorial that is culturally significant and occasionally humorous, but always of the highest caliber. Today is no exception and I am honored to introduce a guest that will provide class and professionalism superior to our daily standards. None other than U.S. Olympic marathoner and 1st place time trials winner, Jenny Spangler. On a tricky course consisting of rolling hills, the 32-year-old Spangler crossed the finish line at 2:29:54 to win the Olympic trials and beat the best female runners the United States had to offer.

Dave (AIR) - Hi Jenny, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview with Adventures In Running and welcome you to our forum. You must have some great stories to tell.
Jenny Spangler - Thanks, Dave! I started running in the Spring of 1978 and have had many great adventures along the way which I enjoy sharing.

Dave (AIR) - If you could describe your running philosophy in one sentence, what would it be?
Jenny Spangler - Don’t be a slave to your watch or other digital devices. ENJOY!

Dave (AIR) - You were ranked 61st fastest going into the Olympic trials. How confident were you that you could secure a spot for Atlanta?
Jenny Spangler - I was not confident at all! My training had been going extremely well and my coaches (Joe Douglas and Willie Rios) had told me that if I had a perfect day I could possibly be in the top 3. The reality was that I hadn’t run a good marathon since I won Grandma’s in 1983 so deep down I didn’t think I had a chance.

Dave (AIR) - You are credited with the greatest upset ever at the Olympic trials, what went through your mind when you realized you were going to win?
Jenny Spangler - I was in complete shock. I really didn’t believe that I was going to win until I saw the finish line just ahead of me. I kept waiting for someone to zoom past me.

Dave (AIR) - When you trained with the Santa Monica Track Club, I read that Carl Lewis paid for some of the expenses. Did you get the opportunity to work with him?
Jenny Spangler - Carl is an extremely nice and approachable person. We spoke fairly often and we would sometimes be doing workouts on the track at the same time. He trained in Houston under Tom Tellez so I didn’t see him regularly when I trained in Santa Monica.

Dave (AIR) - Most runners experience an injury at some point. As a successful runner, what is your advice for those who may be struggling?
Jenny Spangler - As hard as it is, you need to be patient. You cannot ignore your injury - it won’t magically go away. There are SO many cross-training opportunities these days so explore a new activity and use this time to do more stretching and strength training. I fell in love with the bike once when I was injured and incorporate it now into my training.

Dave (AIR) - You created Jenny Spangler Racing in January of 2008. Please tell me more about JSR for anyone who may wish to join.
Jenny Spangler - We are a small group of runners who enjoying training and racing together. On a run in 2007 someone mentioned that we should start our own racing team since we like to run together so much so we made it a reality in 2008. The fact is that we all have families and have work obligations so we run together when we can but we all feel like family and our families get together for picnics and other socializing. Our team mission is: “Provide a fun yet disciplined team running environment that motivates each athlete to reach their full potential through camaraderie and hard work.”

Dave (AIR) - The USOC says a gold medalist in the Olympics get $25,000, a silver medalist $15,000 and a bronze winner $10,000. What do you think of the recent bill being proposed by Senator Marco Rubio that exempts medal winners from paying a tax for those winnings?
Jenny Spangler - I absolutely support it 100%. These athletes have spent countless years of hard work and expenses to fulfill their Olympic dream and represent the United States of America.

Dave (AIR) - You have a magnificent career, a wonderful family and a spectacular racing team. Is there a dream or goal you still desire to accomplish going forward?
Jenny Spangler - A few things: I turn 50 years old in July 2013. I have had several injuries and other distractions over the past several years but I would like to get back to competitive racing by the time I turn 50. Will I set PR’s - most likely, “no” but I would like to be competitive in Master’s races at the National level. I also have a goal of getting youth more involved in running here in the Northern Suburbs but I haven’t put a plan in place yet - more to come!!

Dave (AIR) - Aside from anything Olympics related, what has been your most pleasant memory?
Jenny Spangler - Watching both my step-daughter, Kristina (now 24) and my daughter, Kelli (10 years old) “find” running and get excited about it. It is great to watch people fall in love with the sport!

Dave (AIR) - Is there anything you are never asked, but want people to know about Jenny Spangler?
Jenny Spangler - I joined the track team my Freshman year of high school because I was cut from the basketball team and my parents told me that I had to be involved in an extra curricular activity.

Dave (AIR) - Thanks again Jenny for granting me this interview and I wish you much success in your future races and plans for youth involvement in the sport.
Jenny Spangler - Thank YOU! This has been fun! I look forward to seeing you at the races!

Jenny’s very impressive running accomplishments:

jslogo Jenny Spangler Olympian and Role Model

Life Time Personal Bests
Distance Time Year
1 Mile 4:54 1986
3K 9:22 1986
5K 16:08 1982
4 Mile 22:30 2004
8K 27:33 2004
10K 33:39 1983
12K 44:05 2005
10 Mile 56:55 2004
20K 1:15:05 1994
½ Marathon 1:13:48 1994
25K 1:31:05 2005
Marathon 2:29:54 1996

Career Racing Accomplishments

1982 - Led University of Iowa Women to Iowa’s first Big 10 Cross Country Championship
1983 - 1st Place Grandma’s Marathon, Duluth, MN 2:33:51
(World Age Group Record for Females 19 and Under - no longer current record)
(American Age Group Record for Females 19 and Under - still current record)
1984 - 2nd Place Houston-Tenneco Marathon, Houston, TX 2:36:52
1984 - Inaugural US Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials Participant, Olympia, WA 2:40:18
1988 - US Olympic Marathon Trials Participant, Pittsburgh, PA 2:44:59
1996 - 1st Place US Olympic Marathon Trials, Columbia, SC 2:29:54
1996 - Olympic Marathon Participant, Atlanta, GA
2003 - 1st Masters Female Chicago Marathon, Chicago, IL 2:32:38
(American Masters Record - no longer current record)
2004 - 9th Place US Olympic Marathon Trials, St. Louis, MO 2:36:30
(1st Masters Female)
2005 - World Championships ½ Marathon Participant, Edmonton, Alberta

Running Related Awards and Achievements

1983 - NCAA All-American Track & Field 10,000 Meter Run
1983 - NCAA All-American Cross Country
1986 - Robert F. Ray Award given for academic and athletic excellence to one athlete in the University of Iowa Women’s Athletic Program
1987 - Inducted into the University of Iowa Women’s Track & Field Hall of Fame
1996 - CARA Gold Medal Award (Chicago Area Runner’s Association)
2003 - CARA Gold Medal Award (Chicago Area Runner’s Association)
2007 - Inducted into the RRCA Hall of Fame (Road Runner’s Club of America)

Run for fun and race to place everyone!

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by The Hornet

NBC was DOA in London

08/15/2012 in Running Posts

ross 300x193 NBC was DOA in LondonCongratulations to all the athletes who participated in the 2012 Olympic Games. World records were shattered and the athletic performances from around the world were nothing short of sensational.

I am sure that most, if not all, of you tuned in for as much of the 2012 Olympic games in London as you could watch on NBC. This was the most successful summer Olympics in history for the United States. Unfortunately, we were deprived of much of the enjoyment by an incompetent network that failed in its duties from the opening to closing ceremonies and everything in between. I pray that another network can outbid NBC for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio because the sheer quantity of blunders would make it nearly impossible to list them all here. Some complaints have been widespread while others have been voiced by me alone. Tell me if you agree by voting in the poll below.

  • Right from the beginning in the Opening Ceremony, NBC cut away from a tribute to the victims of the 2005 London bombings to show a pre-recorded interview with Michael Phelps. When criticized for doing so, their response was condescending and ignorant, “Our programming is tailored for the U.S. audience.” Get off it NBC, you know as well as I do that you didn’t air that portion because of political motivations.
  • There was a tremendous delay in many of the popular events until very late into the evening. The weekends were filled with “sports” that I can’t imagine many people would enjoy watching (rhythmic gymnastics) and some important events were not shown live or at all. If you are a track and field fan (and I am sure you are) the coverage was beyond disappointing. Important track events were taking place but NBC decided it was more important to show the United States woman’s basketball team beating the stuffing out of the French. I think three or four people watch the WNBA in the U.S., so what makes NBC think we care to watch them in a game that’s not even close? Triathlon and cycling were not very well represented either. By the time you were able to sit down and watch the little quality coverage there was, it was likely you already knew what transpired and who won the events. NBC says that we could have watched everything live on the internet. Not true! I am not the only one who had problems getting the page to load during popular events and most of us could not sit in front of our computers at 4:30 am and still make it to our jobs on time. Jobs we do correctly by the way, unlike NBC.
  • Why was Ryan Seacrest on the Olympics? Why is Ryan Seacrest on anything at all for that matter? Did NBC not think that Bob Costas was sufficiently annoying? Even so, I still must give some credit to Seacrest for not being rude to the athletes as Bob Costas was during his interview with Michael Phelps.nbc fail NBC was DOA in London
  • Commercials were not planned out well for having events that were taped. You would think it would not be too difficult to appropriately place your sponsors air time into taped events as they do in their regular programming, but NBC failed at that as well. This is not the first time I have watched the Olympics folks. This “coverage” was a chopped up, haphazardly thrown together disaster. I will not accept the time zone argument that NBC put forth because I remember the 1984 winter Olympics in Sarajevo. With far less technology, ABC was able to deliver quality coverage from the same part of the world with only 63 total hours versus NBC’s 5538.
  • I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the story of Kellie Wells, the Olympic bronze medal winner in the woman’s 100 meter hurdles. She had been abused and raped repeatedly at a young age by her step father which drove her to eventually move in with a friend when she was sixteen. One month later she was informed that her mother and her rapist were killed in a car accident. She now wants to be a role model and inspiration to others who have been victims of sexual abuse, which is truly commendable. It is a horrific but inspiring story that was conveyed by NBC announcers far too early in the evening for people that may have been watching the games with their younger children. Sorry, but I don’t want to have to explain the concept of rape to little Susie.
  • While the Brits put on an extremely enjoyable closing show from beginning to end……wait. Where was the end? The last thing I saw was NBC cut away to their new show “Animal Practice”. I sat through 30 minutes of the worst television ever broadcast until I decided it was time to either shoot myself or go to sleep. The hour was late and any hopes of seeing the final celebrations were slim. From what I understand NBC cut out performances by Ray Davies, The Who and Muse for a craptacular hour of bad jokes and a dressed up monkey. To think, some moron got paid to make this decision and a bigger moron got money to create the “show”. Where were the closing fireworks? Where was the big finale? If it was even televised, it was far too late for people with responsibilities early the next morning. If you were one of the real troopers that stayed awake and watched whatever happened after Animal Practice, I applaud you.
Run for fun and race to place everyone!

 

 

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by The Hornet

Ultra Runner or Ultra Insecure?

08/10/2025 in Running Posts

beware insecure 268x300 Ultra Runner or Ultra Insecure?There will be a poll for you to vote at the end of this article. It’s been a while since I went on a rant so here we go and PLEASE read carefully what I am trying to make clear. I was speaking with a friend of mine last night who happens to be an ultra trail runner. Let me preface this article with an explanation of said friend. He HATES pavement running and becomes extremely defensive when anything positive is said about the subject. I really don’t want to beat him up too badly though because he’s not a bad guy.

Last night he made the assertion that if you took the best professional ultra trail runners, they would beat any of the best pavement marathoners on the street. I am not going to sit here and tell you that one type of running is better or worse than another, with the exception of parkour, which is just idiotic. Whatever floats your boat is fine with me. But what I will argue is that you can’t find ANY ultra trail runner that can beat someone like Ryan Hall (PR 2:04:53) in a 26.2 mile pavement run. By the same token I would never put Ryan Hall in a 50 mile race filled with tree roots and loose gravel and expect him to beat the best ultra trail runner. As a general rule, when comparing runners of like ability, asphalt runners won’t beat trail runners in their world and trail runners can’t beat us in ours. They are two different types of running, that’s all I am saying. Oh, but that wasn’t good enough for my friend as he responded continuously with “I don’t believe that.” He still insists that there are ultra trail runners that can beat our best pavement runners in a street marathon. Good luck with that.

29906170001 1775493724001 0807dv oly ryan hall 400x300 300x225 Ultra Runner or Ultra Insecure? Those of you in the ultra running community, I request that you don’t take offense when I make my next statement because I know many of you and what I have to say does not apply to everyone. Trust me, I do admire the ability that many of you possess. Having said that, I find among a segment of the ultra running community, that they have an inferiority complex and staged arrogance, if not a self-convinced, inflated sense of self-worth which always seems to have them chasing praise from anyone who will listen. Dean Karnazes is a great example. Don’t know who he is? Maybe that’s why these people are so insecure. One of the top ultra runners, he has been repeatedly accused of exaggerating some of his past race times and providing no proof to back them up. When he fails at what he sets out to do, he instantly becomes royalty - the king of excuses. Sure, he’s run A LOT of miles and has some very impressive accomplishments, but his arrogance is based on finding a pointless goal that most others would not want to attempt and then engage in incessant self-promotion. Sorry Dean and ultra runners like you, I would gladly put you up against Ryan Hall in a 26.2 mile pavement race ANY day of the week and watch you get your butt kicked. For those of you that fall into that category I have this to say, SHUT UP AND RUN! Running encompasses many things, athletic performance, competition, health and an inner peace just to name a few. What it should not be about is trying satisfy some lifelong insecurity by having an enormous ego and browbeating praise from others. I’ll agree to stay out of the ultra trail running world competitively if the group that I speak of agrees to leave their obvious shortcomings at the door and just run their sport. Unfortunately, I am likely asking the impossible.
Run for fun and race to place everyone! (Yes, ultra running friends too)

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NSAID’s - Short Term Gain But Long Term Pain?

08/01/2026 in Running Posts

NSAIDS 300x241 NSAIDs Short Term Gain But Long Term Pain?This is not a topic I am looking forward to tackling for a variety of reasons but it is an important one. In an acronym, NSAID’s. There is practically limitless information on the internet regarding athletes and anti-inflammatory drugs. I will not cover all the boring specifics and technical medical jargon but I will address the significant points. In the interest of full disclosure I must point out that I have used these drugs regularly for the past year. With that said, I will not be biased in my reporting and give you the facts as I know them and any personal opinions I will make obvious. IMPORTANT - I am NOT a doctor and don’t even play one on TV. So do not assume I am giving medical advice, I am not.

Alright, now that the lawyers have left the room, let’s get started. I know many runners are similar to me and have muscle pain or a nagging injury that compels you to take over the counter pain killers to mask the discomfort. Some athletes take ibuprofen on a regular basis but there are some definite problems when taking ”Vitamin I” and other NSAID’s for long periods of time. Aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin) and naproxen sodium (Aleve) all fall into the NSAID category and prevent your body from producing natural substances that protect the stomach lining as well as having the desired effect of reduced pain and inflammation. Since the stomach is minimally protected while taking these drugs, it can lead to nausea, cramping and gastrointestinal bleeding as the risk increases over long-term use.

Recent studies (for which I can’t seem to find any DETAILED information) have shown that masking pain can lead to increased risk of injury. OPINION - I don’t necessarily agree with this argument because it really depends on the extent of the problem. Let’s face it, at 43 years old and quite a bit of punishment inflicted upon this body, my muscles are going to do some complaining. But if you are hobbling around all day then you should probably see a doctor rather than hide the symptoms. One doctor went as far as to say that (I’m paraphrasing) if you are using NSAID’s to run, then you probably should try taking up another sport. He obviously doesn’t have much experience with runners does he?

Last, but extremely important, is the risk of kidney failure. From all the research I have done this seems to be an extremely rare situation which requires a number of factors to be present:

  • Dehydration
  • Prescription dosage of NSAID’s
  • A condition called rhabdomyolysis in which the body releases a protein from damaged skeletal muscles into the bloodstream that is extremely detrimental to the kidneys
  • Usually some sort of viral or bacterial infection is a contributing factor

1315157607673 300x199 NSAIDs Short Term Gain But Long Term Pain?

Can I take acetaminophen (Tylenol) before a race? Doctor Lewis G. Maharam (medical director for many high-profile marathons) says, “Acetaminophen is a much safer choice, because it’s far less likely to effect kidney function.” That’s one doctors opinion and I will let you decide for yourselves if this is a valid statement.

If I may speak from personal experience for a moment, I have had severe GI issues recently that have forced me seek medical attention. Is this from the NSAID’s I take three times a week? I don’t know, but it surely didn’t help. I don’t fear “risking an injury” due to hiding the pain because I still use common sense. If I had an actual injury rather than just muscles screaming at me, then yes, I would see a doctor. The kidney failure issue is something I hope none of us ever have to contend with. While extremely frightening, all investigation seems to point to it being very unlikely for most people. Whatever you decide to take for your pain, if anything, make sure that you are addressing the long term issues as well as the “here and now”.

Run for fun but race to place everyone!

 

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