a little history, a little humor

From marathoner to millionaire…The late Brian Maxwell, former 2:14.43 Canadian marathoner-third at Boston in 1977, served a brief stint as distance coach at his alma mater, UC Berkeley. At the UC Irvine cross country invitational in 1979 Brian was chatting with the involved coaches prior to the meet and lamenting that he didn’t think he could stay in coaching very long because there wasn’t enough money to make a living. Then, he, his wife Jennifer, and Bill Vaughn, a biochemist and local runner, began experimenting to find an energy food for runners. 800 homemade batches later Power Bar arrived. Suffice it to say Brian and Jennifer had no problems making a living and raising three children ($14 million dollars in sales in 1993 and sales have increased every year.)

- Larry Knuth, UC Irvine cross country coach,’79-’81; “PowerPlay” by Bob Wischnia, Runner’s World, June 1994

Clueless wife … At age 65 and speaking at a Runner’s World banquet England’s Roger Bannister, the world’s first sub-4 minute miler, reflected on his wife’s understanding of his running background. “She knew nothing about sport. She thought I had run 4 miles in 1 minute …and she wasn’t much impressed.”

-The Inside, Runner’s World, August, 1994

The javelin throwing 1500 runner … Arlene Mears (DeAnza CC) was the first state women’s 1500 champion-4:43.4, AND  she also won the javelin state title (135-9) that

year.

Mickey Mouse at the Olylmpics… Steve Scott, former American holder of the mile record and current CS San Marcos coach, has always been known for his sense of humor. It reached international status at the 1988 Seoul Olympics opening day ceremonies when he joined distance teammates Henry Marsh, and Doug Padilla (Chabot CC/ BYU) to don Mickey Mouse ears during the parade of nations with the American contingent. The “suits or powers that be” did not think it was funny!

Olga Connolly named OCC discus, shot put coach … Five-time Olympian Olga Connolly has been selected by Orange Coast Head Coach John Knox to coach the shot put and discus throwers for the 2009 track and field season. Connolly made international news when she represented her native Czechoslovakia in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and won the discus gold medal. She later married American Hal Connolly, who also won gold in the hammer throw in those Games. She went on to represent America in the following four Olympiads and in 1972 was selected by her teammates to lead them into the stadium as the flag bearer. Connolly broke the American discus record four times and won the USA Nationals five times.