Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Amazing Internet

It's amazing what you can learn about yourself on the Internet.

As a cross-country runner in high school, I had placed 82nd in the state championship, in Oregon. That much I knew.

What I learned on the Internet was that I had run the race in 13 minutes and 30 seconds.

I don't think I had ever known that. I certainly didn't expect to find it on the net.

It was a long time ago. 1972.

But there it is in black and white. The winning time, I see, was 11 minutes, 54 seconds.

I also see that three of my teammates finished ahead of me, three behind. I had almost forgotten their names, but now I can picture them clearly.

Dan Aunspaugh, Ed Nelson, Randy Herman, Doug Parham, Bob Knytysch, Steve Stoyles — great bunch of guys.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

very cool. how long was the race?

Al Riske
(a.k.a. The Alster)
said...

The race would have been at least 2.5 miles, possibly as much as 2.7. I was never sure, as course length varied. Alas, the Internet was no help on that one.

gnbardsley said...

I agree. I love the internet. Don't know what I'd do w/o it! :)

Bob K said...

Hello, Al from Bob Knytych!

Yes the internet is amazing. More amazing is that memories of an event from a long time ago are so vivid when triggered by a simple list of places and times. It was wet, muddy, cold, fast, and tough!

And indeed it was a great group of guys.

Al Riske
(a.k.a. The Alster)
said...

Hi, Bob. Great to see your comment here. Drop me a line at alriske[at]yahoo.com