Mixed emotions
Micah Tyhurst

I'm a little mixed about the state of our sport and even the Olympics as a whole. I just read an article about protestors at the torch relay in Paris and London. I understand what China is doing, but for how many centuries did the Olympics go on where wars were being fought at all times for many reasons and then halted for the games. The games give the chance for athletes to have center stage of the world's media. The world should be celebrating the events that only happen once every four years instead of protesting the relay towards the host of the reason modern athletics are in existence. What does this prove? On the other hand I can completely understand why people are in such an uproar. China is responsible for mass genocide in Tibet and with a government and athletes, may I remind you of all of the drug cheats that got caught after all of their "world record" races, that have no moral scruples, how can this have happened. Though as Americans or even humans who are we to cast the first stone, or any stone for that matter. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) was wrong in giving the games to China for so many reasons. One being the political issues, but again I stress that these should be ignored, the other being the air quality. The majority of these events take place in an open/ outdoor environment where air quality is, at best, poor. How are the world's best athletes supposed to compete at their best in conditions where they are recommended to stay inside as much as possible and take vitamins everyday just to stay healthy? Thirdly, the weather in July in China is not at all conducive to world best performances, it averages 90 plus through July and August along with 70% humidity and above. The IOC seemed not to take any of these factors into account. It is a shame that things like this are taking center stage months before the games, especially when all of these problems were quite evident when China was awarded the games 8 years ago...

... Another topic on which I would like to talk about is the idea that American's aren't good at distance running despite all of the advantages we have. Now I fully agree that our advantages are greater than most, we have so many "comforts" of life that billions of other people throughout the world don't have, but perhaps it is the "advantages" that create the "where is my bottle of evian?" athletes. We claim to be working just as hard as the rest of the world, but are we? Have we grown up in little towns rife with war or had to run to our schools and home everyday since we were kids? Have many of us ever known what it is like to possibly not have a meal? Have we ever had to run for days straight to avoid being killed by "freedom fighters?" The answer to these questions is a resounding NO. They run to live, literally. It is their life, either in a good way or a bad way. Now I am not saying that we have it as easy as other athletes either. We could be given easy government jobs like the Europeans in their hay-day, maybe even today, and set our own work schedules, and have training whenever we want it. This is not the case either, we work hard, and have to do what we can (many of us anyway). There are times where we run into blocks in the road, metaphorically speaking of course, unless you're trying to use the SBCC track and get yelled at for moving the things that block your way, and I believe we have no real excuses why we cannot run with the rest of the world, DRUG FREE that is. Ryan Hall is the best thing we have going for us, though he is a professional runner he is clean, he is spiritual and he is damn fast...

...Lastly I would like to touch on something a little more locally, since thinking globally on subjects I am not going to have much of an influence on is pretty much a waste of time. I have a few things to get out. First of all, I have been biting my tongue on this for a while, how is it that one could run a 14:03 for the 5000m, win a conference championship, qualify to NCAA Regionals or just even win a home meet for UCSB and there is no mention of it in any local news paper, even the Daily Nexus. Yet this same person who has done all of these things wins the local half marathon in a time that wouldn't even qualify him to the US Championships and gets front page of the News Press and 1.5 pages on him and 3 pictures. How about some attention at the Division I team where the women qualified to NCAA Championships every year for the last 4 years and 5 out of last 6 and even placed in the top 10 once, and the men have made it once as well and at one point were ranked in the top 15? I surely hope I am not the only one who sees something wrong with this. Also, this same person who won the half marathon got a little plaque (the same one that 30 people got) and nothing else for winning. The races are run on the same course (leadbetter or chase palm) and the prizes are rarely present or a pair of shoes. The lack of originality in the courses is saddening and the fact that we live in a community as affluent as it is, we cannot find something better than a pair of shoes?

Changes need to be made in the world, and the best way to start change is locally. Santa Barbara needs a fresh look at running, we need races with actual prize money, reasons for people to come see our city, we need new venues, we need new ideas. I have been living here for 5 years, compared to most that is a long time, and have only been outside the collegiate running scene for a short while yet I am tired of how trite things are here. Perhaps we should talk about these things in a forum of some sort, I know there are good ideas out there, and people who have held back for so long, let's improve our little piece of Earth and hope that this effects others.