Of all the world-class runners I’ve known, Steve Scott was in many ways the most remarkable. He was also the first top runner I ever really got to know well. I readily admit to a tremendous bias when it comes to Steve Scott, but IMHO he was the greatest American miler of all-time and one of the top 10 in world history.

If consistency counts for anything, Steve was king. In a sport (and event) where two or three years at the top is the norm, Scott was the top-ranked American miler for 10 years and top 10 in the world 11 times. When he set the American record of 3:47.69 in 1982, nobody had any idea it would stand for 25 years.

His longevity was unprecedented. Scott’s career as a world-class miler lasted a staggering 15 years (1977-1992) and during that time, he ran 136 sub-4 minute miles. Nobody has ever approached that mark and probably never will. I always believed the reason he was so good for so long was the unbelievable quantity and high quality of his training. Not to mention an unquenchable love to compete. Scott raced year-round (including road races and cross-country) and during the winter, he would frequently race indoor miles in different meets in different cities on consecutive nights.

Clearly, Scott’s massive training load set him apart from other top milers of his era. I saw plenty of runners move to Arizona or California to train with Scott and after a month or two, they usually left crippled like a punch-drunk sparring partner. One favorite workout of Scott’s when he lived in Tempe, Arizona was to run seven or eight miles to South Mountain (the mountains that border Phoenix to the south) and then run up and down this steep, twisty mountain road to the top and then hightail it back to town. No runner ever stayed with him the entire 20 miles—not even Bill Rodgers who wintered in Phoenix back then.

The most amazing training effort I ever saw was the first time I went with Scott on a training run. Needless to say, I was in a car with his coach who was pacing him through a solo 12-miler through this area of Irvine, California known as the "Back Bay." About halfway through the run, Scott’s coach told him to pull up even with the driver’s side window and stay even with the car.

It was obvious that he was absolutely flying so I leaned over to check the speedometer which read 15 mph. Scott held that pace for a three or four-minute burst and then it dawned on me: This guy was actually running a four-minute mile, by himself, right in the middle of a 12-mile run!

I had never seen anything like this. But for Steve Scott, it was the norm. Amazing.

The only reason I bring all this up is I got an email this week from Steve telling me he was going to be in town next month for a running camp up in Georgetown. (More on that later.) Now the track and cross-country coach at California State—San Marcos (an NAIA school in San Diego County), Scott wasn’t the greatest runner in the world, but he was the most prodigious, most giving, friendliest and ballsy runner I ever met.

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O Steve Scott will be a guest coach at Francie Larrieu Smith’s cross-country camp (July 12-16) at Southwestern University in Georgetown where Francie is the head track and cross-country coach. The camp is for high-school runners (or soon-to-be high school runners, ages 12-18) who want to get ready for cross-country season and learn more about the sport. Nobody knows more about running than Francie who made five U.S. Olympic teams. For more info about the camp, go to www.franciesxccamp.com or you can email her at info@franciesxccamp.com.

O Francie was one of the first great American women runners in the early ‘70s and began competing for a team known as the San Jose Cindergals when she was 12. She didn’t run marathons back then as even in the Dark Ages of running, it was thought that marathoning for young kids was not a good thing. Many marathons prohibit runners younger than 18 from competing. According to the International Marathon Medical Directors Association, children younger than 18 shouldn’t run marathons because the mileage necessary to compete could lead to overuse injuries that could lead to problems with a child’s growth plates. But some medical experts are now saying that marathoning is fine for many children (assuming they train properly) "and that the problems of childhood obesity and inactivity dwarf any problems related to running a marathon," says Patrick O’Connor who is a 51-year-old professor of kinesiology at the University of Georgia and who ran a marathon when he was 11. In addition, says Dr. William Roberts, the long-time medical director of the Twin Cities Marathon which has no age restrictions, there have been no significant medical injuries in children who have run the race (as many as 300). And, says Roberts, running a marathon, unlike soccer or football, isn’t as injurious. Roberts conducted a study which looked at the long-term consequences of child marathoners and concluded, "I don't find marathons to be such a ridiculous idea. Any distance can be injurious for children if training is not judicious." Roberts doesn’t exactly endorse the idea of kids running marathons, but believes motivated children can run them as long as they participate in a supervised training program which emphasizes fun and participation. Food for thought.

O Jack London has probably heard every story, every joke about the confusion his name causes with the "other" Jack London (the author of "Call of the Wild", one of my favorites). Well, Jack London—the lawyer and long-time runner—can now say, "Yup, I’m Jack London, the novelist." Our Jack London—Jack Woodville London—has written and published his first novel. It’s actually the first of three novels that are collectively called "French Letters" (published by Vire Press). The first is called "Virginia’s War" and Jack describes it as a World War 11 story that takes place in the fictitious Texas town of Tierra in 1944. It took Jack four years to write it, mostly, he said, on planes going back and forth to New York City. He’s doing a reading of his book at the Barnes & Noble at the Arboretum at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Save me a seat.

O One of the most selfless guys in town—James Allen—is turning 50 and to commemorate this event, James is planning to run 50 miles on his birthday, July 8^th. James, a loan officer for Wells Fargo when he’s not running, is going to start out from his home in Tarrytown at 12:01 a.m. Through the night, he’s going to run two 18 ½-mile loops and finish each one at his home where he’ll refuel. Then, if all goes according to plan, James will meet a bunch of friends at his home about six a.m. and run down to the Lady Bird Trail where he’ll finish it off with a complete 10-mile loop around the lake.

O The RunTex Distance Challenge is set for the ‘09-10 season and looks like this: IBM Uptown Classic 10-K (October 18), the Gazelles Run for the Water 10-Miler ( November 8), Decker Challenge Half Marathon (December 6), the RunTex 20-Miler (January 10), the 3M Half Marathon (January 24) and the Austin Marathon on February 14. There have been some rumors floating around town that in order to participate in the Distance Challenge, that you must also run in the Silicon Labs Marathon Relay on September 27^th, but that isn’t the case. The basic structure of the Distance Challenge remains the same, but there will probably be a Half Challenge which basically means you can run half of the RunTex 20-Miler and the Austin Half Marathon, rather than the full distance and still count.There will also probably be a Kids Challenge with a one-mile race (or kids K) as part of every race. But exact details haven’t been worked out yet in either the half or kids challenge or the

O The USATFs starts today in Eugene at Hayward Field and there will be a host of Longhorns (or former Longhorns) competing. One of them won’t be Jacob Hernandez. The ’08 NCAA 800-meter champ scratched from the NCAA Regionals with a bad hamstring and was unable to defend his title. The hammie’s still bothering him so he won’t be running in Eugene this weekend either. His former UT teammates Tevan Everett and Mike Carmody are in the 800, Leonel Manzano and Darren Brown are in the 1500 and Jake Morse is running the 3000-meter steeple. The UT women will be well-represented by Alexandria Anderson in the 100 and 200 and the fabulous Destinee Hooker in the high jump. Texas Exes running in Eugene include Sanya Richards (200 and 400), Marshevet Hooker (100 and 200) and Moushaumi Robinson (400). This meet serves as the US Trials for the World Champs team that will compete in Berlin in August.

O Up in Pflugerville last weekend, the triple digit heat didn’t stop several hundred brave folks from doing the Pflugerville Triathlon (500-meter swim, 14-mile bike, 3-mile run). Derek Yorek continued his winning ways by taking the men’s division in 59:14 and former tennis pro Natasha Van Der Merwe defended her title by winning the women’s division in 1:09:31. Van Der Merwe, a South African native, is still relatively new to the event. Last year, Pflugerville was just her first tri.

O At the Coeur d’Alene Ironman last weekend in Idaho, a huge contingent of Austinites were led by 42-year-old Stephan Schwarze who placed second overall among the masters in 9:41. By my count, this was the 38^th Ironman he’s completed. Top Austin women was 29-year-old Terra Castro who finished in 10:26 to place 11^th among the pro women.

O Tri pro Amy Marsh, who has been tearing it up this season with top 5 finishes in two major 70.3 races, told me she’s planning to step it up in September and do Ironman Wisconsin in Madison. Amy’s only done one IM and that was four years ago in Kona as an amateur. The biggest reason why Marsh is having such a great year is she’s finally healthy after battling a stress fracture and plantar fasciitis for two years.

O September 12^th will mark the one-year anniversary of when Hurricane Ike slam dunked Galveston. To commemorate that dubious date which left so many people homeless there, the Galveston Historical Foundation will be putting on a 5-K to raise funds and awareness of what happened down there. It’ll be called the Galveston Rebirth Run and it will begin at 8:30 at the Mardis Gras Arch in downtown Galveston. For more information or to register, go to www.galvestonhistory.org or call 409-765-7834.

O What I’m listening to this morning: Otis Redding, Live in Europe. This landmark CD was recorded about seven months before Otis died in 1967 in a plane crash. The recording isn’t terrific, but still captures some of his greatest hits.