|
|
Post by wetcoast on Feb 8, 2010 20:18:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by oldster on Feb 8, 2010 22:33:07 GMT -5
Jimmy-Finn: Is anyone cooler? He's the kind of guy you hope your son grows up to be. Nice one, Chris. |
|
|
|
Post by kitest on Feb 9, 2010 10:38:53 GMT -5
well...
so it's taken a jim finlayson interview to get the legend out of the cage.
god, that interview could have gone on for 15 more pages and i would have read jim's insight into the running game.
please allow me to wax poetically on the finlayson effect on one, mark kiteley.
i am a couple of years younger than jim and at the time i had first laid eyes on him, i was being introduced to the most gloriously challenging sport i had ever been exposed to. Jim, at the time, had firmly established himself in what was a strong core of SW Ontario mid/long distance runners (early 90's). Fin, Shawn (went to U of M....KRS, help me here?) Rob Tyndal etc
once i had got the 'game' figured out, including the race fixtures, what good times were and who were the dudes who did the good times, i was hooked on the sport.
and one of the lurers was Jim f*ckin Finlayson.
these early days of my running career (grades 9-11) were largely focussed on the performances, routines, stretches, interactions and words of jim finlayson.
As i actually didn't even know him, this likely seems in retrospect to have been a rather unhealthy adoration for a complete stranger...and a stranger who indeed had a most unusual and indiosyncratic nature to him and his performances, routines, stretches, interactions and words. but he was so effin graceful and measured (both as a runner and person) and such a tactioner of the sport.
I, on the other hand was a complete moronic, hyperactive loudmouth energy ball who ran in basketball shorts, laughed at people when i passed them and stopped workout intervals if i felt 'good'. so why i came to 'follow' jim rather than other clearly more suitable idols is what i'll explain
as a fringe member of the basketball community, i knew the big names in the bball game. but, as many can attest, our running community (at least distance) is a fairly different beast with a totally more fluid, less rigid and more mutually supportive community enabling young to learn from old etc. you could learn from a more experienced basketball player but it was largely by observing, and very little else.
the running community being the running community in london (or anywhere else, really) meant that I, mark kiteley would come into direct contact with the legendary, sub 9 minute 3k'er (the magical, untouchable time for a grade 10 cross runner).
it was mostly because of my coach Janet Takahashi was such a fixture on the london running scene, but it didn't matter. i got my backstage pass to the jim finlayson show.
for a solid 2 years the jim finlayson aura was in effect. coming from a world of basketball, where physical gifts and talent was seemingly the only way one could achieve truly inspiring personal athletic goals (and a type of 'personal' goal i wasn't interested in), the insight of jim proved the exact opposite.
he was truly a physiological beast in HS (as the 30:30 10km would suggest), but the tools he introduced me too (rather casually, he would likely only remember at this point) were the basic cornerstones of being a runner (juxtapose that to once a runner. coaches coach and i had one of the best HS coaches in canada. but to a grade 10 distance runner, intimate (alas, not that type of intimacy readers) exposure to older, experienced distance runners
jim was that guy.
who would have thought about needing to run 10k across the city to hit a group of hilly trails and run for another 10k? well, apparently jim did. did i really need to stretch after the run? i balance my leg on top of the fence and i slowly bend down to feel a stretch...what's that muscle group called?
apparently stomach cramps aren't really an excuse to drop out a race, according to jim.
racing "flats"...hmm, sounds alright, i'll buy a pair...two months later: "why can't i run in them everyday, they're soo light"?
where'd you get that cool mizuno jacket that's hanging on the clothesline (or was hanging on the clothesline;) inside jk) with canada all over it ? national junior XC team? how do you qualify for that?
and on and on. the fact he went to michigan was also a huge world changer for me. for better or worse, US scholarships not only drive individuals but the residual envy is a true motivator for a 16 year old.
you know, another guy who could speak on him was peter watson, a truly more talented guy. i remember how jim took him under his wing (as well as tyler coady) and both those guys went on to some pretty solid careers as low 29 min 10k guys (fin-are their 10k pb's better than yours?)
anyway. there's a little insight into what i think of the guy...and that's all pre-Michigan and Uvic!!
it also represents the fluff job of the century for a guy who has had a great career thusfar running wise; like me, has centred so much of his world around the running community; done things the right way as every semi-elite/elite runner over 30 both likes him and knows him; and as boyd says, is cool.
and if dr. cool himself says finn is cool, then he's frigid.
and you all know i'm like fonzie cool!
|
|
|
|
Post by wetcoast on Feb 9, 2010 10:58:07 GMT -5
Wow. Ok. Would you be ok if this poetic waxing appeared in the article's comments section?
|
|
|
|
Post by oldster on Feb 9, 2010 11:29:32 GMT -5
Use mine if you want. You can even make your own good stuff up and put my name on it if you want.
|
|
|
|
Post by wetcoast on Feb 9, 2010 12:42:13 GMT -5
I added, M.K.'s comments. I think it would look a little self-fluffing if I started adding all sorts of comments to my articles. I find that for every actual comment that gets submitted, I receive about 20 email messages (not replies to mine) and I see about half that rate in forum comments....maybe a little less. It would be cool if people would comment in the article too, as (being the internet) comments really make the article come alive and often add value. For instance in one of my first article - not a very well written one, about minimalism, a specialist went in and supported my article with more facts and links....thank gawd for that or I would have deleted by now. ha ha.
|
|
oldbones
Full Member
And so it goes ...
Posts: 244
|
Post by oldbones on Feb 9, 2010 13:33:27 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by pistol77 on Feb 9, 2010 14:21:44 GMT -5
A Jimmy F interview, this just made my day. Mark's comments on the importance of Jim in helping some of us young guys find a true love for the sport are spot on.
I looked up to him like he was a god when I was in high school and still think the world of him.
I remember being in 8th grade and walking into Runners Choice and Jim was working. I had heard his name before as he was the man in london's high school scene and South was located right next to my public school. My mom and I walked in and he knew who I was and told me how good I could be if I would just give up football ( I had planned on playing football and not running in HS) and focus on running. My mind was made up I was going to run and I walked out of Runners Choice with a pair of Pink Brooks racing flats.
Jim headed to Michigan as a freshmen when I entered South but his sister was on the team at the time and she was a great runner herself. When Jim would come home they would invite me to the house and I would spend as much time as possible there. During the summers getting to go for a run with Jim was an event, soon Kitely, Hahn, Damien Walsh and a few others were joining the group and Mrs Finlayson welcomed us all into the house.
I miss those days and am glad to see Jim is still banging away
|
|
Finn
New Member
Posts: 35 
|
Post by Finn on Feb 10, 2010 23:15:53 GMT -5
Wow boys, I’m flattered. Chris and his questions notwithstanding, I though this interview might get tucked under the rug. Thanks for your comments, very appreciated. Kites, Janet Takahashi! She is a hero, and I was fortunate to have gone through a few years ahead of you and the team she built at Regina Mundi. Pete, I saw your interview on youtube. Loved it. Steve, I don’t even breathe the same air as you. You guys are stars.
|
|
|
|
Post by HHH on Feb 11, 2010 1:41:02 GMT -5
Jim: You're one of my running heros, I've looked up to you for years. Stay healthy.
Matt Norminton
|
|
