The key to running a good marathon is to not listen to anyone's advice the last week before the race. That's when people tend to do stupid things that disrupt all the input and training of the previous months.

Runners like to train 100 miles per week because it's a round number. But I think 88 is a lot rounder.

Prior to the 1976 Olympics, I was a 5,000m runner.

We (ultra runners) alternate between depression and stupidity.

Avoid any diet that discourages the use of hot fudge.

There's no such thing as a bad carbohydrate.

Coaches know that a parent publicly scolding his kid after a race will not help the athlete perform better.

I know runners who have suffered a tick bite and ended up with Lyme disease. Ill take an angry moose any day.

You entered a marathon with hills? You idiot.

Grizzly bears eat people without the benefit of music.

Train at the same pace day after day, week after week, year after year, and that's the kind of running the body adapts to. But break out of that comfort zone with a little speedwork now and then, and the body will learn to deal with the new demands.

A good teammate is someone willing to get outside of personal thoughts and emotions, a friend who tries to understand, appreciate, and encourage other members of the team.

In those long, lonely miles you put in during the off-season, and in those knife-in-the-gut repetitions and hill repeats that buckly your knees - at that moment in almost every race when you ask yourself how much you're willing to hurt to catch one more runner - you can draw strength and inspiration from your running mates.