Craig Curley placed fifth in the recent U.S. 25K Championships in Grand Rapids, Mich.

When Craig Curley runs, he feels the ferocity of a wild horse burning inside of him.

That’s not a hollow cliché conjured up to reflect his dramatic development as a marathon runner, but instead the living embodiment of his Navajo heritage.

The 24-year-old native of tiny Kinlichee, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation, used those motivations to fuel him all the way to the starting line of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston. Despite not having the credentials of any other runner in the field and having never run a full marathon, Curley has never been one to shy away from hard work or back away from a challenge.

Growing up as the youngest of five, he would wake at 5:30 every morning to do his chores on the family farm. There were often as many as 140 sheep to tend to, plus he had to feed the horses, chickens, cats and dogs. Curley was driving a tractor by the age of 10.

“We had solar panels for electricity and a wood stove for heat, but any water we needed for the house we had to haul in,” Curley says. “I think that’s where I get my toughness,” Curley says. “I realized early on that I had to rely on myself and develop myself physically and psychologically. If I couldn’t do something on my own, I knew I had to figure out a way to get it done.”

In the culture of the Navajo Nation, elders and your extended family — cousins, aunts and uncles — are very important, which is why Curley would often spend part of his mornings helping out his grandfather with his animals.

“He 88 years old and still riding a horse,” Curley says. “He taught me how to work really hard. I remember that when you went to shake hands with him, his hands were calloused. When I run, I want to work so hard that my feet are like that. I want to live up to his standard.”

When he started running as a freshman at St. Michael’s High School — a college-preparatory school rooted in Catholic values yet sensitive to Navajo heritage —Curley didn’t own a pair of racing flats until a teammate gave him a pair he’d outgrown. His hard work, spartan lifestyle and raw talent helped him win the Arizona state 1A championship in cross-country, the first championship ever for a boy from his school.

Major college coaches didn’t come calling, so he enrolled at Pima Community College, where Greg Wenneborg, was in his second year as head coach.

“I could tell he was talented right away,” Wenneborg remembers. “He was always leading the way in our workouts, but I spent a lot of time just trying to hold him back and teach him patience.”

Partially because of a lingering pre-race injury, Curley finished next-to-last in the U.S. Olympic Trials in a disappointing 2:39, but he learned a lot and earned street cred by not quitting.

“I learned to control my emotions, and I learned that it’s scary when you’re injured,” he says. “I think I became a man that day.”

Curley, who now typically runs 100 miles per week, has learned plenty under Wenneborg. When the coach sat him down prior to last October’s Columbus Marathon, Curley’s second attempt at 26.2 miles, they didn’t talk time and or pace, just about how to temper his competitiveness with patience.

Even though Curley’s seed-time relegated him to a starting spot behind the elite runners, he followed his coach’s advice and wound up winning in 2:19:03. He’s since added several other top-10 finishes in national-level races, including a fifth-place finish at the U.S. 25K championships (1:16:14) on May 11 in Grand Rapids, Mich. He’s planning to run the U.S. half-marathon championships on June 22 at the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon in Duluth, Minn., and then will run his next marathon on Oct. 6 at the U.S. marathon championships held in conjunction with the Twin Cities Marathon.

“Sometimes I find my mind filled with concerns about the kids like me back home,” he admits. “That makes it tough to relax, but at the same time caring that much pushes me during every training run. On the lands of the Navajo Nation there are wild horses and that’s how I see myself in today’s society — running free trying to make a life for myself while also being able to return home.”

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The marathon is all about honoring your commitments.

About four and a half hours into the January 2002 edition of the San Diego Marathon, race director Lynn Flanagan received a call on her headset.

It was Donna at the volunteer check-in area.

“Lynn, can you come over here?” Donna asked. “I can’t really tell you why right now.”

When Flanagan arrived, Donna explained that a young woman from New York had flown in to pick up her brother’s t-shirt and medal. Her brother was Joshua David Birnbaum, a 24-year-old assistant bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Joshua had lost his life in the World Trade Center just a few months earlier on September 11, 2001.

“Joshua was my older brother, but he was more than that,” says 19-year-old Jill Birnbaum. “He was my best friend in the world. When he signed up to do his first marathon, he asked me to come to San Diego to support him and to meet him at the finish line.”

When Jill first heard the news report on September 11th she called her mom because Jill and Joshua’s dad worked in the World Trade Center Complex. “I remember saying, ‘Tell me daddy is okay,’” she says. “My mom goes ‘Daddy’s okay, but Josh is missing.’ I had forgotten that he was even working in the World Trade Center.”

Josh had run with the wrong crowd in high school and was into the club scene, drinking and drugs. He had been in and out of rehab.

“There was a time when he was losing everyone in his life,” Jill recalls. “It was the family secret no one would talk about. I was his shadow. I was closer to him than my parents or any of his friends. Josh knew that I would never give up on him.”

When he was 19, everything changed. It was like a light switch went off in his head. Josh went to Narcotics Anonymous and kicked his drug habit, then enrolled in a community college in New York. The next step was being accepted at Columbia.

“No one thought he could get into an Ivy League School, but Josh was brilliant,” insists Jill. “He graduated with a degree in Economics.”

On May 18, 2001, three days after graduation, Josh became one of two applicants selected from the 1,000 that applied for a job at Cantor Fitzgerald as an assistant bond trader.

“God gave Josh five years to show what he could make of himself,” says Jill. “He could have died many, many times before he went straight. His goals were to wear the nice suit, make the money and to be on top of the world.”

A long pause.

“And that’s where he was when he died.”

After she received the news that Josh was gone, Jill went into the shower and stood under the spray for what seemed like forever. “I used to tell Josh that I could read his mind,  that it was like we were the same person. Suddenly I couldn’t feel his heartbeat anymore,” she admits. “That’s when I knew he was gone.”

A few days before the San Diego Marathon, she bought a ticket to fly to San Diego. She knew the expo closed at noon on Sunday, and that’s when she arrived at the race site. She told her story at the registration area and received Josh’s race number. Then she went to retrieve his t-shirt.

“I saw people getting medals and wondered if I could get one for Josh,” she continued.

“Jill first told her story to Todd Floyd,” remembers race director Lynn Flanagan. “Todd tried to call someone for ten minutes, but he was so choked up he couldn’t get his voice to work. Donna called us over to fill us in.”

Flanagan met with the teary young woman and they set up an impromptu awards ceremony for Joshua in the San Diego Marathon command post trailer with Flanagan, her four daughters and their In Motion staff.

“We gave Jill Joshua’s finisher’s medal and she asked me to sign his race number,” Flanagan recalls. “I told her that Joshua was with us in spirit and that he would be very happy that she came to the race for him.”

“I made a commitment,” insists Jill. “I told Josh that I would be at the finish line for him that day.”

It’s ironic. The marathon is all about honoring your commitments. To your training, to the friends you run with, and to get to the finish line no matter what. Early morning runs in the cold and the dark and late nights in the weight room or on the treadmill make the finish that much sweeter.

Jill Birnbaum took Josh’s number, t-shirt and medal from the San Diego Marathon and had them framed.

On the back of the medal it has a space for the finisher’s name and time. Jill had “Josh Birnbaum” engraved in one space.

And “eternity” engraved in the other.

Postscript: Since this article was written, Lynn Flanagan’s In Motion team has never forgotten Joshua Birnbaum. Each January, the Carlsbad Marathon and the Birnbaum Family present the ‘Spirit of Joshua Award’ to a deserving recipient. Jill and her parents return to Carlsbad each year for the presentation and to keep the memory alive of a young man who died way too soon.

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In this radio interview, Competitor’s Bob Babbitt caught up with 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials runner-up Ryan Hall just a couple days after he punched his ticket to London with a 2:09:30 performance in Houston on Saturday.

Listen to the full radio interview here.

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Bob Babbitt says the reigning Olympic Marathon Trials champion is ready to win again in Houston.

More Video: Mario Fraioli tells why he thinks Shalane Flanagan will break the tape at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials

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In this video Bob Babbitt explains why he thinks Ryan Hall will repeat as champion at Saturday’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston.

More video from Competitor.com: Training Day With Ryan Hall (Pre-Boston Marathon)

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In the final part of this interview Ryan Hall talks to Bob Babbitt about how he wants to be remembered as a runner and a person.

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In part 8 of this interview with Ryan Hall he discusses running a fall marathon in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon.

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Introducing the mayor of Babbittville!

It’s a mythical, magical place for endurance athletes.

Written by: Bob Babbitt

Since I have been involved in the wonderful world of endurance sports for the better part of the past three decades, I have decided that it was about time to secede from the Union and create a paradise of my very own. Of course, if you our loyal readers would like to come and inhabit what I shall call Babbittville with me, I would love to have the company.

So what would this place be like? I am so glad you asked!

* If you are participating in an event, no one else from your age group would be competing so that you would always come home with the biggest medal. Even better? The other people from your age group could come, but they would simply be there to stand on the sidelines and cheer for YOU!

* All marathons would be flat and short.

* All cycling roads would have large shoulders and be slightly downhill. The drivers would all be polite, there would be no debris or potholes and the wind would always be at your back.

* Wherever you go during your hot training rides or runs, someone would be there with a big smile on their face to hand you a cold sponge.

* The weather would always be so nice that in Babbittville there would never be a need for gloves, bike shoe coverings, hats or arm or leg warmers.

* The ocean would always be 72 degrees and crystal clear and anytime you were in the water, the sun would always be out.

* Any event you enter would provide a cooler-than-cool medal no matter how you do.

* Portapotties would always be right there, no one would ever be in line and they would be spotless.

* Broken chairs, flat tires and broken spokes would be unconstitutional.

* Sunblock would never drip into your eyes.

* Every event would have a post race massage table and would always be open and ready for you.

* I apologize to our buddies in sports medicine: No one gets injured in Babbitville…ever.

* The only Performing Enhancing Drugs allowed would be Pop Tarts, Slurpies and anything with the word Hostess on them.

* The only big grey things in the ocean would be dolphins.

* Women would finally realize that guys having soft abs and muffin tops are actually really good looking.

* Your legs always feel fresh and springy.

* The words ‘bonk’ and ‘cramp’ would cease to exist.

* In a triathlon, the transition area would be ten steps from where you park your car and ten steps from the beach.

* Instead of cut up bananas, orange and bagels, the post race spread would always feature Tri Tip sandwiches, tater tots and cold beer.

* Everyone in Babbitville would always wear a name tag.

* Everyone is friendly to each other in Babbittville. If you say hi to a fellow cyclist, he or she will always smile, wave and say hi back…even the roadies.

If you have some other ideas to help make Babbitville even better, let me know at bbabbitt@competitorgroup.com!

****

Bob Babbitt is the founder and editor-in-chief of Competitor Magazine.

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Rod Dixon, charging. Photo: Lois Schwartz

This piece first appeared in Competitor Magazine.

Written by: Bob Babbitt

Their first meeting came after the 1972 Olympics. At those games in Munich, America’s young gun, Steve Prefontaine, took fourth place in the Olympic 5000 meters while New Zealand’s Rod Dixon took home a bronze in the 1500.

For the man called Pre, finishing off the podium was a bitter disappointment. Check that. The guy could have cared less about being on the podium. If he didn’t leave Germany with the Gold Medal, the trip to Europe in his mind would have been a horrific waste of time. Kenny Moore recalls running into Pre in the bowels of the Olympic Stadium after Moore had finished fourth in the marathon. “I was struggling with how I should feel about the experience,” Moore recalls. “I had had a great race, but I hadn’t medaled.” Pre put his hands on Moore’s shoulders and told him that he was the fourth best marathoner on the planet and that he should be incredibly proud of his achievement. Moore then asked Pre how his 5000 meter event had turned out: “I took fourth,” he said, fairly spitting out the number. “Fourth is awful.”

The message was clear: While fourth place was just fine for the Kenny Moore’s of the world, fourth is certainly not up to the standards or expectations of one Steve Roland Prefontaine. At one time Pre held every American record for the seven distances ranging from 2,000 through 10,000 meters He was the James Dean of American running with his long hair, mustache and always-race-from-the-front attitude.

Rod Dixon also had long hair and a mustache, but his style of racing differed from Pre: “I raced to win,” admits Dixon. “I didn’t want to prove that I could push the pace harder or longer than anyone else. I wanted to be the first person across the line.”

Four years earlier, in 1968, Dixon was sitting on a river bank near his home in Nelson, New Zealand listening the finals of the Olympic 1500 meters from Mexico on his transistor radio. “The signal was coming in and out and the static made it hard to hear,” he remembers. In the finals the two leading men were running legends Kip Keino of Kenya and America’s Jim Ryun. “I was glued to the radio listening to the finals and hoping that one day I would be the one running the 1500 at the Olympics. That was my dream.”

How about this for a dream come true? Four years later, Rod Dixon lined up for the first round of the 1500 in Munich. “On my left was Kip Keino,” he says, “and on my right was Jim Ryun.” Not only did he run the 1500, he took home the bronze. A few weeks after Munich, he was in London at a post-Olympic track meet at the Crystal Palace and both Dixon and Pre were entered in the two mile. “Pre was coming down from 5,000 and I was stepping up from the 1,500,” says Dixon. “I sat on him and outkicked him at the end. He broke the American record, I broke the Commonwealth record, but Pre was upset at me for not sharing the pace. I walked up to him after the race to shake his hand and he called me a f*&^ing Kiwi and he stormed off.”

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