How Nolan Shaheed set his latest WR: no fanfare or motel room
Nolan Shaheed
Here’s what Nolan wrote me late Sunday night:
Since there are no indoor tracks in California, we only get to run indoors once a year, at Nationals. But the last 3 years, I’ve been fortunate to run in the Hartshorne Mile as well, but I wanted to run a 1500, so I went online and found the SW Region meet in Baton Rouge to be the closest and USATF-sanctioned. Since it was a Region Championships, I figured I’d have plenty of competition.
I flew into Baton Rouge the night before and told the cab driver to take me to a cheap hotel close to the LSU campus and he took me to a hotel right on campus that was only a mile from the stadium. The problem was, the cheapest available room was a suite at $230.00 and since I was flying out the next afternoon I wasn’t going to pay that. But my main concern was to get something to eat since I hadn’t eaten since 5:00 the day before but the only place that was close to the hotel was a barbecue place but I don’t eat ribs and sausages so I walked back to the hotel and sneaked into a conference room where I stayed until 3:00 when I was discovered by an employee so I moved to the stairwell until 7:00 when I walked to the stadium.
It was a nice facility and very well run meet. Very professionally handled and I ran into Rick Easley and Salih Talib who also came to compete. Although it was the Southwest Region Masters meet, there was only about 30 masters there and about two or three hundred children from ages 5 and up also competing. I actually enjoyed watching the little ones run and it was pretty exiting. Salih somehow talked his way into the officials room and brought me back an apple,banana and muffin so I was VERY grateful and not hungry anymore.
When the Masters 1500m came up, there was about 6 or 7 of us who lined up. There was no lap clock or anyone calling out splits or crowd interest and the announcer didn’t say a word after the introduction so when the gun went off we just started running. It was pretty ruff for me because I wasn’t nervous so I didn’t have any adrenaline and I think I lapped the field. When they gave me the gun at the last lap I tried to run faster and before I knew it, the race was over. I don’t think anyone in the stands knew we were running, so we just walked off the field.
About 15 minutes later, they told us we could pick up our medals. So Salih and I went to get ours and the medals were very nice. Then I noticed that I had run 4:35.07 so I got Rick Easley, because he had a cell phone, and we went online and found out it was a world record. The meet director told me he would fill out the paperwork for me and he was a cool guy so I shook his hand and left for the airport.
47 Responses
Ah, yes, staying in a stairwell from 3:00 to 7:00 AM before your world record race and then enjoying a breakfast of an apple, banana, and muffin from the officials’ room prior to the big event. Who says we’re spoiled?
Nolan, I look forward to seeing you in Bloomington in 18 days.
So your secret is self-depravation. It’s out now Nolan! Congratulations on another WR!
Nolan…
Don’t stop now baby….get every record you can while you can. You are astonishing my friend, and your story is fantastic. Good on ya mate.
I’m impressed!! Congratulations!!
This is one of the most beautiful stories of athletics I ever read.
“I actually enjoyed watching the little ones run and it was pretty exiting”. Are we (masters) not like “the little ones”?
We also, like the little ones, love to run – fast – but who can run so fast like Nolan Shaheed, after “staying in a stairwell etc.”? INCREDIBLE!
Thanks, Nolan, and, thanks , Ken, for this beautiful story: a master-piece!
What Roger Said!!!!!
I cannot see why this story is “incredible”. I believe him.
Amazing.
Well done Nolan!
Congrats Nolan! Another great race! Does anyone know where the results for the entire meet can be found online?
I have booked a stairwell for this year’s outdoor championships. So much to learn in this sport!
Congrats Nolan, you crazy guy!!!!!
If you didn’t know or love Nolan before, you should now! Awesome performance (AGAIN) by a superb human being!!
Hi, Henry K. American English allows “incredible” to mean very impressive. That was my intent. Actually, I should have written: Nolan is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
http://bit.ly/9IUi6D
Results are here, sorry for the late posting:
https://www.southernmasters.org/uploads/2012_SW_Regional__Masters_Results.pdf
The beast does not even need Sleep!
I love this story too, it’s going to be a classic. I’m staying at the Days Inn in Bloomington because I don’t really care where I stay at these track meets, but now I feel like I’m overspending.
Thanks for results link, Bart! Shows Nolan also ran 800: 1 Shaheed, Nolan M62 Unattached 2:15.00
Was this before or after the 8? How much time between? Was this a warmup or a warmdown jog for him? Either way, amazing (if not incredible).
Ken, for three reasons I am guessing that Nolan did not run the 800 in this meet:
a. He does not mention it in his account.
b. The time is only 0.25 sec off the American indoor mark of 2:14.75 by the legendary Sid Howard.
c. It looks like a “seed time” — i.e., it is exact (2:15.00).
Would love to know the story behind this “result.”
I’ll check with Byron on this.
Ken,
Byron has confirmed that Nolan ran the 800 roughly an hour after the 1500. To quote Byron: “the guy was just awesome is all I can say….”
B
Wow, that is truly amazing. To be only 0.25 sec off the American record in the 800 after sleeping very little (if at all) the night before and to do it just one hour after setting the world record in the 1500. And to not even consider the effort in the 800 to be worth mentioning.
My apologies to Nolan; I had thought he was incredible but this is surreal. This is one of the greatest back-to-back efforts I have ever heard of.
PT
Agreed on back-to-back 8-15. My workouts miles average 2:15 a lap!
Anybody have local knowledge about the stairwells in Bloomington? I’d prefer one in an office building, because they’d quiet down right around dinner time.
Hey, that’s how we all roll in the Bayou State, sleeping in stairwell and depending on scraps from official to keep us from starving. Only thing to add is we have to train barefoot while being chased by wild animals. Well, maybe not. Way to go Nolan. Always a quiet gentlman who lets his actions speak for him. Sorry I had to miss the meet. Would have loved to see your remarkable performance.
Nolan, you are awesome..I have one question…If you paid to fly into Baton Rougue..which I imagine is at least a few hundred bucks or more…couldn’t you have found a place for 100 bucks a little further out and paid another taxi? with that said…how about this novel idea..why don’t we set up a masters network around the country to support his kind of thing. If i lived in Baton Rouge I would have easily put you up and driven you to the meet. I might have even maybe given you pancakes….darn right I would have. Ken what do you think? Nobody else is giving us money…?
Awesome! What a sud!!
Stud!!
Gary, Thanks for the kind words. I was low on cash and couldn’t afford to search for a affordable hotel that late at night in a place unfamiliar to me at the mercy of a cabbie. The LSU campus is HUGE and did you know they have a big ol’ LIVE tiger on campus, 200 yards from the stadium????
I think your idea is a wonderful one and I’m sure many others have been and will be in the same situation as me and a Masters network seems logical.
I feel I could have run a little better with a little sleep and a good super. For that matter,I could have run 5 seconds faster had Pete Taylor called the race and one minute faster had that Tiger gotten lose!!!
Thanks for the details, Nolan. My suggestion is here:
http://masterstrack.com/2012/02/21592/
No tigers involved.
C,mon up to my house any time Nolan, we will go in to TNAR at the Armory…. getting ready for that tiger in 3 weeks…the one over in lane one. Well Done .
That’s right I forgot about that tiger. I remmber that when I visited LSU on a trip from FSU back in the day.
Ken, thanks I had forgotten all about the forums…thanks..Haven’t checked in ages
Finding cheap housing at lengthy (more than two day) track meets is always a challenge. At WAVA-Buffalo in 1995, I felt fortune to find an old colleague within bus distance who had an extra bedroom. Until he was called out of town. I was also prepared to spend my last evening in the U of Buffalo dormitory stairwell when a fellow competitor generously offered up his unused second double bed in his motel.
At WMA-Puerto Rico in 2003, I paid in advance for a hotel stay, only to show up to find that they had no record of me or my reservation. Even when I told them the name of my “roommate” (who I had not previously met and who actually showed up at the front desk while I was “discussing” this oversight) they claimed they had no information on me. They did, however, helpfully try to sell me rooms in one of their more expensive hotels. I left in disgust and started looking for stairwells. Not having a cellphone I did have the foresight to give them a cellphone number of another competitor friend of mine. A couple of hours later, as I was discussing my plight with this friend, his cell phone rang. Low and behold it was the hotel saying that all was forgiven, that they had actually found my reservation. It’s always something.
It is a bit of a toss-up. While home stays can help the budget, they are not always the best for focus or training. I once planned to stay with a friend in Eugene, OR, dropped my stuff off, went out, then came in late, only to find my way barred by their large unfriendly dog. Rather than waking everybody up I retreated to and slept in my car. Sigh!
hook up sounds GOOD ,had to leave wma 5 day befor hurdles ran. ran hurdles well in decathlon the time would have got 3rd in the open M50 hurdles had to bumb for 6 hrs to catch ride to airport,Nol you got my blessing buddy,got to hook up with you and jamm some jazz.
Met Nolan for the first time…very nice and approachable gentleman.Byron Turner,did have a block of rooms set aside for event, however; as in ALL meets, it’s NOT indefinite.My recollection, was $69.00 + at La Quinta or Hilton Garden Inn.
Nolan, you can find lodging and sustenance at my house any time you’re in the area. Unfortunately, NW Iowa is a long way from any significant track competition. So just come for a visit.
But I don’t care what works for you – I need my rest and my nutrition. After all, from the perspective of this 66 year-old you’re just a kid.
You’re the greatest!
as meet director I am delighted by Mr. Nolan’s performance and it was a joy meeting you. However, I had no idea you could not find accommondations. I work hard for all of the meets I host to ensure we have secure adequant accommondations for each meet and for this one we had a host hotel with rooms under $100. I put my number in meet packet just so that attendees can call if they have a problem. We are a hospitable bunch of people down south and I do not want people to take that we didn’t care. If we only knew I could have and would have done more!
Byron is a wonderful person and a GREAT meet director and I will return and run in any meet he puts on but next time I won’t be so dumb and I’ll make accommodations with Byron BEFORE I arrive.
Thanks Byron. You da MAN.
About 15 years ago I was in town for the Harvard GBTC meet and had to spend the night in the Logan airport lobby sleeping with many homeless who came in from the subway around midnight. USAir changed gates on my late flight and failed to announce the fact. They refused to put me up in a hotel and I had less than $50 dollars in my pocket and no credit card. I was attempting to look proper sitting upright sleeping with my head on my shoulder when I noticed all of the homeless fellows stripping the cushions off the chairs making these wonderful beds flat on the floor. Not being one to stand (or sit) on ceremony, I followed suit and slept soundly until 7 AM when the cleaning crew arrived with a vacuum and we were all asked to move along.
On the plus side I had already run my 800 and 400 races at Harvard before this had happened. My only race the next day was to the gate when the rescheduled flight was finally announced that morning.
Fortunately, Nolan’s race was not at the Armory in NYC as the nearest most comfortable beds are the stretchers going in and out of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital next door. I’m not sure how the medical personelle would have reacted if they had discovered Nolan sleeping on the cot in the back of the ambulance as they took off to answer an emergency call at 3:00 AM.
Congrats Nolan. Let’s see how long they take to published his record. I think it’s about time we start our own accurate record list.
Anselm
Nolan, you’re fantastic!
Anselm, you may be onto something.
Anslem, Nolan’s indoor mile record set here in Ithaca 1/21/12 was accepted and placed on the World and American record stat list about three to four weeks after receipt of the application by the USATF.
Maybe only British readers will follow, but this is true Wilson of the Wizard stuff!
Wilson was a boys’ comic character who lived wild, slept in bushes, ate berries, and always beat the university “toffs” on the track, no matter what dirty tricks they pulled to try to exhaust or injure him. Wilson lives!
Inspiring Nolan! Thank you.
wilson comic picture here:
http://blog.crystal-knights.co.uk/category/wizard/
Crashing out yes. The memories flood back. In 1992 I took a rental car from Stockholm to the European Masters at Kristiansand, Norway. I do not normally drive, it was brilliantly sunny all day and tremendously hot in the car. I did not eat properly and for me it was a long, long way to drive without rest. So when I arrived at a parking lot I disintegrated and spent the night badly in the car.
When morning dawned I linked up with couple of other odd athletes from Sweden. After making ourselves respectable at a public convenience, we put on our tracksuits and invited ourselves to the major hotel’s breakfast buffet for free. Sitting down to a table of tracksuited veteran ladies. I initiated polite intercourse: “You also do this veteran athletics thing, then?” She: “I am zee Vurld Champion.” Good breakfast though. In fact for a (trouble)free breakfast, choose the biggest hotel in town when it is full of masters athletes in tracksuits.
But I am not of Nolan Shaheed’s calibre. I cannot overcome such hardships to win. I could hardly compete. I spent the rest of my time in Kristiansand seeking sleep, food, tea and sympathy. It is however heartening that a younger generation is continuing our proud tradition of masters athletes crashing out all over the place.
Hello Nolan
Difficult to train this morning after reading all your amazing time on 800 and 1500.
Nevertheless I am looking forward to seing you in Finland.
Nolan,I’ve been knowing you since we competed together in Eugene in 1994 Outdoor Nationals where you completed one of the most outstanding triples I’ve ever seen.800,1500.and the 5000.I still have my picture that we took at the Indoor Nationals in Boston in 1999. You are truly an ambassador of Masters Track.I love you..You are the best at what you do.I really can’t afford to make all these National meets around the country.My next big meet will be the North Carolina State Championships, and then the National Senior Games In Cleveland Next Year.May God Bless and keep you healthy in all you do.
Thank you Rob and may God bless you.
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