Pete Magill quits Fluffy Bunny Track Club in dustup with Nike
Pete Magill, the M45 distance champ and blogger deluxe, revealed on a letsrun.com message board yesterday that he has up and quit the powerhouse track club he helped anchor for several years. The chief Fluffy Bunny is hopping away, perhaps to form a new track club not beholden to Nike. Apparently, a Nike rep went ballistic when he (actually, she) spotted Pete wearing Adidas during a Sunday training run. Pete (profiled here) was aghast at the Nike nitpicking. So he separated from the Fluffies ā founded, after all, in rebellious reaction to the over-the-top seriousness of other running clubs. Upon hearing that Pete was now available, mile star Tony Young chimed in: āMan, youād look great in an āOrangeā singlet (denoting Club Northwest). What are you ā an XL?ā
Pete Magill may start his own club now. Suggestion: The YLFOLR Rebels.
Pete wrote yesterday:
Man, it was just one of these weeks. Too much stress. Too much pressure. And too much willingness to let the two former ātoo muchesā take over.
Week started good, with some easy miles and a 16 x 400 session on Tuesday where (after shaking off some rust with the opening reps) I cruised 70ās with 100 meter jog recovery. But then the week turned ugly. I got angry about some stuff. Didnāt sleep enough. Running went south. And then struggled through a 3000 yesterday ā the first couple laps were great, but then the residual fatigue from all that stress washed over me ā¦ and somehow the pace kept slowing even though it seemed like it wasnāt. Donāt know what my time was, but it couldnāt have been more than a second or two faster than I came through 3000 in my 5000 two weeks ago.
Then got in an argument with a Nike rep at a Sunday morning run with the Fluffy Bunnies this AM. I showed up for the workout in Adidas Bostons, because: 1) the 3000 reaggravated my hip injury from a couple weeks ago, so I needed ultra-light trainers so thereād be less āpullā on the hip ā¦ 2) the last time Nike provided me with a pair of trainers was months ago (Iāve bought 6 pairs of trainers since), and the pair of Nikes I purchased myself in the interim turned out not to work for my stride, as I immediately developed knee pain ā¦ 3) Iāve already talked with both the team and with Nike exec KP about my need to alternate brands of training shoes in order to avoid injury at my age and with my history of injuries, though I always race and do all āofficialā events in Nike ā¦ 4) Itās a darn Sunday morning run, itās a hobby not a profession, I buy 90% of my shoes myself, I pay for 100% of travel to races myself, I pay my entry fees myself, and itās none of Nikeās damn business what shoes I want to wear on a Sunday run up in the Santa Monica mountains with a few friends!
Yeah, I know: old and ornery.
Anyway, the upshot is that I quit the Fluffy Bunnies (who really do have to toe the Nike line ā I mean, I understand that, even if Iām old and ornery) and now will have to start over with a new club ā though Iāll almost certainly form my own this time around.
Wow, I guess Iām still angry this week ā¦ š
Pete aimed for a fast (and possibly record) 3,000 meters Saturday at the Southern California Striders Meet of Champions, and told me that he went through 1600 meters in 4:36 before falling off pace, even with the help of Christian Cushing-murray. It was a windy day, though, so perhaps the conditions played a part.
Separating from Fluffy Bunny might not be the most interesting thing about Pete, however.
In coming days, his blog will expand its reach and scope, with immense potential to showcase masters track ā including relays. Pete even got John Seto to create a masters road rankings system for Peteās blog ā much like the one he launched for USATF masters.
Pete writes (and mentions in a YouTube video):
Summing up in a nice bullet-point list, here are some of the things addressed in this State of the Blog ā¦
- Road Race Rankings will go live within the next couple days.
- For
2009, road race rankings will be self-service: blog visitors can use
the easy-to-fill-out results submission form (online at the click of
your mouse) to enter their own race results.- Everyone is enthusiastically encouraged to put in their times ā¦ These rankings will only be as good as we make them!
- The Younger Legs Store will open simultaneously with the Road Race Rankings.
- The Store will offer t-shirts, hats, mousepads, magnets, etc.
- The Store
will also offer āTop 100ā shirts for sale. These shirts are custom
designed for each race distance, and will hopefully be seen as a āmustā
for performers who crack the ātop 100ā in their age divisions.- At first, the Store
will offer āTop 100ā shirts for the 5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathon, and Marathon
distances, but shirts will be available at all distances within the
next few weeks.- Since the Younger Legs blog and the upcoming Younger Legs Road Race Rankings
require literally hundreds of man hours per month to manage, your
humble blogger encourages you to show support by visiting the store.- Younger Legs will also be introducing both āTrack Relay Recordsā and āRoad Race Recordsā as new features.
- Track relay records will attempt to include every relay for which there is a record in every age group in which the relay has been run.
- Road race records will attempt to include records for every distance and age group for which there is a record.
- For populating both records lists, Younger Legs will start with the sources that are easily accessible ā¦ and then will update, expand, and make changes as you ā the blog visitors ā offer links, lists, and results of your own.
- The
records pages will not be subject to the same rules as USATF currently
applies ā which are over-burdensome and simply result in a large number
of legitimate records being ignored in favor of lesser ārecordsā (Younger Legs believes that a bureaucratic efficiency at paperwork should not be the overriding principle for validating records).- Younger Legs absolutely needs the participation of its visitors and of āolderā runners, coaches, and fans of runners and coaches everywhere.
- Your blogger doesnāt have a crystal ball ā itās almost impossible to scan hundreds of races a week to look for top performances.
- Your blogger would love to interview top older runners everywhere, but he simply doesnāt have contact info and would LOVE to have some provided.
- Younger Legs encourages coaches and runners everywhere to submit their own posts ā or to call your humble blogger and chat with him (while he takes notes and then writes up the post for you).
- Posts can cover anything from training tips to injury prevention to race reports to the zen of running to absolutely anything under the sun.
- PLEASE
donāt wait for me to contact you ā¦ When it comes to the blogging part
of this blog, your humble blogger is a one-man operation and would very
much appreciate contact from any runner or coach who would like to
participate in the online discussion.- Please remember that this blog is YOUR blog as much as it is MY blog. I canāt do it without you. And Iād like my forum to be your forum. Iād like you all to talk as freely as if we were all sitting around after a workout or a race, just talking running.
7 Responses
In all fairness to the Nike rep, she didn’t go “ballistic” on me. She very calmly pulled me aside, looked me in the eye, and in a scolding and patronizing tone began the conversation with, “Why are you wearing Adidas?” She then told me I was being “disrespectful” and some other things. At which point it was I – not her – who went ballistic. Because this wasn’t the first time this rep has taken me to task over this issue. When she did it last time (and that time it WAS this rep who went “ballistic”), I immediately informed David Olds – founder and president of the club – that I wanted out of the Nike sponsorship part of FBTC. Because I’m too old and spend too much of my time, energy, and money on this sport to have someone think they can tell me what to wear every single day. David assured me that as long as I raced in Nike (which I do anyway, since I think they make the top racing shoes on the planet), I was free to alternate shoe brands in my training … since that’s a primary method I use to stay injury-free.
Apparently, this rep didn’t get the memo.
So there’s no confusion, I was paid nothing by Nike while running for the Bunnies. None of my travel expenses or meet entries were paid for by Nike. And I’ve received maybe 2 pairs of Nike trainers in the past year – and have purchased about 10 other pairs of trainers myself. Nike did, however, provide me with several pairs of track shoes (Ventulus IIs and Mutumbos – the best spikes ever made for middle distance runners) over the past couple years, some running apparel, and they were great about trying to find me a good road racing flat (unfortunately, they don’t make Katanas, their best flat, in over size 12, and I wear a size 13).
So while I love Nike and think some of their products and people are absolutely terrific – and while I’ve worn Nike at every championship race and in every magazine article/newspaper article/awards cermony/interview/blog entry that I’ve been part of – I in no way felt beholden to the company to the point that I had no choice in what shoes to run in on an every-day basis (I alternate Nike and other brands). Heck, if that’s all it takes to make me feel that I can only buy and run in one brand, then I’d suggest Nike and Adidas and every other shoe company “sponsor” everyone in the country – buy them one pair of trainers and then send out reps to scold them if they don’t buy another half-dozen pairs on their own! FYI to shoe companies, that’s called marketing, not sponsorship.
In the meantime, I don’t like the idea that I can’t go for an easy, casual, non-official Sunday morning run with a few friends up trails in the Santa Monica Mountains without being told that I’m disrespecting my corporate overlords (this rep dates a Bunny, and that’s why she was at the run). That’s not cool, and that’s not happening ever again.
Not in this lifetime.
David Olds had a chance to tell this rep that her input was not welcome at a Sunday morning training run (he was standing right next to us). He didn’t. So it’s off to the next adventure and the next club … which I’ve already begun and for which I’ve already landed my first recruits!
Any shoe rep who thinks that giving away a couple of pairs of shoes over the course of a year or so to a runner gives her/him right to demand that said runner wear only Nike running shoes regardless of when and where is smoking something illegal.
After the contempt shown by Nike for masters x-c athletes at the National Masters Cross Country championship in Portland several years ago, nothing Nike does to disrespect masters surprises me. They are NOT a class act.
Nike is interested in selling expensive shoes to teenagers and promoting its elite athletes in various sports. Any one else is just a nuisance to them. But of course they will happily take your money while thumbing their noses at you.
The arrogant rep should be fired. Probably she will get a bonus as that seems to be the way it works now in corporate America – the worse your decision making – the more $$$ you make.
Pete -I am sure there are many running clubs that will be more than happy to have you as a member – unless of course they are “sponsored” by Nike and get two pairs of shoes a year, no travel money etc – just two lousy pairs of lousy shoes a year. Good grief.
Do you also have to wear Nike undies when you run for the fluffy Bunnys?
If so, does the rep check that too?
“Run free or die”
and/or
“Dont tread on me”
Go Pete!
Matt Armbruster
This entire thread is such a joke. I am actually an original (and current) member of the Fluffy Bunny Track Club. I haven’t read this stuff until now because I knew it would piss me off too much to read it when this all went down. It still gets me though. There is so much misinformation about what went down, it’s ridiculous. Shockingly enough, Mr. Magill isn’t exactly forthright about what really happened, because the truth might actually (dare I say it?) make him look bad to his loyal following. Suffice it to say, Mary Harada: perhaps you should look into something a little more before you call someone “arrogant” or say that they should be fired. The only person that was arrogant or out-of-line in this situation was Pete. The fact that someone who had essentially nothing to do with the team has felt no qualms about dragging our good name through the mud is simply appalling to me. Trust me, the Fluffy Bunnies will shed no tears over his quitting.
– Kevin
Hey, Kevin, I completely understand your frustration with this incident, the way it went down, and the way it was reported. I’ve tried to make clear – both in my account above and in subsequent retellings – that I did not handle this parting of the ways very well (I believe I referred to it as throwing a tantrum, or something to that effect, in my note to the Bunnies as a whole). Truth is, I should have nipped this whole thing in the bud when there was first an indication that the Bunnies commitment to Nike was not going to work for me personally. But the truth is also that – contrary to your assessment that I had “essentially nothing to do with the team” – I recruited almost all of the masters runners to the squad, served as the main conduit of information for that squad (as well as on-call coach for a couple members), and led the masters team to three national championships. The fact that you would consider this “essentially nothing” speaks volumes of the attitude of some Bunnies toward the masters squad. But trust me that I did not consider it “nothing,” and so was hesitant to abandon a squad that I’d had a huge hand in building – and that had achieved so much.
As for your calling me a liar, arrogant, and out-of-line … okay, you got that off your chest. And I won’t hold it against you, as I’m sure it’s a visceral reaction to your contention that I dragged the Bunny name through the mud. We all have the capacity for reacting badly (for throwing a tantrum, one might even say) when we feel we’ve been unfairly attacked … you with this post … me when – hmmm, let’s see – when taken to task at a Sunday run for wearing the “wrong” pair of shoes.
But look, here’s the bottom line: I like and respect David Olds a lot, and I like the rest of you Bunnies a lot too. I wish only the best to you personally, and to the Bunnies as a whole, in the months and years to come.
Pete – you’re a class act and a phenomenal athlete. We look forward to following your running wherever you end up.
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