Post by Okwes on Sept 23, 2006 11:34:31 GMT -5
Navajo runner to compete here for more than glory
Philadelphia Inquirer
<http://www.topix.net/redir/loc=off-hosted-page/http=3A=2F=2Fwww.philly.\
com>
September 15, 2006
I'm glad to see him running well again. He's a good runner and a good
guy.
Brandon Leslie is trying to break a curse with his feet.
When Leslie lines up for a race - as he will tomorrow morning in the
Jefferson <http://www.topix.net/city/jefferson-tx> Hospital
Philadelphia Distance Run - he runs for more than medals. He competes
for American Indian children living on reservations, for his family, and
to distance himself from a rocky past.
'I'm on a mission, not only for myself but for my family and all Native
American people,' said Leslie, a Navajo. 'I want to open eyes and open
doors for them. There's a lot who don't get a chance.'
In Philadelphia, Leslie and the largest field in the annual event's 29
years - 12,500 participants - will compete on a course that winds 13.1
miles through Philadelphia and ends at Eakins Oval.
Leslie's times have been competitive.
Wilson Kiprotich of Kenya owns the fastest half-marathon time of 59
minutes, 25 seconds. Abdi Abdirahman of Tucson, Ariz
<http://www.topix.net/tucson> ., leads the Americans after having
finished third at the inaugural New York <http://www.topix.net/state/ny>
City Half Marathon in 1 hour, 1 minute and 34 seconds last month.
Leslie finished fourth at the 2006 USA Men's Half Marathon Championship
in Houston <http://www.topix.net/city/houston-ms> in January, in
1:03:09.
On the women's side, Edna <http://www.topix.net/city/edna-tx> Kiplagat
of Kenya is seeking the $25,000 Triple Crown bonus offered to an athlete
who wins all three fall half-marathons of Elite Racing Inc., a sports
marketing and management company. She recently won the Virginia Beach
race on Sept. 3, and also will compete in San Jose on Oct. 8.
Leslie is aiming to qualify for the 2008 Olympic trials and is using the
Philadelphia run as a final warm-up for the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 22.
Just three years ago, that would have seemed like an outrageous goal.
Leslie looked more like a trudging middle-of-the-pack amateur, spending
more time in taverns than on tracks.
Today, he is a svelte machine at 6 feet and 140 pounds.
'I'm so proud of him,' said Abdirahman, who trained with Leslie in
California two years ago. 'I'm glad to see him running well again. He's
a good runner and a good guy.'
Leslie, 30, calls this his 'fourth or fifth comeback' from injuries and
a loss of desire.
Growing up on a Navajo reservation in Gallup, N.M., Leslie began running
at age 6. By high school, college scholarship offers poured in.
He was compared to Billy Mills, an American Indian and the only U.S.
runner to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters, which he did in an
upset in Tokyo in 1964.
'Everyone asks me, 'Are you going to be the next Billy Mills?' ' Leslie
said. 'I just want to make a name for myself and my family now.'
In 1995, he enrolled in Northern Arizona University, but his time there
was more of a sprint than a long-distance journey.
Leslie competed in just one meet in the spring in his first year of
college and left school. He returned to Gallup, where he learned he had
fathered a child.
For three years, he did not run. Leslie said he gained about 25 pounds.
'I found myself giving up everything,' he said over the phone earlier
this week. 'I was drinking more than I should have and eating too much.
I could see disappointment in my family's face.'
He has seen how alcoholism has plagued the American Indian community.
Two of his uncles died from alcoholism, Leslie's mother said, and his
father has also battled it for years.
When Leslie was in fourth grade, he and his mother were homeless for a
stretch, living on food stamps and eventually finding subsidized
housing.
Leslie would try to comfort his mother. 'He would say, 'Mom, I'll be a
runner one day and I'll take care of you,' ' Sharon Leslie recalled.
Leslie said he was never an alcoholic but could see his lifestyle taking
him in a negative direction. He eventually stopped drinking and
rediscovered running.
He reconnected with coach Mike Daney, who helped Leslie win a
scholarship to Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo.
'I wanted to be the first to break that curse,' he said.
Leslie found the spark again. He won the 10,000 meters in the Division
II national championship in 2000 and earned the degree that his mother
had always dreamed of for him. He got married and now has three
children.
'I did not want to be known as a person who was good,' said Leslie, who
is coached by Joe Vigil.
There are still struggles. For instance, Leslie is searching for a major
sponsor.
When he is not training or competing, he is talking to American Indian
children, encouraging them to break stereotypes and achieve dreams as he
has.
'There's a reason for everything that has happened to me,' he said. 'I'm
trying to open the door and say, 'You can do this, too.' '
If You Go
What: Tomorrow's Jefferson Hospital Philadelphia Distance Run, a
13.1-mile half-marathon
Starting times: Wheelchair start, 7:40 a.m.; half-marathon, 7:45 a.m.;
Big Walk for Little Feet, 8:15 a.m.; Children's run, 9:45 to10:30 a.m.
by age groups.
Start and finish locations: Eakins Oval, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, east
of 24th Street.
Course description: It winds through Center City and along Martin Luther
King Drive and Kelly Drive. Eleven bands will play along the flat
course.
Traffic: Center City roads will be closed at the start of the race and
reopen around 9:15 a.m.; Martin Luther King Drive and Kelly Drive will
be closed from 7 a.m. until the end of the race. The Eakins Oval area is
closed until the end of the race.
Registration: None tomorrow. Today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Philadelphia
Convention Center.
In memoriam: A moment of silence will be held at the start for Canadian
Olympian Emilie Mondor, 25, who was registered to compete. She died last
Saturday in a car accident.
- Shannon Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
<http://www.topix.net/redir/loc=off-hosted-page/http=3A=2F=2Fwww.philly.\
com>
September 15, 2006
I'm glad to see him running well again. He's a good runner and a good
guy.
Brandon Leslie is trying to break a curse with his feet.
When Leslie lines up for a race - as he will tomorrow morning in the
Jefferson <http://www.topix.net/city/jefferson-tx> Hospital
Philadelphia Distance Run - he runs for more than medals. He competes
for American Indian children living on reservations, for his family, and
to distance himself from a rocky past.
'I'm on a mission, not only for myself but for my family and all Native
American people,' said Leslie, a Navajo. 'I want to open eyes and open
doors for them. There's a lot who don't get a chance.'
In Philadelphia, Leslie and the largest field in the annual event's 29
years - 12,500 participants - will compete on a course that winds 13.1
miles through Philadelphia and ends at Eakins Oval.
Leslie's times have been competitive.
Wilson Kiprotich of Kenya owns the fastest half-marathon time of 59
minutes, 25 seconds. Abdi Abdirahman of Tucson, Ariz
<http://www.topix.net/tucson> ., leads the Americans after having
finished third at the inaugural New York <http://www.topix.net/state/ny>
City Half Marathon in 1 hour, 1 minute and 34 seconds last month.
Leslie finished fourth at the 2006 USA Men's Half Marathon Championship
in Houston <http://www.topix.net/city/houston-ms> in January, in
1:03:09.
On the women's side, Edna <http://www.topix.net/city/edna-tx> Kiplagat
of Kenya is seeking the $25,000 Triple Crown bonus offered to an athlete
who wins all three fall half-marathons of Elite Racing Inc., a sports
marketing and management company. She recently won the Virginia Beach
race on Sept. 3, and also will compete in San Jose on Oct. 8.
Leslie is aiming to qualify for the 2008 Olympic trials and is using the
Philadelphia run as a final warm-up for the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 22.
Just three years ago, that would have seemed like an outrageous goal.
Leslie looked more like a trudging middle-of-the-pack amateur, spending
more time in taverns than on tracks.
Today, he is a svelte machine at 6 feet and 140 pounds.
'I'm so proud of him,' said Abdirahman, who trained with Leslie in
California two years ago. 'I'm glad to see him running well again. He's
a good runner and a good guy.'
Leslie, 30, calls this his 'fourth or fifth comeback' from injuries and
a loss of desire.
Growing up on a Navajo reservation in Gallup, N.M., Leslie began running
at age 6. By high school, college scholarship offers poured in.
He was compared to Billy Mills, an American Indian and the only U.S.
runner to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters, which he did in an
upset in Tokyo in 1964.
'Everyone asks me, 'Are you going to be the next Billy Mills?' ' Leslie
said. 'I just want to make a name for myself and my family now.'
In 1995, he enrolled in Northern Arizona University, but his time there
was more of a sprint than a long-distance journey.
Leslie competed in just one meet in the spring in his first year of
college and left school. He returned to Gallup, where he learned he had
fathered a child.
For three years, he did not run. Leslie said he gained about 25 pounds.
'I found myself giving up everything,' he said over the phone earlier
this week. 'I was drinking more than I should have and eating too much.
I could see disappointment in my family's face.'
He has seen how alcoholism has plagued the American Indian community.
Two of his uncles died from alcoholism, Leslie's mother said, and his
father has also battled it for years.
When Leslie was in fourth grade, he and his mother were homeless for a
stretch, living on food stamps and eventually finding subsidized
housing.
Leslie would try to comfort his mother. 'He would say, 'Mom, I'll be a
runner one day and I'll take care of you,' ' Sharon Leslie recalled.
Leslie said he was never an alcoholic but could see his lifestyle taking
him in a negative direction. He eventually stopped drinking and
rediscovered running.
He reconnected with coach Mike Daney, who helped Leslie win a
scholarship to Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo.
'I wanted to be the first to break that curse,' he said.
Leslie found the spark again. He won the 10,000 meters in the Division
II national championship in 2000 and earned the degree that his mother
had always dreamed of for him. He got married and now has three
children.
'I did not want to be known as a person who was good,' said Leslie, who
is coached by Joe Vigil.
There are still struggles. For instance, Leslie is searching for a major
sponsor.
When he is not training or competing, he is talking to American Indian
children, encouraging them to break stereotypes and achieve dreams as he
has.
'There's a reason for everything that has happened to me,' he said. 'I'm
trying to open the door and say, 'You can do this, too.' '
If You Go
What: Tomorrow's Jefferson Hospital Philadelphia Distance Run, a
13.1-mile half-marathon
Starting times: Wheelchair start, 7:40 a.m.; half-marathon, 7:45 a.m.;
Big Walk for Little Feet, 8:15 a.m.; Children's run, 9:45 to10:30 a.m.
by age groups.
Start and finish locations: Eakins Oval, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, east
of 24th Street.
Course description: It winds through Center City and along Martin Luther
King Drive and Kelly Drive. Eleven bands will play along the flat
course.
Traffic: Center City roads will be closed at the start of the race and
reopen around 9:15 a.m.; Martin Luther King Drive and Kelly Drive will
be closed from 7 a.m. until the end of the race. The Eakins Oval area is
closed until the end of the race.
Registration: None tomorrow. Today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Philadelphia
Convention Center.
In memoriam: A moment of silence will be held at the start for Canadian
Olympian Emilie Mondor, 25, who was registered to compete. She died last
Saturday in a car accident.
- Shannon Ryan