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Hi! My name is Dariusz, or DJ for short.
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This supposed to be the place where I give you my running credentials; so you know what I am talking about. So, here we go, I will do my best. |
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My first cross country race at the age of 14.
I am the first runner on the left. (1972)
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A competitive runner since the age of 14, I was an all-around distance runner, racing anything from cross-country, to road races, track and indoor track. I was coached by Kazimierz Chechelski, a very good runner during his times, and a student of John Mulak, legendary coach of Polish Wunderteam of 1950s. At 16, I started to specialize in the steeple chase but also competed in middles distances. In 1975, I won Poland's National junior title in 1500 m steeple chase with time 4:21, which I believe is still the country's record as of today. At the same championship I took third place in 1500 meter, that showed my potential in middle distances. From the very beginning of my running career, I remember maintaining my running log. Today, after many years my first coach still applies the training methods he used with me in the 1970's all due to the written record left behind in form of the running logs. In retrospective, after all these years, I only have one wish: that I had maintained something more of a journal - and not just a log; something like this here Runalog.
My big break came after six years of training in 1980 when, at the age of 22, I took fourth place in one of Poland's most prestigious track & field meets of that era, Kusocinski's Memorial. With the time of 3:40.9 (of course arguably, equivalent of 3:59 mile), I not only improved my personal best by more than 6 seconds, but was chasing Bronislaw Malinowski, that year's steeple chase gold medalist from the 1980 Moscow Olympiad, boycotted by majority of the Western countries. Malinowski won the race only a couple of seconds before me...
From that day on, I became one of Poland's leading middle distance runners occasionally still racing the steeple. From 1980 until 1984, I competed in both 1500m and the 3000m steeple chase distances as a member of Polish National Track & Field Team. I ended my steeple chase career with the personal best of 8:40. One of my most memorable races came in 1983 when I ran 1500m at The Grand Prix of Budapest. The lineup included Steve Scott and John Walker, at that time the two best milers in the world. In this race I ended up somewhere at the end of the pack but improving my 1500's personal best with a time of 3:40.4. But just racing against these two running legends hugely improved my confidence as a runner in the races to come.
I left Poland and settled in the United State in 1984 with a desire to get a higher education. My running career in Poland ended with the personal best of 3:39.5 (again arguably, equivalent of 3:58 for a mile run), 1.48.6 in half mile.
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1500m was definitely my favorite racing distance.
Above, second from right, I am about to finish the race
that would prove to be my fastest 1500m ever: 3:39.50. (1983)
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After my arrival in the States in April of 1984, I attended the Ohio's Ashland College (today University) and was coached by the wonderful Bill Gallagher. My college running years ended with 6-time All-American runner in track and cross-country, as well as Academic All-American honors. |
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Representing Ashland College was a true privilege.
The photo above was taken during an indoor meet against Edinboro College,
around 1987. I am in front with my team-mate Tim Hughes, left.
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With the fast-track-running behind me, after graduating from the college in 1989, I concentrated on the road and consequently competed in several big-time marathons. My best showing so far was at the 1998 run of Boston Marathon which I finished in 2 hours and 42 minutes.
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Left, running Boston Marathon in 1998. Out of the six marathons that I completed so far,
Boston was the only one where I remember cheering audiences throughout the entire course
of the race; and that in itself is a quality that even New York City marathon (right) cannot compete with!
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In 1995, I also graduated from the University of Cincinnati's Design, Architecture, Art and Planning school and soon after began my freelance graphic design business.
Today, I live in Missoula, Montana, and still run, almost on a daily basis. Occasionally , I compete in the local road races and have an aspiration of completing a trail ultra marathon in the next months to come. I make my living as a free lance graphic designer. One of my best clients in Missoula is Missoula Marathon. I designed the marathon's logo and have been helping with all the advertising and promotional materials for this one-of-a-kind Montana race.
As you have seen, this Runalog for runners has been a product of 36 years of experience participating in any imaginable aspect of running. In my long running "career" I was guided by several coaches, and witnessed as many training methods. Throughout the years of training, I also had many various training logs, some of them more helpful than others. This Runalog, that is an all-in-one running journal, training log, running calendar, planner, and organizer, is something I wish I had during my best running years. All the elements needed to stay organized and focused on your running are here for you to keep track of and document for your benefit and for the benefit of the future, as I am doing by offering you this Runalog for runners.
Enjoy and Happy Running!
Dariusz Janczewski
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