Part I - Putting the "Track" in Chill Track Friday. A Conversation with Stuart Calderwood

In this two-part episode we interview Stuart Calderwood about track racing and coaching runners. Stuart has been a coach for over forty years. During his 11 years as a head cross-country coach in California, his Laguna Beach High School boys’ team won the 1989 State Championship and his Orange Coast College men’s team won the 1988 South Conference championship. In 2003 Stuart won the age 45-49 bronze medal at the World Masters Championship marathon. In 2009 he set the American age 50-54 track records at 25K and 30K. He is a 2:28:05 marathoner and a 1:10:07 half-marathoner.

PART I: Stuart is a true connoisseur of track and field and his knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport is inspiring. Part I of this double-episode is a delightful conversation with Stuart about track and field today and the direction in which the sport may head. Stuart has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the discipline and a computer-like ability to remember race results, both those of professional runners, and those of the hundreds of athletes with whom he works today. Whether or not you are schooled in track racing, Stuart's appreciation for the technique and principles involved in every race distance, combined with his outside-the-box way of thinking, allows him to articulate the subtle nuances of racing to runners at every level. This episode is for everyone.