Oh Danny Boy...

This is a few days old, but it was glossed over or not even mentioned on some of the top running news outlets around the internets, so its worth discussing here. Daniel Lincoln, America's top steeeplechaser in the history of western civilization, is not going to race at the Olympic Trials this year because of Achilles tendon surgery. I'll take that news one step further and tell all of you that he won't be racing at the Olympics either.

For all the medal hype that Webb and Tegenkamp get, and they deserve MORE than what they get, it is interesting that Lincoln gets nothing like that. On the right day, 2006-Lincoln slips in for a bronze or silver. John McDonnel agrees, saying that if he did not have to undergo this surgery, Lincoln would be "running under 8:00." Under 8 is always in the conversation for a medal.

Most likely his lack of pub comes from not racing as much and always being busy in (pushes glasses up nose) medical school. But, I like to think the media hates him because he is over 6'2" and under 170 pounds. When will the media realize that we are out there, we are proud of our long bony frames, and we no longer are ashamed of wearing pants that stop above our ankles and shirts that show a little happy trail. For inspiration in times of media bias, we look to our mascot, our leader, our inspiration.

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Video: Fam & "Run Like Hell" at New York Running Co.

Anthony Famiglietti, one of the few notable US distance runners not competing this weekend, was out Monday night for a screening of his movie Run Like Hell. "Fam" also gave a short, candid talk to the intimate crowd of around 50 runners, joggers, and fans in attendance at the New York Running Company in Columbus Circle. Also, he was gracious enough to stick around after all but store employees had left, to sit down with us and answer a few questions.

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A recap of the evening, after the jump.

It's easy to tell that Fam is a guy who shoots from the hip in most everything he does. He feels like he'll run a good 10k after being a steepler for so long - he does it. He decides he wants to live and train in NYC when everyone else is living like a monk in some mountain range or another - he does it. Successfully. Apparently, he was even considering doing the Marathon Trials after clearly being a mile/steeple/5k guy for his whole career. (More on that in part two of the interview, with will be available tomorrow .)

His speech was similarly spontaneous. There were tangents and anecdotes, but it was interesting and altogether conversational rather than stiff and completely cliche'd as I imagine many such appearances by runners can easily become. The video had the same free-wheeling feel, opting to divert into musical montages that made training footage look as electric as I've ever seen.

After the event, and an autograph/chat session, the '04 Olympian sat down to talk about Run Like Hell, his running, and of course, the Marathon Trials... a topic which will be covered in Part Two of our interview. Look for it tomorrow.

Thanks to Fam, Spencer and the folks at New York Running Co., and Michael and the rest of the adidas team, for sponsoring the event and having us.

(Hi-res version of the interview over at our blip page. Music by Holtz.)

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