Your Greatest Athletic Accomplishment?

[Boone]

Someone posed this question on Twitter and I thought it was a cool one...

What was the greatest athletic accomplishment of your life?

 

[Boone]

Mine would have to be one of two... both during my 17th year of life...

I ran the first 20 miles of the Marine Corps Marathon in 2 hours. I linked up with a college runner from Boston University early on in the race. I had no business running with someone of his talent level, but we just synched up and for 20 miles I stayed with him. If I had been able to maintain that pace for the last 6 miles, I would have broken the American record for marathon for under 18. But at mile 21 or so, right where you enter the Hain's point section of the run, I hit the wall. I couldn't feel my feet and actually started crying because I was so disappointed. Finished barefoot but it took me an hour to finish the last 5 miles or so. Still an incredible day.

But my best moment was the 1979 Cherry Blossom 10 miler that same year. I finished in 55 minutes, 17 seconds. Bill Rodgers won the race that day. Key point in the race, I looked up midway knowing I was running way beyond my talent level and saw Aileen O’Connor (who set the American record that day!) about to pass me. That got me fired up and I ended up finishing just ahead of her. I was listed in the top 100 finishers in the Washington Post. Pretty proud moment and ran out of my mind that day.

It’s been all downhill from there lol…

Someday put on ‘Glory Days’…

 

[Boone]

Let your humble brag fly…

 

[Boone]

And if your greatest accomplishment wasn’t ‘athletic’ (and honestly I would hope it wasn’t), chime in too!

 

[Canadian Hog]

I know that many of you are going to put my story to shame with your achievements, but here goes...

9th Grade gym class...

At the end of our wrestling unit, my gym teacher set up a survivor challenge. Basically, everyone is seated around the wrestling circle, two guys begin the competition, and the winner of the match immediately moves on to face the next opponent. Last man standing after everyone in the class has had a chance wins the championship belt. By the time it got to me, I had the good fortune of facing a guy who was a bit tired, as he had won a few matches in a row. The next thing I know, I defeated 12 guys in a row and was declared the champ. I was always the smallest guy on the field in any sport (I'm 5'4...lol), so for a little guy like me to defeat people who took me lightly was a moment of pride.

 

[MikefromOH]

First, my smart ass answer. "I hold the record for taking of my skate and stabbing a guy"

Now, my real one. I was a very accomplished swimmer as a kid. I held two records that were never broken. Both 100 meter freestyle and breaststroke were always my spots, and no matter the age of the kid, I could beat them. Coaches knew who I was, I was on every relay team, and I was actually cocky at it for being as young as I was.

I remember when we'd play sharks and minnows in the well area where the high dives were, I'd just sit at the bottom 20 feet down and watch the others struggle to get to me while I laughed and point at them. It would take a few seniors to get me before I'd ever get out.

I was always "good" at most sports, but that was my one sport I was cocky with.

 

[burgold]

I was playing a pick up volleyball game at a Special Olympics fundraiser once. On the other side of the net was an invited (regular) Olympic gold medalist in volleyball. He looked to be in his thirties so maybe not in his prime, but still an athlete. I blocked his shot three times in one game.

The first one he laughed at, the second he smiled at, after the third time he took it personally. I think the stinger was he was about 6'4 and I'm about 5'6.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I have 2, one from high school and one more recently.

I played baseball growing up and my high school was a powerhouse team. I made the varsity my Jr year and barely played the first month. I think I had 1 at bat and didn't get a hit in that stretch. We went to a tournament and Tennessee just before Easter and the 2nd game I got to start. I went 4-4. I started the next game and went 1-2 with 2 walks. So in my first two real games of very competitive high school baseball, I was 5-6 with 2 walks. Getting on base 7-8 times in a two game stretch was definitely my best stretch of baseball.

Moving on to old man life, I played competitive softball. We travel all over the southeast to play and to start the 2016 season, we played in the Winter World Series down in Myrtle Beach. I had been one of the best hitters on the team, but was getting older and had finally moved into a reserve role. This was my first tournament as a reserve and our team was playing great the first 2 days. I was hoping to never have to hit as we were rolling. Well, the first game Sunday morning, we were in a tight game and I went in to pinch hit. I hit a triple on the first pitch I saw. I ended up pinch hitting once in every game the rest of the tournament. 5 games where I came off the bench and 5 hits. All 5 hits were clutch as well. We won the tournament which this was the biggest tournament that team ever won. I was a big part of it and was able to be an example to the guys on the team of playing my role and doing it well when it was needed. I was 38 at the time and most of the players on the team were between 22-25. So it wasn't just that I was clutch with the hits, I was showing the younger guys how to be a good teammate no matter what your role is.

 

[Boone]

Awesome stories guys! So cool.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

I was a pretty good football player, was a 6-4 300 pound DE who punted, played backup QB (threw a TD pass underhanded after shoulder surgery the same season) and LT and LG, was a short yards FB for a couple seasons and won a most valuable lineman award in the cmfl, won a ton of individual awards I dont even bother listing those, 3 national and 8 provincial championships, started at 5 different positions on national champion teams, at DE, DT, LG, LT and RG, once had a season where I led the league in sacks with 15 , tackles with 75 and tackles for loss with 22 and tied for second in the league for interceptions with 6 in a 10 game season playing mostly DE (won the most valuable lineman award, and lost the DMVP to a guy who had one more interception than me but no sacks and only a couple tfs and yes im still bitter lol. we lost in the league final 7-0 after I returned a pick off a screen pass 75 yards and was tackled on the 5. our Offence went 3 and out and we lost. the following season we lost 1-0 despite scoring on 3 straight plays with each TD being called back for brutal penalty calls. I went back to school, played a season of college basketball as a forward, retired from football and then unretired to play for the Wolfpack where we went 3 years without a loss, and won 8 provincial and 3 national titles. at the U of A I was the only player on the football team who was invited to the basketball tryouts but they wanted me to drop 25 pounds and the football team wanted me to gain 25 pounds. that made my choice really easy. In canada we have this thing in university called NLC national level competitor, basically varsity athletes do a set of exercises and depending on where you finish you are a NLC or not, I was NLC at bench, vert, 40 yard dash, 3 cone drill, standing long jump and shuttle run, I dont recall all my numbers but I know benched 225 25 times, my max in college was only 415 because I ruined my shoulder and was basically benching by cheating to one side. and my 40 time was 4.89 at 305 pounds and my vert was 38 inches. I have a scouting report that a guy did for a european team that I will post here for shits and giggles. I was invited to a few pro tryouts but in canada they dont pay very much.



Mario Stromboli <milantigers@hotmail.com>
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To:

• You

Tue 2003-09-02 6:19 PM

Mr.Bellrose, I recently received a recomendation of you to be a Lineman of the defnse and coach of them as well.
According to our Canadian Dirctor of Scouting Jim Stadnyk You are an outstanding player who is also a coach of the Defensive Line who has expressed interest inplaying in Europe and as we are new Team in the Continental Football league we are offering you a position with our club here in Milan for the 2003-2004 season as a Coach and Player. As you know in european league we only have limited number of roster spot for Canadians /American and so that is the reason we are offering you a dual position with our club.I received your E-mail from a Mr.Jerry Frisesen at the Unversity of Aberta, He mentioned you are recovering from an injuries so we will need you to provide us proff that you are able to play. Please contact me by E-mails at your earliest coveniences.
If you have any questions our website should be activated Sept 29 but I hope we will be in contact sooner.

Managing General Milan Tigers

Mario Stromboli <milantigers@hotmail.com>
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To:

• You

Wed 2003-09-10 8:47 AM

Ryan you wished to see some of our scouting reports as you had some questions to their accuracy as you had no knowledge of any scouts at AFL games.here is a part of the e-mail i received from Jim Stadnyk last summer when we originaly were awarded our franchise.Do you agree with the assesment of players?



Mario here are a few of the player scouting reports you asked for i believe there are at least 35 players currently playing Here in Alberta that could help your club I have reports on 25 others that I have been following here in Calgary and Edmonton I am doing this as I am a fan of canadian football and I am not affiliated with any teams.

Matt Oberle-QB 5-10 165
Strengths
Very aware, understands the game very well.
Very strong and accurate arm(much better than his build would suggest.)
could run more as has good speed but is not really a running QB, moves in pocket well.
Crisp in his reads as far as i can tell (didn't have a lot of time as the O-line wasnt very solid.)
Good footwork.
Excellent hands in the running game uses good positioning on handoffs.
Weaknesses
Tends to hang on to ball looking for big play and takes needless punishment rather than throw the ball away.
Frail Build.
Needs to work on just running if no options in the passing game.
season stats G played 8 174 attempts 88 comp 50.1 % 1620yds 9tds 6int sacked 15 20 carries 108 yds 3 tds

Matt could be a good one if he bulks up a little and works on getting rid of the ball sooner I would recommend him to a team that needs a QB as he is a good risk with great upside although his being out of football so long worries me. I have watched only four games but Matt seems to be a Steady Kid after talking to his junior coach i was leery but after watching him i would offer him a spot.He can be contacted @Stallionsball@hotmail.com

Ryan Bellerose-DL 6-4 325
Strengths
Great intensity
Has great awareness of the Ball really understands the game.
Uses hands well to shed blocks, Uses size and strength to collapse pocket rather than shed blocker.
Excellent athleticism for such a large man, great size/speed combination.Very good in pursuit.
He is Huge! 192cm 135kg but moves like a much smaller man!
Excellent short area quickness off the ball.
Very adept at taking on double teams and still making the tackle.
Very Productive led AFL in tackles in 2001 and averages about 6 tackles a game Playing DT.
Very Tough played very well despite shoulder injury that should have sidelined him.

Weaknesses
Very intense can be a little hard to handle on the sidelines. Has very strong personality Seems to lack strength at times (could be from shoulder injury)Has great push but seems to lack upper body strength at the finish.
Tends to favour his right arm (definitely from shoulder injury)plays better when his right shoulder is towards the outside.
Gets frustrated and plays a little out of control at times. Rarely takes penalties.
Injury prone and although he plays through injuries it could prove to be a problem (probably should be signed to a performance incentive based on plays played).
Needs to be in better cardiovascular condition as well seems to wear down.
Needs to work on shedding blocks rather than just running them into the backfield!
Trash talks constantly could be a problem.

Last seasons stats 4 games played 17 tackles 3 sacks 3 tackles for a loss 2 fum forced 1 fum rec

Ryan seems to be having trouble with his body, particularly his shoulder, however he is a dominating Lineman even when not 100% and he would be a great pick up as he is a natural leader and his intensity rubs off on those around him ; However you will need a very strong Coach to keep him reigned in but I believe he is well worth the effort. Talking to his former team the Icemen is a waste of time as Ryan left them to Start his own Team contact Jim Lightfoot at JIMLi50@aol.com for info or Stallionsball@hotmail.com also there are rumours that he left to attend university.



I still get a kick out of reading that lol, but I disagreed about lacking strength, I favoured my arm but I was still shitcanning dudes.

 

[Knightingale]

Well, I've NEVER been very athletic...BUT...

I've always loved US Sports, in particular Football and Basketball. I used to play basketball for my school and college, and while I wasn't very good I did used to enjoy it immensely. I got talking to a work colleague in 2000 about it, and he used to play for a local team in Ireland. We both talked about how much we missed playing, so I put up a notice on the notice board at work and created a little work league.

We welcomed anyone, no matter what size or sex or ability. It was just a fun way to get exercise on a Wednesday night. We bastardised the rules a little to make it more accessible for everyone and fairer.
(For instance we found that after the first few weeks that there were a few who were really good at playing and they had a tendency to dominate the ball, never passing to the people not so good. So we instituted a 'Three-Pass before shooting' rule to make sure that everyone got a chance to touch the ball).

We called it the JBBA. The Jonny Boy Basketball Association. (I'm Jonny Boy! LOL)

We even had uniforms for the three teams (The Bournville Dragons, the Kings Norton Knicks, and the Cotteridge Coyotes)

In 2004 for SPORT RELIEF we did a 24hr Marathon game (We had 2 teams with subs coming in and out every 30 mins - The Red Sox and the White Sox.)
We raised over £1000 for charity.

So I'm pretty proud of that.

Outside of Sports, I'm proud that I've got 3 books published now, with a 4th on the way.

 

[Boone]

So awesome on all fronts Jon!