Bill "Mad Dog" Scobey: The Man Who Ran 200 Mile Weeks | Mr. Rubio Used To Run Ep. 16

[@csrtothestars]

The Dog's still got it!! Thanks for a great interview of an incredible runner. His recall of facts and figures spanning decades is as impressive as his running!

[@Abundance1535]

Hi Bill! Looking great and love hearing the stories. Glad to see you’re doing so good. ❤ Lissa

[@cartoonpower0]

18yr runner about to go into college. Absolutely loved listening to this! Fascinating to hear about the old school days of running.

[@austinado16]

Outstanding interview Joe! Hearing Bill talk about running for Humboldt, Coach Hunt, Avenue, the Jogg'n shoppe, and the mention of Mark Conover there at the end, brought back a huge flood of memories. I grew up in Arcata in the early 70's, and started running Cross-Country in 7th Grade, for Stewart School in Arcata (located just across the street from Arcata High) because our coach was good friends with Chuck Ehlers, the Arcata High coach, and of course Ehlers was good friends with Jim Hunt, the Humboldt coach. It was an incredible time for running, and to be a runner, and to have the honor of being around the high school team and going to races like the Chico Invitational, as a 7th and 8th grader, was amazing. I spent a lot of time doing speed work on the "new" rubber track at Humboldt, and racing on it, as Hunt and the university graciously allowed Arcata High to use the track for training and meets. There was a cool "pace clock" up on the wall of the stadium that only had a second hand, and we'd use it to work on lap pace, for example, doing repeat 220's, or 440's, or 880's. I wound up knowing Mark Conover, and because we had the same foot size, he gave me a pair of his one-off Puma distance spikes, that Puma had made for him. They were red suede, and had a heel piece glued to them that was raised, and had round, stubby cylinder shapes as tread. He wanted me to have a "distance spike" to race in, for the mile and 2 mile. My high school coach, Chuck Ehlers, purchased both of the Jogg'n Shoppes (Arcata and Eureka locations), and he and his wife Barbara ran them. His son John was in high school at Arcata, with me, but a year or 2 older. I went on to run CC for College of the Redwoods after I graduated from AHS in '81, and may have been running Avenue the year that Bill set that record ('82). I remember all of us watching that running film when it came out, and just sitting there laughing. The running scene in Arcata, especially, but really, in all of that area of CA, was on fire at that time. Every day we were either up in the Redwoods behind Humboldt State doing hill work, on the track doing speed work, or down in the Arcata Bottoms, or some combination. We were the underdogs to Eureka High, and beat them in the league meet, all 4 years that I was at AHS. Very proud of my running years there, and it shaped the rest of my life. I owe that to Chuck Ehlers and Jim Hunt. I moved to SLO in '85 to go to Poly and am still here, not far from RW (actually going over today to make a purchase!). My daughter went to SLO high and was lucky enough to have Steve Boaz in the last 4 years he coached there. She ran Varsity for him all 4 years, in both CC and Track. I volunteered time as a team driver for his CC team, and the track team, and as an assistant coach during track. When CIF prevented Steve from taking the kids to the famous running camp in Sequoia Nat'l Park with the San Diego Team, my wife and I were part of the small group of parents who took that "family gathering" over, and of course, the coaches were invited. At 61 I still run long distance, and occasionally race trail Halfs... the more vert, the better. My daughter started training with me at age 12, and I brought her up running in the ways of Chuck Ehlers and Jim Hunt. We started running R2R's at the Grand Canyon on her 16th birthday, and we still run together. Running continues to be a huge part of my life.

[@JoeRubio-zw3hy]

My calendar's pretty full this week, but have the folks in retail see if they can find me and Ill cruise down to retail and say hi. Glad you enjoyed the chat w/ the Dawg- Joe

[@austinado16]

@@JoeRubio-zw3hy That would be cool. If there's a time that's better for you, let me know and I'll come over then. I'll never stop being in awe of gawds-of-running who were just mobbing it everywhere in Arcata when I was there. The depth of talent, from the Humboldt CC team to AHS was just insane, and even the coaches and parents (all members of the Six Rivers Running Club) were in the mix.

[@JoeRubio-zw3hy]

@@austinado16 Today and tomorrow are tough ,we have lots of affiliates in town, meetings, runs, meals etc. Next week would be better if you can swing it

[@davidmcquade4743]

This was great! Went by so fast. Enjoyed hearing Mr. Scobey's stories and names of running legends.

[@MedicineRunner]

This is the only podcast I genuinely enjoy. Pls keep it

[@timsilano9176]

Thank you, great to hear Bill Scobey talk about his running life, he has been an inspiration for me since 1973.

[@august24ist]

Enjoyed seeing the Mad dog and his stories. He never lets details get in the way of a good story. Thanks. Bill is a good friend and great teammate.

[@Ryan_Tinney]

I always look forward to these talks. Keep up the excellent work.

[@eriktred]

Epic content. Inspiring running history.

[@markwhite7939]

Ran track and XC with Bill's younger brother Joe at Hollywood HS. Also went to Humboldt to run there.

[@elcarquis]

Mad dog is an absolute beast

[@albertmills9365]

Couple of questions: Are fast older runners (3:10 marathon in their 60's), usually people who start running later in life? It's a pattern I seem to have noticed. Also, why don't soccer cleats have foam in them, when some track spikes do? Soccer cleats seem to have no padding, and are very hard on the body.

[@markbateman9222]

I have a copy of "How They Train" by Fred Wild form the 1970s that contains details of Bill's training. Very interesting stuff! But I have read that some runners deny that the detailed schedules in this book actually came from them and are not accurate. Wonder if Bill actually provided Wilt with the information and if the schedule is an accurate account of the training Bill really did?

[@austinado16]

For those interested in seeing the film, "The Harriers" that Mr. Scobey talks about. I've found it here on KZbin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXelZIOFdqiHqtE Just watched for the first time since seeing it in the mid-70's, as a CC runner for Arcata High. What a flood of memories it brought back!