Track and Field Blogs - Allen Wagner

I just finished the Chicago Marathon and I'm very happy that I was able to run well considering the conditions. I want to thank Chad he was one of the guys I was running with in the first half. I also want to thank the organizers for allowing me to run the race I do feel very fortunate to be able to participate in such a great race.

I always seem to learn a lot every time I run one of these things, the biggest lesson that I learned is that being able to share your experience with the ones that you love the most is more important than anything in the whole world.

My mom and Dad flew over to see me race which was a good omen. They came over to see me at the Olympic Trials and I really did well there because I thought a lot about my father who went to the hospital earlier that year for cardiovascular problems. There is always a well of emotion that seems to be stirring in me when I'm in big races like this because my performance defines all of the work that I put in prior to the race.

My parents also went to go see my Great, Great Aunt who turned 100 years old! My mom told me that she is still just as sharp as she was when she was young. I met her a couple of years ago and she would recite our family history, to us. What I'm really trying to say is that I feel like I have a purpose to do something positive for the sake of my family. I feel that I haven't accomplished that yet.

I wish that I could take back some of the debacles in the past the things that I did wrong. I wish that I could take back La Jolla, and I'm sorry that I hurt a lot of people out there with my behavior. I think now though I'm heading in the right direction and I'm doing things for the right reason.

My old college coach said I use to be a role model for the new runners who came in because I always trained and took my racing so seriously. I didn't know that the other people on the team gave a rats butt what I did. It turns out everybody is watching you and the people you know, or the people that know you are always going to be adversely affected by your actions whether you care or not.

So I'm apologizing to everybody that has harsh feelings towards me because of my attitude, my actions or what I have said or wrote. I really don't want to be the cause of so much negativity in the lives of others. Please accept my apologies and I hope that everyone who reads this will avoid the mistakes I've made and I hope that your running is going well.

Sincerely,

Allen Wagner