CHRISTOPER MCDOUGALL
Luncheon Speaker, Saturday, March 17, 2012
Hilton Ridgeway, Memphis TN
The 2012 RRCA Convention is pleased to present Christopher McDougall as the featured speaker on Saturday March 15th.
McDougall is an author and journalist best known for his 2009 best-selling book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. In Born to Run, McDougall tracks down members of the reclusive Tarahumara Indian tribe in the Mexican Copper Canyons. After being repeatedly injured as a runner himself, McDougall marvels at the tribe's ability to run ultra distances (over 100 miles) at incredible speeds, without getting the routine injuries of most American runners. McDougall also has received critical praise for his rich story-telling and the many quirky characters portrayed in the book, including not only the Tarahumara but exceptional Western runners who share the Tarahumara spirit of running for enjoyment and spiritual experience. McDougall is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University. He spent three years as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, covering civil wars in Rwanda and Angola.
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DAVID WOTTLE
Luncheon Speaker, Friday, March 16
Hilton Ridgeway, Memphis
Dave Wottle's dramatic stretch run earned him an upset victory in the 800 meters and established him as one of the stars of the 1972 Olympic Games. As a student at Bowling Green State University, Wottle first came on the national scene in 1970 when he finished second in the NCAA championship mile. Injuries sidelined him in 1971 but a year later he came back and won the national collegiate 1500m and the National AAU 800m before tying the world 800 record of 1:44.3 at the Olympic Trials. He also qualified in the 1500m, but was eliminated in the semi-finals of that event. In 1973, he won the NCAA mile in 1973, then turned professional and eventually became a college track coach and academic administrator at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.
Records Held
World Record: 800 m - 1:44.30 (July 1, 1972 - )
Championships
1972 Olympics: 800 m (1st)
1972 AAU: 800 m (1st)
1970 NCAA: 1 mi. (2nd)
1972 NCAA: 1,500 m (1st)
1973 NCAA: 1 mi. (1st)
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