Rob Murphy

Those uniforms will look pretty slick.

And nothing a little white duct tape can't fix :-)

You gonna go do R2R2R again soon?

I do it in my mind all the time Jon. Life's hectic these days. If you called me up and said let's go do it, I probably would.

I want to seriously train for it and make it a priority next time I do it.

Black shorts/white singlet is a fine combo (especially for the young, ambitious, and handsome), but admittedly not very Johnny Cash.

Best of luck in Arizona, and thanks for the podcast link. The blog has become a kind of living, breathing creature for me.

thanks for the link. i stayed at work an extra 53:49 to hear this. as a former member of the LDS church who married the atheist of all atheists, i have some thoughts.

first, from an LDS perspective -- they talked quite a bit about mormons being insular and having the tendency to only interact with and socialize with other mormons. i grew up in utah county and went to a high school that was 95+% mormon. i really didn't know anything different (and sadly i never even realized this until i moved away -- UT county truly is a bubble). mormonism was present in all situations. it wasn't just about church on sunday; it was a huge part of everyday life. it was the whole culture that i grew up in. even in classes at school (teachers included), we would throw around mormon vocabulary like "ward", "mission call", "baptism" etc. looking back on that i can see how it would be very isolating, lonely, and frustrating if you were of a different faith. and i think that's really sad. i feel for those few non-mormon kids who grew up in that area because i'm sure there were social difficulties and awkward, lonely situations that the majority of us just weren't even aware of. i can totally see why mormons in utah are often viewed as being exclusive and closed to other religions, ideas, and people of other faiths. but i think in most cases that is not the intent at all -- they don't even realize they are doing it because it's just such a big part of everyday life, especially when it permeates the community and goes far beyond church walls.

having been on both sides, i think i am a bit more sensitive to the criticisms and jokes about mormons that i hear quite often among the non-mormon crowd. i fully admit that i make jokes and poke fun at some of the quirks in the religion and in the "mormon culture", but i do try to be respectful and not go beyond saying anything that i wouldn't say in front of my mormon friends and family (mormons are really good at making fun of themselves, btw). when i hear people say that mormons are stupid, close-minded, terrible, ignorant, etc., i really don't like that. joking about the "damn mormons" isn't any more okay than joking about the damn atheists or jews or buddhists or whatever.

i liked the woman who called in and brought up the point that we are all human, and we can still have respect for each other without having to agree with ideas, beliefs, opinions. that is the most important point. if we can't get past religion, we are missing out on a lot of potential relationships that can be very deep and meaningful (in my case, my huuuubbbby).

wow, that was long. shout-out to my wonderful wonderfully mormon mother and my sunday runday peeps. :)

Wow Allie, i don't know you but I probably fall into the same boat. Good points. I think we are fairly ignorant because it does permeate everyday life. Living away from Utah for the past 5+ years has helped me with that quite a bit. Plus, the environment I work in!

I didn't listen to the link Rob, but I totally want to see your new jerseys! Sound spiffy. How is the team looking this year? Did you loose any runners to CCHS? I'll make sure to pass on the evil look to my Dad. Did you know that he was an assistant principal at Alta for a while?

Great thoughts Allie. Are you a regular listener of Radio West? Doug Fabrizio is a great interviewer and gets great guests.

I did know that Colby. Your dad was also the principal at Riverton High when I was the XC coach there for one year in 2003. I was teaching at Alta and coaching at Riverton. Very difficult!

CC has hurt us a lot. Alta is not the same school it once was. We went from being the largest school in Utah to the smallest in our own district. We're working hard to overcome it though.

I'll have to listen to that broadcast. That topic has always fascinated me. I grew up in Montana in a very Catholic community. In addition, I am the only Mormon in my family. So, I know what it's like to be in the minority. I think that I learned to find friends that shared my interests and values, rather than basing relationships solely on religion.

It is interesting living in Utah and being a part of the religious majority. It turns church into a "culture" which I'm not really a fan of. I still like to base my relationships on common interests and values regardless of how people choose to worship/not worship.

I feel badly that people have bad experiences with Mormonism and its members. It violates everything I truly love about my religion; most importantly striving to emulate Jesus Christ. I feel sad when people who don't fit the "culture" feel excluded and isolated.

On the other hand, I have experienced more "discrimination" for lack of a better word based on my religion in Utah then I ever experienced in Montana. There's a lot of animosity out there towards the Mormon church. And, while I understand where it comes from, to a point, it's still not right to be intolerant and mean. Just because I am Mormon, I am not a stereotype of my religion.

Just my thoughts and experiences. I love my friends from all walks of life. I'd rather focus on what we have in common rather than what makes us different. I like this blog. It's full of great people with kind hearts. Maybe running just makes people happy!

And, I hope I have never offended anyone because I'm a "damn Mormon."

Allie, I loved your thoughts! Rob, thanks for sharing!

very well said, emily. i was trying to say something along those lines, but you expressed it so much better (i was pretty tired when i wrote that, as evidenced by my use of the word 'huuubbby'). i agree that it's important to form relationships with people who share common interests and values, regardless of religious beliefs. but it can be really hard to do that here because i think (unintentionally but automatically) many of us just assume we don't share the same values and viewpoints if we don't share a common religion, and that simply is not true. i hope i didn't come across as harsh or bitter. as you mentioned, there is a lot of animosity towards the mormon church around here, and often the ones who are the most critical and disrespectful are former mormons. and i just don't get that because they should know how it feels to be mocked and criticized for their beliefs. live and let live.

Great thoughts everyone. I really enjoy reading these perspectives. I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but plan to at some point today. Its definitely an interesting topic. Being in Utah for 3.5 years now - some of the Mormon "cultural" stuff seemed weird at first, but never really bothered me. I actually enjoyed the fact that less people were out skiing on Sundays :-) Now after living here long enough to start to understand things (and have Mormon friends), I think the things that people outside of Utah think is "weird" about this place (and the people) is a big part of what makes it such a great place to live.

Awesome thoughts. There are some days Rob when I get on the blog only to read what you have posted. Most of the time I ignore any reference to running stuff. Some days you post only boring training techniques and I leave feeling empty.

And thanks for the Ale. Yesterday I was in a bar in San Jose with friends and there was a collective moment of disbelief when one of them told the rest that I had never had a drink. It was a mutual feeling of sorrow on my behalf for a good life missed.

I want to say something, even though I'm a day late!!!

I grew up in Utah, as a non-mormon :O. It was hard, a lot of times I felt like I was just a project to my friends. I actually went through a time in my life where I hated Mormons, I hated Utah and just wanted to move to Portland. In fact, I was just about to buy a one way ticket when I met my current wife. As we grew our family and the kids started getting older I for 1. didn't want them to grow up in Utah as a non-mormon as I did. and 2. realized that the church and religion (of any kind) really help build a person. I raise my kids pretty UN-orthidoxed to the Utah County "norm" in that I discuss choices and other perspectives.

I have traveled (a lot). I've seen a lot of different cultures and really, we're not weird at all. If we have the exact same beliefs as our neighbors, where we decide to go to dinner, and if we want to go skiing on Sunday really means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Try being a Mormon in Mississippi. Now that's weird.

Thanks for the discssion Rob. This is a subject I ponder often. Growing up in a mormon community is a uniquely positive opportunity. I sometimes bemoan the lack of communities in Utah outside of the "ward" setting. We had visiting teachers visit us last night to introduce themselves (and leave cookies of course) and one was a new neighbor just five houses down. She said, "We should hang." I thought, "Who does that?"

When I think back to my San Francisco days, however, these built in neighborhood communities simply did not exist. Communities were built around school, work or common interests but they never consisted of a group of people all living within a mile of one another. That sense of togetherness and interconnectedness that Allie identified is meaningful and enriching (but equally isolating for those not involved in a place like this where it is so entrenched).

I sometimes wish I could identify as mormon like catholics who don't attend identify as catholics. I once read a funny fake news article about a mormon "slow-track" program where you believe 1/8 of the stuff and do 1/8 of what is asked but still belong. One fake quote was, "This is the answer to my infrequent prayers!"

Stereotyping people or choosing not to associate with them because of who they are is a universally awful thing and I am glad for places like the blog where we can come together in a land of mutual interest and respect.

Unless they are trail runners or wear Nike of course!

Not to mention triathletes :-)

Mud runners, spartan runners, and color runners . . .

Hate the mud run not the mud runner