thanks for posting.
A few anecdotes. Went to school with his younger brother (8 yrs younger). And knew the assistant coach at the time Rich was running in HS.
- supposedly in the lead up or directly after Worlds, he did something to his ankle on a run. this would plague him for the years following and he would never be fully healthy again (he kept continuously reinsuring it) . I think the attitude then was, run on it, it will heal, put an ace bandage on, etc. And he did. But it never got better
- he ran a 4.02 mile in hs (probably worth 3.57 today?? and 8:46 2 mile, again probably worth mid 8:30's today). one of these was state meet, and the former assistant coach told me that they were out to the lunch before the later in the day race (not sure which), and that they decided he needed a good amount of protein, so they went to a steakhouse and steak and potatoes 4 or so hours before the race. OMG!!
- Finally, there's also a story of when we was first on the force in Sacramento area, he was on the beat and took off after some suspects along with his fellow officers. Needless to say, in 800 meters he had run them down and left everyone in the dust. They were a bit in awe. haha.