Steve announced today that he is retiring from competitive running. After setting PRs , earning 10s of dollars worth of gift certificates as prizes, and generally having the best year of his 4-year running career in 2004, Steve was sidelined by a knee injury that was later diagnosed as arthritis. This caused him to miss the Chicago 2004 Marathon, causing more disappointment than Bob Kennedy's aborted New York Marathon 2004 attempt, at least for all of Steve's family, friends and acquaintances who are not that into running, and thus have no idea who the hell Bob Kennedy is.
"I have no regrets," Steve said in an emotional farewell address on his blog, Words Of Advice For Young People. "I had some great moments last year, including coming in 3rd in that race where it was hot and nobody seemed to be able to deal with it, and the trophy I got for coming in second in my age group at that 10K that was made by some elementary school kids in their art class is in a place of honor on the bookshelf in my office. Of course I have to give thanks to my support network: my wife, parents and of course my baby girl. I will continue to run and even run in the occasional race, but if you pass me, it won't count, because I won't be racing."
Steve later added that he was not necessarily ruling out a return to running in the future, especially if advances in nano-technology provide us with microscopic machines that can re-build joints damaged by the ravages of arthritis, but at that point he really started rambling, and as a courtesy to Steve, we will not re-print the full transcript of his comments here.
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