The Boston Marathon is a big deal. It's this weekend. And we found Leto and Largo runners who competed in the prestigious spring race (they aren't the only ones). So, the alternate title could be ATMM Goes to Boston. Hear the words (occasionally of the four-letter variety) from John Brennan (Largo Class of 84) and Matt Heiser (Leto Class of 85). Th…

In early 1979, Mark Altimari didn't know much about Largo cross country. His family had moved recently from suburban Philadelphia to Tampa, and he was a confessed "wrestling dummy" at his new school, Leto High. Then, he met Leto coach Bobby Ennis, "the first adult to truly believe in me," Altimari said. He soon learned more about the rival Packers …

Belen Jesuit in Miami has won more FHSAA boys cross country state championships than any program. This weekend, Belen goes for the 15th title in program history. Coach Frankie Ruiz's team has its sights on other championships, as it will run at least one other race after the 3A state meet on Friday, Nov. 17 in Tallahassee. In this episode of All Th…

This episode of All The Miles Mattered, the third of Season 2 and the 22nd if you count the trailer, has a lot of familiar voices in the story of Largo, Leto and the challengers to those programs’ dominance in cross country. It also has a new one, from a challenger the dominant 1983 Largo team never saw. It’s a voice from 2,000 miles away, a coach …

Chris Palmer, a 1984 Largo graduate, was part of three cross country state titles for the Packers in the early 1980s. This episode features Palmer's talk at the start of the Sept. 15 reunion of Largo runners, which came one night after the track at Largo was named for Coach Brent Haley. Special thanks to Largo's Mike Fowler for the audio. Music: Is…

Welcome to the start of Season 2 of All The Miles Mattered. This is as close to a news episode as you’re going to get for a story 50 years in the making. Last month, at halftime of a Largo High School football game, the track at the stadium got a new name and also a familiar name. It was the first of two nights honoring Coach Brent Haley. Come alon…

Leto's cross country program in the 1980s was on par with Largo's. The Long Red Row won five 4A state titles in the decade, just ahead of the Packers' four championships. Leto had a disadvantage then against Largo when it came to developing talent: It was a three-grade school, and Largo had four grades. So while Largo coach Brent Haley could develo…

The formal structure of All The Miles Mattered concluded with the end of the Largo-Leto rivalry in the late 1980s. But the lessons from those programs and other runners carry on today. In the second of two bonus episodes are clips that didn’t make it into the main show. You’ll hear the voices of Tommy Hampton, Pat McDonough, Trey Culbertson, Nick R…

The formal structure of All The Miles Mattered concluded with the end of the Largo-Leto rivalry in the late 1980s. But the lessons from those programs and other runners carry on today. Here is the first of two bonus episodes, with clips that didn’t make it into the main show. You’ll hear the voices of Chris Palmer, John Perlette, Dan Middleman, Kei…

Largo and Leto were set for a showdown in the state cross country meet at Dunn Airport in 1987. The Packers had the state’s top runner; the Long Red Row had impressive depth and recent history on its side in the state meet. The day ended with a course record, a Titusville toast, and a vow never to lose again. Thanks for coming along for the run! Mu…

On May 10, 1986, at Showalter Field in Winter Park, neither of the two favorites in the state meet 2-mile race won. The race was supposed to be another LeValle-Letchworth showdown. It’s tough to say at this point in the story that any Largo runner could be overlooked, but Pat McDonough was a sophomore running against a stacked field that evening. H…

Michael LeValle didn’t run for Leto or Largo, but he’s an important part of the story in the mid-1980s. He expected to have Roger Letchworth and Pat McDonough right on his shoulder. That didn’t happen at the 1986 state cross country meet. What did happen at that meet: A familiar name comes back from injury, and the Long Red Row comes back from regi…

Countryside’s 1986 team was loaded: It had Roger Letchworth and Chip Backus, both major Division I college prospects, along with a bevy of talented runners just behind them. This is the story of the Cougars’ unforgettable trip to an iconic course in New York, the site of a big invitational. It was, briefly, record-setting, and now it’s time to set …

The legend of Roger Letchworth started with his second-place finish in the state cross country meet as a sophomore, and it continued with his national age-group records for 10K and 15K. Letchworth was on fire in the 1986 cross country season; the flame was extinguished rapidly.By Neil Amato

In sports, perfection is rarely reached. The nature of competition is that it is messy: Shots are missed, interceptions thrown. In cross country, perfection is possible in team scoring: the perfect 15. That moment occurs in dual meets with some regularity; it rarely happens in championship races. For Largo in 1983, it happened two consecutive weeks…

"We try harder" wasn't just the slogan of rental car company Avis. It was adopted by the Leto cross country program as it tried to break through against Largo. In the early 1980s, the stage was set for the Long Red Row. Hear the recall of Coach Ennis and others, specifically about that November 1982 day in DeLand. Music credits: Largo Band of Gold,…

Basil Magee ran a nation-leading time in the mile his senior year at Largo. Two years earlier, he had never even run the mile in a track meet. Magee's rapid rise, his rivalry with a future Olympian, and the birth of the Long Red Row are the focus areas of this episode. Music: Walk With Me by Track Tribe. YouTube of the Kinney race in 1979: https://…

MyLan Moffat was a dominant distance runner from the outset at Largo. Moffat won state 4A track titles in the mile as a freshman and sophomore. A competitive streak and a desire to put in daily work were two reasons she ran ahead of the competition. This episode also features a sneak peek at a key plot point in the story. Footage credits: Vision Ca…

Coach Bobby Ennis wasn’t much older than his athletes when he started coaching at Leto High School in the late 1970s. His teams quickly set a standard for success in the Tampa Bay area and throughout the state. This episode takes a look back at how his team concept was formed and how he connected with the runners who would become the Long Red Row. …

Coach Haley built a culture at Largo, an expectation of success. He also was willing to share running advice with anyone. But it's not a past-tense thing. Coach Haley continues to give workouts and advice to anyone willing to listen. Music credits: "Control" by I Was Totally Destroying It, used with permission; "A Certain Podcast" adaptation by BK …

Before Brent Haley became the leader of the cross country program at Largo, he knew had the makings of a coach. How and where he found out was surprising. Music credit: "Good Friend" by Audionautix; Haley interview credit: FL RunnersBy Neil Amato

Brett Hoffman, Mike Warre, Bob Braman, three runners who grew up amid the running boom, met on the new course at Largo's Taylor Park in a highly anticipated and hotly contested 3-mile race. The times they ran in fall 1975 came from the miles they ran in training, sometimes earning them more than funny looks when they hit the road at odd hours. Thei…

Largo coach Brent Haley rode the wave of the running boom in the United States in the 1970s. He recruited in PE classes, he created a T-shirt incentive program and he got runners, year after year, summer after summer, to develop the will to prepare for greatness. It wasn't just Largo guys who were putting in the miles, as current Florida State coac…

Why did one otherwise nondescript suburban high school achieve otherworldly success in boys cross country in the 1970s and 1980s? This is the start of a show about the coach who created a distance-running dynasty, the rise of a friendly rival across Tampa Bay, and the challengers who made a run at the ruling teams, one led notably by a fleet-footed…

Come along for the run! Subscribe to All The Miles Mattered wherever you get your podcasts. Episode 1 drops Oct. 23! Music credits: Emil Axelsson, "I Think I Was There"; Sum It, "Magnetic Eye". Episode produced by Agent Fitz himself, Brian FitzGerald.By Neil Amato

The Myrtle Beach story, the buzzing fax machine (hey, this was 1997!), the movie shoot (wait, what?), the games against soon-to-be NBA and NFL players -- it's all here in the bonus episode of 1-2-3 Wildcats. Thanks to everyone for sticking with us since launch in November. And make sure you stick around to the end, for more BFitz wizardry. The part…

This is it, the state championship game on March 22, 1997. Hickory had championship pedigree and championship experience. East Chapel Hill had ... what exactly? A great first season, no doubt, along with chemistry, talent, belief in each other and in the words of coach Ray Hartsfield. Still, they were the underdog, an angle Hartsfield hammered home…

Hickory High School's basketball team had good reason to be confident heading into the 1997 state championship game against East Chapel Hill. The Red Tornadoes had experience, talent and championship appearances on their side. Eight players were part of the 16-0 football team that rolled to the 3A title just a few months earlier, and Hickory felt i…

Is there another East Chapel Hill out there? Well, not that we could find. The research can't be classified as exhaustive, but it was exhausting (not a stretch). Most new schools have nowhere near the success East Chapel Hill had in its first season of boys basketball. In fact, it can take years to build a strong program. That first championship se…

East Chapel Hill played in many tight games in 1996-97. Their first four wins were close, and so were just about all their postseason victories. They survived a six-overtime game that clinched the conference title, overcame a deficit in the first playoff game in school history, and then found ways to eke out wins when they played on a neutral court…

Chris Hobbs was an immediate starter at East Chapel Hill, taking the court as the Wildcats’ center before he turned 15 years old. People remember his size, strength, footwork and soft touch on the court. They also remember him being approachable, a guy who was friends with everyone. Teammates, coaches and others reflect on the life of Chris Hobbs: …

“We played together almost every day of the year,” Brad Woolley says of the era when he and teammates Paul Kindem and Brian FitzGerald developed the bonds that made those three the nucleus of the first team at East Chapel Hill. Different players for sure, but all effective. Take a trip back, a Carolina Flashback if you will, to the days of beepers,…

Point guard Andy Jones could find teammates for baskets even when they didn’t know they were open. His precision passing was a key factor in East Chapel Hill’s success, along with quick hands on defense and calm under pressure. He might not have been known as a shooter, but when it came time to take a big shot, Jones didn’t shy away. Note, we have …

Ray Hartsfield knew he wanted to be a coach. He learned from respected mentors at Chicago’s Harlan High School and then set off on his own, first as a football player at Prairie View A&M and later as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. Hartsfield’s background helped to form his style; he also grew as a coach along the way. The bear and the elephant …

In driveways, youth leagues and pickup games, the players who would form the first team at East Chapel Hill bonded for years before the new high school opened in 1996. That year marked the start of a rivalry with Chapel Hill High, giving residents of a basketball-focused town more teams to talk about. Here's your chance to get caught up if you miss…

An improbable, unprecedented high school basketball season had humble beginnings in 1996. East Chapel Hill High’s boys basketball team lost its first game. Playing a roster with no seniors, in a gym with bleachers on only one side of the court, the Wildcats were not expected to have much success as a first-year program. Then, even when they started…

123 Wildcats preview episode: A new high school opened in Chapel Hill, N.C., in August 1996. With 630 students, three grades and no tradition, expectations for success in athletics were tempered. The gym had bleachers on just one side of the court, and on that court, the boys basketball team lost its first game. But their coach knew they were not j…