​ Rewind to the summer of 2000 in Washington DC. I was a marathon coach to roughly 150 first-time wannabe marathoners who spent every Saturday morning over six months gearing up for the Marine Corps Marathon. They arrived with trepidation and doubt on making it to the 26.2 mile finish; so we instead focused on what it takes to arrive confidently at the start. One of my runners, whom I'll call Ronnie, age 22, had social skills and a learning level that rendered him more akin t

Recently I shared an article [via Facebook and Twitter] on the topic of play at school that was refused by a local school PTO Facebook page. The potential for controvery aside, given recent parental concerns regarding reduced recess time, the article did not meet the PTO's standards for sharing only school-related information. [Here's the article link in case you missed it: "When one New Zealand school tossed its playground rules."] In all fairness to the PTO Facebook page