Ryan Shay's decision to start marathoning at age 23 might seem like a rash act. Shay, who was crowned USA Champion in the event at Birmingham, Ala. last Saturday, has now run two marathons before his 24th birthday, an age when, in the U.S. anyway, distance runners typically focus on track 10,000s and eschew the 26.2 mile event until a later date.

Shay, the newest national champion to be minted by the Team USA California program (9 national champions and 22 U.S. titles since 2001), doesn't come across as a rash actor, though; and when the self- described "student of the sport" spells out the thinking behind his actions, you realize there's wisdom behind his uncommon strategy. He comes to the plan based on the study of some important thinkers in the world of running - Frank Shorter, Joe Vigil, even Jean-Paul Sartre - and with an innate self-confidence that he's doing the right thing.

"The decision for me to start running the marathon right after college was 100% my choice," Shay, who debuted in the marathon with a 2:14:30 at Chicago in October 2002 and improved upon that time by a second in Birmingham, explains. "When I told people that's what I wanted to do, they were like 'I never thought about that, that might be a good idea.' People thought maybe after playing around with the 10,000 meters until 2004 I might jump in the marathon, but not go right into it."

While the decision was Shay's alone, reading Shorter's autobiography "Olympic Gold" provided the genesis for the plan.

"For some reason I picked up Frank Shorter's autobiography and he was talking about the learning process behind the marathon and how long it takes someone," the 2002 Notre Dame grad and 9-time All- American said. "Since it's not a race you can run frequently, it takes a longer time to learn from each experience. I thought, if I'm planning to run the marathon in the future, why not just start learning now?"

Starting young is a plan runners from other countries have already chosen. Although Shay is the youngest U.S. marathon champion in 30 years, annual lists in the men's marathon show a majority of the world's top marathoners are in their mid- to late-twenties. Current Olympic and World Champion Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia was 22 years-old when he won his gold medal in Sydney 2000.

Being a student of the sport is part of the Shay family tradition, it appears. Shay's father Joe, who coached Ryan throughout high school, is a self-taught coach. The Shorter book came off Joe's shelf. Being a talented runner seems to also be part of the Shay make-up: Joe Shay's interest in the sport goes back to the 1980s when an older Shay sibling - Ryan's sister Jodie - took up running in the 1980s. She's the same Jodie Shay, in fact, that still holds the U.S. single age record (age 15) for 25K (1:53:50).

"I went through some of his books one time and said, you know all of this stuff is the same, you buy all of these books they're saying the same things," Shay remembered telling his father. "He's like, 'that's true for 99% of the stuff, but I'm looking for the 1% that's different, that might help out.' I can buy that."

It was through Joe Shay that Ryan connected with Team USA California Coach Joe Vigil. Joe Shay had corresponded with Vigil coach-to-coach after the publication of Vigil's book "Road to the Top". When it came time for Ryan to find a mentor for his professional career, Vigil was a natural choice.

Ryan Shay's respect for Vigil is plain: "One of the reasons I love having coach Vigil as a coach is because he's such an educator. He's a great person to learn from; he can explain things and break it down for you in a way that's very easy to understand."

The Shay-Vigil plan for the near future is to turn the focus back to the track. The track, after all, is where Shay earned his first upper-division credits in the sport - winning the 2001 NCAA 10,000 meter title while at Notre Dame and clocking PRs of 13:35 and 28:26 in the 5000 and 10,000 meters, respectively. Shay, who will open his 2003 track campaign on April 17 with the Mt. SAC Relays 5000 meters, plans to develop his track speed as he attempts to secure an Olympic "A" Standard performance at 10,000 meters (27:49).

"Coach Vigil has plans for me to improve on my PRs in all track distances from the 1500 up to the 10," Shay said. "To compete at the world class level, you have to have that 1500 meter speed along with the endurance of a great 10,000. I'm going to work on both ends and hopefully come together in the middle - to maximize on any potential I have."

Shay expects his track training to offer less mileage, higher quality long runs and naturally enough, more emphasis on track workouts and less on long tempo runs. Shay, who logged weeks of 115 to 140 miles in preparation for Chicago and Birmingham as well as long runs topping out between 26 to 28 miles, expects this spring to feature two or three sessions per week on the track, long runs of up to 22 miles but done quicker than his usual 6:00 to 6:10 pace and the continued use of plyometrics (jumping and hopping drills).

Shay expects to accomplish most of this work with his Team USA California teammates either at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista or at altitude at Mammoth Lakes, just as he has in his marathon build-ups. It was more than just Vigil's involvement in the program that brought the Central Lake, Mich. native to the Golden State.

"I wanted to be a part of something special with very special people and I found that with Team USA California," the 5-10, 153 pound Shay said. "Meb [Keflezighi] and Deena [Drossin] serve as great role models and mentors for me and they are willing to take the time to talk to me and give me suggestions not only with my running, but in my everyday life. Being a part of Team USA California is like being part of a big family, and coming from a big family - 4 brothers, 3 sisters - that is something I feel is important."

Shay, who was an Economics and Computer Applications major, will also begin study for his post-running career later this year. Shay, who wants to study chiropractic, will begin work on the science pre- requisites one course at a time. Chiropractic school, itself, will wait until after Shay's racing career is over.

If Shay's running appears to happen only from the neck up, don't forget about the car that ran him over. While still in South Bend, Shay was three miles into a long run when a hit-and-run driver hit rolled his front tire over both of Shay's shins. To the shock of witnesses, Shay got up after the incident, jogged a bit, and finished his run - a 17 miler!

"I got back to my apartment and I said guys, I got run over by a car," Shay recounts now. "I pull up my tights and there was this lump on my shin that was bleeding like crazy. And they said, man you've got to go to the infirmary. I said, all right but I've got to stretch first."

And the Jean-Paul Sartre influence on the young marathoner? It turns out Shay's favorite book - he's an avid reader of philosophy and biographies - is Sartre's "Nausea". The influence of a dead, French, chain-smoking intellectual on one of America's top marathoning prospects isn't that odd once you hear Shay explain it.

"I'm an existentialist," he says matter of factly. "I like that outlook on life. [Nausea's] about a guy who really doesn't know what he wants out of life, and that's what the nausea is in his day-to-day life. He's so confused as to his purpose in life that every day-to-day action, socializing with people on a daily basis, he just doesn't know what it's for and it makes him sick. He finally finds out what his purpose in life is and the sickness goes away. It's about someone finding what they want to do and doing it - and it makes your life that much better."

A little regurgitated carbohydrate drink at Birmingham notwithstanding, Ryan Shay's stomach seems to be settled for this chapter of his life and, one hopes, he'll make U.S. marathoning that much better.