I hope you were able to watch Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set a new World Record in the women's mile in Monaco this past Friday. 4:12.33. If you missed it, clik on the link below. She is flat out amazing. Hassan WR Mile As she ran Sifan reminded me of Herb Elliott (this is my supreme compliment) taking over after 2 1/2 laps and smoking the field. Her last two laps were 61 and 62 seconds. Just an incredible run, a negative split of 2:09/2:03. There have been some stunning performances this past indoor and current outdoor season, but this one is to me the best. Kejelcha's indoor mile record was also wonderful, and the 1:41+ 800 by Nigel Amos also at Monaco was magnificent to watch. My friend Geoff Williams had this comment about Hassan. " I saw the Womens Mile from last week's Diamond League in Monaco. A great race by Hassan of The Netherlands. It put me in mind of when I saw Diane Leather break the record in 1955 with 4:45-they have come a long way since then. The womens record is now only 30 seconds behind the mens compared with 47 seconds in 1955 (lots of factors involved there) If they keep gaining at the same pace they will be pretty close in about 130 years."
"Canadian Gabrielle Stafford was way back but set a decent Canadian record."
This book is about Bob Larson, a Minnesota farm boy who would become one of America's most successful club, junior college, university coaches and eventually coach of some of America's most successful professional distance runners.
After Larson's father was injured in an accident on the farm, the family moved to a warmer climate in southern California and Bob gradually became a respected coach at Monte Vista High School, moved on to Grossmont JC, and eventually to the head coaching post at UCLA. Though he had many great sprinters and jumpers at UCLA, this book is primarily about Larson's relationships with distance runners and finding his own path to getting the most out of those runners while confronting the hazards of injury and overuse along the way. He also put together the Jamul Toads, a crew of distance runners who challenged the established clubs in Colorado and the East Coast and won the 1976 national cross country championship on Philadelphia's venerable Fairmont Park course.
Ed Mendoza, Thom Hunt, Kirk Pfeffer, Terry Cotton, Tom Lux, Dale Fleet, Dave Harper, and Glenn Best were the members of that team. They were so low on funding that there was room only in the trunk of the rental car for Best to travel to the meet from the hotel.
The back stories of that national championship make the book worth reading. How all these guys came together to challenge the establishment, the lack of funding from the shoe companies. The personal challenges that each runner went through. Several of them were still in university and took time away from their regular teams (after the NCAA meet) to run for the Toads. Pfeffer was told by his AD at Colorado that if he didn't run for the Colorado Track Club at that meet, that he should not consider coming back to the university.
Less time is spent in the book with Larson's career at UCLA other than to say he won several national collegiate championships and produced a lot of All Americans. There is also mention of his recruiting and coaching of Meb Keflezighi at UCLA. The second half of the book is more devoted to Larson's post collegiate work with Keflezighi and Deena Kastor, and bringing them to the peak of their running careers. The struggles for financing and the ins and outs of shoe company contracts and the loss of interest in a supposedly over the hill athlete make for some good insider reading.
The writer also blends in his own running career throughout the book. The reader may chose to skip over these segments if he or she so chooses. Mr. Futterman italicizes his personal story as if to let you know this fact. My sole criticism of the book is the lack of pictures. There is one of the Jamul Toads, but the individual runners are not identified, so unless you knew these guys personally you are left in the dark.
It was September 21, 2018 since last our esteemed colleague in the corner office, Roy Mason, got off his octogenarian duff and did some work around here. He sent this article to me a few months ago and finally added part 2 this past week. It's been a pleasure looking for photos again and finding some background info to add to his work. eg. the piece on Pat McMahon. Roy has promised that he will begin the next month, May 1968 in the near future. We've backburnered several other contributions including a piece from David Bailey on the gathering of 1500 meter runners in London, Ontario, a book review of a work by acclaimed crime fiction writer Lawrence Block about his race walking and ultra walking life, and a report on that cross country alumni meet held in Bob Schul's hometown of West Milton, Ohio. While visiting my hometown Dayton, Ohio in May/June of this year I saw a guy running down old US 40, The National Road, who looked like he knew what he was doing. I continued down that road a few miles til I saw a van parked alongside the highway. It had a lot of advertisements and publicity pasted on the sides in French.
So I stopped and had a chat with the driver. She was the wife of the guy running across the states from NYC to L.A. His name is Patrick Malandain. He has another guy who runs and walks with him and also rides a bike to accompany him. This is his second run across the US. His previous was the other direction in 2011. When they finished the run to L.A. earlier in July, they drove the van up to Vancouver, BC and he started running back East across Canada. He is 59 years old, covers around 100 Km per day. Previously in France he has run 100Km for 100 consecutive days and some other long distance feats. It takes all kinds to make a running world. You can see his blog at Patrick Malandain. It's in French but a translate brick comes up that you can click on. Voila. George
This UPI photo was listed on E Bay by Historic Images for $8.00. No longer available
The following is gleaned from Dick Drake's always readable On Your Marks column. Jim Ryun is on crutches, the result of a pulled hamstring muscle. By keeping his weight off it Jim hopes to be back in action faster than if he were still walking on it. He hopes to be back by next month's Kansas Relays. Is there reason to be concerned about his preparedness for the Olympic Games?.......An athlete with an even greater concern is Bob Steele, Michigan State's two time NCAA intermediate hurdle champion, who has broken his leg and will wear a cast for the next five weeks Ste
Steve Seymour photo by Henry Compton from a military meet in Frankfurt FRG, August , 1948. Stars and Stripes
.......You may be wondering what the record number of miles run on an indoor track by a man weighing 215 pounds or more is. Wonder no more. Steve Seymour, 1948 Olympic javelin thrower, just set it with 57 miles on the Los Angeles Athletic Club track. If that track is the standard 160 yard variety requiring 11 laps per mile, that would be 627 laps. Many of our readers are statistical purists. To save them hours of agonizing research, the previous records were also set by Seymour, 50 miles in 1965 and 52 in 1966. Notes from Wikipedia on Seymour Stephen ("Steve") Andrew Seymour(October 4, 1920, inNew York City– June 18, 1973, inLos Angeles) was anAmericantrack and fieldathlete who competed in thejavelin throw; he is regarded by track and field historians as America's original javelin technician.[1]
Following the Second World War, performance levels of elite U.S. javelin throwers lagged well behind the Europeans. Seeking to refine his skills, Seymour spent 1946 in Finland, training with that nation's world-class throwers. It did not take long for his meticulous research to pay dividends. In 1947, he established an American record of 75.80 meters (248' 8") at the U.S. AAU Championships; his mark was within ten feet of the global standard set by Finland's Yrjö Nikkanen in 1938.[2]
1948 was a memorable year in Seymour's career; he won a second consecutive national AAU title, and a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in London. In 1950, Seymour added a third national championship to his collection; and in 1951 he was the silver medalist at the Pan American Games.[3]
.......Marv Montgomery is 6'6” and tips the Toledos at 245. Seeing him exit the USC team bus, you could be forgiven for wondering why he isn't carrying his discus or shot. Surprisingly Marv is a hurdler and a pretty good one at that with a best of 14.3. Yes, this is the same Marv Montgomery who was a first rounddraft pick by the Denver Broncos and played 8 NFL seasons as an offensive guard. Your reporter feels confident in stating that a hurdle time of 14.3 is a record for an interior lineman at any level.
....If your credentials include a gold medal in the 1952 Olympic 100 meters, where would that have taken you by this day in 1968? Would you be living off endorsements? How about living large as the owner of a chain of sporting good stores? Would you be traveling the country, giving well-remunerated inspirational speeches? Perhaps your fame would be sufficient to propel you to a political career. Lindy Remigino has used his considerable fame to far surpass any of those prospects. He is the head track coach at Hartford Public High School in Connecticut.
.....In answer to those who have complained about the lack of women's coverage in T&F News, Dick Drake points out that Women's Track and Field World doesn't cover men's track. Touche!
Rosemarie Ackerman on cover of Women's Track World Jan/Feb, 1978
ed. note. A little research brought us to a Jan/Feb, 1978 copy of Women's Track World of which Women's Track and Field World was the predecessor. It was offered for $5.00 on Worth Point with the following explanation. Women's Track World, published and edited by Vince Reel in Mentone, California. Published 10 times per year. Volume 1 number 1 dated January/February 1978. 56 pages. First issue produced after a considerable absence with a new title, Women's Track World WTW. The last issue of WTFW being April, 1976. Thus, in this issue one will find the Athletes of the Year for 1976 Tatyana Kazankina (USSR CCCP) and 1977 Rosemarie Ackermann (East Germany DDR). extensive 1976 USA best performers lists, 1977 High School List, article Tatyana Kazankina by Ivan Berenyi, survey of Women's 800 meters race with all time list, extensive 1977 Cross Country results from around the nation, reports of the National AAU XC Championships and the AIAW Cross Country title meeting. WTFW reappeared after a nearly two years absence, with a new name yet with many of the same characteristcs, great lists, excellent reports and results ......As the world seems to be bent on transitioning from English to metric measurement, British officials have announced that mile races in the UK will now be run at 1600 meters. This decision has been met with such an outcry that it was quickly rescinded. Combined with the fact that virtually every track in the country is 440 yards, such a conversion would be an assault on the heroics of Roger Bannister. .......Pat McMahon – described as an Irish Catholic attending Oklahoma Baptist – would have seemed to have won the Artesia (New Mexico) Marathon in a course record of 2:19:49, yet wasn't given credit for either achievement. Seems horses were also allowed to compete. Only one of the ten equine entries finished (no gender mentioned). Its time was 2:17. Sorry Pat, this is New Mexico. ed. note. McMahon was quite a find for Okla. Baptist U. coach Bruce "Bulldog" Drummond. See story below from OBU archives. ....If you are Lee Evans or Jerry Lindgren, two strong Olympic hopefuls, how do you spend the months leading up to the Games? They will be counselors at Tracy Walters' Arrow Point Track Camp near Spokane, Washington. The two likely will not be cruising Spokane's hot spots in the evenings together as Jerry will work the distance portion from July 8-19 and Lee will toil at the sprint camp from July 22 – August 2. Give yourself one point if you remember Tracy as Jerry's high school coach. You get two points if you recall that Tracy was also an assistant at San Jose State where Lee has achieved his legendary status. The outdoor season is just beginning but there are several marks of note. Gayle Hopkins had a successful Australian tour, jumping a legal 26-5 ¾ and a windy 26-8 ¼ .
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Paul Nash as he appeared in The Star in 1967. Not much can be found about this man of mystery.
The fastest 100 meter man is Paul Nash of South Africa who tied the world record of 10.0 three times in four days. Villanova sophomore Larry James has moved squarely into the Olympic 400 picture with a 45.2 clocking in a dual meet with Tennessee. This puts him in the number three spot on the all-time list behind only Tommie Smith and Adolph Plummer and equal to Wendell Motley and Theron Lewis.
The Florida Relays on March 30 produced top marks. Richmond Flowers of Tennessee, fresh off his NCAA indoor victory over outdoor WR holder Earl McCullough, took the highs in 13.6. Yale's Cal Hill, better known to us old-timers as Calvin Hill, added ten inches to his triple jump best with a winning 51-3 ¾ effort. Only through the crystal ball of history do we know the two were to become teammates on the Dallas Cowboys for the next three years. Also a winner that day was Bill Skinner of Tennessee who threw the javelin 247-3. Ah, but there is more to the story. Bill is a 28-year-old freshman who dropped out of high school eleven years earlier to join the navy. Completing his service in 1961, Bill worked as a welder, playing semipro football, boxing and weightlifting before discovering his talent as a javelin thrower. This issue has his photo with a caption of how he gave up a job which paid $12,000 a year to enter college. To put this in perspective, let's save you the trouble of researching this on the internet. Twelve grand in '68 is the equivalent of $88,000 in today's economy. How did this work for Bill? Hard to say, but he graduated with a degree in industrial education.
APRIL 1968 #2 Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
To quote directly from Fran Errota' story....”The outdoor season has barely begun in Oregon and Steve Prefontaine already ranks as the fourth fastest miler in the state's history. Steve clocked 4:13.8 in a five-way meet March 23 in Roseburg. The 5-9, 142 lb junior ran quarters of 64.0. 64.5, 64.0 and 61.3 in a race in which he was supposed to run three 64s and come home as fast as possible. 'I leave it all to my coach, Walt McClure,' says Prefontaine. 'What he says, I do.'
Last weekend July 12, 2019, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set the world record in the women's mile with similar splits 2:09, 2:03 4:12.33
Only three Oregonians have ever run faster and they were all seniors who posted their fastest clockings at the end of their final season. They were Dave Deubner (North Eugene), 4:11.2 in 1962, Dave Korb (Corvallis) 4:11.4 in 1967 and Dyrol Burleson (Cottage Grove) former national record holder when he ran 4:13.2 in 1958.”
Fran goes on to tell us that Pre has run a relay 880 in 1:58.5 and a 9:42 two mile. His best mile as a sophomore was 4:29 although he had run a 4:17 time trial just before this meet. He also won the state 1A cross country championship this past fall.
On the same page of this issue just one column over Fran writes that Pre has dropped his two mile time to 9:14. We'll keep an eye on this kid and report more in our next summary. He might be a prospect.
As long as we are on the subject of high school, do you remember when dual meets were a big thing? Return with us now to the meet that decided the championship of the city of Compton, California. Compton beats Centennial 70-48, but the story is in the individual performances. Centennial's Edesel Garrison wins the 100 and 440 in 9.7 and 48.2 and anchors winning 41.8 and 3:18.9 relay teams, the last with a 46.7 split which makes up a 20 yard deficit. That 9.7 was necessary as three, count 'em, three other Centennial runners are timed in 9.8. Oh, yeah, there was an also ran Compton kid who ran 9.8 as well. Take a moment to imagine that you run 9.8 in a high school dual meet and finish fifth. May be time to take up golf or tennis.
Compton's Reynaldo Brown, a junior, jumps 6-10 to equal his PR but it is depth that wins the meet. The Tarbabes have kids who run 48.8n and 1:54.2 in the 440 and 880. Their hurdlers run 14.5 and 14.9 in the highs and 19.3 and 19.6 in the lows. That losing mile relay team is clocked in 3:19.2. The field events are passable also, a 53-1 shot put, 14-6 vault and 23-5 long jump.
The remainder of the season provided some solace for Centennial. The Apaches won the state meet with 26 points, doubling the total of the second place team, that's right, Compton.
A word of explanation is necessary. Tarbabes, the mascot for Compton High, has nothing to do with the Uncle Remus story of the Tar Baby. The name comes from the time that Compton High and Compton College shared the same campus. The college teams were the Tartars (Mongolian warriors) so the high school became the Baby Tartars.
As long as we are rattling on, here is a question for our astute readers. What NCAA champion, world record holder and Olympic gold medalist graduated from Compton High and became the president of Compton College? You have five seconds....tick....tick....tick....tick .....tick. Sorry, times up. If you said Ulis Williams you get three points.
The Pat McMahon story: Patrick J. McMahon: Distance Runner from County Clare
Patrick Joseph (Pat) McMahon from County Clare, Ireland, came to Oklahoma Baptist University in 1965 sight unseen. Neither McMahon nor OBU Coach Bruce Drummond knew much about the other. Within a few weeks, McMahon won the first of two NAIA national cross country championships and over the next few years developed into a premier long-distance runner.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.As a young man McMahon ran barefooted through the Irish countryside. Before coming to OBU, he placed third in the All-Ireland Cross Country Championship.
In a 1968 interview with OBU student Bill Hickman, McMahon said that he wanted to go to college and compete as a runner. He learned that American schools offered scholarships to good runners and made contact with a coach in Texas. That coach talked with Drummond, who was able to offer McMahon a scholarship, even after the fall semester had begun.
"He must have been all set to come because he shocked me by showing up here so quickly," Drummond said. "He wasn't very big and I didn't know what we had." Four days later, McMahon won a three-mile race in a dual with Oklahoma Christian with a time of 16:01. Then he won the 6-mile Midwest Federation Cross Country event in Wichita, Kan., in 29:56.4, defeating a major name in track at that time—Jim Ryun of the University of Kansas who would win a silver medal in the mile in the 1968 Olympics. McMahon won these races running without shoes.
A few weeks later he captured the NAIA's National Cross Country Meet championship (4 miles) in Omaha, Neb., in 20:28.5. McMahon donned shoes for the first time that fall because of ice and snow on the course. And then he won the State Federation's 4-mile event in Stillwater in 20:10.5.
McMahon says that his biggest adjustments to Oklahoma were the heat and the food. He had never run in temperatures as warm as he encountered early in the 1965 schedule.
During the spring of 1966, McMahon won the 10,000 meters at the Kansas Relays in 30:19.3. He was third in the 6-mile event at the Drake Relays in 29:12.2. At the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference Meet he won the mile (4:23.4) and the 2-mile (9:50.8). In June, he ran 17th in the 6-mile at the National AAU Championship in New York City in 30:47.2. In July, he was third in the 15,000 meters at the Michigan City (Ind.) Festival.
In the fall of 1969, McMahon again won the Midwest Federation Cross Country 6-mile in Wichita, Kan., in 29:51. He then won the 10,000 meters at the National AAU's Junior Cross Country Championship in Chicago in 29:54. A week after the Chicago race, he repeated as NAIA cross country champion in Omaha, Neb., covering the 4-mile course in 19:53.6, a record time for the title race. In early December, he tied for first in the Oklahoma Federation Cross Country 4-mile in Stillwater with 19:43.4.
In the spring of 1967, he won the Humboldt (Kan.) Marathon in 2:35:28. Then he won the 2-mile race at the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference Meet in 9:24.5. At the NAIA National Outdoor Meet, McMahon placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
In September McMahon finished second in the National Senior AAU 25,000-meter race in Albuquerque, N.M. in 1:24:23.4. In November, he finished fourth in the NAIA national cross country meet in Omaha with a time of 20:39.
In January 1968, he won the marathon in 2:21:14 at the World Masters in Las Vegas, Nev. A month later he was first in the College of Artesia (N.M.) Marathon in a time of 2:19:49.7. He won the 3-mile at the Fort Worth Recreation Meet in 14:06.6, and he tied for the mile championship at the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference Meet and won the 2-mile in 9:16.2. At the NAIA National Outdoor Championships he won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:18.7.
In October 1968, McMahon represented Ireland in the Olympic Games in Mexico City. He finished 12th in the marathon in 2:29:21. Returning to OBU, he finished 14th in the NAIA National Cross Country Championship in Oklahoma City.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. At the World Masters in Las Vegas in January 1969, McMahon finished fourth in the marathon in 2:27:19. In April he entered the big one—the Boston Marathon. He finished eighth with a time of 2:23:24.
McMahon graduated from OBU with a B.S. degree in health, physical education, and recreation/education. During his OBU career he won three national championships—two in cross country and one in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He won six NAIA All America awards—four in cross country and two in the steeplechase. He left holding the following OBU records: 2-mile, 9:02.0, 1967; 3-mile, 13:52.8, 1968; 10,000 meters, 28:53.4, 1967; 3,000-meter steeplechase, 9:18.7, 1968; marathon, 2:19:49.7, 1968; 4-mile cross country, 19:11.0, 1966; 6-mile cross country, 29:00.6, 1968. (The marathon time is the only record that he still holds.) And, he qualified for and placed 12th in the marathon in the 1968 Olympics.
His favorite memories of his days at OBU including winning the 1965 cross country championship for OBU and Coach Drummond and winning again in 1966 with Bison runners Willie Rios (10thplace) and Tommy Morris (12th place). "Willie and Tommy were great teammates," McMahon adds.
In 1966-67 McMahon's roommate in the men's dormitory was Al Tucker, Bison All American basketball player. McMahon was 5-7 and Tucker was 6-8—an interesting pair. "We were the best of friends," he says. "When Al was playing in the NBA, we would go the games in Boston to watch him and then spend time together." After running everything from the mile to the marathon while at OBU, McMahon decided to concentrate on the longer distances. "My favorites were cross country and marathons," he says. "I had a hard time concentrating when I was running laps on a track." McMahon moved to the Boston area and continued competitive running. According to the records of the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, in a three-month time span in the fall of 1969 he was first in the 10,000 meters in 30:50 in the Salem (Mass.) Race; first in the 10-mile event in 48:29 in the Sons of Italy Race in Haverhill, Mass.; first in the 25,000 meters in 1:29:57 in the Around the Cape Ann Race in Gloucester, Mass.; first in the 20,000 meters in 1:04:14 at the New England AAU Championship in Dedham, Mass.; third in the 18,600 meters in 1:00:07 in the Springbank Race in London, Ontario; and first in 30,730 meters in 1:38:20 in the Around the Bay Race in Hamilton, Ontario.
In the spring of 1970, he was first in the New England AAU in New Bedford, Mass., in 30,000 meters in 1:36:59; second in the AAU Championship at Rockville, Md., in 1:28:15; first in a 14,000-meter race at Brighton, Mass., in 43:19, and first in a 15,000-meter run at Wellesley, Mass., in 47:59.
In the 1970 Boston Marathon, McMahon finished third in 2:14:53. According to news reports, it was a rained-soaked, 44-degree day. Ron Hill of Great Britain won in a course record 2:10:30, and Eamon O'Reilly of Washington, D.C., was second in 2:11.3.
In May McMahon finished second in a 5-mile race in Brookline, Mass., in 25:51, and then won a one-hour race in Waltham, Mass., where he covered 19,624 meters. In June he won the 10-mile at Quincy, Mass., in 50:33. McMahon was first in a 20,930 meter race in 1:07:23.4 in Portland, Maine, in September, and first in a 15,000 meter race in 47:49 in Manchester, N.H. in October.
In 1971 he won the following races: Vigorade World Masters marathon in Anaheim, Calif., 2:18:47.4; Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans, La., 2:29:28.9; 14,480 meter race in Brighton, Mass., 44:15; and the Waltham, Mass., one-hour race in which he covered 18,617 meters; and a 4-mile race in Acton, Mass., in 18:53.
In the 1971 Boston Marathon, McMahon finished second to Vlvaro Mejia of Columbia. Mejia's time was 2:18:45, and McMahon's time was 2:18:50. Wikepedia's report on this race says, "Mejia finally pulled away from McMahon less than 150 yards from the finish. During the turn off Commonwealth Avenue, McMahon was shot into the crowd. The race director swore that Mejia had elbowed McMahon while running his way to the five-second win."
McMahon says that his second-place finish probably was more due to injuries, badly-blistered feet, and a crowd congestion on the street. He explains that he tried to cut inside his competitor and wound up in the crowd, perhaps due to their movement and perhaps due to a push.
He ran for Ireland in August 1971 in the European Games but injuries plagued him and he retired from running. McMahon says that in retrospect he ran too many races too close together and that he incurred injuries which never healed to the point he could run again.
He taught in Lowell, Mass., until 2001. Then he coached cross country at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School until last fall. He had taught or coached for 41 years. He lives in Maynard, Mass., and he and his wife, Kathy, have two sons and a daughter. They spend part of their time at home and part of their time in San Diego where their daughter and a son and their grandchildren live.
The little Irishman from County Clare may have come to Shawnee, Okla., sight-unseen, but, by the time he left four years later, he was certainly not an unknown. Pat McMahon was high profile on the OBU campus, well known in collegiate track and cross country circles, and very visible among national marathon runners.
Last week, Canada's first sub 4 minute miler, David Bailey, sent us a note about an annual gathering of 1500m/milers to have a go at the 1500m distance.
Hi George,
I thought that you might enjoy hearing about our 11th annual 1500 m Night about a month ago at the Western University track. (University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario)
It was another perfect evening for racing with lots of PBs.
This year 399 runners completed the event with races starting at 7 - 10 min intervals between 6:40 and 10:26 pm.
As usual, there was a team of officials at the start and finish to make certain every race went precisely on time.
I was responsible for check-in (see attached photo).
In preparation for this night, I was also asked by the meet director, Steve Weiler, to write a blog for “How They Trained”.
All of this can be found on a recently created website indicated below.
The following was printed on the website enduranceodyssey.com and used with permission from David Bailey.
HOW THEY TRAIN My Successful Mile / 1500m Races During the Summer of 1967 By David Bailey
Introduction
On June 11, 1966, I met one of my career goals of running a sub 4-minute mile (3:59.1). I was the first Canadian and 74th person since Roger Bannister to do it (see photo). The Canadian media had high expectations that I would run faster and medal at the Commonwealth Games later that summer. It did not happen. In fact, results were subsequently disappointing.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
I needed to be tactically improved and physically stronger in order to be more competitive at the international level. A major shortcoming was my insufficient basic speed and acceleration to mount much of a real challenge over the final 200m compared to most of the superior class of opponents against whom I would now be racing. Yet, greats of the mile/1500 like Herb Elliott and 880/800 like Peter Snell were also not blessed with exceptional sprinting speed. Despite this, they became Olympic Champions and World Record Holders. Their strong-willed attitude, sound racing strategies and correct training methods meant that they could apply their resolve on the field at any time in the race. Their competitors were either too far back or too fatigued to have a finishing sprint of any consequence.
The summer of 1967 was the most successful of my athletic career. It started at the end of May and concluded in mid-September. The chronological sequence of races was the California Relays Meet in Modesto (1st in mile – 4:01), Canadian Pan American Games Trials in Saskatoon (1st in 1500m – 3:45) and Canada Day - East York Track Club Meetin Toronto (1st in mile – 4:01 against the 1964 Olympic 800 m silver medalist and good friend Bill Crothers on a rain-soaked cinder track). This was followed by the Commonwealth vs USA Meet in Los Angeles. I must admit that I was surprised to be selected with Kip Keino (Kenya) and Alan Simpson (Great Britain) to compete against the first three finishers at the USA Championships. Despite 38 degrees Centigrade at track level, Jim Ryun of the USA had career defining run (3:33.1 to break Herb Elliott’s seven-year-old World Record by more than 2 seconds). I got a new National Record (4th in 1500m – 3:41.7 and defeated the Americans, Jim Grelle and Dave Wilborn, see photo). I won the mile at the Toronto Police Games (3:57.7 after a full day of competition on the cinder track of Varsity Stadium). It was a new National Record that lasted for 10 years and was the 9th fastest time in the world for 1967. Other races included the Pan American Games in Winnipeg (3rd in 1500 m – 3:44 after a 65 second first 400 m when I then took the lead and forced Tom Von Ruden of the USA to break the Games Record in order to win), the World University Games in Tokyo (2nd in 1500 m – 3:43 that was 0.1 seconds behind the European Champion Bodo Tummler of Germany for his new Games Record) and the Pre-Olympic Games in Mexico City (4th in 1500 m – 3:48 at 2500m or 1.5 miles altitude).
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
I was originally asked to write just about my training 4 – 5 weeks before a major breakthrough run. I have tried to do it. However, the overall success of 1967 was the result of more than 9 months of planning. This involved altering my mental approach and physical training to maximize my strengths. Thus, I thought that I would provide a more in-depth and hopefully enlightening blog.
My Psychological Approach to Racing
Good training alone does not guarantee good racing results. The proper mindset is essential. Because I had a burning desire to do well, I usually had lots of anxiety a couple of days before the race. It would often take me several days to prepare mentally. By then, I had tried to channel much of this nervous energy to a focus of intense concentration. The many triumphs of teammates like Bill Crothers and Bruce Kidd (Commonwealth Games 6-mile gold medalist at 18 years of age) also provided me with role models so that I might be able to rise to the occasion when it mattered.
However, there were times when I still had self-doubts right up to race. I recall desperately hoping that I would make the 1967 Pan American Team at the Canadian Trials even while warming up for the final. The thought occurred to me that everyone else in the race had the same ambition. None of them were just going to give it to me uncontested. I would simply have to take it away from them because I wanted it more. With 500 m to go in the race, I took control and ran away from the field with a 56 second last 400m to win.
There were other times during warm up when I had to talk myself. I would non-verbalize, “I can win this.” Invariably, a little voice in my head would initially reply, “No you can’t”. So, I would repeat this mantra in my head for about a half hour. By then, I was totally convinced that I would be unbeatable.
The great Canadian coach Lloyd Percival once commented to me that I worried too much about where I would finish in the race before it was run. I lacked a clear tactical plan beforehand. Also, I needed to be able to alter it as needed as the race progressed. He said, “Don’t worry about your placing beforehand, the best result will come with a solid effort along with a well thought out run.”. He was right. It seems obvious to me now. However, I was unaware of this problem at the time. Thereafter, I became more engaged by watching my race develop in order to decide when would be the right moment to challenge for control. The underlying basis was to test my opponents when they were having self-doubts or a bad spell. At this point in the race, I figured that I would have a greater chance to defeat them.
The mile/1500 can be divided into 3 important sections. The first two laps are often run quickly when racers are high on adrenaline. Challenging your competitors during this period when they feel good is wasted effort in my opinion. The third lap is the most important. It is always the slowest and there is good reason for it. This is when the race begins to hurt and there is still a sizeable distance yet to be run. There is uncertainty whether this fast pace can be sustained. Thus, the pace inevitably slows as runners begin to conserve energy for the finish. Your opponents are now at their most vulnerable. They will let you take control of the race without much of a contest. A decisive move at some point during the 3rd 440/400 can put distance between you and them. The problem is that you are also having the same physical distress and anxiety. However, you have the advantage of surprise and have prepared yourself for this moment.
The purpose of this move is not just to lead but to create a gap. It now needs to be maintained and possibly lengthened. There may still be opponents who will give chase. After a brief breather, you now need to start a continued gradual acceleration that is sustained to the finish when you are going as fast as possible. It is very discouraging for the chasers when they cannot close the gap. I have done it with success and had it done to me. The results of the race can be decided at that moment with a decisive attack between 800m to 500m remaining in the race.
Sometimes, I still did not win. However, I invariably ended up with a better overall placing than I would have had otherwise. Moreover, I felt good about my run which was the most important thing to me. I had tested my competitors resolve to win. They “knew I was there” and that I “made them sweat” before they could claim victory.
My Training Plan
The mile / 1500m is a combination of 50% aerobic and 50% anaerobic fitness. The former is slow to develop, can be markedly increased and slow to lose while the latter is the converse. Therefore, aerobic strength training was my early focus. Starting in late September of 1966, I ran 3-4 cross-country meets for the University of Toronto and had wins that involved the CIAU (CIS) Championship. During that period of time, I included a long run (1:45 – 2:00 hours) weekly at any pace that felt comfortable. I also did this throughout the year whenever possible. I avoided running on hard surfaces to minimize risk of injury. I had the good fortune to live close to three almost interconnecting golf courses which had challenging hills that I often ran without much concern from most golfers, something I don’t think would happen very often these days. I also sought out parks and dirt paths through forested areas even though getting there involved travelling some distance.
The cross-country results set me up for a limited but good indoor racing season following some interval training. Winning the Toronto Maple Leaf Indoor Games (mile – 4:03) and finishing 2nd at the Milrose Games in New York City’s Madison Square Garden (Wanamaker Mile – 4:02) in the winter of 1967 on 11 laps to the mile banked wooden tracks proved that I was headed in the right direction.
A key workout after the indoor season was hill running starting in late March. I adapted this aspect to how I would race. I tended not to run steep and short hills for short duration power but ran a long (about 600 m) gradual grade hill that allowed me to stride out for speed endurance (stamina) fitness. This hill was through a scenic wooded area on a paved road, which gave good traction. It was a 20- to 30-minute jog from my home and I ran it once a week for 4 – 6 weeks before returning to interval training. I would do hill repeats at a quick pace concentrating on relaxed movement until I got tired but not exhausted. I did at least 10 per session. Then, I warmed down by jogging home usually with my thighs feeling quite heavy.
Following completion of third year exams in Pharmacy in early April, I now had the opportunity to include a daily morning run of 30 – 40 minutes. It was an easy way to add aerobic fitness and to recover from the soreness and fatigue of the harder evening sessions. I did this at 6:30 am before heading off to my 8:30 am – 4:30 pm summer job (non – manual labour) which paid for university tuition and living expenses (FYI, I had turned down all athletic scholarship offers at several prominent universities in the USA). I then had supper, took a nap and prepared for my mid- to late-evening workout.
This schedule meant that I designed my own workouts and trained alone. It was challenging but I enjoyed being in control. I avoided running on a track as much as possible to keep this experience fresh. Instead, I found parks and other esthetically pleasing places to do speed play (fartlek).
For track workouts, I would park my car a 20- to 30-minutes jog away, carry my spikes and spend as little time there as possible. I ran concentrating on speed and relaxation to eliminate tension. I minimized the number of intervals which were usually not timed. However, they were demanding and simulated the way I would race.
An important early season session was 3 x 800m at race pace (equal distance recovery jog). Putting two 400m back to back adapted me better to the race circumstance than doing something like 10 x 400m could ever do. It took less than 20 minutes and also was much less boring. However, each 800m subsequently got much harder because I suspect that they were around 2:00 minutes. This workout was sufficiently demanding that I would not do it again for at a least week. However, this conditioned me mentally and physically for the kind of race that I would run. I did not do the 3 X 800 m workout after I got into the regular racing schedule.
I planned races on a two-week cycle. Starting with Saturday as the race day, Sunday was always a 1-hour easy run recovery day. Then, Monday to the Tuesday of the next week (9 days) would be solid training. Total distance run was about 165 km (130 km/wk). Wednesday to Friday (3 days) was for being fresh for the race on Saturday. This is when I would focus on my mental preparation. I would continue with my usual morning run. In the evening, I would do a 20-minute jog followed by a dozen strides on grass to bring back quickness.
The Tuesday before the race I liked to do a race simulation workout on the track. The Tuesday before I ran my 3:57.7 mile, I remember doing 1 x 800, 1 x 600, 1 x 400, 1 x 200, 1 x 100 with equal distance recovery. Each interval got faster. None were timed. I focused on quick and relaxed running. When I did the 800m and 600m, I would yell out “ding, ding, ding” with 400m to go!
I used a race warm up routine that involved a 15-minute jog followed by a warm shower about 4 hours before the race. It required less time to warm up at the track and took away tightness before the race.
These are just some thoughts on how I improved my performances for the mile / 1500m, distances that are demanding because they require emphasis on both speed and endurance. I hope that you found this to be informative and interesting. I wish
Exhausted. But it was worth it. Dave Bailey (right) literally is carried by Bill Crothers after Bailey ran mile in 3 minutes, 57.7 seconds at Police Games at Varsity Stadium. It was first sub-4-minute mile run in Canada by Canadian.
A thirty-two years old Ottawa, Ontario Canadian, Mike Woods, once ran a 3:57.48 mile when he was 18 years old and attending the University of Michigan. He was a teammate of Nick Willis during their Ann Arbor days. Unfortunately Woods ran into some chronic stress fractures in his foot and had to abandon the sport. While he was making that decision he would cycle to maintain some of his fitness and found later that he could compete with the good amateurs in that sport. Now fourteen years later Woods finds himself a pro riding in his first Tour de France. At his age, he is pushing the age limits for that level of the sport. He gained experience in the grand tours last year in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta d'Espanga.
As a 70 years plus former runner and a hobby road cyclist, I've often wondered what it would be like for a really good runner to compete in one of the grand tours where strength and endurance are only half the prerequisites. Technical ability on the bike is equally as important, and courage in the face of fear and horrendous crashes are the other aspects that a track or road runner seldom if ever faces. The main critical injuries in running come from people wearing ear buds listening to music or motivational talks who get hit by cars, trains and buses, deservedly, I might add. But descending at 50-60 mph on a twisting downhill in a pack of riders and then climbing 6000 feet backup a mountain, before another descent and climb, make cycling a very different sport.
Mike Woods has done extremely well as an older rookie, despite two major crashes, one of which broke a couple of ribs and left patches of his DNA smeared on the asphalt. Two days ago he was in the top ten of the climber category although he is no longer there. The tour credits participants in a number of ways including the overall leader, but it also rewards, the best climber, most aggressive, best young (under 25) and best general classification for finishing high in a lot of stages. This year the youngest rider Egan Bernal of Columbia is wearing the yellow jersey signifying leader in total time on the Tour. Woods is currently 32nd of 155 riders still in the race with one day to go. The experts pretty much have conceded the win to Bernal.
You can read an in depth interview with Woods from Runner's World which goes into more specific detail on how having been a sub 4 minute miler aids his becoming a very good cyclist. Thanks to Bruce Kritzler for bringing this story to our attention.
The IAAF is deeply saddened to hear that Britain’s Basil Heatley, the 1964 Olympic marathon silver medallist and former world record-holder for the distance, died on Saturday (3) at the age of 85.
Born on Christmas Day in 1933, Heatley was a promising youngster and earned podium finishes at the national level as a youth and junior at cross country. He made his marathon debut in 1956 and reduced his PB to 2:23:01 one year later, but didn’t run the distance again for six years.
Between 1957 and 1964 he made seven appearances at the International Cross Country Championships, the forerunner to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He won the individual senior men’s title in 1961, improving on his silver medal from four years prior.
Basil Heatley in one of his many shining moments on the podium at Tokyo
Later in 1961 he clocked 47:47 for 10 miles, setting what was the 100th ratified world record by a British athlete. After returning to the marathon in 1963, he set a world best of 2:13:55 in June 1964, marking him as a medal favourite ahead of the Olympic Games in Tokyo later that year.
There was no stopping defending champion Abebe Bikila in Tokyo, though. Just weeks after having his appendix removed, the Ethiopian retained his title and set a world record of 2:12:11. In the race for the silver medal, Heatley passed Japan’s Kokichi Tsuburaya with just 110 metres to go inside the Olympic stadium and took the silver medal in 2:16:19.
Heatley retired at the end of 1964 but went on to work as a team manager for the national athletics team.
IAAF
I remember first hearing of Basil Heatley with his 47:47 World Record at Ten Miles. An easy time to remember.
Our friend Bruce Kritzler has the following memory of Mr. Heatley.
Went to Puerto Rico in 1979 for San Blas Half Marathon. Basil Heatly was team manager for the English runners. Very laid back guy, told me which bed I could use in the dormitory type set up. Also showed me where I could get free meals, as the only US athlete currently in town.
Hooked up with couple of Indiana U./Puerto Rican athletes (Jamie Velez ?) and drank a couple bottles of Pink Champale the night before the race. Had a great race (around 30th) beat Samson Kimombwa (WSU) and nearly caught Lasse Viren at end.
Great trip,
Bruce
George: Saw your coverage of Heatley. He was one of the best interviews I ever had. Long article on racingpast. I was there—actually jogging around in the mid-field—for his 47:47 WR. I shouted myself coarse cheering him on. Last year, Japan public tv asked for my help to contact him as they were making a film for the 2020 OG and wanted to recapture his amazing silver in 1964—at the expense of a Japanese. He was a great CC runner too; saw him win the British Nationals at Parliament Hills. John Cobley Clik here for John's interview with Heatley Basil Heatley
Note: This is the day after the shootings in El Paso and my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. I've been working on another piece, but really couldn't devote the energy at the moment to put it onto the blog. Then the news of Basil Heatley came in, and seeing how it was about a runner of our time, I purloined the IAAF posting and placed it on our blog as well. Too many good times, good music, questionable food, and fun with friends and family were spent in the Oregon District of Dayton over the years to not be stunned by that event. For almost three years we lived less than a quarter mile from the shooting site. I often walked through that area to go to the library, or get a hamburger at Wimpy's, or look for bargains at the Goodwill Store, or laugh at comedians at Wiley's Comedy Club. A friend just sent a picture of David Dawg Grisman playing at the Trolley Stop with Red Allen and the Allen Brothers across the street from where the shooting took place. How I miss those days. People did dastardly things back then too, but not to the extent we do today. I won't editoralize on my feelings about guns, gun control, mental health and other contributing factors other than to say we are long overdue to show some resolve to find viable solutions to those problems. As a mediator for the past 25 years, I've learned that public spoutings accomplish very little. But when both sides of an issue can sit down together in private and listen to each other, sometimes they can find middle ground where they can work together. George
When Jim Ryun broke the World Record in the Mile at Berkeley in 1966 it was a make up meet for the cancelled international dual meets with the Soviet Union and Poland. We were getting heavily into Viet Nam, though all hell had not yet broken out in the streets of Chicago at the '68 Democratic convention. I didn't get to see the race as I was living at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1966. Fortunately our blog has been in contact with one of the runners in that race, Ricardo Romo, the University of Texas miler and long time record holder at that Austin institution. After reading Walt Murphy's blog about that race, I decided to get Ricardo's views of that afternoon on that hard cinder track. Where was he in his career? How did he contribute to that race? What does he remember specifically? Maybe this account will bring up some more questions. Ricardo has been kind to write this piece for us and we thank him for taking that time. Here it is.!
Today, fifty-three years ago--amost to the day-- I became the first Texan to run a mile under four minutes. What I didn't know at the time was that only 18 Americans had ever accomplished that feat. I have been asked many times about writing about that achievement and up to now, I had not given it much thought. Then I realized that I spent thousands of hours training to excel in an event that took me less than four minutes to complete. Was it worth such an expenditure of time and effort? And would I recommend others to try it? Yes--here is my story. In 1960, at age 16, (when everyone called me Richard) I finished 5th in the state track competition with a 4:30 mile time, a respectable time for a 10th grader. By my senior year in high school I had improved my time significantly. My 4:10 mile was one of the fastest ever by a U.S. high school runner. Three state championships earned me a track scholarship at the University of Texas Austin. UT Austin had great academic programs and one of the finest track programs in the nation. I started college with three goals. To run a su-four minute mile; to graduated from The University of Texas; and to earn All-American honors in Track and Field. At UT Austin I was fortunate to have Pat Clohessy, a former runner at the University of Houston and U.S. champion in the 5,000 meters. Clohessy came to UT to earn his Masters' degree and was offered a graduate assistantship in the track program. He served as my distance coach and mentor. Clohessy trained with us daily throught my freshman and sophomore year and his mentoring paid off. In the summer of 1963 I improved my mile time to 4:05 in a track meet in Wales, British Isles. I came in second but defeated two of England's top Olympic runners. It was the fastest mile time for a freshman in the United States. I was on my way.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Romo between Alan Simpson and John Whetton in that race in Wales
A serious track injuryin an indoor track meet in Fort Worth in February of 1965 nearly ruined my track ambitions. As I started the 1,000 yard run, I felt a sharp pain in my left ankle. We were running indoors on a dirt track and thus everyone used regular long spikes. A spike from the runner behind me caught my ankle and severed my tendon. I felt the pain, but since I was in the lead, I decided to finish the race. I crossed the finish line in first place, but I left blood dripping from the back of my shin. It was a serious injury and it required three months to cure the infection in my leg related to the dirt field. My surgery went well and after four months I resurmed my training--albeit quite slowly. I was not certain if the injury would hamper my full development as a premiere runner. By December I was back in top shape. I had lost the 1965 track season, but felt lucky to be competing again. My preparation for a sub-four minute mile required superb conditioning and being at the right track meet at the right time. I was living in Texas, but in the 1960s our state shut down most of its competitive track meets over the summer. Everyone agreed that California offered the best opportunity for competitive meets on a weekly basis and possibilities for fast times. In the summer of 1966, I spent the summer in California with the expressed goal of running a sub-four minute mile. Two friends made the transition to running in California possible for me. First Gene Comroe, a UCLA trackman who hailed from Dallas and competed in the same Texas state and regional high school meets with me assisted by providing aspare bedroom for me over that summer. Comroe was a member of the Southern California Striders, a track club that included the UCLA middle distance star, Bob Day. Day was a su-four minute miler and a world class runner at 800 meters. Comroe and Day introduced me to Atis "Pete" Peterson, the Striders' distance coach. Peterson's famous motto was "Run for Fun, " and many of our workouts over the summer of 1966 were exactly that. Peterson trained Bob Day and Ted Nelson, a former Canadian middle distance star and the American indoor record holder for 1,000 yards. Not long after meeting Nelson, he and I both decided that we would add extra speed training to our practice to prepare us for a su-four minute mile. Two events prepared me personally for my sub-four minute mile in 1966. While it has been more than 50 years ago, I remember the events quite clearly. In June of 1966 I competed in the Santa Monica Invitational meet which featured Cary Weisiger, a former Duke star miler with a best time of 3:56.6. I ran well that day and beat Weisiger by more than ten yards. I knew then that my training was paying off. On July 17, 1966 I had my second opportunity to assess my readiness for a sub-four minute mile. I had been invited to the Berkeley Invitational where I learned that Jim Ryun would attempt to break the world record of 3:53.6 set by Michel Jazy in 1965. I had competed against Jim Ryun numerous times, defeating him once in May of 1964. Two months later, he improved his time and finished third in the U.S. Olympic trials, which earned him a trip to the Olympics in Tokyo. On the day before the Berkeley race, several of us, including Tom Von Ruden, Wade Bell, and Cary Weisiger were approached by one of Ryun's close track associates about helping Ryun set a world record. for this article, I will call Jim's friend Dick. Ryun was a friend and I had competed with him the previous two years. I finished ahead of him in an invitational meet in Houston in May of 1964. Dick asked us to be rabbits for Ryun. My initial plans were to run close toRyun for the first three-quarters and perhaps run under four minutes. It was a good plan, but we were convinced that sacrificing a chance for our best times might provide more important track history. Ryun had set his goal of being the first American in 38 years to hold the world record in the mile. Dick made a passionate plea that if Ryun succeeded, the American flage would fly proudly across the globe. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. Von Ruden, Wade and I agreed and formulated our running plan. Ryun wanted a 58.0 first quarter and Von Ruden delivered with a 57.7 quarter. I took over with a goal of running a 1:56 first half. I felt comfortable and got to the half mile in 1:55.5. It was a bit fast, but the first quarter had also been fast. I remember that the crowd stared cheering when the half time was announced. They knew that Ryun had a shot at a 3:50 mile.
Weisiger, Ryun, Romo on the backstretch of the second lap.
Wade Bell took over from me and led Ryun to 2:55.3 at the third quarter, definitely on world record pace. Ryun always had a great kick and everyone expected that he would run 57 flat or better in the last quarter. He did indeed and his 55.0 seconds last quarter brought him to the finish line in a world record 3:51.3. Ryun had broken the world record by more than two seconds, a highly improbable feat. The two other rabbits stayed in the race as I did. Often the rabbits drop off--exhausted by the faster than usual pace. Von Ruden clocked 4:11.1 and Wade finished in 4:19.3.
Kansas Relays Program Progrm implies that Romo got his 3:58.8 at Texas Relays but it was at the meet in the San Fernando Valley described below.
I was exhausted at the three quarters mark, but decided to hang on and, as a consequence I finished third in the race. Ilearned soon that I had managed a highly respectable time of 4:01.4, one of my fastest times ever. Weisiger, who paced himself carefully, finished second with a 3:58.0 effort. It occured to me minutes after finishing that if Weisiger, whom I had beaten two weeks earlier, could run a 3:58 mile, so could I. Great distance runners build up their endurance and speed over many years. Every world record holder has done it differently. Roger Bannister trained religiously, but did so while studying for a medical career. Herb Elliott trained three or more times a day and seemed to live only for setting world records. When Ryun set the eworld record he was a 20 years old college student and the youngest ever to be a world record holder in the middle distance. After the Berkeley mile I returned to Los Angeles to continue my training. Bob Day, a 3:56 miler often joined me and other runners for afternoon and weekend runs. Pete Peterson thought I was ready for a sub-four effort and selected an invitational meet in the San Fernando Valley for me to compete in August. On the day of the race, I took the day off from my job at the Century Plaz Hotel. To pay my billss I was busing dishes and washing drink glasses. That summer the job market was tight and I felt lucky to find work that did not interfere with my training. I rested all day and left two hours early for the track meet. Ted Nelson and I agreed that we would push each other torun an even pace of 60 seconds per quarter. We were both excellent kickers and felt confident that we could finish the last quarter under 60 seconds. All went as planned. We were dead even with 300 yards to go when I began to accelerate. My time of 3:58.8 was more than I had expected. Nelson finished ten yards back with an excellent 3:59.5 effort.
Finishing his first sub 4 minute mile and with Pete Peterson and Ted Nelson after the race.
Important and memorable accomplishments are often done with the help of others--in some cases many individuals. Over many years I trained with other teammates and received excellent advice on how to prepare. I quickly learned that distance running also requires discipline and over the yeears I learned to push myself while setting reasonalbe expectations. For me, all that training paid off on a cool August evening whn I became the 18th American to run a sub-four minute mile. While I thought I might have run faster, I was humbled to know that my 3:58.8 was the 7th fastest ever by an American and surpassed the best of any Texas or South American runner. My friends often remind me that my mile time also made me the first Texan and first Hispanic to run a sub-four minute mile. My record stood for 40 years and I was pleased that when it was broken, it was by a fine UT Longhorn runner by the name of Leonel Manzano. Manzano broke my recordd by less than two seconds, but went on that year to win a silver medal in the Olympics.
For more on Ricardo Romo see the post we did on him with more autobiographical material from several years back. Ricardo Romo, An Inspiring Story Clik Here
How do you spell Penn Relays? V-I-L-L-A-N-O-V-A, that's how. The Wildcats dominate with a record five relay wins, the mile, two mile, four mile, distance medley and sprint relay.
Of special note is the continued emergence of Larry James as a quarter mile force. The junior has been progressing nicely this season. In February he won the indoor USTFF 500 in 56.0, only half a second off the WR. In March he won the indoor NCAA 440 in 47.0, the fastest ever run on an 11 lap to the mile track. April 6 saw him run his first out of the blocks 440 since high school when he ran 45.2 in a dual meet with Tennessee*. These were merely steps leading to his performance at Penn where he anchored the Wildcats mile relay team to victory with a blistering 43.9 lap, the fastest ever run by a human being under any circumstances.
Whereas James has suddenly appeared on the world stage, he has been competing in track since he was 11. Obviously, he was an extremely talented prospect when he went out for football as a ninth grader at White Plains HS in New York. One needs to question the wisdom of the freshman coach who played him at left guard. Seeing the futility in getting beat up by big guys, James abandoned further gridiron adventure to concentrate on track. As a senior, he was state champ in the low hurdles (18.7) and placed second in the 300 intermediates (38.0). Then it was off to Sacramento for the Golden West meet where demonstrated his versatility, by triple jumping 48-7 to place fourth. More importantly, he was a key cog on White Plains' national record-setting 880 (1:25.4) and mile relay (3:12.7) teams. All this said, he was only the second best quarter-miler on the team behind Otis Hill.
Dave Patrick anchors the sprint medley, distance medley and the two mile yet neither he nor James is selected the outstanding athlete of the meet.
That honor goes to teammate Frank Murphy who split 1:49.1 for his 880 in the 2MR, broke open the DMR with his 2:53.6 1320 and anchored the 4MR in 4:04.1.
Ian Hamilton, Charlie Messenger, Frank Murphy, and Dave Patrick after their WR 2 mile relay set earlier in February at the Mason Dixon Games in Louisville.
Click your heels together three times and say “There's no place like the Drake Relays” and we are in Des Moines where Saint Cloud State senior Van Nelson captivates the crowd with three mile (13:17.4) and six mile (28:22.2) victories.
Texas, anchored by Dave Morton's 45.4, runs 3:05.5, the fastest mile relay in the country this season. Lamar Tech and Ohio, anchored by Randy Clewis (45.6) and Emmett Taylor (45.2) are second and third in 3:07.3 and 3:08.1.
Sunday none of this mattered when the news came that the plane carrying the Lamar relay team of Don Delaune, Mike Favazza, Waverly Thomas, Clewis, half-miler John Richardson and coach Ty Terrell had crashed, killing all aboard.
Continuing west we arrive at the Mt SAC Relays where the highlight is the removal of Jim Ryun as a world record holder. Okay, we're stretching this a bit. Jim was co-owner of a world best, specifically the distance medley. As the DMR is not a recognized WR event, his Kansas team's 9:33.8 was only listed as the fastest ever. As such, it is the target for the Fort McArthur squad of Bob Tobler, Darnell Mitchell, Tom Von Ruden and Preston Davis.
Tobler leads off in 47.2. Mitchell runs the 800 in 1:50.2. Von Ruden's 2:56.1 places responsibility squarely on Davis' shoulders. The former Texas star is up to it, running his mile in 3:59.9 to establish a new world best of 9:33.4. Yep, all that work for four-tenths of a second. Removing some of the glitter from the performance was the fact that much of the crowd is still filing in as the race is being run.
Randy Matson is up for the challenge of his two closest shot put competitors, Dave Maggard and George Woods. Though not reaching the 70 foot mark that only he had thrown, his 69-1 easily tops Maggard's and Woods' bests of 65-10 and 65-9.
reality check for old timers. That Villanova – Tennessee meet mentioned in the third paragraph drew a crowd of 9200. What would any top collegedual meet draw today? Let's rephrase that sentence to include the words “if dual meets existed today”. Your writer recalls early morning runs with a buddy in which, in addition to world problems, the impending USC – UCLA dual was doped out with the score changing on each run. “Sure, SC has three discus guys with better marks, but the UCLA kid is only four feet behind their second and third guys. If he can get a second, that's a six pointchange.”
The high school event to watch this year is the high jump. On April 20, Compton's Reynaldo Brown clears 7-0½ to break Clarence Johnson's national record by a quarter of an inch. He had a week to bask in the glory of this achievement before Wasco's (CA) Otis Hailey claims the record with a leap of 7-1¾. They won't meet until the state meet. Rest assured, our diligent reporters will be there covering it.
In a previous entry we had discussed the great talent of the Compton and Centennial high schools. Let's put this in perspective. Imagine that you are Pat Bradford. On April 23 Pat jumps 6-11¾ to become.....not state record holder, not district record holder, not school record holder, but #2 guy at Compton High. Oh, and by the way, Compton has a third unnamed kid who has cleared 6-5¾. Wonder if he will letter?
In addition to Hailey's HJ, three other national records have been bettered this season. Bob Bornkessel of Shawnee Mission High in Kansas clipped six tenths from Joe Kurzrok's 37.3 record set in last season's Golden West.
Port Neches of Groves, TX no longer holds the 440 relay record but it hasn't left the state. Fort Worth's Kirpatrick High blazed 41.1 to shave off a tenth.
As long as we are in Texas, let's pay homage to the greatest prep shot putter ever, Sam Walker. The Samuel High (Dallas) senior once again broke his own record with a throw of 72-3¼. How dominant is he? He has now bettered Karl Salb's record of 69-6 six times this season and holds 8 of the 10 all time best marks. Only Salb and Dallas Long (69-3) remain on that list. As we are early in the season, it is likely that by season's end, the top ten will be Sam's exclusive territory.
The second T&FN May issue is coming up soon. A highlight will be the name of that third Compton jumper. Stay tuned.
David Allan Edstrom Sept. 10, 1938 - May 9, 2019 David Allan Edstrom was born in Portland and passed away May 9, 2019 in Denver, Colo. He was 80 years old. David grew up in Sherwood, Ore.,with his parents, Sigward and Elsie Edstrom and sister Janet (Weber). He ran track at the University of Oregon and in 1959, won a gold medal at the Pan American Games and in 1960 made the Olympic team. In 1968, David and his family moved to Colorado Springs where he was the assistant track coach at the Air Force Academy. He went on to become a municipal bond attorney, specializing in public financing of municipalities.
U. of Oregon Members of 1960 Olympic Teams Jim Grelle, Dave Edstrom, Sig Ohleman, Coach Bowerman Harry Jerome, Jim Grelle, Otis Davis
From Sports Reference Dave's resume follows:
Dave Edstrom won the Pan American Games gold medal in the decathlon in 1959, with his other major decathlon title coming at the 1963 Kansas Relays. At the AAU decathlon, he was runner-up in 1957, 1959, and 1961, and placed third in 1958 and 1963. Edstrom finished fourth at the 1960 US Olympic Trials, which doubled as the AAU Championship, but he made the team as the third American, as [C. K. Yang] of Chinese Taipei finished second to [Rafer Johnson]. Edstrom was world ranked in the top seven for five consecutive years (1957-61). He competed for the University of Oregon, the Emerald Empire TC, the Oregon TC, and the US Air Force.
Been chatting a bit with Walter Belt, a thrower of consequence at the U. of Texas in the mid 1960's. He enlightened me on the weight training program at that institution back in those days when benefits from weight lifting were only beginning to be understood and applied to sports other than kicking sand in the faces of runts on the beach. He informed me of the Stark Center at U of T that is dedicated to two thousand years of weight training with its magnificent collection and archives. Here is some of our conversation:
August 26, 2019
Please add me to your distribution. Thanks
Walter BeltUT Letterman, 65-66-67
Walter,
Will do, Walter. How did you find us, through a teammate? .................................................
If you wish to make comments, you are more than welcome. There is a place at the end of each posting which I then screen before putting up. I 've never refused anything unless it sounds like
spam. ............................ Glad you can join us. What were your events?
George Brose
George
Ricardo Romo has been forwarding to me. He and I were on Texas team in 65 and 66. He graduated and I had one more year. I was a thrower - lucky enough to be in lock step with Randy Matson in high school and college. In high school I was 3rd nationally behind Randy and Bruce Wilhelm. 2nd to Wilhelm at Golden West - Matson went to the AAU nationals. Being a mere mortal I did not keep up with either through college and afterwards. 2nd at Kansas Relays and 3rd at Texas Relays were my best showings. When I was a senior and they were freshmen I did beat Al Fuerbach at Kansas and Oldfield in Austin. While watching Oldfield with Matson, Matson commented, "If that guy ever learns to dance, he will beat my records". Oldfield was stumbling around the ring and almost falling over but still throwing 65. Same story with Fuerbach and Oldfield,
Thank you for doing all this. Not much on track and field these days. With reference to the over 9000 at the dual meet -- I bet there were not many more than 9000 at the natl champs in Des Moines.
Walter
Walter,
Yes, track is in a sad state of affairs. It is where TV and professional sports and Dancing With the Stars have taken us. I cannot say I get very excited watching track on TV these days (even though some of the performances are incredible).
Thanks for writing and telling about yourself. You were at a great school and in a great program. Did you do much weight training in your day? We had a modest weight room with a bench
and a couple of dumbells (not the athletes) at OU. It had a dirt floor under the stands. It was more than the football team had then. Oh yes, we also had a spittoon next to the bench. Mike Lindsay, from Scotland, had insisted on getting some weights. Lindsay (4th at Rome Olympics in 1960) Dan Irwin, Richard Inman, and Sheppard Miers were our main throwers. We also had Preston Smith from Grapevine TX and Carl Pelligrini from Dallas. Carl was a very good discus thrower. Carl had transferred from a school in Boston. Once told me about a naked couple jumping off a building on St. Patrick's day in Boston and it only made the fourth page of the papers.
George
George – for the day, we had a great weight training facility at UT. It was used by all sports. The room now is the football cheerleaders practice and locker room.
No spittoons!
Our training coach was a phys ed professor. Fyi, UT and the general Austin area has a long history of weight training – or “physical culture” – outside of the team sports. See below link
https://www.starkcenter.org/Readers, clik on this site, it is an incredible source of all kinds of info including audio interviews with many members of the 1968 US Olympic Team. The Stark Center is a must visit if you are in the Austin area. ed.
Terry Todd lettered in tennis before the iron bug got a hold of him.
The whole article is something else, but do scroll down to the bit about Mike Graham’s Old Texas Barbell Company.
Graham’s partner, Carol Finsrud, was one of the first female throwers at UT.
And you thought track and field was a cult.
Walter
Walter,
I wonder if that physical culture industry came from the Germans who immigrated into the area around New Braunfels and the like. They had the 'turnvereins' with a lot of exercise with
Indian Clubs as they were called in English. Dayton where I grew up and Cincinnati had a number of those gyms in the 1880s. Pierre de Coubertin the father of the modern Olympics
was impressed by the Germans and the English sport mentality although it was quite different in the two countries. The French had nothing of the sort except smoking, drinking wine and doing
impressionist painting, and he didn't think they would fare too well in future wars because of this. At that time the French could have fought the English as easily as the Germans. He came to America too and saw sport in schools and brought the idea back to France.
Walter, I love this kind of story. It's going on the blog. It's what makes us unique. All these guys have stuff in their heads that we've got to
collect before it's forgotten or six feet under. You may remember Joe Don Looney who played football somewhat infamously at OU after transferring from I think TCU or UT then Cameron JC. Leading punter in the nation and All American running back. He was heavy into weights and would go down to Baton Rouge in the summer to hang at a gym, where Billy Cannon did a lot of lifting. Joe Don ran a 9.7 100 yards and was about 225 pounds. Crazy and proud of it. He ran track with us in 1963 or 64 to avoid spring football. How our track coach managed that with the A.D. is anyone's guess but they didn't call Coach Bill Carroll , 'Slick Willie' for no reason. Bud Wilkinson said that Looney was his first and last JC transfer ever, period. Once in the spring game Looney purposely went after three unblocked tacklers and ran over each one
and went about 60 yards into the end zone and then walked back to the huddle. Wilkinson, who was God, with a whistle and clipboard in Norman, said, "Looney, aren't you ever going to hustle?" Looney replied, "Fuck, coach, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I'm tired as Hell." Almost no one dropped the F bomb in those days, esp. to persons in supreme authority, but that was Looney. When OU lost to Texas next season they got rid of him about two weeks later for slugging a grad assistant. Wilkinson retired and ran unsuccessfully for governor of Oklahoma. It was said that losing that last time to Texas cost him the election. Tom Osborne I think is the only football coach that won a major election after football, becoming a Congressman. Were there others?
George
Can any of you Longhorns help me with identifying members of this 1964 Longhorn team?
Roy fills in the knowledge gap: Do you know where Wasco is located? That would be the San Joaquin Valley, just 24 miles from Bakersfield. The population is 25000. There are 8000 in the Wasco State Prison. Not sure if they are counted. Here is our little known fact of the day. The area around Wasco grows 55% of all the roses grown in the US.
Two issues of TF&N this month so here is the second issue. All hell is breaking loose in Europe' it is the Prague Spring and the streets of Paris are on fire. Emil Zatopek will soon be forced out of his cushy job in the army and put behind a garbage truck until the citizens of Prague recognize him and run along with the garbage truck he is on. He will then be sent to work in a uranium mine.
Two records have been set since our last report, neither of them providing much excitement. St. Cloud State's Van Nelson gets the collegiate record at six miles and the javelin record for freshman and junior college falls to Marc Murro.
Competition is not a factor in either. Nelson is running for the Olympic 10,000 qualifying mark which he gets by 5.6 seconds with a 28:54.4. But the record comes a lap earlier when he passes six miles in 27:56.8, breaking Doug Brown's 27:59.2 set in 1965. He wins by a minute and a half, obviously lapping the field. Murro, also dominant, takes less time to put his name in the record books. His 273-0 wins the national junior college meet by 50 feet.
The performances that were discussed across the breakfast table the next morning were based on competition. Villanova brings its mile and two mile relay teams to Fresno to take on San Jose State and Kansas in the West Coast Relays. Results are mixed.
In the 2MR the first three Kansas kids can't break 1:53, leaving Jim Ryun 35 yards behind Dave Patrick on the anchor leg. The gap proves too much. Patrick is world-class. Though Ryun is up for the challenge, running 1:46.6 and gaining 2.2 seconds, the Wildcats prevail 7:23.6 to 7:26.8.
The mile relay is the order of the day. Fourteen thousand fans stay until 10:12 to see Larry James and Lee Evans tangle on the anchor leg. The weather fails to cooperate as the temperature has dropped to 50 degrees negating fast times. The first three legs for both teams average 48 seconds. James and Evans are together at the handoff. Unfortunately for Evans, Ron Freeman of Arizona State is in the mix as well. Evans has trouble getting by Freeman and by the start of the backstretch is five yards down to James, who two weeks earlier had blazed the fastest quarter-mile ever with his 43.9 split at Penn.
If his task looks hopeless, no one has told Evans. He closes most of the ground by the 200, comes even on the curve and pulls away on the straight to split 44.9. James runs 45.6 but this day belongs to Evans and San Jose. Spartans 3:09.4, Villanova 3:10.1.
An aiding wind is negated by the cool weather. Other outstanding marks are Gayle Hopkins' 26-7¼ LJ, and Earl McCullough's 13.3 HH, both wind-aided. Dave Maggard adds a quarter-inch to his shot put PR with his 65-11 victory. The discus matches former world record holder Jay Silvester and three-time Olympic champion and former world record holder Al Oerter with Silvester the decisive winner 204-9 to 198-10.
Not all the noteworthy action is in Fresno this day. Seven hundred miles north in Corvallis, Oregon, two diverse Washington State teammates stave off strong competition to record significant victories. The meet is the Northern Division (of the PAC-8) consisting of Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
The WSU athletes are 6-7, 268 lb John Van Reenan and Gerry Lindgren who measures 5-6, 119. Van Reenan easily wins the shot at 61-6¼ but has to dig down to top Tim Vollmer of Oregon State in the discus, 198-5 to 197-10, an eight-foot improvement for Vollmer.
Fast forwarding in history from the New York Times June 21, 1972
LOS ANGELES, June 20 (UPI)—John Van Reenen of South Africa, the discus thrower, has given up hope of finding another country before the Olympic Games.
“There's no way I will be in the Olympics,” said Van Reenen, whose country is barred from the Games because of its policy of racial separation. “Every nation's had or are having their trials.
“I thought I might be able to become a United States citizen, but it's too late now. The trials start next week and there's no way I could become a citizen overnight.”
The 25‐year‐old Van Reenen has been living in California since his graduation from Washington State University. Last weekend, the Amateur Athletic Union barred him and a South African distance runner, Johan Halberstadt, from its championship meet “because South Africa has no reciprocal agreement that lets Americans compete in their championship meet.”
Cape Town - South African athletics giant John van Reenen passed away at the age of 71 on Tuesday. Van Reenen made headlines in 1975 when he broke the discus world record.
During apartheid, Van Reenen left South Africa to study at Washington State University where he was pursuing his art studies on a scholarship. He studied Fine Art throughout his athletics career, specialising in etchings. In the 1970 season he twice broke the South African record while competing for Washington State, but his major landmark came in 1975, when on March 14, he threw 68.48m to set a new world record in Stellenbosch. According to Netwerk24, Van Reenen's right foot was amputated in 2013 after he contracted gangrene. His leg was later also amputated under his knee. The Afrikaans website added that he died from complications from diabetes.
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After his track career, Van Reenen was and artist and lecturer at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. to see examples of his work clik here. John Van Reenen
If you are wanting to know more about Tim Vollmer Wikipedia fills in the facts. Timothy William "Tim" Vollmer (born September 13, 1946) is a retired American athlete who mainly competed in the discus throw. In 1971 he won the AAU title and a silver medal at the Pan American Games. He placed in the top four at the AAU Championships in 1968–73 and finished eighth at the 1972 Summer Olympics.[1] Vollmer is a member of the Portland Interscholastic League Sports Hall of Fame.[3] Back to Roy's reporting:The previous month Norwegian Arne Kvalheim of Oregon had set the collegiate two mile record of 8:33.2. Lindgren was one of those left looking at his backside in that race. He vowed not to let that be the case in this meet's three mile. Running an uneven pace (4:13 mile, 8:50 2M), Lindgren leads on the last lap until Kvalheim passes him on the backstretch only to have Lindgren rally for the victory with the fastest US time this season, 13:16.4 to Kvalheim's 13:19.2.
For the first time in fifteen years, Oregon doesn't win this meet. Hated rival Oregon State scores big in the sprints to edge the Ducks 84-81 and send the crowd home happy. Of special note is the odd style of OSU high jumper Dick Fosbury who wins with a 6-9¾ clearance by turning and sort of jumping over on his back. Well, you'd have to see it to understand. It's the crackpot sort of thing that will be here today, gone tomorrow. It is as unlikely to catch on as, say, shot putters spinning like discus throwers.
In our most recent entry, we wrote of Compton High's magnificent high jumping talent. Since that time Reynaldo Brown has improved his PR by a quarter of an inch to 7-0¾ and Pat Bradford has shown consistency with a 6-11 clearance to go with his 6-11¾ best. In our earlier report, we stated that there was also an unnamed Tarbabe who had jumped 6-5¾. Apparently, if you haven't cleared six and a half feet at Compton you are doomed to anonymity. We are excited to report that the young man has achieved this standard of acceptance and therefore has been identified. He is the offspring of Mr. and Mrs. Ishman. If your last name is Ishman, your given name is of no importance. Bob, George, Eddie, it doesn't matter. You are destined to be Ishy the rest of your life. Say it with me, Ishy Ishman, Ishy Ishman, Ishy Ishman. Kinda fun, isn't it? Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Clearly the Compton coach did not look at Ishy's origins and family name when selecting an event. Had he done so, Ishy would have been throwing the javelin. ed.
This from the Book of Names:
Ishman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The name Ishman is an ancient Anglo-Saxon name that was given to a person
which meant warrior of the spear.Ash, another ancient Saxon name meant spear.
Early Origins of the Ishman family
The surname Ishman was first found in the county of Wiltshire, where they held a family seat
from very ancient times. Ash, in ancient Saxon meant "spear," therefore Ashman was a
"spear warrior," and its ancient records are included in the Domesday Book compiled by
Duke William after his Conquest of England in 1066. It shows them to have had manors and
Loyola track legend Tom O’Hara dies; the 1964 Olympian set an indoor world record in the mile By SHANNON RYAN CHICAGO TRIBUNE | AUG 28, 2019 | Tom O’Hara, an NCAA cross-country champion and track star at Loyola and former indoor world record holder in the mile, died Tuesday, the university announced. He was 77. “This is a sad day for Loyola Athletics. Tom O’Hara is a legend not only at Loyola, but also in his sport,” Loyola athletic director Steve Watson said in a statement Wednesday. “For as accomplished as Tom was on the course and track, he was unbelievably humble and a true gentleman. Tom will be sorely missed by those of us in the Loyola community, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.”
O’Hara, a Chicago native who attended St. Ignatius, set the indoor world record in the mile in 1964 with a time of 3 minutes, 56.6 seconds before breaking that a month later by running it in 3:56.4 at Chicago Stadium.
He was the first Illinois runner to break the 4-minute mark.
At Loyola, O’Hara won the NCAA individual cross-country championship during the 1962-63 season before competing for the U.S. in the 1,500 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
An illustration of O’Hara was featured on the cover of the June 22, 1964, edition of Sports Illustrated with the headline “Tom O’Hara: The mystique of the mile.”
Loyola cross-country and track and field coach Bob Thurnhoffer called O’Hara “possibly the greatest Rambler of all time.”
“This is a tough loss for the Loyola Athletics, Chicagoland and running communities,” Thurnhoffer said in a statement. “The name Tom O’Hara is synonymous with Loyola Athletics.
“That iconic image of Tom on the cover of Sports Illustrated is something that has inspired Ramblers over half a decade, and Tom’s incredible achievements have shown our department that anything is possible through hard work, humility, and service. Tom’s legend spans across the Chicagoland area and still inspires our team to this day.”
Tom O'Hara at Kansas Relays 1963 I filmed this 30 seconds on my Super 8 camera in Lawrence, Kansas. I knew one of Tom's teammates at Loyola, John Kolevich and got introduced to him. In the first race Loyola didn't have the sprinters to run a sprint medley and were hopelessly outclassed. But in the second race in this clip, they are in the distance medley against Texas Southern. Texas Southern's anchor man Major Adams had a big lead on the final leg, but it was no use against Tom and he was scooped on the second lap and Tom was lapping the field by the end of the race. Note his familiar tug on his shorts, seeming to pull them up to keep them from falling off. Talking to Tom after the race, he proved to be a very humble person, polite and courteous to a complete stranger. George Brose
One winter I went through Chicago on my way home to Dayton from Oklahoma and stayed with an aunt and uncle and next day went to run in the U. of Chicago Christmas meet. Tom wasn't there, but his dad was and he sat with my uncle during my race and had a nice chat with him. My uncle was thrilled. While Tom was in Tokyo for the 1964 Olympics, his father passed away.
Two of our readers Paul O'Shea and Thom Coyne knew Tom O'Hara very well and I'm sure we'll be hearing from them soon about the passing of this wonderful man.
Alberto Salazar along with his endocrinologist associate, got busted today for illegal, and I will add unethical use of his Gilbert Chemistry set to enhance performance of athletes who were not named in the action by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA). Should I have phrased that opening sentence to read "finally" got busted? It seems like this has been a train wreck waiting to happen for a long time. But the well and powerfully placed often have a way of insulating their actions from the general public and escaping reality and the law for a long time until they eventually crash and burn. Some even choose to openly flaunt their lies. We could generalize about that regarding national politics in a number of nations these days. But we are a track blog, not a political blog. We believers have to understand, but not accept, that you can cheat your way to stardom and stay at the pinnacle, but eventually you will fall and fall hard. Lance Armstrong is a case in point. Albeit it can be said that Lance did some good with his cancer foundation. In fact a good friend argues very concisely that she would not be alive today if it were not for Lance Armstrong. What can be said of Alberto and his band of merry men? Is anyone avoiding that final lap of life thanks to them?
I may be wrong on this but I think the lads were tinkering with testosterone levels in certain athletes. It was alleged a few years ago that they may have been experimenting on their own family members to find how much testosterone can be added to a person to bring them to just below the max levels that are permitted to be carried in the human body during athletic competition. Now is that morality or not? It seems that many famous scientists in the past experimented on human guinea pigs including themselves and even their house guest in the quest for knowledge and scientific breakthroughs. I would suspect that if Salazar and his associates were doing this, they had to be testing the amounts and delivery methodology in all their athletes, because each person reacts differently to drugs administered to them. To get it 'right' you have to experiment and dial it in to pass the testing. If they went over those limits then they held the athlete back from competition and testing or told them to avoid at all costs being tested by USADA or WADA agents who were looking for them for random testing. Armstrong and other cyclists were known to keep very irregular schedules and thus their whereabouts were often unknown when the collectors were trying to find them for a random sample. If you tell the athlete what is the testing schedule, it makes it easier to manipulate their levels pro tem. We know that Christian Coleman recently missed some testing but was eventually cleared to compete, but exactly why I haven't understood. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, because if someone of this high a profile was cleared at the last minute, there must be some accountable reason and a serious look at the situation. At least I hope so, because if not, our sport might as well pack it in and go to the next tiddly winks contest.
We've been dealing with this kind of behavior for a long time. In the 1960's and 70's certain throwers were cheating. But if you went back to the turn of the previous century ie. the 19th century, trainers were juicing their athletes quite openly. In the 1970s all of us were drinking coffee before long distance races, because we understood that caffeine would liberate free fatty acids into the blood stream as an alternative energy source. It wasn't illegal, but was it immoral? What we were less aware of was caffeine's diuretic effects that could produce early dehydration, and water stations were rare in those days compared to modern times. So we often ended up hurting a potential performance out of ignorance. At that time blood doping was also a popular thing to be doing, but was recycling one's own blood to increase the number of red blood cells immoral. It eventually was outlawed, and certain Finnish runners were strongly suspected of using this technique, though it was very hard to prove. Today one can have the same effect by injecting erythropoetin, also an illegal practice.
What does it mean to cheat to win? You can't make a lot of money in track and field these days. Not like you can in football or international soccer, basketball, or professional cycling. So reasons for cheating seem to be mainly to be seen as a winner, an Olympic Champion, a World Champion, a World Record Holder, so long as you don't get caught. Maybe a few dollars will come your way with some endorsements if you are pretty or have a nice personality. I honor and respect the clean athletes, losers and winners, because I know that they know themselves. Unfortunately I don't know who they are. Well I guess the cheaters may know themselves but are probably in major denial. Will anyone ever think of Armstrong as a winner today? Life is fleeting, fame is even more fleeting. I've sometimes advocated that we run two races for each event at a track meet. One heat, no one will be tested. You can put whatever you want into your system. The other heat will be for self declared 'clean' athletes. It might seem like declaring virginity at a whorehouse convention. But the testing will be heavy on those athletes who declare themselves clean, and a violation would convict cheaters to life in the other lane.
The next question is will the public pay to see a clean race or a juiced race?
Whatcha think bout’ all this ? Were you suspicious all along or just the last few years ?
Gawd, I hate this.
Steve Price
Nice job George he is destroying the sport that has already changed enough. Marc Arce I hated writing about this issue, especially after posting the obituary of a man like Tom O'Hara last week. He was such a modest, humble person and a true asset to the sport. This is 180 degrees the opposite. George
Well written commentary on the news that broke out on Salazar. I don't like the chemicals used to enhance performance but where is the line, as you wrote about coffee, when athletes drink certain drinks to replenish their electrolytes or take supplements like whey or anabolic recovery drinks/pills? There's pre-workout and post-workout. I never thought blood doping was cheating. To me it is reusing your body - similar to these recovery or pre-workout enhancements. Your own blood - if you are healthy - is a more natural way to recover or prepare your body for competition than these chemicals that meet the thumbs vote.
I think long gone are the absolute pure athlete. There is so much science, technology, big data and analysis on performance and ways to improve that performance. I can imagine competitions where you have to distinguish humans verse robotics within a human body - something we're closer to achieving than we realize!
Sure makes you wonder about any athlete associated with the program. If the coach is rotten how come no athlete has been found rotten? Probably because there was some admission of guilt during arbitator's inquiry or at least a suggestion of having done something that can be associated with an illegal act. . About two years ago I attended a conference of sports arbitrators and mediators in Vancouver. There were speakers from WADA and one of them said in reference to athletes who get caught with too much illegal substances in their bodies, "There are only two types, cheaters and dumbasses." George
No real surprise since he has been suspected for some time now. I think the long arm of Nike has kept him from punishment but evidently that has ended. Several have quit the NOP, allegedly for unnamed reasons. Bill Schnier Throws a bad light on everybody who has been near him except DickBeardsley. George Salazar sounds just like Trump in his response. Bruce Kritzler
I understand Rudy Giuliani will take a break from his present client to represent Salazar. Roy
Very well-played this. Does this now mean that Al Sal will join the whereabouts protection program? Paul O.
With the IAAF World Champs meet being contested, the exposure of all this came at such a bad time...
.with everything draping over the next Olympic Games. We may never see the return of a “clean” environ. Someone will always be looking for drugs et al that will aid their performances. It’s been this way for a long time I am sorry to say. Tell me more bout’ Jared Ward. Thanks
Steve Price
I definitely hear you about the poor light it shines on the sport. But he's a cheat and his athletes have been going along. I do believe there are athletes sitting in the wings that have achieved things legitimately deserve this. Most of all, I think it continues to shed light on Nike (which you know how I feel about them) and the fact that they are also supporting the "win at all cost" mentality of Alberto and the NOP.
Maybe I'm too "dreamy" about it all, but when there are guys like Jared Ward facing guys like
Galen Rupp and Mo Farrah.......I'd prefer to see the latter guys get nailed.
Ryan King
Jared Ward is a marathoner at this point. Went to Rio and finished 6th. Been behind Rupp the last few years after he started running marathons. Squeaky clean guy. I've gotten to know him and have been a huge cheerleader of his........because he's fast and competitive, but mostly because he's a fantastic human being. He's spoke to our XC kids a couple of times and he's simply a great role model.
(Although he did get himself in trouble for running a fun run in a costume when he was at BYU, shameful)
Whether it's Allison Felix as of late, the Gouchers, or many of the other "ex-Nike" athletes, they almost all have a story of how Nike wasn't looking out for the sport. So as far as I'm concerned, busting them is welcomed. I just wish the report would have also named some athletes.
When Euliod Kipchoge tries to run a sub 2 hour marathon, Nike doesn't talk about drug testing......they focus on the shoes he's wearing. Is that supporting the sport, or supporting their marketing interest? Don't get me wrong, I'm as much of a capitalist as anyone, but Nike has corrupted our sport, bought and paid for the USATF, and encouraged people like Alberto to exist.
George's question in his blog post was interesting. "Would people still pay to watch a clean race?" I think they would, if it's all clean. There are still phenomenal athletes out there, who work hard and accomplish big things. But if Castor can't have inflated testosterone levels as a female, then neither should a male athlete, especially if there are rules about it.
Ryan King
George – a well written article on a very testy subject. Who else will be dragged into this one? I fear for our new Marathon record holder Cam Levins but do not know any details whatever. Keep the good stuff coming. Have passed it on to a couple of people.
Best wishes.
Geoff
I think Cam Levins may have left the NOP. George
Good article, George! Bill Blewett And in Alberto Salazar's Defense:
It is hard to believe that Alberto Salazar was busted on doping charges to athletes. He is a Christian.
When I was on medical leave in the U.S. I was fund raising for shoes and running apparel for my athletes in Sierra Leone, When I called Nike, I was directed to Alberto. Hell of a nice guy. He arranged for me to get some out dated running apparel donated to my runners.
Tom
When it was mentioned that NOP might have been using a cream based testosterone it reminded me of the case of Barry Bonds using a cream as well. Here's what I found on a quick google search. See text in red below. Warning!!! Do not try this at home. George
As detailed in Game of Shadows by Mark Fainaru-Wasa and Lance Williams
by Mark Zurlo
Winstrol (Stanozolol)In their book Game of Shadows, Mark Fainaru-Wasa and Lance Williams allege that Barry Bonds used a number of different steroids in his pursuit of the all-time homerun record, ranging from common steroids used by many bodybuilders to designer steroids specially created for Bonds to be undetectable in tests. Bonds was indicted on five felony charges in November 2007. These charges, the result of a four-year federal investigation, include perjury and obstruction of justice. The indictment says the government can prove that blood seized in a 2003 raid of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative and tested positive for steroids belonged to Bonds.
Following the 1998 season, Winstrol was the first steroid Bonds allegedly used. It is popular with bodybuilders, but Bonds felt inflexible and had trouble with shoulder tendons while on the drug. It is best known to have been used by disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson.
Deca-Durabolin
Also popular with bodybuilders, Bonds reportedly used the drug in injection form. It is often used to treat anemia.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
According to Game of Shadows, Bonds used HGH, an undetectable steroid, as a cocktail with a number of other performance-enhancers. HGH is known to strengthen joints and tissue, and allowed Bonds to maintain muscle without any heavy lifting during the season.
The Cream
A testosterone-based substance reportedly given to Bonds by Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Lab Co-Operative (BALCO).
The Clear (Norbolethone or THG)
Also reportedly supplied by Conte, the Clear was used by many of the world's top Olympic sprinters, including former 100-meter world record-holder Tim Montgomery. The drug was developed for medical reasons during the 1960's but never mass produced because of safety concerns.
Insulin
Known to increase the effectiveness of using HGH
Andriol
Also known as "Mexican beans," these steriods take effect and leave the user's body quickly.
Trenbolone
Steroid normally used to improve the muscle quality of beef cattle.
Clomid
Bonds allegedly used this drug, prescribed to women for infertility, to regain the ability to produce natural testosterone. Bonds often ignored his trainer's advice to take time off between cycles to allow this process to occur naturally.
Last night a monumental human achievement, the first sub two hour marathon, was completed by Eliud Kipchoge. My first thought was 'Thank goodness he is not associated with the Nike Oregon Project'. I'm sure much joy was felt in the streets of Nairobi and on the dusty roads around Eldoret in the western Rift Valley of Kenya. Next Monday some schoolboy in Kakamega will be running the six miles to school thinking, 'I can do that'. And he will, just like his sister will also be thinking along those same lines about a sub 2 hr 10 min marathon.
Some will say will say this run is on the same pedestal as other milestones like Roger Bannister's sub four minutes mile at Iffley Road on 6 May 1954 or Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon in 1969. The difference in the two other achievements compared to Bannister's feat is the support of corporate finance and technological development. . At this point the technological support in shoe, design, route selection, pavement preparation, pace setters with wind tunnel data, and a vehicle showing everyone the pace with a laser played a significant role in this achievement. If any major physical performance was ever a forgone conclusion, this was it. There was only one runner who we thought might do it. With Bannister, there were also John Landy and Wes Santee pushing human performance levels in that global race to break four minutes. In space the Russians were competing with the US in the Cold War, although I don't think they were directly working on putting a man on the moon.
Technology played much less a part in Bannister's race. An old groundskeeper or coach was said to have rubbed graphite on his spikes so the cinders would not cling to them and weight him down. But that was about it for tech assistance. And once he broke four minutes, that performance quickly became more and more mundane. Today a group of moderately read high school kids have more scientific information about training and human limits at their fingertips than Bannister had in his medical studies at Oxford in 1954. Today the kids have better tracks, better shoes, maybe not better coaches, but certainly more opportunity to break four minutes, and they prove that by doing it.
Bannister and Kipchoge were both in a race against time. There was no one in either of their runs who was trying to break the tape ahead of them. Kipchoge has demonstrated that the unthinkable is possible. Thank you Eliud Kipchoge for showing us the possibilities of human performance. Now let the racing resume.
George Brose
Geoff Pietsch of Gainsville Florida has written the following about the event and inspired my effort above.
I did not think this was humanly possible at this stage of our evolution. I never thought I would live to see it. And it is hard to know what to make of it. Remarkable, of course, though the word seems inadequate. Eliud Kipchoge is clearly a very nice guy - as the delight of all of the pace-setters after the run showed. What was almost stunning was that he picked up ten seconds in the last couple of hundred meters. Even the enormous elation for the achievement doesn't fully explain his lack of any signs of strain or fatigue afterwards. By contrast, Kenenisa Bekele, after his great 2:01:41 in Berlin two weeks ago - missing Kipchoge's record by two seconds - was obviously exhausted. For me.... I am vaguely disappointed. I did not want anyone to do this under these circumstances. To me the artificialness of it detracts from the extraordinary accomplishment. Not just the shoes nor having pacesetters - though they are a factor. But the whole technological effort that made it possible - and made it less the phenomenal effort of one man. If you have not followed this, I am thinking, for example, of the wind tunnel studies which led to the pace setters running in a V in front of him, instead of him inside an upside down V, with two pace setters deliberately trailing on each side to somehow effect the wind flow. And the scientifically determined nutrition and fluids during the run. And the pace car programmed to go at exactly 2:50 per kilometer speed. And the ideal course with the shortest path painted on the road. When Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile (yes, with a couple of pace setters, but also in the rain and wind on a cinder track) I was 16. But I did not see it. No one did except those at the venue. Later that summer Bannister beat John Landy of Australia, then the only other to have broken 4 minutes, in the British Commonwealth Games in Vancouver. I did see that. It was televised. Both broke 4:00. Although I was disappointed that Landy, the strong front-runner, was outkicked by Bannister, it was an inspiring effort by both men. I wish Kipchoge's great feat had elicited a similar reaction from me. Yes, my time is past. I would compare Kipchoge's sub-2:00 to Neal Armstrong landing on the moon. And Bannister and Landy to Lewis and Clark crossing the continent, exploring the unknown, and reaching the Pacific. I would much rather have been with Lewis and Clark than with Armstrong. Geoff Pietsch, Gainesville, Florida In the wee hours of Saturday, October 12, 2019 Do note Richard Mach's commentary in the Comments section below. George The Guardian Oct. 12, 2019 by Sean Ingle clik here
I met Eric Finan when he was running for the University of Cincinnati about 10 years ago. He was a Big East Cross Country Champion and an All American in that sport and a fair to middlin' track runner. One of our regular readers, Bill Schnier was Eric's coach at UC. Post college he managed to run a sub four minute mile. After school the former Bearcat now an engineer moved to Minnesota to further his running career and then turned west to the rain forests of the Pacific Northwest where he now lives in Eugene, OR. On Saturday Oct. 13, this year he won the Goodlife Fitness Marathon in Victoria, British Columbia. Had I known a bit earlier, I'd have gone to watch the race, but Eric has been kind enough to supply us with his own account of how he managed a win in this race. Admittedly he is not yet a great marathoner but his 2 hr 17 minute effort is still something to write home about. It was his third marathon, his first win, and his times have shown consistency with 2:17, 2:16, and 2:17 in his resume. He's qualified for the US Olympic Trials in February and will start getting ready. What I find fascinating is Eric's insight and planning for this race and his attention to detail in describing the various stages as the race progressed. He is modest almost to a fault, but he also has a lot of confidence and a great sense of humor. George
Andrea Lee, Black Creek, BC womens' winner and Eric Finan, men's winner photo from Victoria Times Colonist
8:00am - Victoria Marathon
****Pre-race**** Daniel Kipkoech had won this race for the 5 previous years in a row, so I had done a little research beforehand and graphed out his splits by the 10k (because I'm an engineer) to evaluate how he liked to race over the years. Even though his best finish time of the past 5 years was 2:20:04, the trend was obvious: he liked going out fast (fastest 10k split was 30:30) and then slowing down.
After talking with Tim (Coach? ed.) about it before the race, we decided it would be the best learning experience for the Trials to go out with the leader(s), hang with any surges, stay patient, makes moves after 20 and try to win.
Late entries into the race: Jonathan Kipchirchir Chesoo, PB 2:10:27 (2010) Kip Kangogo, PB 2:15:26 (2015)
****Race Recap**** [4:59, 5:11, 5:07, 5:23, 5:08] Getting off the line was pretty easy as there weren't too many people fighting for the starting mat, even though it was a combined start for both the full and half marathon. The defending champ, Daniel Kipkoech, got off the line like a freshman trying out for a track practice. Looking good for those starting line photos, but once we got to the 1k mark the top 6 of us ran right by him and his respiration rate was like he just finished an all out....well, kilometer. He eventually dropped and reported to the press he "pulled his hamstring". It quickly settled out to being three guys in front (racing the half), a small gap, and then Chesoo, Kangogo, and me in a line. We cruised through the first 5 miles without much fanfare. Lots of turns, a decent bit of undulating elevation changes, but I was lucky that Chesoo didn't make any indication that he didn't want to lead and I just got to relax. At about the 5k mark, Kevin Colon (hailing from Missouri, ran at OK State, friend/teammate of infamous Max Storms, aka mstorms, aka Steve Megahorse) caught up to us on the uphill in Beacon Hill Park. He was running the half and didn't know what he was quite capable of that day (goal was sub-70), so I encouraged him to just jump on the train, relax, and don't even think about making any moves.
[5:06, 5:03, 5:15, 5:16, 5:14] This section of the race I don't have much to add. We still ran plenty of turns. Ran up some hills, ran down some hills. Chesoo threw in a couple of light surges on the downhills, but nothing serious enough to raise any alarms. At the 13k mark (~8 miles) the half marathon guys split right and full marathon left. In the leading couple of miles up to it, two of the half marathon guys ahead of us had fallen off the leader and we were slowing making ground. Encouraging Kevin with, "the guy is oragne and the guy in yellow are coming back--they're yours," I wished him well and then it was just Chesoo, Kangogo, and me with a lead biker and pace car.
[5:19, 5:04, 5:04, 5:16, 5:17] We clipped the 11 mile split in 5:19 (net 0ft elevation change) for one of our slowest miles so far in the race and I was getting a little anxious. I knew it was early in the race and wanted to be patient, but coming through miles 9-11 I was feeling pretty good and chilling through some nice neighborhoods as we clipped along. At the beginning of mile 12, we started up a decent incline and Chesoo (who had been solely leading up to this point), started running ~5:35 pace and it was just slow enough for me to want to make a move because I was feeling good. I struck on the opportunity, cresting the remaining ~200 meters of the hill, and then kept the pressure on for the remainder of the mostly downhill mile, resulting in the 5:04 split. This cracked Kangogo, but Chesoo was not deterred and stuck right with my surge. I slightly weaved on a few turns with a few more ~5 second surges to test Chesoo after this mile, but he rode right with me through each of them. Much to my delight when I slowed on a turn and went wide, he took the inside to gain the lead and let me back into his slipstream before the halfway mark and I was determined to get back into relaxation mode. At miles 13 and 15 he threw in 20 second surges of ~4:40-50 pace and I knew I just had to hang in there because it was becoming increasingly evident to me that I had a good chance of being the victor of this duel, based upon his respiration rate on the uphills and his pace between surges.
[5:20, 5:17, 5:28, 5:14, 5:36] Chesoo continued to lead and I matched his only surge right after mile 18 at the crest of a hill. Looking at the clock I was getting hungry, but I reminded myself that I would be more pleased with a 2:18 and winning than a 2:16 and dragging another guy along to wind up 2nd. Primary goal was to win, secondary goal was a PR. With this mantra on my mind and looking at the bottle support station mile marks that I had written on my arm with a sharpie, I had figured that my best shot would be to make a move after the last bottle support station at 22.3 miles, thinking that I would take a couple sips, recover from the gulps and then try to break Chesoo. But then the 20th mile split of 5:36 (5:25 for the Strava generally accepted pace to account for the uphill) convinced me otherwise, especially as I recognized I was feeling much better than Chesoo on the uphills.
[4:59, 5:08, 5:14, 5:29, 5:22, 5:27, 1:24] We made a left after 20 miles up a short steep hill and I saw my opportunity. I quickly shot past Chesoo up ~150 meter hill to try and create some separation, crested the hill and kept the gas on because I was feeling pretty good. The remainder of that mile was downhill (total ~50 ft) and I estimate I put ~60 meters on Chesoo. I kept the accelerator down on account of wanting to make clear separation to break Chesoo and followed up with another two strong miles and by 40k I had a 2 min lead. That being said, my final 5k was nothing to write home about. Even though I was in the lead and had nothing else to lose, I just couldn't find any more motivation (or umph) to fight off a significant drop in pace. Since the half marathon and full marathon had started at the same time, the road was littered with 2 hour plus half marathoners being diverted to either side of the road by the lead motorcyles and pace car. Despite their constant encouragement (or surprise, typified by, "holy sh!t!"), I couldn't muster the effort to even maintain pace and left ~30 seconds out on the course on those last few miles. That aside, coming into the file mile, having convinced myself that the win was mine to lose, I reminded myself to enjoy this experience thoroughly, as it is possible that this will be the only competitive marathon I ever win. Coming down the homestraight I gave plenty of waves, points to the crowd, and my cheeks almost cramped from smiling. So thankful for that experience and I will never forget it for the rest of my life.
****Lessons Learned**** 1. Don't drink as much fluid the morning of the race. I had a cup of coffee 3 hours out, followed by 16 oz of gatorade. Then 20 oz of GenUCAN with 300 mg of caffeine added 2 hours out. Next time try reducing gatorade consumption to 10oz and GenUCAN to 16oz to prevent sloshbelly. 2. The marathon is a long race. No need to respond to moves like a 1500 runner, but probably good to make them like one. 3. Even if I don't want to take fluids at each station, at least swish my bottle contents in my mouth at each station. This was a good strategy later in this race as my stomach became less accepting of additional fluids. [Side note: swishing has legit performance benefits, see below: -Study by Grant, Turner, et al. showed that swishing around Carbs enhanced neural activation network. It increased activity in the motor cortex and “regions involved in reward processing.” This explains why swishing around carbs and spitting them out seems to work.] 4. Leading into the Trials, higher volume will benefit me. This was the latest in a marathon to date that I started to break down, but it was still too early.
I think this was ~90-120 seconds slow of an equivalent effort on a flat and evenly paced race. That gives me some encouragement, but also tells me that I need to change some things to have a respectable showing at the Trials.
Hey, they gonna run the Tokyo Olympics marathon in Sapporo, 800 Km north of the bigcity. Well, if memory disserves us, this may be the first time the IOC has taken a decision that regards the health and safety of participating athletes. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to take place duringthe hottest time of the year in Japan thus putting endurance athletes at risk. In 1964, the last time the Olympics were in Japan, it was late Fall when cooler temperatures prevailed.
What drove the IOC to make such a blatantly sane decision is anyone's guess. Here at the OUTV desk we also ask that the IOC direct that all swimming events be held underwater. Sapporo is listed as being 29 meters above sea level, so altitude will not be a problem although that still leaves potential tsunamis to deal with.
Below is the announcement from the IOC indicating that consideration for the heat will also allow 5000 and 10,000 meter prelims to be run in the evening, morning rugby matches to be done by noon and a few other tidbits. With television scheduling already a challenge due to the International Date Line, this can easily be manipulated to show those events in prime viewing hours or whenever the TV networks dictate. George Roy and Steve
INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES PLANS TO MOVE OLYMPIC MARATHON AND RACE WALKING TO SAPPORO
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COOLER CONDITIONS FOR THESE ENDURANCE EVENTS ARE PART OF COMPREHENSIVE MEASURES TO PROTECT ATHLETES, OFFICIALS AND SPECTATORS DURING THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that it is planning to move the Olympic marathon and race walking events to Sapporo, the host city of the Olympic Winter Games 1972. The move to Hokkaido, the northern-most prefecture of Japan, will mean significantly lower temperatures for the athletes during the Olympic Games. In Sapporo, temperatures during the Games period are as much as five to six degrees centigrade cooler during the day than in Tokyo, which is more than 800 kilometres further south.
The plans are part of a wide range of measures already being taken by Tokyo 2020 in consultation with the IOC and the International Federations to mitigate the effects of the temperatures which may occur next summer. The IOC has informed World Athletics about the proposed changes.
This latest initiative by the IOC and Tokyo 2020 comes on top of other heat countermeasures which are already planned and being implemented on the recommendations of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission Adverse Weather Impact Expert Working Group (the IOC Working Group). They are:
- Athletics: 5,000m and longer distance races scheduled in the evening athletics sessions and not in the morning sessions, and moving the marathon and race walk events to earlier starting times.
- Rugby: all morning games scheduled to finish before 12 p.m.
- Cycling: mountain bike start time delayed to 3 p.m.
The IOC Working Group identified the marathon and race walk as the events that would put particular heat stress on the athletes.
Regarding other events and competitions, the IOC Working Group concluded previously that the timing of those events should be kept under review and may not need to be changed at this moment, assuming that the prevention, mitigation and treatment measures it recommended for each event and each group (athletes, workforce, officials and spectators) are implemented.
Many of these measures have been trialled in test events this summer. These include better shade, water sprays, better access to water supplies and an initiative to help the athletes in their preparations via detailed information on Athlete365.
The implementation of the initiative to move the marathon and the race walks will be discussed with all the stakeholders concerned, in particular the host city Tokyo, along with World Athletics, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and the Rights-Holding Broadcasters (RHBs). The IOC Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, chaired by IOC Member John Coates, has dedicated a special session in its meeting from 30 October to 1 November in Tokyo to heat countermeasures.
During its meeting, the Coordination Commission will also have the opportunity to discuss the survey by Tokyo 2020 of the International Federations and their advice regarding heat countermeasures. As part of its athlete-centred approach, the Organising Committee has reached out to each International Federation with a heat countermeasure questionnaire on top of the many measures already taken.
Heat was already taken into consideration when Tokyo presented its candidature in 2013, and since then the IOC and the Organising Committee have continued to monitor the situation. The measures proposed today, and those already adopted, take the changing landscape into account as the IOC continues to put athlete health and performance at the heart of its decision-making.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Athletes’ health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns. A range of measures to protect the athletes have already been announced. The new far-reaching proposals to move the marathon and race walking events show how seriously we take such concerns. The Olympic Games are the platform where athletes can give ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ performances, and these measures ensure they have the conditions to give their best. I would like to thank World Athletics, and we look forward to working with them on the implementation.”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: "We have been working closely with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 on the potential weather conditions at next year’s Olympic Games and will continue to work with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 on the proposal to move the road events to Sapporo. Giving athletes the best platform for their performances within the environment they are in is central to all major events, and we will work with the organisers to create the very best marathon and race walk courses for next year’s Olympic Games.”
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The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation made up of volunteers, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of 3.4 million US dollars goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.
This article appeared today in The Guardian. I suppose we should weigh in a bit on technology and its effect on sport. The claims on shoes are 4-5% improvement in times in a marathon. That's a few minutes and implies that tech is responsible for Nike alphaFLYs and Eliud Kipchoge's sub 2 hour effort. It ignores all the other 'aid' that went into that effort. And we all know that it will never be a world best until a sub 2 hour is run under race condtions. Now they may give the women's world best to Brigid Kosgei even though she had men pacers helping her along to her destruction of Paula Radcliffe's record. It all comes down to what was too much help. Every Diamond League meet has pacers in the 800 and longer races. They are designated, there is no mystery. Only the World Championships and the Olympics are pacer free, unless Kenya or Ethiopia decide to sacrifice one of their many individuals to the national interest. I have to ask myself as an average marathon runner 40 years ago if I would have anted up the hundreds of dollars for a shoe that would give me a couple of minutes off my time. Maybe I would if it took me under a ten minute barrier, say from the 2hr 30s into the 2 hr 20s. We buy all kinds of products to look better than we really are. If we didn't the cosmetics industry would be nonexistant. Skinny jeans wouldn't be necessary. If you remember back in 1972, Bob Seagren had to give up his vaulting pole (thank you Adrian Paulsen), during competition, because it was not readily available to all competitors. There had been a leap in technology and it was deemed too much of a leap to be fair to the other jumpers. So a foregone conclusion of a victory for the US, instead went to an East German. Talk about irony with the East Germans being some of the biggest cheats of all time. Dick Fosbury was never in danger of being banned, because he did nothing artificial when he decided to go head first on his back over the high jump bar. People laughed but then they bought into it.
There was less said when pole vaulters began transitioning from steel and aluminum to fiberglass in the early 1960s, because the early fiberglass was heavy and hard to handle. When they started making lighter poles, they also were breaking all the time, making for some spectacular photos and incredible full gainers over the pit, so that we weren't quite sure if fiberglass was a good idea. A number of vaulters had the scars to prove it. Even modern vaulters still have some risk with fiberglass that a metal pole would not allow. Jason Scott, a former NAIA vault champion got an end into his abdomen on a broken pole. Nowdays, pole tech not an issue. Eventually New Balance, Brooks and Adidas will catch up to Nike, and the playing field will again be equal, and we will forget there was ever a disparity in shoes. Life goes on. We travel in jets instead of turbo props these days, and we'll even begin risking our necks again in the Boeing 300 Max or whatever it is called, and we'll just hope that the pilots will be trained to handle them. George
George, Thanks for commenting about "what is too much?" Actually nobody knows even though Kipchoge must have set a WR in too much assistance. So many people point to all his advantages but forget that many other world record holders had the most advantages available during their time. His advantage was not that he had pacers but 6-7 teams of 7 fresh pacers block the wind and do everything else. That is not available to anybody in an actual race. The technology is supposed to help you, otherwise why would they make it? Bill Schnier
It is definitely the shoes, but then it has always been the shoes. It is the job of shoe companies to produce better shoes. When I switched from Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars to Adidas kangaroo-skin spikes, I definitely sped up. It was clearly the shoes. Not mostly the shoes but partly the shoes. The only trouble with these most recent shoes is they were available only to one person and after that would be sold to the general public at a very high price. All the more reason to personally boycott Nike, which I do.
But is it only the shoes? Definitely not! Is it only living in altitude for generations like we formally thought? No, but it is partly the altitude. Maybe it's also the culture of running in a few African countries which provides training groups, coaches, great roads, dry and warm but not too warm a climate, but mostly motivation to run. Kipchoge thanked the greatest athletes in the world for pacing him but no American would have considered those guys to be the greatest athletes in the world. Maybe the greatest runners in the world but not the greatest athletes in the world, but then he was speaking as a Kenyan.
Was it any one thing? Definitely not! But it was many things such as a Kenyan diet, European supplements, and American money. Even Elihud Kipchoge doesn't just go out and run 1:59.40. There is always an explanation for everything.
I began the day carrying out a number of internet errands and reading several journals when I noticed on the pages of England's The Guardian, that a 2016 Olympic medallist had died via euthanasia. I wondered how someone that recently competing, that young could be a candidate for ending her life this way? Also you may be asking why I chose to get off the normal policy of doing stories about track athletes. Marieke's sport eminates from a wheelchair. She can't run, but then if we watch a major marathon these days we will surely remember that the wheelchair category is very competitive and well covered by the tv networks. That combination of youth (40 years), her sportiveness and the voluntary process of medically assisted dieing were impossible to ignore or not convey to everyone.
Marieke is a native of Belgium. She won gold and silver in London in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Then in Rio she won the silver in the 400 and bronze in the 100. In 2015 she was a triple gold medal winner in the World Championships. I in no way think that running a 400 or using a wheelchair to cover that distance is apples to oranges. I can imagine the lactic fire in one's back, shoulders, abdomen, biceps, forearms, wrists and hands as easily comparable to running with your feet and legs.
So what terrible illness led her to this day? She suffered from a rare muscle illness that is degenerative. It has also led to partial blindness. She had only about 20% of normal vision. In 2014 she also began having epileptic seizures, and was almost constantly in terrible pain. She was sleep deprived because of her pain. Even her caregivers were finding it very difficult to help someone in this condition. Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
In Belgium euthanasia is legal, but it is not easy to gain that right to end one's life legally. She acquired that legal right in 2008 when she knew what lay in store for her. This was four years before she won her first Olympic medal. She stated several years ago that had she not had the right to decide when to end her life, that she would have been forced to commit suicide many years ago. Her future was so bleak. But instead she chose to endure and continue to compete at this incredibly high level. Were I in her position, I would hope that I would have that same right to decide my fate and the courage to continue as long as I could. I cannot think of a braver person. We cannot perhaps decide for others, but we should certainly be able to decide for ourselves. Most of our readers are of an age when these considerations may soon be part of our lives. I wish you all the freedom of choice.
Blaine Lindgren passed away on October 5, 2019 at the age of 80. He will long be remembered for that controversial decision that cost him the gold medal in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, where officials decided that he went under the finish tape instead of breaking it, thus costing him the race. Hayes Jones was declared the winner. The rules said that the winner had to break the tape. The race was probably too close for the human eye to pick a winner and the photo technology may not have been up to seeing who crossed the line first. Jones and Lindgren were separated by several lanes, so that also made it more difficult to decide. The biggest disadvantage to Lindgren was probably the Lane 1 draw. It does appear that Lindgren's lanebon the cinder track had not been chewed up by any earlier races. Obviously lane assignments were not yet done based on timing in the semis, as Lindgren had won his semi over Jones and had the best time overall in those heats.
Blaine Lindgren in his own words Lots of info on Lindgen in this 7 minute interview. You just have to put up with the wahoo doing the interview.
Note the difference in clearance styles with Jones straightening up more quickly than Lindgren. Jones was much shorter than Lindgren at 5' 10.5" (168 lbs) to 6' 2.5" (203 lbs.)..
Jim Allen's Photos in Russia with Lindgren and othersAn earlier posting in Once Upon a Time in the Vest featuring Jim Allen has photos taken in Moscow of Lindgren and some of the other well known athletes of 1963.
My co-blogger Roy Mason set this account today of how he is surviving in Ukiah, CA while there is no power in several counties due to wildfires. I have not read anything this good about the fires. He is an artist when he so chooses.
From Roy to all:
Sort of like camping out, ho, ho, ho. No, it is not. When you camp, you are prepared for certain hardships, you have an idea of how long the ordeal will last and if discomfort overcomes your love of nature you pack up the Subaru and go home.
Ukiah has a population of 16,000 but in a five-mile radius from the center of town there are at least 30,000, all of whom are without power as I type this.
I have a generator. More on that later. Most residents do not. Within a mile of the road that goes up the mountainside on which I live there are a dozen apartment buildings. These people do not have electricity. Without a lantern they are in darkness by 6:15. They can't cook. Dinner consists of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the light of a lantern. Whatever is in the refrigerator becomes less refrigerated by the hour.
Well, they can always go to McDonalds. Wrong. McDonalds, Burger King, In and Out Burger and every restaurant in town is closed. Nope, not even pizza places. The one spot you can get hot food is Costco. I saw a lady pushing a flatbed shopping cart that had at least 20 large pizzas. (My breakfast yesterday was a Costco hot dog). Large groceries are open to some degree. Safeway is 24 hours, Lucky's was open from 2-4 yesterday, Food Max was 10 hours.
Need some sort of mechanical gizmo to make your world turn? Not to worry, Friedman's Hardware is here for you....sort of. The door is blocked by 6-8 employees. Yesterday I told the gestapo that I wanted a propane canister. No problem. I left feeling superior to all those who power their generators with gas. First on my list today was exchanging an empty canister for a full one. Shoulda been here yesterday, pal. All out.
Still and all, I felt ahead of the game. Yesterday Costco was out of gas but I saw the truck refilling the tanks. For those of you familiar with my route to Costco, imagine this. I turned right off State Street and got halfway down the 3/10 mile straight before reaching backed up traffic. Two more turns with straights of 1/10 mile put you on Airport Boulevard. Take a right and in at least another half mile you reach the Costco gas station. Cars were backed up a nearly a mile to get gas. This was compounded by the fact that Airport Blvd was backed up before anyone in this line would turn right so once you reached the final straight you took turns at that intersection, so what looked like an afternoon in your car listening to Sean Hannity morphed into a lifetime. I was there at 3:30 and saw folks who were not to reach the pumps before they closed at 8. Fortunately, your little buddy was not in this line. I know the short cut down the backroad with the NO TRAFFIC barrier. This got me to Friedman's but would have earned me a beating had I tried to cut into the gas line at the driveway.
I drove State Street (the main N-S street) looking for warm food. Not even Denny's was open. Ukiah was empty. The courthouse was closed. No business – auto repair, book store, lawyer's office, hardware store, tire shop, bank, hair salon - was open. Everybody had gone home. No traffic lights. No intersection has lights. Each is now a four way stop, which amazingly everyone observes.
Things here at Camp Fircrest are better than most homes thanks to the generator. When we lost power at 7:30 in the middle of the third quarter of the Michigan – Notre Dame game, I took my Elmore Leonard book and read in bed by flashlight until I dozed off. Not knowing how long a propane canister would last, I saved whatever power I had for another day. Fired it up Sunday morning and had lights in the bathroom, den, bedroom, living room and part of the kitchen. That part was the refrigerator. Thought the contractor and I were in accord that the part of the kitchen that included the stove, microwave, toaster and coffeemaker would be wired as well. Obviously there was a failure to communicate. The toaster and coffeemaker now reside in the bedroom. For a short while I had the toaster in the bathroom, a location which allowed me to toast and butter my English muffin while taking a dump. Practical as that was, the hygiene issue initiated the move to the bedroom.
Until the outage I hadn't realized the importance of the internet in my life. Without electricity, there is no wi-fi. Without wi-fi there is no internet....or TV. How can I order from Amazon? How to look up Allie Reynolds lifetime ERA? How to follow the adventures of Donald Trump? Fortunately I have several half-finished books lying around. The Elmore Leonard book will be finished before I doze off tonight.
The advantage I have over the majority of Ukiah residents is the woodstove. Rely on electric heat and you better bundle up well. I keep the stove going from the time I am up until bedtime. It is one thing to be in a dark house. It is another to be in a dark, cold house.
I am typing this Monday evening. It will go out tomorrow from the health club where there is wi-fi for all. Spent an hour and a half there this afternoon catching up on emails.
Speaking of the health club, the power outage has been very good for business. There is an industrial-sized generator on a flatbed trailer parked by the front door. Sunday and Monday the parking lots have been filled as I have never seen them. Little to do at home without electricity. Let's go to the health club. School is out for the week. What to do with the little ones? Who wants to go swimming? Fortunately for me, this influx of the unwashed has no effect on the weight rooms or the exercise bikes. The lobby is full of folks on laptops. Looks like a college cafeteria.
Thank God for cell phones so we can all stay in touch. Whoops, not so fast. Cellphones need cell towers. Cell towers need electricity. There are 17 counties with power shutdowns and many of those have nonfunctioning cell towers. Ukiah is not among them. Yesterday I was in my driveway when a slow-moving pickup pulling what I learned was a generator stopped. The driver asked if this was the way to the cell tower. Told him Fircrest dead ended in a quarter mile and that he would have to go down to Dora and over to Oak Knoll. He was pretty sure this was the way. Well, it is if you go through Dexter's property where he has a cable blocking passage. This didn't discourage the guy. As he didn't come back I assume he made connection with Oak Knoll and then reached the top of the mountain, assuring cell phone coverage for all.
Speaking of phone communication, I have none. My service is Ooma which runs off wi-fi which is fueled by electricity. (Yes, a cellphone is in my future.) Fortunately Colleen stopped by so I was able to call Tom and Merwyn and cancel their visit planned for Sunday. The Santa Rosa Airport has canceled all flights due to smoke. Even if that weren't the problem, there is no guarantee that I will have power by that time as PG&E shutdowns are based on wind velocity. (The Healdsburg area had a wind reading of 103 mph early Monday morning.)
No one in Mendocino Co. has had to evacuate but the last number I heard who have had to do so in Sonoma Co (our southern neighbor) was 190,000. Where do you go? Radio and TV tell of the fairgrounds, churches, parks, recreation areas where you can sleep on a cot in several hundred others but this is impractical for numbers of this magnitude. Where do the elderly go? What if you have special needs? What to do with your dogs, cats, horses? Though it is a mandatory evacuation order I suspect a great many homeowners have stayed home either because this is my house God damn it and I'm not going or they simply had nowhere to go. Can't imagine where I would go with my dogs, especially Toby who is incontinent and therefore poops whenever the need arrises and has to wear a diaper to soak up the pee.
Now to turn off the generator and settle into bed with my newly purchased cap with headlights to read until I doze off. Yesterday when I started the generator I was stunned by the noise. How can I function with this incredible racket? Now it is the soothing purr of a kitchen.
Former University of distance runner Paul Geis died Wednesday, apparently of a pulmonary embolism. He was 66.
Geis transferred to Oregon from Rice University in Houston, and competed for the Ducks in in 1974 and 1975. He was NCAA champion in the three-mile run in 1974, and second in the NCAA three-mile final in 1975.
He was a 1976 U.S. Olympian, placing 12th in the in the 5,000 meters. Geis still stands sixth on Oregon’s career list in the 5,000 with a time of 13 minutes, 23.4 seconds. The five runners ahead of him are Bill McChesney Jr., Edward Cheserek, Rudy Chapa, Alberto Salazar and Steve Prefontaine.
Former UO track star Steve Bence roomed withGeis at Oregon. Bence remembered Geis as a smart, intense and driven athlete -- much like Prefontaine. The two developed something of a rivalry.
“I think Paul was more like Pre than Pre wanted to admit,” Bence said.
Paul with your intrepid reporters a few years ago in Eugene.
He had some good ole boy Texan in him when we met in Oregon. George
Very, very sad,
I got to know Paul (U of Oregon) at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. I was his supplier of Tiger shoes. Paul made the finals in the 5000M. Paul was fun to be around. Brash and outspoken in a nice way!
