Vol. 3 No. 45 Meskerem Assefa, Ethiopian Olympian Dies Suddenly in Connecticut

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/pregnant-olympian-dies-baby-saved-conn-article-1.1401794

The above article from the New York Daily News covers the recent death of Meskerem Assefa, Ethiopian Olympian who died recently in Connecticut.  Not an icon , yet a gifted athlete.  She was nine months pregnant and fortunately the baby was saved.  She reportedly had a history of heart problems.  A picture in the news article showed her competing for Brazil, suggesting she is one of the many talented Africans who must abandon their citizenship to compete in world championships and the Olympics.  When I was in Kenya in 2007, one of the major news stories was the exodus of world class junior athletes from that country who saw no hope of competing for Kenya and left the country quietly to seek a different nationality.  The Kenyan Athletic Association was threatening prosecution of anyone caught aiding these runners to leave.

Meskerem Assefa Running in 1500 m semi final for Ethiopia
in World Championships in Berlin, 2009

Vol. 3 No. 44 Sandy Knott R.I.P. 1964 Olympian

Snady Knott

1937 - 2013

Sandra "Sandy" Phyllis Knott died in Springfield, Oregon on June 26, 2013 at the age of 75 from Alzheimer's disease. Born in Massachusetts, Sandra chose nursing as her profession beginning as a pediatric nurse,training at Children's Hospital in Boston, working as a visiting nurse and eventually becoming a nurse practitioner and diabetes educator with a B.S. from Case Western Reserve University, and Masters Degrees from the University of Washington and Gonzaga University. As much as she loved her career, Sandra's true passion was running. Sandra began running competitively in college and excelled, becoming a National Champion in the 880 yard and 800 meter events (1963 & 1964), cross country (1965) and represented the United States as an Olympian in the 800 meter event in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. Sandra promoted running and physical fitness throughout her life, competing in events until 2007. Sandra was a woman of Faith who was very active in the Episcopalian church and always helped others. In 2005 she was reunited with her daughter that she gave up for adoption at birth and both experienced much happiness as a result of this reunion. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Twylla and Joel Miller, granddaughter Olivia Miller, and sisters: Sherry Guerin, Suzanne Knott and Stephanie Tunia-Jackson. Sandra was a shining star who touched many people throughout her life and whose smile and spirit will be forever missed.

Eugene Register-Guard June 27, 2013,  thanks to Bruce Kritzler for notifying us.

Sandra Knott ran the 400 and 800 for the Cleveland Recreation Club. She won five AAU titles, indoors in the 1964 880 yards, and outdoors at 440 in 1962-63, and the 800 in 1963-64. Knott also won the 1964 US Olympic Trials in the 800. Knott later earned a nursing degree from the Francis Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve, and later earned master's degrees in nursing from the University of Washington and Gonzaga University, and worked as a nurse practitioner, specializing in the treatment of diabetes. In 2008 she was inducted into the Case Western Reserve Athletic Hall of Fame. Personal Bests: 400 – 56.3 (1963); 800 – 2:09.7 (1963); 1500 – 4:36.7 (1965).

Results

Glossary  · SHARE  · Embed  · CSV  · PRE  · LINK  · ?

Games	Age	City	Sport	Event	Team	NOC	Rank	Medal
1964 Summer	27	Tokyo	Athletics	Women's 800 metres	United States	USA	6 h2 r1/3

Women's 800 metres

Event History  · 

Games	Age	City	Sport	Country	Phase	Unit	Rank		T(H)
1964 Summer	27	Tokyo	Athletics	United States	Round One	Heat Two	6		2:12.2

from sportref.com

"She had sister too ! Both were both great runnners. Columbus ,Ohio girls."    Phil Scott

"This was of particular interest to me since Sandra Knott was one of the pioneer US women in the 800
having run in the 64 Tokyo Games.  Prior to her was Billie Pat Daniels in 1960 Rome Olympics who later became an Olympian in the Pentathlon and in between the two was Leah Bennett Ferris who just missed

the Olympic team when only the winner in the trials qualified.   Leah and I were teammates in Sao Paulo

Brazil for the 63 Pan American Games.   She split two Canadians for the silver and I got bronze behind two

Canadians."    Ernie Cunliffe
 

Vol. 3 No. 43 Frank Budd

 We previously posted a piece by Dave D'Alessandro about  Milt Campbell . 

Here is a recent one by  Dave about Frank Budd from the Star Ledger in New Jersey. 

Thanks to Dennis Kavanaugh for bringing this piece to our attention. Also attached is the obituary of one of Frank Budd's lesser known teammates Joe Manion  ed.

Frank Budd, the former world record holder in the 100-yard dash, will take part in the eighth annual Frank Budd Track Meet today at his alma mater, Asbury Park High School (Tony Kurdzuk/Star-Ledger)

By Dave D'Alessandro/Star-Ledger Columnist 
Email the author
on July 06, 2013 at 5:00 AM, updated July 06, 2013 at 5:01 AM

His life began with polio, the paralytic curse of three generations, and the fact that he became the fastest man on the planet is not so much an irony to Frank Budd as it was a lesson of what an iron will can do for a man.

His wife of 50 years, Barbara, tells him this almost every day. She’s a critical care specialist, and this isn’t something they teach you in nursing school, but she applauded the stories from her mother-in-law — notably, how Frank’s mom applied a concoction of goose grease, nutmeg, mutton fat and witch hazel to a slightly deformed right leg, and transformed this limping child into arguably the greatest sprinter New Jersey has ever produced.

“She believed it was going to help Frank, and it obviously didn’t hurt,” Barbara said the other day. “But I think it was more about will and determination. I still believe it’s about having a positive attitude, and having a strong family around you, and Frank has both.”

“And keep in mind,” Frank Budd added, “that polio was more of a theory than medically proven. The doctors said it was ‘probably’ polio because my left leg was stronger, and the calf was an inch larger in circumference than the right. When I got to Villanova in 1958, a coach told me I was limping as I ran — I guess I just didn’t notice — but it gradually grew stronger.”

How strong?

There is a long and distinguished thread of world-class sprinters that binds the fabric of our state’s track and field history, including many men who carried the title of World’s Fastest Human – from Eulace Peacock in the 1930s to Dave Sime in the 1950s to Carl Lewis in the 1980s.

And along the way, there was Frank Budd.

“New Jersey has been home to a long line of incredible track and field athletes,” said Elliott Denman, the track historian and 1956 Olympian, “and Frank Budd surely ranks as one of the best of the best.”

We get another reminder of this today, when he hands out some medals at the eighth annual Frank Budd Track and Field Meet, an open USATF-sanctioned event at his alma mater, Asbury Park High School.

Some impressive athletes got their starts at this meet. Ajeé Wilson of Neptune, who is winning gold medals all over the world now, won the women’s mile here in 2006 at age 12.

It is but a small tribute to the man who broke the world record for the 100-yard dash at the AAU Championships at Randalls Island on June 24, 1961.

The extraordinary part of that achievement is that the previous mark of 9.3 seconds (held by USC’s Mel Patton) had stood since 1948. Nowadays, sprint records seem to last as long as it takes for Usain Bolt or Asafa Powell to lace up their shoes.

Budd, of course, ran on a cinder track, not the rubberized ovals that bounce Bolt and Justin Gatlin along at speeds that were unimaginable 52 years ago.

“And that day, I was in the first lane, where everyone runs during the distance races, so it was chewed up more than usual,” Budd recalled.

The WR

“But that 9.3 stood for a long time, and my theory is that it was because timers were just reluctant to give out a 9.2. But that day, just before I got in the block (Villanova coach) Jumbo Elliott said, ‘I want a 9.2 today.’ And I think the only reason they gave it to me was because the guys who came in second and third were timed at 9.3.”

In Sports Illustrated’s recap of that historic race, Roy Terrell wrote, “Patton himself always said that the first man to run 9.2 would be tall and strong and quick, a young giant with the reflexes of a cat. Budd is completely middle-size — 5-feet-10 inches, 172 pounds — and he never seems to be in a hurry until he runs. He lacks the effortless grace of a Patton . . . the catapult start . . . (and) he has none of the incredible finishing power. He just hustles along.”

It had been a year since his disappointment at the Rome Olympics, where his 4x100 relay team thought it set the record, only to be disqualified for an illegal handoff, but the 21-year-old from Villanova was now immortal. And though Budd’s 9.2 wouldn’t hold up long (Bob Hayes ran a wind-aided 9.1 the following year), he continued to dominate indoors and out, setting another record for the 220-yard dash.

By 1963, he was in the NFL, even though he hadn’t picked up a football since high school. He caught 27 passes over two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins, then played three years in the CFL. When he returned to Jersey, he had positions with the Department of Corrections and at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City.

He is 73 now and lives in Mount Laurel. For the past four years, Budd has been in a wheelchair, fighting multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed in 1996. Twice he also experienced acute renal failure and was given long odds to beat it, yet he did.

“This is a man who walked both our girls down the aisle, which was very important to him — he put aside his walker in 2003 to dance with one of them,” said Barbara, who has three kids, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren with her husband.

“But that’s Frank. He’s still the most remarkable man I’ve known, considering where he was as a young man and where he is today, remarkable in that he doesn’t let MS get him down. I like to think that’s why he was a champion.”

   Ron Raemore, Joe Manion, Paul Drayton, Frank Budd

Joe Manion  R.I.P.  (from Villanova Track Website)Joe Manion, a stalwart of the short relays for Jumbo Elliott in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died yesterday at his home in West Chester, PA. Manion was a team captain while at Villanova and won four Penn Relays championships: as part of three consecutive mile relays in 1959, 1960, and 1961, and another in the 1961 880 yard relay. He is a member of the Villanova athletics Hall of Fame and received the Villanova Alumni Medal for outstanding service to the university's alumni association. Below is his obituary as it appears in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. The Villanova track and field community offers condolences to his family. 

JOSEPH J. MANION, age 72, of West Chester, PA, formerly of Media, PA, died peacefully on May 22, 2012 at his home.

Born and raised in St. Barnabas parish, Joe graduated from West Catholic Boys High School in 1957 and Villanova University in 1961. He was captain of the track team at West Catholic and Villanova - where he ran for the legendary Jumbo Elliott - and is in the Hall of Fame for both schools.

"What a nice article about Frank Budd, both in the past and the  present.  It is interesting that Villanova and Oregon are both noted for distance running, yet their sprint and field events are nearly as good with WRs all over.  At Villanova's fieldhouse there are about 100 Penn Relay plaques on the wall from nearly every event. The DMR probably has the most but the 4 x 400 has plenty as well. "    
 Bill Schnier



George

I had the pleasure of running in the 1961 NCAA Meet at Franklin Field when Frank Budd won both the 100 and the 220.

But, I did not have the pleasure of meeting him. He is a class guy.

I never knew that he had polio as a boy. - Quite like the story of Wilma Rudolph!

They are both lucky to have had great Mom's!

John Bork

Vol. 3 No. 42January, 1964

January 1964 This issue is 48 pages, the largest T&FN has published, dwarfing the previous largest, the 1960 Olympic issue, by 50%. The recent indoor news is sandwiched between the world rankings and lists and the US rankings and lists. The cover is graced by the smiling face of C.K. Yang, the magazine's 1963 Athlete of the Year. As mentioned when he broke his friend, Rafer Johnson's, decathlon record, the deciding factor was the pole vault where the development of the fiberglass pole was the deciding margin. Johnson's marks were better in 7 of the 10 events and take away the pole vault, Johnson holds the edge. On the other hand, Yang has so thoroughly dominated the year's decathlon competition that he has outscored the second best performer, Germany's Willie Holdorf, by 1036 points.

Apparently this issue was published in February because there are results from as recently as January 25. The indoor season is in full bloom and the unlikely dominant performer is a 5'6”, 117 pound 17 year old high school kid from Spokane who has the full attention of the track and field world. If the name Jerry Lindgren pops to mind, you would be right.

Dick Drake, writing on the First Annual (San Francisco) Examiner Holiday Invitational held Dec. 27, calls Lindgren's performance in the high school two mile, “the most exciting race this writer has witnessed indoors”. Competing against three of the four fastest high school two milers in what Drake calls “the greatest high school two mile field ever assembled”, Lindgren laps all but one to run exactly nine minutes. Second in 9:22.2, after a disastrous fall at the start, is Jim Ryun, a junior from Wichita. Lindgren's coach, Tracy Walters says, “He is ready to run 8:50 right now”, an assessment that proves to be correct.

Three weeks pass and now we are in Los Angeles for the LA Indoor Invitational and Dick Drake is forced to find stronger adjectives, specifically “sensational”, “fantastic” and “unbelievable”. This time the kid who looks like your paperboy is up against the big boys, George Young, Julio Marin and the biggest boy of all, Belgium's Gaston Roelants, the world record holder in the steeplechase who was undefeated at any distance last year. The pack goes through the mile in 4:21 before Roelants takes over. With the other three in close contention entering the final quarter, Roelants' powerful finish comes to the fore as he pulls away for a decisive win in 8:41.4.

The crowd doesn't care. All eyes are on the high school kid who passes Marin and Young to take second in an amazing 8:46.0, bettering Bruce Kidd's year old age 17 world best. Marin is third at 8:46.6 with Young fourth in 8:50.2.

A profile on the same page gives Lindgren's brief running history. He has been running only three years. As a sophomore he ran 10:14 in cross country and 9:17 the next year. His 10^th grade times on the track aren't mentioned and a broken foot kept him from competing as an 11^th grader until the summer when, with little training, he ran a 4:12.9 mile to beat Tracy Smith.

Actually there were other athletes competing in the San Francisco and Los Angeles meets whose achievements bear reporting. In San Francisco Washington's Phil Shinnick, who leaped a wind-aided 27-4 last year, gets off only one fair jump, 25-6½, but it is enough to edge Olympic champ Ralph Boston by half an inch. Canadian Bill Crothers sets an American all comers record in the 880. His 1:50.2 betters Arnie Sowell's 1957 record by a tenth for an 11 lap to the mile track. John Thomas jumps 7-1 to best Paul Stuber (6-10) and Joe Faust (6-8). And who is that standing at the top of the awards stand at the conclusion of the shot put? Parry O'Brien, that's who. His 60-1 tops Jay Silvester by 2½ feet.

The Examiner meet director shows his fun side with a one mile steeplechase and a devil-take-the-hindmost mile. One is to assume the steeplechase was waterless. Emphasizing that track and field was a much simpler sport in 1964 is the appearance of Canadian steeplechase champion Hylke van der Wal who hitchhikes from London, Ontario in order to place second to George Young. No mention is made of his return agenda.  And no PR guy thought of calling him "The Incredible Hylke" at the time.  Want to know more about Hylke, see article below. ed.

The LA meet is confined to more traditional events, among them the triple jump and the pole vault where Mahoney Samuels and John Pennel establish US records of 52-7 and 16-4½. Bob Hayes finds 6.0 seconds in his busy day to equal the WR at 60 yards. With Parry O'Brien home in bed with a virus, Dallas Long gets off only one throw of 60 feet, but it is 62-7 ½, enough to leave Jay Silvester nearly four feet back. A lanky freshman from Texas A&M, Randy Matson, finishes fifth at 57-1.

Two other indoor meets are showcases for runners from down under. On Jan 24 in Toronto's Maple Leaf Games Australian Albie Thomas does exactly what he said he would do in the three mile, specifically “run Bruce Kidd into the ground in the first two miles”. He breaks away from Kidd and Bob Schul at the mile and a half, reaching two miles in 8:49.3. Although he slows a bit in the last mile, there is no doubt of the outcome. His tenacity is rewarded with a WR 13:26.3. Schul and Kidd battle for second with the American getting the nod as they cross the finish together in 13:39.6.

The Maple Leaf Games will be remembered for Hayes Jones' 5.9 50 yard hurdle victory, not so much for the race itself, but for the fact that this is his 50^th consecutive indoor hurdle victory.

The next night, on the other side of the country, New Zealand's Bill Baillie sets out after Jim Beatty's indoor two mile record of 8:30.7. Although he misses, he gives it a good scare with a 8:31.9 clocking, a time all the more impressive as it is Baillie's first competition on the boards. Julio Marin and Keith Forman prove their excellent condition placing 2^nd and 3^rd in 8:37.2.

Gaston Roelants, billed as Baillie's main competition, drops out in the first mile with a groin pull and a torn Achilles tendon. His status as the favorite in the Olympic steeplechase is now in doubt.

On the first day of the year Bob Hayes shows that he is ready to skip the indoor season and just get after it outdoors. In the Orange Bowl meet, run on a soggy track after two days of heavy rain, he runs 9.1 and 20.1. There are no wind readings, but estimates are in the 6-7 mph range. There is no mention of whether the 220 was on a curve or a straightaway, but your reporter guesses the latter as “Hayes slowed at the end to avoid the crowd”. Adding to the significance of these efforts, especially the 220, is the fact that Hayes just finished football Dec. 14 and has had only ten track workouts.

Remember that pole that John Pennel borrowed from Fred Hansen's coach at Rice, the one he used to set the world record? Well, Fred won't be getting it back. John broke it and had to use another in this meet in which he had three close misses at a WR 17-1½ before settling for the win at 16-1. Wonder if he sent a note of apology? “Dear Fred, I thank you for the use of your pole, however I am sad to say I broke it. Can I buy you a new one?”

But enough about track in the US, the more significant news is from Australia, where on Dec. 18 twenty-six year old Ron Clarke, long regarded the greatest junior distance runner, is about to take a shot at removing the word “junior” from that title. We are in Melbourne where Clark and 22 others are on the starting line for the Emil Zatopek 10,000 meter Cup Competition. This is only Clarke's fourth attempt at the distance and his PR is 29:10.4, but he has his sights set on Sandor Iharos' 6 mile WR of 27:43.8 and the much tougher 28:18.8 10,000 record that belongs to Pyotr Bolotnikov.

Though this is a serious record attempt, there will be no pacesetter. The only advantage he will have is the understanding that lapped runners will cede the inside lane to him. It is 6:15 on a brisk but calm evening. The crowd matches the competitors in number. The plan is to go through the first three miles in 4:28, 9:02 and 13:40 then run 70 second laps the rest of the way.

Clarke is as focused as he is courageous. He splits 4:25, 8:57 and 13:32, just 4.5 seconds off his PR at this distance. If the bear jumps on his back at this point, it is only a cub. The next two miles go off at 4:38 and 4:40, as he clocks 18:10 and 22:50 at four and five miles. Now there is little doubt that Iharos' record will fall. All that is needed is a 4:53 final mile. Indeed, Clarke is finishing strongly. His last mile goes off in 4:27.6, producing a new six mile record of 27:17.6 and clipping 26.2 seconds off Iharos' mark, lowering Clarke's previous best by 53 seconds.

The 10,000 record is lost in the joy of the moment. Clarke slows to a jog before the shouts of excited reporters alert him to the fact that Bolotnikov's mark is there for the taking. Can he muster up enough steam for one more hard lap? You bet he can. When he hits the tape 376 yards later he has run 28:15.6 and beaten the old record by 3.2 seconds.

If the Track and Field News event rankings are an indication of how US athletes fared, 1963 was a pretty good year for the red, white and blue. Following are those ranked number one in each event and the leading American if in the top ten.

100: Bob Hayes

200: Henry Carr

400: Ulis Williams

800: Bill Crothers (Canada) 3. Jim Dupree

1500: Peter Snell (New Zealand) 2. Dyrol Burleson

5000: Murray Halberg (New Zealand)

10,000: Ron Clarke (Australia)

steeplechase: Gaston Roelants (Belgium)

110 HH: Hayes Jones

400 IH: Rex Cawley

HJ: Valeryi Brummel (USSR) 3. Gene Johnson

PV: Brian Sternberg

BJ*: Ralph Boston

TJ: Jozef Schmidt (Poland)

SP: Vilmos Varju (Hungary) 2. Dave Davis

DT: Al Oerter

HT: Gyula Zsivotzky (Hungary)

JT: Janis Lusis (USSR) 7. Frank Covelli

Decathlon: C.K. Yang (Formosa) 6. Steve Pauley

• Although the event has been renamed the long jump, TFN uses broad jump as that is what the event was called in 1963

On the back page, just above the ubiquitous Clifford Severn Adidas ad, is an offer of a permanently bound full year of Track and Field News. For $3 you will receive 12 back issues bound with a Kromekote cardboard cover and plastic spiral binding which allows the volume to open perfectly flat. Don't you wish you had taken advantage of that offer nearly 50 years ago?

Former East Texas State athlete runs strong 50 years later

By Sara de la Rosa

Published: Friday, February 25, 2011

from The East Texan 

ontariomasters.ca

Former East Texas State University student-athlete and Netherlands native Hylke Van der Wal recently visited A&M-Commerce 50 years after having attended the university. Van der Wal is a championship track and field athlete.

After earning a place in the University of Nebraska at Kearny Hall of Fame and breaking more records than he can remember, championship runner and former East Texas State University student Hylke Van der Wal spent the second week of February getting reacquainted with his old school.
Van der Wal, now 73, attended East Texas State in 1959 and 1960 for his sophomore and junior years, after transferring from Oklahoma Baptist University.
"The campus seemed a lot closer back then, because I think people are commuting a lot more now," Van der Wal said. "Back then there seemed to be more cohesiveness. I was on a full track scholarship, getting $50 a month spending money, my scholarship paid for room and board and books. I bet the tuition was less than $200 per year, for two semesters."
Originally from northern Netherlands, Van der Wal and his family immigrated to Canada when he was 11-years-old. He said he adapted quickly to the new country and continued to immerse himself in the sport of running.
"In the Netherlands I was a high jumper," Van der Wal said. "I ran all the time, and swam, and biked. My dad had been a runner. He made national teams and had been an army champion. When we came to Canada, this farmer had land that was about eight miles from the house we lived in, and Dad would ride on a bike and I would run beside him, so I practiced long, slow distance running this way."
He said he later realized this type of running practice was one of the best ways to hone his abilities, which would help him win races and earn nearly 50 different scholarships to colleges in the United States.
"I have to say, the thing that really attracted me to East Texas State was that I could work and I could run," Van der Wal said. "School was actually incidental. It was not my first priority, but I realized by this time that I wanted to teach because I'd get more holidays that way, and I could run more. My parents did not slow me down from that, they were silently very proud of me."
Van der Wal said there were little or no African-American students on campus at East Texas State during the time he was there, and ultimately it was segregation issues that led him to transfer to another school before graduating.
"At the end of my junior year, I left because they wouldn't allow me to run against blacks," he said. "And so I went to the University of Nebraska at Kearny and graduated from there. I believed everyone was created in God's image."
Van der Wal said that he was the first white runner to compete in an all black track meet in the U.S., at Texas Southern University in Houston.
"When I look back, a guy would've had to have had real guts to do that, because I could have gotten myself killed," he said. "I did it two years in a row, '63 and ‘64, and back then, you didn't do that in Texas."
Van der Wal said he can't recall all the things he has accomplished over the years as far as running, but some achievements are especially memorable to him.
"One of the most amazing things ever, I don't know how I did it, I hitchhiked all the way to the Cow Palace and set the world record for the one mile steeplechase," Van der Wal said. "I became the Midwestern AU athlete of the year, in other words of the whole area top athletes, professional and amateur. I was just a Canadian kid, so it was unreal. I beat Gale Sayers, who was Rookie of the Year in the NFL."
He still runs and competes regularly, and won five first place medals at the National Canadian Track and Field Championships just last year.
"It's been over 55 years that I've won championships, in the U.S. and Canada," Van der Wal said. "The sport has been so good to me. I have received jobs because of the sport. I got my commissions because of the sport. Nobody tells me that they started on their own running and they did it for 55 years if they didn't love it, and to continue as a runner, you have to have people around you that love it too."


Glad the "e" finally got attached to Hylke van der Wal's name.  pronounced "Hike".  i knew him.  Nice guy,but prone to blow his own horn.  He had been to our house in Saginaw in the mid 70s. Good to hear he's still spouting off.   RT

Vol. 3 No. 41 "Kings of the Road" by Cameron Stracher reviewed

"Kings of the Road
How Frank Shorter,Bill Rodgers, and Alberto Salazar
Made Running Go Boom"   by Cameron Stracher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Boston   New York
2013   224 pages
listed at  $25

I just knocked off this fairly quick read on the halcyon days of road racing ie.1972 when Frank Shorter  won the Olympic marathon in Munich until 1982 at about the time of the death of Jim Fixx. Shorter's win woke us up to the sport.  Billy Mills' and Bob Schul's Olympic victories didn't quite have the effect that Shorter did.   In that period distance running particularly on the roads of America came from nowhere, no money, no  race sponsors, no agents, and a total amateur dedication by the top guys in the sport, to being a commercialized growth industry funded by marketeers for running and health products.  Tom Osler once said that, " In 1960, if you put your mind to it, you could personally know every marathoner in the country." The only marathons were Boston, Yonkers, and Culver City and the once every four years Olympic trials.

Stracher does a literary draft on  the running careers of Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, and Alberto Salazar citing each man's  succession to the throne of American and international road racing.  The rise and fall of Frank, Bill and Alberto is an interesting read to someone who was racing in those years.    The Boston and New York marathons and the Falmouth road race on Cape Cod sit at the center of the discussion with Fred Lebow and Tommy Leonard , conceptualists  of  the New York marathon and Falmouth on the periphery.     There are some behind the scences acts played out on the pages that Stracher culled from personal interviews with the three runners and Leonard and others.  Lebow was already gone when the writing was done.

Today's active younger runner might find little to comprehend here, and that is the point that Stracher tries to make in the last chapters.  The points are that the mobs of people 'doing' marathons these days are not at the starting line to run or  race.  They are there to complete the distance.  They for the most part don't even care who won the race, they care about having survived and crossed the line.  In 1978, to qualify to run Boston, one must have run a sub 2 hrs. 50 minutes marathon in the 365 days prior to the race.  My memory wants to believe it only cost about $10 to run at Boston.  The only other way into the Boston field  was being a member of some medical association.  That was it.  In 1980 the median pace in US marathons was 3 hrs 32 min. 17 sec.   In 2011 it was 4 hrs. 16 min. 34 sec.  When the Boston Marathon got blown up  4 hours into the race, the runners were long past the finish line.  It was the families of the pedestrian participants who got hurt.

With the advent of sizable monetary prizes, the East Africans have come and taken all the money home.  The US has only produced a few Olympic medals in the distances since 1982, Joan Benoit Samuelson in 1984 and Galen Rupp at London in the 10,000 meters last year.  In other words our top runners are earning more and producing less.  True they are earning nowhere near what football, baseball, basketball, tennis and golfers earn, but the product for the most part has greatly diminished.   The last time the US had a chance to dominate distance running at an Olympic games was 1980, and we and a host of other nations decided to boycott that games in Moscow because of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.  Ironically we are occupying Afghanistan today, letting go of Iraq, and looking for another enemy somewhere under the bed.  Nobody is boycotting us today.  They are still coming here for the money.

Clearly Cameron Stracher is a runner who happens to also be a writer who loves to tell a story.

George Brose