V 9 N. 20 A New Record in the Women's Mile and a Book Review

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."

Regards.

Geoff

Running to the Edge

A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who 

Unlocked the Secrets of Speed

by Matthew Futterman

Doubleday, New York

2019

283 pages

     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.

George Brose