Once Upon a Time in the Vest: V 11N. 8 Catching Up

Friday, February 19, 2021

V 11N. 8 Catching Up

Wow, it's been three weeks since we posted anything. Is it Covid-lag or some other syndrome? I recently read an article in The New Yorker that working from home has resulted in an increase in productivity in some offices and companies are looking at downsizing their office space to reduce costs and keep the peons busting their tails from home. Track results indoors have produced some very fast times, but these track folks are not working from home. The top dogs are all travelling to The Armory in NYC or the U. of Arkansas to get in their licks at producing PR's and national records. The U. of Oregon's milers produced some incredible times in what was essentially a Duck time trial in Fayetteville. Of course some septuagenarians (damn, I needed help to spell this word) don't see this as entirely kosher or cricket.

Here's what a couple of geezers had to say about recent efforts.

It is interesting to note that the Top 10 collegiate miles were run on only three tracks. If you discount just one at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston they were run on only two tracks, Fayetteville, AR and NYC. It has gotten to the point that no serious Division I college runners will ever run on anything but a 300 M. flat track or a 200 M. banked track, and even then it will only be at a few places such as the U of Arkansas and The Armory. Teams now travel the US to find the best track, not necessarily because they draw the best competition but because their mechanical advantages yield the best times. No more 12-lap tracks like I ran on at Denison for the Livingstone Relays or 11-lap thrillers at Madison Square Garden where competition was valued but instead at a place which produces nearly-outdoor opportunities with ankles perpendicular to the track and 70 degree temperatures with no wind.

Bill Schnier

Some Tracks and Their Idiosyncrasies

Yep, Bill, and remember on the boards you had to know where the dead spots were located so you didn't run onto one during your kick. At Chicago, the work crews used to compete with each other to see who could assemble the curves after the sprints were finished. One year the first running event was a weight men's relay and the lead runners went through the tight curve together and the track collapsed under their mass. It took over an hour of delay to repair the track. George

Yes, Florida had a great 200m indoor track (big curves, short straights) (20.6, 45.8, 3:55 track records) but UF quit hosting meets about 5 yrs ago, instead running at Ark, TX A&M, KY, now S. Car. & Clemson. So 3 yrs ago when they remodeled the facility (mainly basketball, but also used for volleyball, swimming & gymnastics) they tore out the track and put in permanent seating for basketball.

It has completely changed the sport of indoor track. No more tactics of learning how to run the curves and when to pass. Just a bunch of time trials. Bruce Kritzler

Missouri had a 220 yard indoor dirt track, but it had four ninety degree turns on it. A groove was worn into the inside land that you could lean way over to the left as you went through the turn. Nebraska had a kidney shaped track that you went into the outside lanes on the backstretch to find the shortest way around the track. At Kansas the vertical support beams in Allen Fieldhouse were right on the inside of the turns so you could not lean over in the turn and had to run straight up. And don't forget the clouds of cigarette and cigar smoke in those old arenas.

A New Book on the Way

In the meantime, I recently interviewed Rich Elliott (U. of Kansas, 1972) about a new book he will be launching in April on Patriots Day. It's something I'm looking forward to sharing with you. I'll wait until a little bit closer to launch time to put my review in this blog. I can already tell you I really enjoyed it. Seventeen short stories on running competitively. The title is What Mad Pursuit.

Track Fights

On another note, the subject of fist fights in track meets came up with a couple guys. Have any of you ever heard of, seen, or participated in a fight at a track meet, especially during a race between the competitors? My own experience involved a dispute between teams when I was teaching and coaching in Zimbabwe in the 1980's. We were hosting several teams at our school and our Anglican school Bernard Mizeki College had a bit of a rivalry with another school called Goromonzi. During the meet, I got wind that trouble might be brewing when one of our boys came up to me and said, "Sir, some of the boys on the Goromonzi team are in the woods sharpening sticks. Traditionally the Shona and Ndebele tribes in that part of Africa did not use throwing spears for battle, but preferred the shorter stabbing spears. Fortunately nothing happened right away, and there was no mortal combat on the track. However when the Goromonzi bus was leaving, they had to pass through a wooded area where some of our lads had hidden themselves and peppered the Goromonzi bus with rocks breaking out all of the windows. This made for a very breezy thirty mile ride home for the Goromonzi waifs.

Being read the riot act

Next day a complaint had been filed, and the police came to our school. It was a boarding school, and the cops went before the student body and said that nobody was going home on the about to start school holiday until the culprits were turned over to the police. As you might suspect, ratting out your friends is as taboo in Zimbabwe just as it is anywhere else in the world. The school holiday was scheduled to last four weeks. At the end of the first week, still no admission of guilt. Kids were getting antsy to go home, and teachers were required to stay at the school to keep the students occupied. Fortunately after two weeks the school was out of food and pled with the police to let the boys go home. No one was ever disciplined for that 'crime'.

Pictures

It's hard not to put some pictures on this blog. Here are some oldies but goodies I just dug out of our archives.