The first sub four minute miler in Kansas history was.... Jim Ryun? Billy Mills?, Glenn Cunningham? Wes Santee? If you guessed any of the above luminaries you would be dead wrong.
The answer is Bill Dotson who graduated from KU in 1962. Bill passed away this past June in Santa Monica, CA at age 80. I remember first seeing Bill run at the Texas Relays in April, 1962. He had a 4x880 and DMR double that day running 1:49 and 4:04 on a wet track. Rains had cancelled the Friday night events, so they started early Saturday. To dry out the track that morning the Austinites had sprayed bunker oil on the track and ignited it producing orange flames and clouds of black smoke in the stadium and left it smelling like a repair depot for a tank battalion.
Bill was the dominant runner in the Midwest that year and later became the fourth American after Jim Beatty to break four minutes indoors. He placed second behind Dyrol Burleson at the NCAA's in Eugene that year.
Early going in the NCAA mile at Eugene 1962, Paul Ebert (Oklahoma), Bill Dotson (Kansas), Barry Almond(Houston) Ray Fleming (Nebraska) Dyrol Burleson(Oregon), Bill Cornel (Southern Illinois), ?Smith (BYU) He went into the Marine Corps for a couple of years and by 1964, I had the honor to run against him in a dual meet in Lawrence. Just back from the corps and not in good shape, Bill ran unattached, and I managed to squeeze past him. He had hoped to become the coach at Kansas, but Bob Timmons was selected as the head coach when Bill Easton was fired. And that was the end of Bill's dreams for a coaching career. Instead he went into insurance and investment counseling and had a successful career in California. Interestingly in an interview several years ago, he told me he was also an astrologer.
I called Bill a few years ago and spoke with him about an hour. One of his stories talked about him running a three mile race with teammate Billy Mills against Nebraska. Joe American Horse was the Cornhuskers top distance man, he was leading Mills and Dotson by about thirty yards mid race. Coach Easton, always vociferous started yelling at them to 'get up with American Horse or get off the track." The two of them looked at each other and both stepped off the track. Coach Easton blew a gasket.
Mike Solomon who was at KU at that time sent me the following note.
"George,
Hope you are fine. Getting ready to stop at the ku campus wed and meet some former team mates at a great bbq restaurant.
then drive up to omaha and catch three days of the college world series.
sent you the story on bill dotson.... just by chance clicked on the ku athletic website to send a ( nice ) email to their new AD.
Spoke with dotson about four months ago....He had been living in santa monica for years with his insurance business.
when timmons was hired in 65' at ku he banned bill from training on the track..A lot of hard feelings then with the firing of bill easton and this spilled over in many different directions. This rift was lingering all over the place when I was there...
Similar to when I arrived at utep in 73' after the firing of wayne vandenburg and the hiring of ted banks. Two distinct groups formed.
I knew guys from both sides and was able to communicate with them. Trouble with wayne was that he was trying to become the school's AD and it didn't work out and he was fired.
Bill Dotson was a class guy and I did enjoy our conversations over the years." Mike
I hesitate to delve into that affair without having been a first hand observer, so I will let it go at that.
A small update on Bill Dotson:From Paul Ebert
Hi George, Paul Ebert Here, I found a obit for Bill Dotson I ran against him many times in college
and I finished 7 yds behind him in mile in second (Big Eight 1961 Boulder,Colorado).
heres obit: Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home-Concordia, Kansas I recall one time indoors Bill won
mile & 880 after about 20 min came to a pullup bar and did 15 chinups. He was always professional and reserved. At the Nationals (Eugene, Or.) while we warmed up before race
he came to me and said they wanted me to run a 60 sec first lap (4 Min pace) As I recall Burleson
won in 3:59.8 and Dotson & Corrnell finished 4:00.5 and I (Paul Ebert) finished 7th. Also there
were 3 milers from the big eight conference, Dotson Kansas, Ebert Oklahoma(7th), & Fleming (9th) Nebraska. also in race Clohessy (5th), Dahl UCLA (6th), Foreman (4th). I had previously beaten Clohessy & Dahl at the Drake Relays when I won the mile (1962) 4:09 in the mud. Also
remember Pat Clohessy won 2 or 3 mile at Drrake and The NCAA
The Track and Field News giveaway.
A number of you from around the country and even Europe spoke up about your interest in the Track and Field News \collection that my colleague Roy Mason offered to give away. Mr. Mason has made his decision, which I will not divulge so as not to hurt anyone's feelings. That person has been informed. I will add that even though it might have sold for several thousand dollars, the collection was donated.
Are You Woke?
The term woke has come into use lately to denote that if a person is 'woke' then he or she is up to date with the latest political issues especially related to race, racism, cultural appropriation and so forth.
To me the term 'woke' can be interchanged with the old 50s and 60s jazz term, "Are you hip?" Another definition might be 'politically and socially aware'. With that in mind I have attached below a recent poster find by one of our most avid delvers into the obscure, and nearly forgotten, Mr. Ned Price of the Boston area. He recently found this poster which appears to have been put out by the Santa Fe Railway promoting travel to "Indian Detours" and Los Angeles to see the 1932 Olympics. If this does not strike you as culturally insensitive in today's world, then you must be living somewhere off the grid in Slap Out, Texas or Knockemstiff, Ohio. As Bob Dylan once sang, "the times they are a changin'' and even Bob is now under scrutiny for some of his past behaviors.
Run Tough, Run Hard
Lastly on a lighter note, I was intrigued by the title of a book I thought might be a good running read. The book is "Run Tough, Run Hard" by Carson Bingham. Unfortunately when I saw the cover, I knew I was on the wrong trail. George
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