V 12 N. 48 Bill Squires - Coach R.I.P.

   An email came yesterday from Ned Price in Boston telling us of the passing of Bill Squires (age 89) Bill was noted for his system of Stress With Interval Practice (SWIP).  He coached at Boston State and Greater Boston Track Club.  He got the job done with those guys in the Northeast winters. From Ned he sounds as if he was a bit of a character:  In his stable were Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and Greg Meyer.  What more does a coach need on his tombstone?

                                                         Bill , an undergrad at Notre Dame

                                                         (Note the state of that track curb)
 Ned's note:

"Bill Squires died today.  He was 89.  I was on 2 BAA Masters teams with
him in the late 1970's. He was a bit of a nut but a great guy. He referred
to any one who could not break 4:15 for a mile as a jogger and once showed up an
hour late for a x-country meet he organized and thus kept 500 runners
waiting.

I was a bit annoyed since Women and Men were to run 30 minutes apart and
all but one of my men runners missed the race because they had gone to the one 

mile point when he started the men only one minute after the women.

Still he was great man.   Ned

   

                             Looks like Bill is bartending for Bill during one of his Boston wins.

Here are some photos of a handout Bill Squires distributed at a clinic in Centerville, OH in the late 1970s collected by George Brose  To you running newbies, don't look for anything called 'Tempo Runs',  the term didn't exist in those days.  No Strava either.  You learned your routes and measured them in your father's car if he let you use it on the weekend.  

The handwritings are Bill's edits.  A bit of overlap on some of these photos.

  

"Good guy. Knew him well. He still met regularly with the old greater Boston  team. Thanks"  Anonymous

V 12 N. 47 Salute to a Track Fan Extraordinaire Geoff Williams

June 30, 2022

 

                                             George Brose, John Cobley, Geoff Williams

Yesterday I received news from John Cobley (Racingpast.ca)  here on Vancouver Island that our mutual friend Geoff Williams is seriously ill and in hospital, not expected to recover.  Geoff is one of those unassuming yet fervent members of the track and field community.  He has provided us with numerous leads to great stories over the years and has connected me with many people more knowledgeable than myself about our sport.  Geoff attended school in England and as a youngster was often seen riding his bicycle into London to watch 'athletics' competitions at White City Stadium and witnessed some of the great races (think Kuts vs. Chataway, 5,000m world record) of the 1950's before he emigrated to western Canada and became a banker in Vancouver and Victoria.  He is the proud possessor of Roger Bannister's autobiography signed by Sir Roger and John Landy.  He once offered to send it to me for a read, but I was too afraid to accept such a loan for fear it might be lost in the mail or in my dotage I might forget where it came from.  I hope that one of his grandsons will come to appreciate that book some day.   One of his school chums was Ian Boyd, who ran in the Miracle Mile in the 1954 Empire/Commonwealth Games.   While the pandemic has kept us apart the past two years, Geoff has remained in close touch and last May provided me with a commentary about Canada's Olympic Decathlete Champion Damian Warner.  Tomorrow July 1 is Canada Day, and I salute Geoff, a man adopted by that country.   I'm honoring him by printing this commentary as well as a link (below) to another commentary he gave us in 2020, worth the read. 

May 31, 2022  from Geoff Williams

Damian Warner

Monday's Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper had an item under the general heading “Sports in Brief” and the subhead of “Warner tops sixth straight Gotzis Decathlon Event”.  The entire article contained 44 words.  I could stop there and we would all know where I am going with this but I feel compelled to take issue with this non-reporting of an exceptional athletic   performance on a grand global scale.  To my  mind Warner at this moment is the finest athlete in the world bar none.  His achievements deserve the cheers and undying adulation of the entire country let alone the sporting populace.  He won the Decathlon Gold in Tokyo-and that event is readily identified as one of the very toughest of individual sports.  During that event he achieved an Olympic record in several events and above all beat the Canadian Mens Long Jump record that had stood for nearly three decades.  His 100m run time would have got him into the mens final and he repeated the time in Gotzis this year( which time equalled the best this year by a Canadian)  and he could have likely represented Canada in the 110m hurdles in Tokyo if he had the time.  I do not know the figures but would hazard a guess that he was not doing it for the money( likely the last finishers in Sundays PGA golf tournament almost certainly earned more for that event than he has for all his combined efforts for some years.)

 

He is doubtless near the end of his remarkable career and I think it is time he received the proper recognition-in all forms-for what he has achieved.

 

Best wishes to one and all. Maybe one of you will be producing a book on his career.

 

Geoff

Another Article by Geoff Williams

V12 N. 46 Two New Book Reviews by Paul O'Shea

 

The Past is Never Dead. It’s Not Even Past.

Book Reviews

By Paul O’Shea

How She Did It: Stories, Advice, and Secrets to Success

from 50 Legendary Distance Runners

By Molly Huddle and Sara Slattery

329 pages, Rodale Books, $18.99

1972: Pre, UO track, Nike shoes, and my life with them all

By Steve Bence with Bob Welch

244 pages, SB4 Press, $19.95

How She Did It: Stories, Advice, and Secrets to Success

William Faulkner’s belief that we never fully relinquish the past resonates in two new books.

One brings to life the careers of fifty of the finest national and international women runners of

the past forty years, showing that the pursuit of excellence is never quenched even as athletes

set new records. The second is the memoir of a Nike lifer who served his benefactor for four

decades, working with some of our sport’s iconic figures.

How She Did It

In their new book, Molly Huddle and Sara Slattery team up to oversee a kind of master class for

young runners. They asked fifty prominent distance runners to share what they know about

confronting physical and mental issues. Each of the Nifty Fifty gets her own platform in these

first-person accounts. Major titles earned are listed, along with high school, college, and

professional PRs. Huddle-Slattery know many of the contributors as competitors and training

partners.

Did It is categorized by decades beginning with the Nineteen Sixties. Kathrine Switzer is one of

the early running pioneers. Then come the Eighties highlighted by an entry from Joan Benoit

Samuelson. The Nineties give us contributions from Lynn Jennings and Sonia O’Sullivan. In the

early Two Thousands we hear from Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe. The second decade of the

Millennium gives us the most contributions, some twenty five, typified by Sally Kipyegon and

Jenny Simpson.

Molly Huddle has been among our nation’s notables since high school when she won multiple

New York state track and cross country titles. At the University of Notre Dame she was a ten-

time All American in track and cross country. She set American records at five thousand and

ten thousand meters and is a two-time Olympian. Huddle has a closet full of U.S championship

memorabilia for honors ranging from the five thousand to the marathon. On the track and over

the roads she has won 28 national titles.

Sara Slattery is also highly respected. In 1999 she broke the Foot Locker Curse, which asserts

that high school girls who win that acclaimed race, rarely attain the top of the sport in later

years. As a junior competitor she won a national three thousand meter title, then went on to a

solid career at one of the premier university running programs where she was a two-time NCAA

champion and ten-time All American at the University of Colorado. In 2005 she won the Pan

American ten thousand meters. Currently, she is head men’s and women’s cross country coach

at Grand Canyon University.

The book might well have also been titled, How They Handled It. Areas that the two explore are

physical health and injury prevention, hormonal health, sound nutrition, and mental health and

sports psychology.

The idea for this book came from a 2019 workout Huddle and Slattery took together in

Scottsdale, Arizona, and a New York Times article about Mary Cain and the difficulties she

endured working with coach Alberto Salazar.

How She Did It demonstrates that because the past is never dead, its high achievers can provide

useful advice for those who follow.

1972

Open the book 1972 and you’ll find an informal snapshot of three men. On the left, a three-

piece-suited Jim Ryun, 25. In the foreground, an animated Steve Prefontaine, 21. Behind them,

a somber Phil Knight, 34. They may have been chatting about a recent time trial, the opening of

a new restaurant in town, or whether runners might someday be persuaded to buy specially

designed running shoes.

That’s the scene Steve Bence photographed when he walked into Bill Dellinger’s office on a

September day in 1971, looking to join the University of Oregon running teams. The setting

brought together the co-founder of the Nike empire, two of its brightest stars, and the

photographer who would end up as one of the company’s longest serving employees--and the

author of this memoir. It was Steve Bence’s first day in Eugene.

Nineteen seventy-two is the story of Bence’s early life as a solid high school and national class

university runner, and forty-four years with the company. Only four of the nearly half a million

Nike alums would serve longer than Bence before he retired.

Steve Bence has written a brisk, engaging take on his years as Bowerman walk-on, Prefontaine

chum, and Knight workhorse. The first half covers his high school and collegiate running career.

The book’s second half focuses on his lengthy business service where he played a key role,

ending as Program Director in Footwear Sourcing and Manufacturing.

Bence is the principal author with contributions from Bob Welch, former Eugene,

Oregon Register-Guard columnist, and author of more than two dozen books. Their book’s

striking cover shows a drenched Bence, glistening from the rain, powering down the track.

Born in Tennessee, starting kindergarten in Japan, Bence ultimately graduated high school in

Spain. He was in a different school in each of his last three years of high school. Over the pre-

collegiate years, he lived in ten cities.

Though he played other sports as a youngster, his running talent emerged when he won the

proverbial middle school PE mile.  He quickly made new friends as his Air Force father moved

around the world as military assignments dictated. Despite successes in Spain and Germany, a

1:55 high school PR failed to attract scholarship interest from the upmarket track schools in the

United States. Vern Wolfe, Southern California’s head coach was blunt. “Your time in Southern

California is a dime a dozen.”

He walked on at Oregon and became one of Bill Bowerman’s more successful non-scholarship

creations, though he ultimately did receive a scholarship. In a few years, Bence grew to be one

of Steve Prefontaine’s closest friends and a half-miler who PR’d at 1:47.7, sixth in the NCAAs,

earning All-America honors.

A horrific accident on the track in l975, Bence’s senior year, essentially ended his career.

Running a leg on the mile relay at the Pac-8 Championships, he dove forward to make the

baton exchange, missed, and landed on his face.  He had broken his jaw. A cut on his face took

seventeen stitches. Before the NCAAs he was able to drink only fluids for two weeks and

flamed out.

The passages about Pre and his shocking death are moving. Bence learned the news from an

early morning call from an unidentified classmate who had heard the news on a local radio

station. Bence called local radio station KUGN, and Pre’s death was confirmed. Bence had last

seen Pre just hours before at a party held for a group of Finns who came to the States to run in

a meet organized by the multi-purposed Prefontaine. 

1972 contains some 39 photos that range from the Ryun-Pre-Knight opener to a poignant study

of Bence and Pre a few hours before Pre’s death. This portrait, taken by a Sports Illustrated

photographer (the inimitable Kenny Moore was also covering the meet for the magazine)

shows a comforting Steve Prefontaine consoling an iron jawed Bence whose face shows the

result of the fall.

Decades later, Bence was interviewed by Doug Wilson of ESPN, on why Pre was so influential

and interesting. “It wasn’t so much about what he did or his times or his place. It was how he

went about competing and living his life that inspired people. His secret was more than just the

immense talent that he was born with—it was his persistence, consistency, and his ability to

avoid serious sickness or injury.”

When his Duck running career ends, Bence makes a life changing decision. While interviewing

for a job as a math teacher in the local school system, his good friend Mark Feig (a 3:58 Duck

miler) suggests instead that he join the local Nike store in downtown Eugene where he also

worked. Math’s loss was Manufacturing’s gain.

The author is diligent in acknowledging the help of others, some of whom read drafts of the

text. Thus, there are a few surprising errors: the l972 Olympic 800 winner is given once as Lasse

Viren, then correctly as Dave Wottle.  Another: Bence writes that Alberto Salazar almost died

after winning the Boston Marathon. Salazar’s brush with death was at the l978 Falmouth Road

Race when he had a temperature of 107 and received the last rites of the Catholic Church. The

name of Nike’s brilliant advertising agency, Wieden + Kennedy, is misspelled. Bence says his

first day in Eugene was in 1972, then 1971.

The major themes are Bence’s travels with an Air Force father and middle distance early

success, his athletic and social achievements at the University of Oregon, and long career in

manufacturing with the athletic shoe kingdom. There’s inside trivia about the Prefontaine

film Without Limits, for which Bence served as a consultant because of his close relationship to

the irascible Pre, recognized by Kenny Moore who was writing the script. Two other

Prefontaine films were also made, one a documentary.

If you are fully vaxxed with memorabilia about Nike, Bowerman, Pre, Shoe Guy, and Al Sal, and

don’t require another booster, wait for a fourth film. If you need to know more about the years

between Knight’s first company, Blue Ribbon Sports and the new Hayward Field, swoosh over

to your favorite independent bookstore for 1972. Don’t ponder. Just do it. 

Paul O’Shea writes from his home in Fairfax, Virginia.

Writing on the plane of a Kenny Moore.  Only one who lived then could fully capture the Zeitgeist of the time like Paul did.  Marvelous piece.   Kudos, Paul.    

Pre’s quote to the effect somebody may beat me, but he’s going to have to bleed to do it is on an interior wall of the sparklingly new Hayward stadium. 

V 12 N. 45 Ingebrigtsen Is After It by Richard Mach

 

INGEBRIGTSEN SERVES NOTICE 

by Richard Mach

He’s After It!  The Tokyo Olympic 1500 m champion, the young Norwegian, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, is now most certainly on the hunt for the world record of 3:43.13 set 23 seasons ago in 1999 by the Moroccan, Hicham El Guerrouj. No longer any question about it.  In his home stadium, Bislett, in Oslo in front of his nation’s people, now a short month from the 2022 World Championships to be held in Hayward Field’s newly renovated stadium, the youngster — in the middle of June — went out in 56.5, 1:53.5 and 2:49.4 for the first 3 laps, then closed to run the fastest mile on record in the past 21 years.  His time of 3:46.46 barely missed eclipsing the European record set 37 yrs ago by the former WRH, Steve Cram of Great Britain, by but 0.14 seconds.  Australia’s Oliver Hoare, hot on his heels until the last 170 meters, finished second and took down the Oceanian record with his PB of 3:47.48.  Ingebrigtsen already holds the indoor 1500 m record taking down the old by 0.46 seconds in 3:30.60.   And outdoors in the 1500 m he ran 3:28.32 in Tokyo, which is superior {when converted by the 1.08 factor} to his mile time yesterday by nearly a second and a half. 

In a little over 3 weeks now, the World Championships will begin its 10 day extravaganza at the newly comprehensively renovated Hayward Field on the Oregon campus.  And the men’s 1500 m race, 109 m short of a mile, is shaping up to be something not to  miss.  Because, if the weather holds temperate and free of rain, an attack on the now seriously aging world record in the 1500 m , also set by El G, of 3:26.00 may be in the offing.  If the time @ 800 m is sub 1:52 it will be time to get excited.  There are no pacers, so someone like Spain’s Mohamed Katir will have to sacrifice himself to take the best in the world out under that split. The competition is there, the race important enough and the conditioning of the front row competitors right on the line.  

Ingebrigtsen’s competition?  Witness Timothy Cheruiyot, the world’s premier miler 3 out of the last 4 full seasons along with the Kenyan phenom, Abel Kipsang, who, earlier this year ran 3:31.01 at Nairobi’s nearly 6,000 ft elevation, a time — some contend   — equivalent to 3:25 at sea level, a second less than El G’s current 3:26.00 WR.  And then there’s Oli’s Aussie teammate, Stu McSweyn, a 3:48 miler and a gunner who likes to set a torrid pace and go for broke.   And Samuel Tefera, the Ethiopian, who has beaten Jakob indoors in the WCs. And whose new world indoor WR @ 1500 m, Ingebrigtsen took down could be right at the front.  With all the conditions including temperate weather on the beam, we could see something verging now at a quarter of a century finally, at last, go down.  This extensive period where the mile record has remained inviolate is, by far, the longest since record keeping for the mile began.

Timothy Cheruiyot

Abel Kipsang

Oliver Hoare

Samuel Tefera

Stewart McSweyn

Perhaps, however, most telling in this race may be the presence of Hoare.  The Australian has established — most importantly for himself — what he is capable of running still relatively early in the season.  And he has shown the mettle to not let Jakob go in the latter stages of the race.    In Oslo, he remained within striking distance all the way up the back stretch on the final lap until the Norwegian began separating with but half the last curve and the straightaway to go. And came home but a full second behind. 

The hippest track and field crowd in the Americas will be on hand @ Eugene — perhaps including a few of our readers as well as the rest of the world’s aficionados .  So, again, if the weather holds in Eugene  and doesn’t spontaneously combust that porkpie hat you’re covering that balding pate within the stands and the big heaters remain healthy and show up to try to steal the race away from the Norwegian, we’re looking at  the conditions necessary to bring off the assault of the long standing world record.   

The youngster doesn’t have everything going for him.  He will be 2 months short of 22 at this writing.   His mechanics are hardly something to be desired.  The Moroccan WRH flew above the track showing — seemingly relatively little contact with it — and was exquisitely fluid with every part moving in a straight line forward.  Jakob is a heel striker it appears, he runs into the track more than over it: and so must cope with the additional challenge of using more of his energy to absorb and translate the shock with each of his foot strikes.   He is “heavy” in the middle — long waisted — and so carries a bit more ‘necessary’ weight than might, otherwise, be optimal.   His 800 PB is 1:46.44 run @ 19 while he has run 12:48.45 @ age 20 for 5,000 m.  His 5000 m performances are highly competitive; his 800 m not. He must get away from the guys with maximum stamina and leg speed before that last 100 m.  He cannot risk getting into a footrace with anyone more fleet of foot  down the last stretch.  I must also note that his splits at Bislett were all within 1.2 seconds of one another, and most remarkably, his 3rd 400 m spilt was the fastest of the 4 in 55.9.       

Just for the record, in order to run one hundredth of a second faster that the present world mile record, the competitor must average 55.78 per quarter mile.  So, an exact even paced mile dipping but a 100th of a second under El G’s record would show splits of 55.78, 1:51.56 and 2:47.34

Given the fast pace of the modern world, many occurrences between now and the WCs could significantly change the complexion of the 1500 m final.  But, at the moment, the young Ingebrigtsen must be seen as the favorite with Hoare and the two Kenyans and the Ethiopian right at the front in the mix.  And that is a

 heady mixture for the possibility of setting a world record in front of the knowledgable, frenzied, vastly appreciative crowd any Track and Field World Championship always promises.

We include below  last week's Bislett Mile and an 19 minute bio of El Guerrouj, ed.

The 2022 Bislett Mile   link

El Guerrouj's Bio by Total Running Productions  link

V 12 N. 44 Blast from the Past "Shoe Goo" and Old Programs

 Remember back in the day when a tube of SHOE GOO could be found in every runner's gym bag, glove box, work bench, or on the kitchen table?  I saw some on sale in a hardware store in Canada a few years ago and sprung for a tube. Just for old times sake.    It's been sitting around for those years unopened, but finally I found a use when a pair of my favorite street shoes started disintegrating on the soles.  Yes, my disintegrating sole was repaired without turning to the Scriptures, just the Shoe Goo god.   In the late 70's and 80's many running stores sold this product and we extended the life of our shoes when the kids were babies and needed formula and diapers and our wives didn't understand the need to fork out $35 for a new pair of New Balance 350's or some Tiger Jayhawks.  The sacrifices we made to keep on running the streets.

I also recall that several running shoe stores also performed the service of resoling our shoes.  When the outer layer wore down, they had a belt sander in the back room.  They'd just sand off that outer layer and glue a new one on.  When the corner of the heel wore down you would just build it back up with Shoe Goo.  Can't do that anymore because the midsoles use that EVA material or something even more exotic now, and it disintegrates with time.  Can't apply a new sole and even if you could the EVA would have lost it's resilience with time.   Caveat emptor  this stuff will give you a buzz if used in a closed area.  Do you have a Shoe Goo story?  If so, let us know.

Here is another treat.   A few weeks ago John Cobley sent me a mint condition copy of the 1948 US Olympic Trials program.  Here are a few pages from the program.  I'll soon include a similar post on the Athletic Review of the 1948 games published in England which John also sent.

Front Page

Inside Cover  Longines Ad

Letter from Harry Truman

Page with photo of everyone's favorite human being Avery Brundage

Lipton Tea, A Man's Drink, well we're going to London, prepare yourself.

Remember King Veedol?

Page of the favorites

All the entries

I found this page interesting noting that Juan Carlos Sabata who won the 1932 marathon was 

only 20 years old at the time.

How we gonna get there and what are we gonna wear?

The back cover, my favorite, with Chesterfield ad with baseball's finest

endorsing the product.  The cigarettes are clearly drawn into the layout.

George-what a fantastic historical document! The Ads are especially interesting. I notice that in the ad for Chesterfields smokes, they photo-shopped or drew the cig onto the player's image to make it look like the celeb was actually smokin! Then there is the wonderful Pan Am ad with the Lockeed  passenger plane quoting a $350 dollar one way flight from NYC with a 10% discount if you purchase a round trip. Cannot imagine what $350 in '48 would translate into today's coin but it would be in the thousands for sure. Wonderful stuff!  I was also surprised to see how many of the athletes shown who were highlighting the Oly trials were still very active while I was training and racing into the 1960s. They were impressive for sure. I'm guessing that Perry O'Brian didn't get his Olympic string going until 1952. And he was always around in the 1960s. Amazing! 

Thanks for sharing!

Darryl Taylor-LBSC

Excellent work, George.  But after old-timers like you are gone, George, who will care.  The already apathetic void will be filled with yet more apathy.  I say fight back through the nightly use of vast quantities of alcohol.  Roy

OMG!!!  LOL!      I can't tell you how many times I've used shoo goo.   I think I still have some!  Mike Waters

Hey, George,  

Shoe Goo has been there all along.  I get mine at Red Wing Boot stores.  I suppose it could be used on the soles of modern running shoes, but the other parts of the shoes wear out before the soles do, these days.  Could it be that we don’t put the mileage on running shoes that we used to?

I use Shoe Goo mostly these days on my Teva sandals.  With it, I think I am into my 8th or 10th year on a pair of Teva Pteradactyls (sp?)They’re still perfectly fine for a round of golf (if you don’t mind curious (disapproving?) stares from the style-conscious).

Keep that computer keyboard smoking’!

Walt Mizell

Dear George:

If you will get out your magnifying glass and pull up the list of qualifiers for the Olympic team try-outs, you will find at #169 the name of Eddie Taylor.

Taylor was an outstanding Western Michigan College hurdler back in the late 40s.

Take care,

Tom Coyne

New Commentaries

1948 U.S. Trails Program - Artist Lon Keller drew the covers for the 1948, 1956, 1960 and 1964 U.S. Trials Programs. He also did the 1960 Squaw Valley Souvenir Program and the Nov., 1981 issue of The Olympian. His website is www.lonkeller.com. Click on Professional Sports, then Olympic.

The U.S.O.C. produced generic Trials Programs for the years 1948-1972. The generic Program supplied for each sport. The cover was stamped with the sport name (1948 - across the word TRIALS). The schedule and participants would be compiled into an "Insert" which was stapled to the center of the Program. The 1948 Track and Field (Athletics) Trials Program scarce; most common is the '48 Wrestling Program.

Shoe Goo - I tested all the available shoe repair products in the 1980's. None as good as Shoe Goo. If the shoe's sole PROPERLY PREPARED, Shoe Goo will not peel off. Every month or 2, I sand the worn Goo surface(s) and apply a new layer of Goo to the existing layer(s) of Goo (on my running shoes). Goo attaches to rubber soles, nylon, leather, felt, aluminum, steel, etc. We used Goo to make Hershey Kiss sized 'bumpers' on aluminum brackets to hold equipment in place.  If Shoe Goo were UV resistant, you could use it (long term) to seal holes in your car. I used it for a year to seal screw holes in my roof. 

I'm in a suburb of Philadelphia (PA.) - Abington. ("Gary" from Arch Bishop Wood H.S., who recently ran the sub-4 minute mile, is nearby...)

I discovered "Once Upon a Time in the Vest" via a serendipitous Google search maybe 4-5 years ago. I probably wanted to know if any info. was available on the web for an Olympic Trialist, or maybe an Olympian who didn't medal. Your blog came up... I pop by every once in a while and just read about runners I've heard about and some I have not...

I remember the dumpster find photos article. (I find 'goodies' (tools, equipment, collectibles) myself when out running, and 'compete' with a friend to find the most coins(!) and enough folding money to keep things interesting...)

Purchased some modest items from Lon Keller's personal stuff being sold by his daughter. She's the one who clued me in - and sent a copy of an article which appeared in an art magazine(?). (After reading, passed the article to my Uncle, who is an artist- cartoonist and is also interested in 'sports art'.) I looked at the Trials Programs covers in the collection and noted the 'style' and 'signature' of each.

The trivia/minutiae of the Olympics and Track & Field are interesting to me. I may only have a moderate knowledge of the college running scene from past decades, but I KNOW about U.S. Trials Programs,  Olympic Programs, Tickets, Medals, and mine the info. regularly for 'answers'. I also know about adhesives, including Shoe Goo. (I wrote to Eclectic Products in the late 80's or early 90's to discuss a bad batch of Goo I'd purchased. They wrote back, replacing the Goo, and including a sample of new industrial adhesive they started producing. I used it, and wrote back telling them about the results of using the new glue.) I've contributed material to a few Olympics websites, including high-resolution scans of posters, tickets, etc*. No separately published articles. I was working on one about the USA vs. British Empire/Commonwealth Meets (1920-1960); and another about the M.L.K. International Freedom Games (1969-198x), but I keep procrastinating... I have written extensively about helicopters, aircraft electronics, and their maintenance for the military/government and worked at a Navy R. & D. lab.

*I do regularly identify and describe Olympics items for sports memorabilia dealers, estate sellers, etc.

(A few years ago your blog posted a photo of a 1964 Tokyo distance Final (?), and I think the question was - who are these runners? I literally had the bib numbers vs. names in the filing cabinet here...)

(Similarly, one of Sport's Illustrated top 100 sports photos - featuring Roger Bannister, is captioned incorrectly. The photo bugged the heck out of me, so I did sit down and figured WHY it bugged me... Do you know why the caption is incorrect? I wrote S.I. but received no reply.)

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/03/18/100-great-sports-photos-sports-illustrated-si#gid=ci02558776a004279d&pid=roger-bannister

DO have direct running experience - ran 50Km. in 3:01 (1989) and 10Km. in 29:00 in the 80's and 90's. Qualified for 1988 Trials, but knew I couldn't run the Olympic standard. Have met many others who fell into the category we call - "not too bad, but not too good, either"...

Best wishes, Bill Pileggi\\\

shoe goo works to close drain holes in roof of car (2003 volvo station wagon).  Bruce Kritzeler

V 12 N. 43 Noting the Passing of Track Writer Jim Ferstle, a Teammate of Dave Wottle and Sid Sink

 Bruce Kritzler just sent me a note indicating that Jim Ferstle has passed away.  I wasn't familiar with Jim's work but just looked up his bio online and saw that he had contributed many articles to Runner's World and worked as a  journalist in Minnesota.  He is also regarded as one of the foremost writers on the subject of doping in track and field.

Here is one of those articles written in 2008 about a reunion of his Bowling Green teammates.  Written thirteen years ago you will note that a few things are already dated, but the area covering what that great group of runners did from 1968 to 1972 should bring back a lot of memories to all of you.  Here is the link.  https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20784691/the-age-of-innocence/

Dave Wottle

Sid Sink

V 12 N. 42 "What Happened to All the Cinder Tracks, Daddy?" and Where are the Eugene Spectators?

 June 6, 2022,

Yesterday I did a workout on one of the few remaining cinder tracks on Vancouver Island.  It is hidden in a forest near the Comox Airport and Canadian Forces base.   I'm not sure if it's a 440 yards or 400 meters, probably the former.  When did they ever build a 400 meter cinder track since the 1960's in Canada?  

Here's a couple of pictures:

Yes, they appear to be red brick composite, not cinders but close.

Scary too that it might be sprayed with herbicide to keep the grass from encroaching.  It is hardly ever used.

Here is why this blog edition got started.   I was thinking of a great cinder track not far from my former home in Kettering, Ohio.  The last time I visited there, some asshole civil servant decided it would be nice to pave it with asphalt.  It serves no purpose now except maybe for some kids on their tricycles.  

The former Kettering, Ohio Track link.    Every track guy I knew in the area thought this was an abomination.  A lot of runners both serious and recreational used it and loved it.  So this got me to looking for other old tracks of my boyhood and yours.   

I can think of three other tracks of pre-all weather composition here on the island.  One is at Phoenix Middle School  in Campbell River about 25 miles north of here (Comox, BC) and another at Cowichan High School  school in Duncan, for the most part unused as there is only one serviceable lane.  There is an all weather track nearby.   A third is on Flores Island  a small island in the First Nation of Ahousat off the west coast of Vancouver Island.   Apart from that I'm at a loss for more old time tracks around here.   

I'm bringing this up because like most of you I cut my teeth on cinders training at the old Belmont High School in Dayton, Ohio from 1957-61.  That track still exists even though the school was torn down and a replacement built a few blocks away.  It was composed of furnace droppings.  The term 'cinders' is too polite.  Two and three inch clinkers were common to see on that track.  If it looked like rain was predicted, the fourth corner would already be under water.  Still, training on that surface may have saved a lot of injuries that otherwise might have occurred on a harder surface.  When we went to the Dayton city high school stadium for our meets it was like running on silk.   Here's a picture of that Belmont HS track about 5 years ago.  

Here's another one I just discovered in Dayton, OH.  It's a five lapper behind what used to be Wilbur Wright HS, now Wright Brothers Middle School.  

Wilbur Wright HS 5 lap track Dayton, OH

Nice job on cinder tracks.  There are thousands more so they might emerge over time.  

   I loved the Google shot of the Wilbur Wright track as well as my neighborhood and house.  I spent most of my childhood at that field and one block to the west.  Our house (3 boys) was 506 Burkhardt, corner of Burkhardt & Hedges.  We called our side yard Wagner Field after Honus Wagner.  The Leopards (4 boys) lived at 532 Burkhardt, corner of Burkhardt & Garland.  I learned basketball in their full court garage behind their house and later in the alley behind their house.  All quite primitive but we maximized everything.  We walked through the woods every day during the summer to play baseball and crawled under the fence to access the field.  The track was formerly on the upper field but about 1964 moved to the lover field where it remains today.  It was 5 laps to the mile and the site of my first 880 in August, 1964.  I was considering switching from baseball to track so I put on my baseball spikes and ran 2-1/2 laps on that track, timed by my brother, Greg, with a Timex wrist watch.  My time was 2:16 but I knew I could go faster, and eventually did.  The track exists today, not because it is used but because nothing has been built in its place.  On the corner of 5th and Wright is the site of my grade school, Orville Wright, now just grass.  Soon we will be just grass.  Bill Schnier

God, I found another one near Dayton.  Jefferson Twp. HS  and it's a totally neglected track surrounding a football field.  Jefferson Twp. HS , Dayton, OH    link to google maps aerial photo.

                                 The track at Maaqtusiis Secondary School   on Flores Island at Ahousat First Nation off the west coast of Vancouver Island.  Only 1,100 people live here and the track takes up a lot of room in that community.  Should we call this Tracktown, Canada?

                                                        Track at Phoenix Middle School   link

Here is the third track in my  area 

Phoenix Middle School in Campbell River, British Columbia

Track at Cowichan HS Duncan, BC  link

(These two photos are taken off googlemaps)

So how many cinder or dirt tracks still remain within a hour of your home?  People read this from all over the country.  I'd be happy to get some responses or pictures of your modern day cinder tracks.  Also, does anyone know of any odd shaped or length tracks?  Not quite symmetric or  3 to 5 laps to a mile?  Also do you think there are some advantages to training on cinders as opposed to all weather tracks in the matter of injury prevention?  

Sutter Middle School  Folsom, California   link

Hi George,

 

I am the distance and XC coach at Sutter Middle School in Folsom, CA (20 miles east of Sacramento).  I don’t know if you can call our track a cinder one, more like dirt and sand, and when the geese come, a mixture of dirt, sand, and poop.  It is not lined, so we have all rainbow starts in our track workouts.  When we do have meets, their times plummeted on the nice HS artificial tracks.  Don Betowski

George

In Monroe, LA a middle school had a red cinder (termed Red Dog Track) chopped up bricks.Ouachita Jr HS 'red dog track  link  We did one workout each winter - first workout after Christmas break. 20 x 400 with :60 rest. Men start at 80, women at 90 and drop 1 sec each hard effort. Workout done in training shoes. First 10 are pretty easy, then gets harder. Only a couple could actually finish all 20, but a great rust buster.

College of Coastal Georgia (Brunswick) had a dirt track (440 originally, but grass encroaching probably made it 450 yards!). Would do some cross country stuff there and early season track stuff. Brunswick HS across the street had an all weather 400m surface for more quality workouts.

Bruce Kritzler

  College of Coastal Georgia   link.    Still looks like dirt to me

First, odd shaped tracks.

Get Paul, Steve and some of the old UCTC guys to talk about the old
University of Chicago Stagg Field track.  It was more oval shaped than
anything with long curves and fairly short straightaways.  It was the
finest track I have ever run on especially when, after the 1959 Pan
American Games, the surface of the track, built just for that meet in
Soldiers Field, was scooped up, put in barrels and transported to Stagg
Field where the UCTC guys and volunteers spread it out and tamped it
down again.   A November 28, 1960 article, Run For Its Money by Ray
Cave, has more detail.  Alas, a library now sits on that site.  Thomas Coyne

Thanks Thomas and I think the world's first controlled nuclear reaction took place under the grandstands of that track.  There's a monument commemorating it. The Manhattan Project George

An article about the U of Chicago track appeared in Sports Illustrated Nov 28, 1960 by Ray Cave.  It came from England in barrels and was used for the 1959 Pan Am Games and then transferred to the university afterward.    It was the same recipe as the famous Santry track in Dublin where Herb Elliott set his WR in the mile in 1958 as 4 other runners in that race also broke 4 minutes that night.  The track was described as miraculous.  

Here is Cave's article   Ray Cave's article on the Pan Am track   link

Another UCTC guy chimes in about the move of that track.

"The track for the 1959 Pan-American games on Soldier's Field,  Chicago was dug up and brought to Hyde Park and I think installed in time for the 1961 dual US Poland meet. I remember specifically not volunteering to do the grunt work."  Ned Price

U of Zimbabwe Track Harare, Zim   Ran a few races here in the 1980's.  Looks like it is still dirt.

Bernard Mzeki College, Marondera Zimbabwe  coached and ran here 1982-85.  Sometimes cows were grazing on the infield during meets, and we had to pick up the cow pies off the track before those  home meets.

 George

Moving on:  You like many others have probably noted the paucity of spectators at the NCAA meet in Eugene which is currently underway.  Why so?  Weather has certainly been an issue at the last few meets there, but WTF?  Or maybe the greater number of seats in the new stadium gives that appearance?  We'll get the proof at the upcoming world championships?  People have lately been saying that the only place to attract a large group of spectators for track and field in the US are Eugene and Philadelphia for the Penn Relays.  Maybe it's down to one place now.  

Here's an opinion from Bill Schnier, former U. of Cincinnati head coach.

The attendance is terrible, especially for a city which bills itself as Tracktown USA.  This might be the worst attendance ever at an NCAA championship.  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe too many track meets in Eugene, no longer a novelty.  Maybe too close to the Pre-Classic and the World Championships.  Maybe the shortage of hotels in Eugene.  Maybe the hassle of getting tickets and having trouble getting them returned if there is no meet.  Maybe price gouging by the University of Oregon.  Maybe the difficulty of traveling to Portland or Eugene.  Maybe the fear of COVID on plane rides and in stadiums.  Maybe they got out of the mood in Eugene.  Maybe it is not returning to the shrine of historic Hayward Field.  Maybe it is the turnoff of massive Nike and the monopoly they have become in T&F and the cheating of the Oregon Distance Project.  Maybe it is the uncertainty of weather, too hot last year, too cool and rainy this year.  Maybe T&F as a spectator sport is just not as important.  Maybe because Oregon has gone big time in football and basketball and Tracktown USA is just like any other town bowing to the dominance of other sports.  Maybe all of these.  Maybe things we have not even considered.  Who knows but the attendance is still very, very small. 

I also wondered about the lack of spectators at the NCAA meet.  I would
offer as an opinion that it is a  combination of the bigger stadium and
the decline in track and field fandom.  It will only get worse as more
universities drop men's track and field.  Thomas Coyne

From Bob Roncker, who is in attendance at the NCAA's.

Bill and others,

All of these views are valid. I am currently in Eugene. A month or so ago I saw ALL the track events scheduled for Hayward this Spring. It was a track nut's dream and perhaps there is an overload for the moderate track Duck fan that lives in the area. This person primarily roots for the name on the shirt rather than the sport.

Oregon is not a team contender in either division this year so that lessens the incentive for locals to attend this year. In addition I see no compelling individual personality commanding their attention. When Duck (former UC) distance runner Aaron Bienefeld was introduced there was no additional applause. 

Last night as I was sitting in Hayward watching the men’s final I was thinking of what I was missing not watching it on TV. Perhaps this is my problem. Instead of focusing on and enjoying some of the action that is taking place, I want to see and understand all that is occurring. We all know a meet has been compared to a three ring circus. A well produced TV presentation, and it appears to me they are dramatically improving, shows footage and material that is hard to duplicate in person. 

I plan on returning to Eugene in two weeks for the Trials as part of a Track & Field News tour group, in a large part to be surrounded by fellow track nuts. Although I originally planned on attending the World Championships I decided I could follow it better via TV and computer at home. 

For me, at my stage of life, attending a track meet in person is a pleasant experience (if the weather is cooperative) and there is no TV available. It is a great opportunity to see friends and watch the competition. Still, the announcing typically adds little to the presentation of the meet. That is a frustration for me. So much more could easily be done. For major meets with good TV presentation I am finding myself more and more content to remain at home. 

Perhaps I should accept the fact that now track and field is a niche sport for most people and enjoy its uniqueness and the people it attracts. I doubt or wonder if a top trackster will ever grace the cover of Sport’s Illustrated again (I don’t even know if it is still published). If the stands aren’t filled, so be it. 

Bob

Bill and others,

Before answering whether I prefer watching the meet in the new or old version of the stadium I am going to give you Jim Hill’s take on the stadium. Jim was an outstanding runner (international class) who ran for Dellinger. Upon graduation he founded a company called SportHill here in Eugene where he remains living.  We became friends through our store.  I thought his perspective as one who both ran in the old stadium and witnessed many meets here would be informative. Here is is response. 

(Comments by Jim Hill)

Hi Bob,

Thanks for sharing this.  What I liked about the old Hayward Field was the view of the Butte, Coburg Hills, and Hendrix parks hills, getting out of the rain on the east side,  but foremost the great moments we had there. What I love about the new stadium are the seats, minimal wind, great sound system, insane video board, good access to bathrooms and food, crowd applause seems to be amplified, comfortable seats, amazing over the top training facility, and did I mention the seats? They are super comfortable.

 If I were a runner on the Oregon team I would prefer the new stadium 10 to 1 over the old.  I miss the sawdust inside lane but only because it brings back good memories warming up and warming down on it.  On some easy days I might spend an hour just doing laps there.  For a very long time the old stadium was open to the public which I thought was unique and special but of course that had to wind down.  

Cheers

Jim

Jim seems to have a seating phobia. And, he is right. It is much more comfortable in the new stadium. The seating and other amenities do make for a better viewing experience now.  I wish some of the old stadium, per Tinker Hatfield’s design, could have been incorporated with all the improvements but it is an amazing site. 

Bob

I am also surprised/disappointed by the attendance @ the NCAA meet & also @ Pre. Bob, tell Jim my 2 pairs of Sport Hills are still the best outdoor running pants I have, despite many years of use.

Frank Murphy 

I recall reading in Tim Johnston's book   "Otto Pelzer, His Own Man"  that Pelzer the former WR holder at 1500 had such a difficult time with the L.A. Coliseum track in 1932, because it was hard as concrete, and his spikes would not penetrate into it.  He ran poorly possibly because of this.  At that time the German team was operating on such a bare bones budget that they could not afford to take the team's shoes to a machine shop and have the spikes ground down nor could they buy at grinder and do it themselves.

As to odd track sizes, the Iffley road track where Roger Bannister first broke the WR for the mile originally was a three laps to a mile track and there were distinct rises and falls on the back stretch.  As an undergrad, Bannister campaigned and lobbied to get the track reconfigured to 440 yards and was successful.  He therefore set his own stage so to speak.     George

I  don't miss cinder tracks. I have plenty of cinders under my skin permanently from falls on cinder  tracks. Still, it's a nice piece of nostalgia, and you look good, George.   SVM     FYI  Stephen Morelock was a hurdler at the U. of Oklahoma.  

For a good story about the famous Santry track in Dublin, Ireland see following from the Irish Times , 2008, by Ian O'Rioradan.     The Santry track  link.