Ron Clarke Documentary

Last night I watched this documentary on the great Australian runner, Ron Clarke. While the film is old, it was just uploaded to youtube. Ron Clarke was considered the premiere runner of his day and he set 17 official world records, but is just as well known for  never winning an Olympic gold medal.

 This video has some great classic video. Ron Clarke as the young torchbearer at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Ron Clarke getting tripped in a race and having the great John Landy stop and help him up before going on to win the race.

And then their is Ron Clarke in the Olympic 10,000 meters running his heart out literally in the elevation of Mexico City trying to stay with the altitude trained Africans. He claims to have nearly died that day and to have suffered heart damage in his efforts. While the interviews with Ron are two decades old, you can hear him talking about things such as the cinder tracks of his day. Heck, I trained on a cinder track in high school! You can also hear his great story of the legendary Emil Zapotek and how Ron finally got an Olympic Gold medal. For those who like to hear about the history of our sport, this is a documentary well worth watching.