Having grown up with running during the running boom years, reading When Running Was Young and So Were We: the collected works of a sportswriter from the golden age of American running was a look back into the golden years of running and the people and events that shaped the sport and competitions of the 1970s to 1990s. Many of the articles seemed distantly familiar to me, as they should as they were written by Jack Welch for Running Magazine and Track and Field News and reprinted here. I started reading this book earlier in the year and enjoyed in particular reading about the world class athletes and races. The writing can feel dated, as if you picked up an old running magazine (which I have plenty of) and read through the articles. At times it is fun to read about events that are still crystal clear and well known historically, at other times you may be reading about a runner on the verge of greatness, who never quite made that step towards becoming a well known name years later.
I finally finished the book on some long plane rides last weekend. I found that I skimmed some of the later articles if they didn't interest me. Some of the articles highlight athletes such as Dick Beardsley, Jon Sinclair, Greg Meyer, Mark Nenow, Mark Curp, John Gregorek. Ed Eyestone, and Steve Spence. Other athletes include Chris Fox (his Syracuse XC team just won the men's NCAA Championships-I watched the race in the Philadelphia Airport between flights), Bob Kennedy, Alberto Salazar, Steve Prefontaine, Keith Brantly, Gerry Lingren, and Marc Davis. Female greats include Patti Catalono (now Patti Dillon), Lynn Jennings, Joan Benoit, Ingrid Kristiansen, and Mary Decker,
The section on running coaches may need a second read for those wondering about Chris Fox's coaching success as their are two articles on his coach Greg Shank. There are other coaches written about as well. The book also highlights many races. One annoying thing is for many of the more forgotten races, we are told the winners right up front, leaving out the mystery of who won the race as you read the recap. There are plenty of reports on the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, and the Honolulu Marathon, among other races. The Hood to Coast relay race highlighting a Nike superstar team managed by Alberto Salazar refers to him as a "maniac" and "paranoid" traits that he carries over to his coaching today.
If you are new to running and unfamiliar with these champions, races, and period of time, When Running Was Young and So Were We would be a good piece of reading. If you ran during these years, you would enjoy a trip down memory lane.
I just noticed that there are a lot of vintage press photos of runners and racers on eBay. Many are photos that I have never seen. I guess these are photos that the press, newspapers and magazines, receive and can choose to edit and print in their papers. They are now selling them off and it is noted than many have not been seen by the public before. I thought this photo was most interesting and not for the content, but for the decision making process as to what the press saw as important. Here is a photo of Joan Benoit from a 1978 race that she won over Mary Shea and Ellison Goodall. It is not the "tall" one that matters, nor the winner who is a "track star", instead it is the "blonde" runner. Yup, they circled that one and you can only guess that a close up of Ellison made the paper the next day! All three were excellent runners in the late 1970's - 1980s. Joan showed that she was at an entirely different level in 1980!
Here are a few other of the more interesting photos I found looking around today.
Frank Shorter in 1972 with a Florida Track Club shirt
without an orange
.
Franks Shorter in 1972 sporting an awesome mustache!
Frank Shorter 1973 looking very thin.
Bill Rodgers
Henry Rono nipping Alberto Salazar at the tape in that famous 10,000 meters race one week before Salazar won Boston at the Duel in the Sun.
Race favorite Rob DeCastella tripping over the starting line at the 1978 Boston Marathon.
Gate City Strider teammate and friend Walter Swanbon as the winner
of the Boston Junior Marathon in 1972.
1982 was the 10th running of the Falmouth Road Race. Alberto Salazar and Joan Benoit-Samuelson were the two winners. The official race results say the temperature was 77 degrees with 70% humidity. There were 4500 official runners and 1500 unofficial runners.
Alberto Salazar in the lead approaching 6 miles.
6 miles in, the race leaders pass the Hoyts. #6 is Mike Musoyki who would finish 4th,
behind him is 2nd place finisher Craig Virgin, and 3rd place finisher Rod Dixon is behind Craig.
5th place finisher Marc Curp
There used to be a video of the 1982 Falmouth Road Race online, but it seems to be missing now. Maybe I can get that uploaded here. Here it is:
Race story on the 2012 Falmouth Road Race:
FALMOUTH - By the time he reached a little upgrade in the woody stretch of roadway leaving Woods Hole, Alberto Salazar had taken the lead in the 10th Falmouth Road Race and, by the time he came out of those woods, the race, for all practical purposes, was history.
This was simply one more Salazar jewel to savor in a year that has seen him finish second in the world cross-country championships, run to a stunning record in a hot Boston Marathon and become the first since the late Steve Prefontaine to hold American track records for both 5000 (13:11.93) and 10,000meters (27:25.61).
Racing away from Michael Musyoki, 1980 Falmouth winner Rod Dixon and 1979 winner Craig Virgin, the resolute and gifted Salazar ran alone for the final four miles of the 7.1-mile race to finish in a record 31:53.3. Virgin (32:12) outkicked Dixon (32:16) and Musyoki (32:17) in the furiously competitive battle for second.
On the eve of the race, Salazar had slight doubts about even lining to defend his Falmouth victory of last year in the record time of 31:55.6. "I picked up a slight stomach bug," he said, "and if it didn't get better, it would have seriously hindered my running. I just picked it up two days ago." But he called a doctor Saturday, got a prescription, and was just fine yesterday.
Equally impressive on a morning when temperatures soared into the high and humid 70s after a relatively cool week was defending women's champion Joan Benoit's smashing 36:33.7, which leveled Grete Waitz' two-year-old record of 37:12.5. "When we found out Grete wasn't coming (due to a stress fracture)," said Benoit's coach, Bob Sevene, "she (Joan) said, I'll just have to go for the record.' "
After Keith Brantley of the University of Florida carried the lead through the first mile in 4:23 (only to wilt into a 24th-place finish), the race quickly evolved into the expected duel among Salazar, Virgin, Dixon and Musyoki. They went through two miles in an unofficial 9:02 and through three in 13:36. And then, see you later, Alberto.
"I was surprised I was able to break away as soon as I did," said Salazar. "Once the race started, I just didn't want to let anybody pull away from me. I just kept an even pace. I started to get a side stitch after about 4 1/2 miles; from there to six miles, I slacked off. I was a little worried about Musyoki or someone moving up. That's why I kept looking back.
"I was never really that psyched to go out and break a record. I was surprised when I did. The big difference was mental. Last year I had something to prove. I'd had a year full of injuries. Falmouth was my first big race coming back. This year, I'd already set a world record in the marathon (New York) and American records for 5000 and 10,000 meters.
"I was surprised they let me get away. If they want to do this every year, it's fine with me. I used to try and stay up with the leaders as long as I could before I finally won this. As good as they were, they were making a mistake. I read where Dixon said he felt he could catch me in the last mile and a half. There's no way he can if I have 20 seconds on him. You've got to stay with the guy.
"There's always a chance you can lose. I lost in Europe (in his two American record runs) in the last 400 meters. Nobody pulled away from me. I feel I'm as strong as anyone in the world. It's just my lack of a finishing kick. But all these guys were hanging on me. If I improve another 15 seconds and run a 27:10, they're not going to be there. It felt very easy today. If I had to rate it on a scale of 10, last year was a nine and this year was a seven." Would anyone like to predict what he'd have done to the other runners had he run a nine?
That's just Salazar. He picks and chooses he races. As Dixon said, "That's his second road race (the other being Boston) since February. It's my 32d. If I were obsessed about winning this race, I would take eight weeks off. I didn't run his race today. I ran my race - in my mind, the best possible race I could run."
Virgin thought it had come down to him and Musyoki for second. "We were battling it out," said Virgin. "I thought we had dumped Rod. I heard a noise behind me and I said, Oh boy.' All of a sudden, Dixon goes right by us. That's when I reacted.defensively .
"I found out last week at Maggie Valley (a 22:56.9 win in a 5- mile race that included Dixon and Musyoki) I had a kick. Confidence breeds confidence. I don't have a lot of confidence because I don't have the races. I was impressed by Alberto's leg speed. That's the thing that months of training builds up.
"He was smart to come back from Europe a month ago. If he had just come back a week ago, he'd have been more vulnerable. I feel the same way he did in the 1980 Olympic trials when he finished third and he'd had only a couple of months of training after an injury. He set an example for me. He struggled. He came back. Everybody in the top five here has had a year of injuries at some time." Virgin, himself, is coming off a kidney ailment suffered at the end of March
"For a guy who doesn't have any speed," Virgin added, "Alberto has made a real contribution to American distance running. I said in 1979 we were behind the Europeans. He's made great strides. He's the pace setter. I'm happy. Today, I was the best runner except for Alberto. It's a hard course and if we had caught Alberto, his ship would have been sunk. I had said I wouldn't be surprised if three or four people were coming over that final hill together. It was that way. Except for Alberto."
Virgin also questioned the security of Falmouth's rating as America's No. 1 road race, despite its $32,000 budget for invited runners. "My feeling is that Falmouth has lost some of its depth," he said. "A race is just like a runner. You have to get better every year. You can't survive just on tradition. Some of the guys just didn't come back because of the way they were treated. They (at Falmouth) have got to make a move within the running world to keep pace."
Falmouth was born out of the fantasy of a bartender named Tommy Leonard and it was first staged exactly nine years ago yesterday. Whatever its future, Falmouth 1982 will be a part of road racing history. For nobody was about to overhaul Alberto Salazar in his run to a record finish on a picture-postcard Cape Cod morning.
3rd place Rod Dixon
2nd place Craig Virgin
4th place Mike Musoyki
The legs of champions
Marc Curp, Mike Musoyki, and Rod Dixon
5th place finisher Jaqueline Gareau
Bill Rodgers-not in results
Dave McGillivray- who is the new race director of
the Falmouth Road Race
Bill Rogers and Johnny Kelley
My name is missing in the results, but my training log
says I finished about 250th with a time of 41:10.
Not bad as I had broken bones in my ankle in April of
that year.
Here are some pictures sent to me by Louise Goldberg, daughter of my high school cross-country coach at The Stony Brook School on Long Island. Mr. Goldberg took took these from the Nobska Lighthouse hill. I recall seeing him there as I went running by.
At yesterdays Chicago Marathon, Olympic Champion Sammy Wanjuri puts up a tremendous back and forth battle before finishing the race with a crushing sprint.
Here is a slow-motion view of Wanjiru finishing (and collapsing)..
Not to be outdone, in the Netherlands, Charles Kamathi won the 27th edition of the Eindhoven Marathon in a 3 man sprint (or at least they say he was the winner).
And probably most inpiring is the 2:47:50 run by Joan Benoit-Samuelson at Chicago to be the first woman to not just run a sub 3 hour marathon in 5 different decades, but also to join the very short list of runners who have run sub 2:50 marathons in 5 different decades. I had no doubt she would do this, after talking with her briefly in August.
Everyone has to do Falmouth at least once. If you haven't run this classic race yet and you live in New England you should give it a try. Many years ago, Runner's World Magazine did an article on the Falmouth Road Race and they refererred to the "Winding roads that seem to beckon" from an old Patti Page song called "Old Cape Cod". Falmouth is a magical race. I love the history of the race, as well as it being the race that follows the roads of the town where I grew up. I have great memories on these winding roads! Unfortunately, many competitive runners now pass it by. But really, it should be on your list of must do races.
This year I went down Friday night and picked up my race number at Falmouth High School. I was there when autographs were about to start, so I got in the short line because I wanted to meet Meb Keflezighi. Meb decided not to run Falmouth the day before, but as soon as I finished he was the first one shaking hands of us runners after we crossed the finish line.
He was there with his Olympic marathon silver medal and the New York City Marathon gold medal. What was neat was that he let me and others hold the medals. The Olympic medal in particular is getting worn out! I really appreciate that Meb "shares" these medals rather than lock them away for safe-keeping.
I also got to say hello to Catherine Ndereba. Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, and wheelchair competitor Craig Blanchette. Frank and Bill were there regular friendly selves and we talked a bit about running Famouth back in the 1970's. I asked Joan when she would run her next marathon. She said Chicago this year. I asked her about running sub 3 and making it into the sub 3 hour marathon in five decades club. She remarked about it a bit, then her whole demeaner changed, she said what she really wanted was to be in the sub 2:50 marathons in 5 decades club. There was a huge competitive fire and drive in how she said this. I would put my money on her easily going sub 2:50 in Chicago.
I went back to the high school to watch the Falmouth Miles. This year they had high school miles for the first time. Unfortunately only two women were in the elite mile, but it was still a good race. The men's race had Olympic 1500 meters silver medalist Nick Willis making a comeback from injury race. He was outsprinted at the finish line as the first two runners broke a 4 minute mile. When you go to Falmouth, you have to watch the miles, they are a lot of fun.It is also run on the track where I started my cross-country running career back in 1973. Here is the video I took of Russell Brown outsprinting Nick Willis in the mile.
I guess the best word to describe the Falmouth Road Race is "efficient". From the buses taking you to the start to all parts of the race, it seems the race organizers have it down to an efficient process. This is good as the race works year after year. It also means it lacks a litte pizzazz as you get used to things always being the same. The t-shirts always have the same design, you get a coffee cup at number pick-up, and everything seems the same. Interchange a few Kenyan (and now Ethiopian) runners with a few top-Americans and the race always seems to turn out in a similar fashion. I would love to see more of the very top American runners show up for the race. I would love to see a little less effeciancy and a more go-for broke effort to bring back the competitiveness of the 70's and 80's back into the race. It would be great to get the top New England runners back to Falmouth. As I line up at the start there are the top runners and a bunch of familiar faces of people I see back at Falmouth every year. I don't see the local road racing crowd. What goes on behind the elite corral, where I am situated is unclear to me. I know there are some runners looking to do well, but there are mostly running tourists. Runners who do Falmouth and it might be there only race of the year and quite possibly there longest run of the year. This is great, but in the end, I just wish more of the "running club" runners would get a taste of Falmouth.
This year's race saw me feeling pretty good at the start. I was able to do strides and a warm up without feeling so stiff like I have been recently and it was an incredibly gorgeous and cool summer day for the race. When the gun went off it was a bit crowded until the first corner and then I started getting more room. I hit the mile at Nobska Lighthouse slower than I wanted, but from then on I think I pretty much kept the same pace throughout the race, which meant I was slowly passing runners the whole race, and was rarely passed at all. I never really sightsee as I run Falmouth, but I got that sense of blue ocean over to my right side as well as that salty air smell and I felt right at home. I ran at a good pace and effort, but didn't really push things.
Here is a video someone posted (there is not much online that I can find) of the lead runners running up Shore Road (right in front of a house one of my good friends used to live in). It is about 4 3/4 miles into the race.
At the 6 mile point, I noticed an old friend named Stewart Johnston at the side of the road and called out to him. His brother was the 8th place finisher at the first Falmouth Road Race. We both went out for cross-country together in 9th grade two weeks after that race and traded last place finishes at races throughout that season. Stu never ran again after that year. I haven't stopped.
I finished the race this year in 301st place in 47:12. Pretty much where I finished in 2009. The Wall Street Journal had an article after the race by Cameron Stracher called Slow and Steady Loses the Race. I don't think it is entirely accurate. He states that, "the increasing popularity of running coincides with the decreasing competitiveness of the U.S. runner." I actually started Falmouth this year standing next to the aurthor. In the article he mentions the Falmouth Road Race, "At the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race, in 1979, a finishing time of 36 minutes was good enough only for 84th place. But in 2009, the same time would have earned 34th place." I don't know how everyone else is doing, but I ran the 1979 Falmouth Road Race in 46:10 and this year I ran 47:12. It looks like I only lost a minute in 31 years, which is part of what is wrong with the article because it is hard to compare years. I did only run 38 miles in July and August 1979 before running Falmouth as I was traveling overseas.
If Falmouth is too busy for you, you can always run the same course at the Falmouth in the Fall road race.
Sunday I ran the Moose on the Loose 10 mile trail race back in Mines Falls inNashua. I finished in 8th place with a time of 1:07:59. My hips were not working in coordination so I had a hard time getting comfortable, which was too bad because I was feeling good energy-wise. Halfway through the race, I noticed two runners ahead of me who looked like they could be in my age division. I picked off one of them but the other guy had over a 30 second lead by the high school bridge (less than a mile before the last of four laps). I put my head down a bit more and started passing a few people then I noticed I was catching the guy in front of me. I caught him at the bridge and ended up winning my age division by 16 seconds. That means I was given an award for being the RRCA state champion in my age group (50+) which on the plaque is called the "Grandmaster" division. So I guess now I can become a rapper.
Monday night I showed up for the last of the Gate City Striders Mine Falls trail races. I didn't feel like racing so jogged it and finished in dead last place. OK it was handicap race and only a couple of runners started behind me and they passed quickly so I basically ran by myself and did so at an enjoyable pace, and you know what? I had a fun time! I think it is called a "training run" and I have been doing so much racing lately that I haven't had many of those! I ran about 4 minutes slower than last week and finished 59 out of 59. Sometimes you just want to finish last.
I did win my age group in the 2nd half of the race series. I think I ran all of the races in both series except for one week in the first half. What a great series it is to run and much thanks to Mike Wade, the volunteers, and the Gate City Striders for putting on this fun series of low-key races. This is the water bottle you get for winning your age group.
Tuesday night I had another last race in a race series. This is the first year I have done the Good Times series of races down in Lowell. I had a good time with these too. I ran my course PR with a 19:13. That means I got three awards at the award ceremony. A mylie for setting a PR, a Golden Mylie for running all 8 races in the summer series, and a first place plaque for winning the 50-59 age group.
was a look back into the golden years of running and the people and events that shaped the sport and competitions of the 1970s to 1990s. Many of the articles seemed distantly familiar to me, as they should as they were written by Jack Welch for Running Magazine and Track and Field News and reprinted here. I started reading this book earlier in the year and enjoyed in particular reading about the world class athletes and races. The writing can feel dated, as if you picked up an old running magazine (which I have plenty of) and read through the articles. At times it is fun to read about events that are still crystal clear and well known historically, at other times you may be reading about a runner on the verge of greatness, who never quite made that step towards becoming a well known name years later.
