Recover Your Stride: Marc Curp

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.

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.