by Jeff Benjamin
Tom Fleming, Toshiko Seko, Bill Rodgers, 1979 Boston, photographer unknown
The era of Bill Rodgers in road running was unique. Rodgers was an easy going killer. The guy could run 140 miles a week in his sleep, one time winning 38 races of all distances in a row, quietly juggling global travel and 4 world class marathons in a year. That mellowness, along with his GBTC team mates, watched by perhaps the most eccentric and joyous coach in distance running (Bill Squires), allowed Bill Rodgers to focus his killer instinct into some brutally contested road races.
A few years ago, Bill Rodgers told this writer that in all of his good Boston’s he felt poorly until he hit the hills. Frank Shorter called Bill Rodgers ‘a freak of nature’ out of awe and respect for his ability to train and compete at such a high level for so many years.
Jeff Benjamin’s feature on the 40th anniversary of Bill Rodgers’ finest victory is a joy to read, and takes us back to a time when social media was trading TFN gossip after a track workout, sharing the NY Marathon issues by The Runner, coming out 2 months after the event, and Bill Rodgers was “Bill”.
Do I wish we were back at that time? What I wish for was that races appreciation for the need of the media to build interest in the sport, by video, audio and text content. Bill Rodgers was Bill because of all the stories wrritten by Joe Concanon, Tom Dederian and Kenny Moore, giving us an inner view into the amazing road warrior that was Bill Rodgers.
“I’m On The Hunt I’m After You!”
– The 40th Anniversary of Bill Rodgers Victory At The 1979 Boston Marathon
By Jeff Benjamin
Anxiety, nervousness, self-doubt and fear are certainly among the feelings of many runners of all abilities in any race that they run. One athlete who carried those feelings in their journey with a big burden may have been Bill Rodgers when he toed the line in the damp, 40 some-odd degrees April Day at the 1979 Boston Marathon.
But Rodgers, going for his 3rd Boston victory, wasn’t alone with those feelings. Fellow competitors Chris Stewart, Gary Bjorkland, Olympian Don Kardong, Canada’s Jerome Drayton, New Zealander Kevin Ryan And Rodger’s Greater Boston Track Club Teammates Bob Hodge, Randy Thomas And Dick Mahoney without doubt had to have possessed these feelings as well alongside the 10,000 Boston Marathoners on that day. Yet all were no doubt driven by their training.
Speaking of training, Rodgers wrote an account for The Runner Magazine on his preparations for the big race with a few days to go, a training regimen indicative and perhaps unorthodox, but was his recipe for success year in and year out as one of the world’s best distance runners:
“Wednesday, five days before Boston, I do ten easy miles in the morning and later in the day 4X400 meters and 4X800 meters at a 67-second pace with a 200 meter jog/rest between runs, then a 7-Mile warmdown. I run 20 (miles!) on Thursday, finishing my week at 121 miles. That leaves 14 (Miles!) for Friday, 7 for Saturday and 3 or 4 for Sunday – the day before.”
As for his preparations the day before the big race? Rodgers spent time with his brother Charlie, consuming macaroni and cheese with butter almond ice cream for desert as per his legendary food reputation! Around 5:30 am race morning, Rodgers awoke briefly to eat some cookies and drink some Pepsi and then conked out again!
Yet, if someone were to measure the volume of the extremes on each side of those feelings, one could argue that Japan’s Toshihiko Seko was at the bottom of the “noise level”, while New Jersey’s Tom Fleming had to be way over the top!
Seko, who sported a 10K PR of 27:51, had defeated Rodgers at the Fukuoka Marathon month’s earlier, clocking a time of 2:10:21, while Rodgers finished 6th. Rodgers has to be concerned about Seko, but it was Tom Fleming who tried to steal the show early on.
The boisterous Fleming, who had finished 2nd twice in Boston, had decided to go all for broke in the ’79 race. “I just figured to run as fast as I could for as long as I could, and see if they could catch me,” said the New Jersey legend, who tragically passed away in 2017.
And that’s exactly what Fleming did, bolting out in front and dominating the race in the early miles, going through 5-miles in 23:40! Rodgers was wondering how long his friend could set that pace and thought about the 2:06 Marathon time Fleming had talked about throughout the years.
But, Rodgers felt strong at this stage and started harboring thoughts of confidence. “I felt comfortable despite Tom going out hard,” said Rodgers recently. But one of Rodgers concerns was with the quiet, low-key but dangerous Seko. “Toshihiko was following me since he figured I knew the course and it was his first Boston Marathon and I had forgotten about him in our pack!”
On The Hunt
Gary Bjorklund, Toshiko Seko, Bill Rodgers, 1979 Boston, photographer unknown
It was then that Bjorklund put in a surge, eventually surging away from the pack and even passing Fleming at the 15 1/2 mile mark.
As Rodgers and the pack finally caught up to Fleming at the 17 1/2 mile mark , a little humor was injected into the drama, as written about in Tom Deredrian’s masterpiece book Boston Marathon
“…Fleming turns to Rodgers and said, “Hi Bill, nice to see you but why did you have to bring him along?” Rodgers asked, “Who?” Fleming said, Behind You.”
To Rodger’s great surprise it was Seko, quietly stalking him.
As the duo passed Bjorkland (Who said, “Go For 2:08!”) just before Heartbreak Hill, It was then that Rodgers felt he had to go. “Boston is a very different course than Fukuoka and most Marathon courses, which are flatter,” said Rodgers. “So knowing the course and being more rested for Boston than I’d been for Fukuoka in 78 helped me a lot in 79.”
Also firing up Rodgers was positive mental thoughts. “In February I set the World Record At 25K (1:14:12) so I knew I was sharper and more in tune with this race than I was at Fukuoka.”
“I was only thinking of racing the Boston hills and going for the win so I ran hard thru the hills and could sense Toshihko slipping back,” said Rodgers, Who was also pumped up by the hometown fans.
As the race progressed Seko did fall back and Rodgers really poured it on. “The Boston fans gave me a lot of support.”
The hammer is down, Rodgers grinds up Seko, 1979 Boston, photographer unknown
As Rodgers entered the last minute of the race, he took his winter hat off and began waving to the crowd, as he picked up the pace even more to try and snatch Englishman Ron Hill’s best of 2:09:28. Rodgers would break it by one second, as his tone of 2:09:27 was a personal best and the Boston Marathon record. “I was really pleased to set my PR that day with no tailwind like my previous pr of 2:09:55,” said Rodgers, who quipped that he needed a bathroom with 10 miles to go in the race. As he ran towards that finish, Rodgers and the joyous crowd could hear the announcer proclaim,
Bill Rodgers wins the 1979 BAA Boston Marathon, ( To Order A “Relentless” Poster Commemorating Rodgers’ 1979 Boston Win (Autograph Available On Request), Please Go To http://www.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest runner in Massachusetts, the greatest runner in the United States, the greatest runner in the world and the history of the world!” Equally impressive was the team performance of Rodgers’ GBTC teammates, as Rodgers, Hodge, Thomas and Mahoney all finished in the top 10 that day, cementing them as not only America but perhaps the world’s best long-distance running club, which was coached by Bill Squires!
(To watch the Boston marathon video, please go to: 1979 Boston Race Video, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=
Looking Back & Forward
40 years later, one can make the point that Rodgers 1979 Boston win was the pinnacle point of his illustrious career. One thing eluded Rodgers – An Olympic medal. In 1976, juggling a teaching job with training as well as running with an injured foot, Rodgers finished out of the medals in Montreal. 1980 was to have been his Olympic Year, as Rodgers was still consistently training at high quality, but the American Boycott of the Moscow Games robbed Rodgers and other top American runners from ever getting to the Olympic medal podium. Once Rodgers knew there would be no Olympics for him, he motivated himself to win his 4th Boston Marathon In 1980. “I think all Olympic Sport athletes are saddened by boycotts,” said Rodgers recently. “The heavy hand of the Government was obviously at work and we were in the Cold War Era… I had hoped to represent the USA Moscow.”
But Rodgers found he could still turn things positive. “I’ve just returned from the Bix 7 in Iowa, which I was invited to run in the boycott year,” said Rodgers, who won the ’80 edition and had been invited back every year since. “I was fortunate to have help making lemonade from the lemons of the 80 Olympic Boycott by being Invited to the Bix 7 and I am grateful to Race Director Ed Froehlich and the Cornbelt runnimng Club and Quad City Times for their support!”
“The race gives you a cool patriotic feeling along with it’s Community, which is what i have always loved about Road Racing in America!”
“You know, I don’t have an Olympic Medal but I have 40 Years of Road Races like the Bix! “
