by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–October 23
(1955-Hungarians Rule, ’77 NYC Marathon, ’77 U.S. Marathon(W), ’83 NYC Marathon-
Be sure to check out the “Race After The Race” story in the report on Rod Dixon’s win at the 1983 NY City Marathon
1954—The Soviet Union’s (and Ukraine’s) Vladimir Kuts ran 13:51.2 in Prague to regain the World Record in the 5000-meters. Kuts had run 13:56.6 on August 29, only to lose the record to Great Britain’s Chris Chataway, who ran 13:51.8 on October 13.
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Kuts
1955-Hungary’s Sándor Iharos ran 13:40.6 for 5000-meters in Budapest to regain the World Record from Vladimir Kuts, who had run 13:46.8 the previous month.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5000_metres_world_record_progression
13:51.2 Vladimir Kuts (URS) 10-23-1954 Prague, Czechoslovakia
13:50.8 Sandor Iharos (HUN) 09-10-1955 Budapest, Hungary
13:46.8 Vladimir Kuts (URS) 09-18-1955 Belgrade, Yugoslavia
13:40.6 Sandor Iharos (HUN) 10-23-1955 Budapest, Hungary
13:36.8 Gordon Pirie (GBR) 06-19-1956 Bergen, Norway
13:35.0 Vladimir Kuts (URS) 10-13-1957 Rome, Italy
Iharos’s performance capped a remarkable year for Hungarian runners who set or equaled 10 World Records at 8 different distances! And László Tábori ran 3:59.0 for the mile to become the 3rd man to break 4-minutes in the event.
Sports Illustrated’s David Mayer offers an in-depth look at this memorable season and the man who coached all of the runners, Mihály Iglói, in the article linked below.
Career Stats: http://thegreatdistancerunners.de/SandorIharos.html
Sports Illustrated Vault: www.si.com/vault/1955/11/21/598530/hungary-becomes-a-great-powerin-track
1955-A Year of Records
May 14 3000-Meters 7:55.6 Sándor Iharos Budapest, Hungary
May 30 2-miles 8:33.4 Sándor Iharos London, England
July 28 1500-meters 3:40.8 Sándor Iharos Helsinki, Finland
September 6 1500-meters 3:40.8 László Tábori Oslo, Norway
September 10 5000-meters 13:50.8 Sándor Iharos Budapest, Hungary
September 21 1000-meters 2:19.0 István Rózsavölgyi Tata, Hungary
September 29 4×1500 15:14.8 Budapest, Hungary (Broke own WR)
Ferenc Mikes 3:52.0, László Tábori 3:46.6, István Rózsavölgyi 3:48.4, Sándor Iharos 3:47.8
October 2 2000-meters 5:02.2 István Rózsavölgyi Budapest, Hungary
October 23 3-miles 13:14.2 Sándor Iharos Budapest, Hungary (en route to 5000m)
October 23 5000-meters 13:40.6 Sándor Iharos Budapest, Hungary
WR Progressions
1000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000_metres_world_record_progression
1500: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
3000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_3000_metres_world_record_progression
1977—Bill Rodgers (2:11:28) and 42-year old Miki Gorman (2:43:10) were repeat winners at the 8th NY City Marathon (the 2nd covering all 5 boroughs). Rodgers, who would win here by almost 2-1/2 minutes, would win in NY again the next two years. Finishing 2nd to Gorman was Kim Merritt (2:46:10), who had set an American Record of 2:37:57 in Eugene a month earlier.
The men’s field was one of the strongest ever, featuring 4 of the 6 top finishers at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, and 6 of the 9 fastest marathoners in history.
4,823 runners started the race, making it the largest marathon in the world at the time. A crowd estimated at almost 800,000 turned out to watch what has become an iconic event in the Big Apple.
Other notable finishers in the men’s race:
2.Jerome Drayton (CAN/2:13:53)—6th in Montreal, #6 on the all-time list
3.Chris Stewart (GBR/2:13:56)—3rd for the 2nd year in a row
5.Garry Bjorklund (2:15:16)—1976 Olympian—10,000, battled Rodgers for the lead for more than 3 miles late in the race
6.Randy Thomas (2:15:51)—former women’s coach at Boston College
8.Kenny Moore (2:16:28)—4th at the 1972 Olympics
10.Don Kardong (2:17:04)—4th in Montreal
12.Tom Fleming (2:17:11)—winner in NY in 1973 and 1975
13.Ian Thompson (GBR/2:17:47)…#2 on the all-time list
17.Lasse Viren (FIN/2:19:35)—5th in Montreal after winning his 2nd Olympic double in the 5,000 and 10,000
18.Ron Hill (GBR/2:20:01)–#3 on the all-time list
32.Norb Sander (2:25:11)—winner of the 5th NY City Marathon
DNF(ankle injury)-Frank Shorter—1972 Olympic champion, silver medalist in 1976
Starters/Finishers: 4,823/3,626; Men: 4,563/3,442, Women: 260/184
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/771023/finishers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_New_York_City_Marathon
Highlights: https://digital.hagley.org/FILM_1995300_FC249_02
Pre-Race:
1977—Held on the same day as the NYC race, the first all-women’s Marathon held in the U.S. took place in St.Paul, Minnesota. The race served as the U.S. Championship and was won by Leal-Ann Reinhart in 2:46:34.
This was during a period when the International Runners Committee, spearheaded by Jaqi Hansen, a 2-time World Record setter in the marathon, was lobbying to have distance races for women added to the Olympic program. An injury prevented Hansen from running here, but she was able to cheer for Reinhart, her training partner, from the press truck.
Doing their part for the cause were race director Alex Boies and Jim Ferstle, who were instrumental in bringing the Championship to St.Paul.
Hansen stressed “the importance of staging all-women races in our quest for recognition, until we were established in terms of championships and awards on an equal status with men’s racing programs”.
Sarah Barker wrote about the 40th Anniversary of the race in this article for the Star-Tribune(scroll down):
https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/2022/06/18/a-day-in-the-life-of-jim-ferstle/
Past U.S. Champions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Marathon_Championships#Women%27s_results
The Women’s Marathon Movement:
https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/M+B-xx-16-1w_pix-Hansen.pdf
Leal-Ann Reinhart
1983—In one of the most dramatic finishes in the event’s history, New Zealand’s Rod Dixon chased down Great Britain’s Geoff Smith to win the NY City Marathon on a rainy day in his debut at the distance.
Trailing by 2-1/2 minutes after 20-miles, Dixon, the bronze medalist in the 1500-meters at the 1972 Olympics, methodically ate into Smith’s lead, running the tangents to make up a yard or two at every possible opportunity. He finally went into the lead with less than ¼-mile to go and won in 2:08:59, while Smith, who was an All-American at Providence, hung on for 2nd place (2:09:08) before collapsing at the finish line.
Dixon’s win was the first in NY by a non-American and began a streak that lasted until Meb Keflezighi won the race in 2009.
Norway’s Grete Waitz ran 2:27:00 to win the women’s race for the 5th time. She would eventually wind up as a 9-time winner in NY.
The Race After The Race
Former Duke coach Norm Ogilvie, a pretty decent runner in his day, describes his role in a race that began shortly after Rod Dixon crossed the finish line:
“In 1983, the NFL Today was a 30 minute pregame show that aired nationally on CBS. I was a 24 year old researcher on the show, which primarily involved calling direct to NFL Press Boxes and getting information directly from the team’s press steward on any number of details from the game so the show could provide updates from around the league into markets airing other games. There was no internet, no NFL Redzone Channel, and much info was still gathered by phone and scribbled down by researchers…accuracy was vital. The job also included other important duties, such as getting Brent Musberger’s sandwich order, and following the whims of the Director and Producer. Then one Monday, during the weekly planning meeting for the next week’s coverage, I was asked by one producer, who knew I was a runner, to weigh in on possible NYC Marathon coverage. ABC Sports was covering it Live coast to coast from 10:30am to 1:00pm. Still, many expected that ABC would lose a significant portion of their audience when the two NFL Pre-Game shows would air on CBS and NBC, respectively, at 12:30pm. I was asked if I could physically run over a videotape, plucked directly from the recorder, that would be located at the Tavern On The Green restaurant right at the Central Park finish line of the 26.2 mile race. And if I was willing to do the job, could I get it to the CBS studios at the Broadcast Center on 57th St. and 11th Avenue in time to get the tape of the finish on our air prior to 12:59pm, when we would send our viewers out to their respective stadiums for 1:00pm NFL kickoffs. “I can promise you I can run the tape to you from Tavern On The Green (almost exactly 2 miles) in under 10:00, but that will only be good enough if the race winner goes 2:10 or faster. ‘Can you promise me that’? Of course they couldn’t, so it was agreed that despite the risk, it was worth taking if CBS could scoop NBC, located slightly further away at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. As we know now, Rod Dixon’s dramatic come-from-behind win over Geoff Smith, where he raised his arms in triumph and ecstasy, was one of the great finishes in major marathon history. But it was highly probable that more viewers first saw the incredible drama of that finish not on ABC’s fantastic live coverage with Jim McKay and Marty Liqouri on the call, but about twelve minutes later on tape delay on the NFL Today, which had a wider audience.
I had to run close to nine minutes flat over the nearly 2M over NYC streets, through traffic, dodging cabs and cars to run the most efficient tangent, and even then we barely got the tape cued up on time. It aired again during the various halftime shows to probably even more eyeballs an hour and a half later. I felt proud of my effort, but was actually heckled by the Director for wearing running gear on the NFL Today set, which had its’ own dress code, even for lowly researchers. The internet, cheap satellite time and the advent of all-sports channels such as ESPN have made those kinds of TV production stories a thing of the past, but in the words of legendary CBS News Anchorman Walter Cronkite ‘That’s the way it was’ back in 1983.”
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 3.Ron Tabb (2:10:46), 4.John Tuttle (2:10:51)…6.Gidamis Shahanga (Tanzania/2:11:05), 7.Rudy Chapa (2:11:13)…12.Pat Petersen (2:12:06), 13.Kirk Pfeffer (2:12:20)…18.Tony Sandoval (2:13:21).
Women: 2.Laura Fogli (Italy/2:31:49), 3.Priscilla Welch (England/2:32:31)…5.Nancy Ditz (2:35:31), 6.Christa Vahlensieck (Germany/2:35:59)…12.Julie Shea (2:39:02).
Top 25: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_New_York_City_Marathon
NY Times Coverage:
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/24/sports/dixon-and-mrs-waitz-win-in-new-york-marathon.html
Dixon Looks Back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llfcZUyTJGA
Waitz: https://www.nyrr.org/about-us/nyrr-hall-of-fame/grete-waitz
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
Videos
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phxnt4u1ZXY
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5KUYzTjnuE
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctXt4G-TeLw
