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 24
1970—While the rest of the world saw it as “just” another World Record, U.S. fans (and others who hadn’t yet joined the metric family) viewed it as a barrier-breaker when Greece’s Chris Papanicolaou became the first man to clear 18-feet (5.49m) in the Pole Vault in Athens.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christos_Papanikolaou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_New_York_City_Marathon
1976 –It was on this day in the Bicentennial year that the NY City Marathon moved from its humble beginnings in Central Park to embrace all five boroughs of the Big Apple. The first six editions of the race were held within the confines of Central Park.
Frank Shorter, who won a silver medal at the Montreal Olympics 3 months earlier to go with the gold he won in 1972, and Bill Rodgers, who had broken Shorter’s American Record the year before, were persuaded to compete, giving the race instant credibility, and they were joined by 2,000 additional runners at the starting line on the Staten Island side of the Verrazzano Bridge.
Rodgers, who was looking for redemption after finishing a disappointing 40th in Montreal, went on to capture the first of his four consecutive titles in New York in 2:10:10, while Shorter, who entered more out of curiosity than a desire to run well, finished a respectable 2nd in 2:13:12. (It was later learned that Shorter ran the race with a fractured bone in his ankle!). Tom Fleming, the winner in Central Park in 1973 and 1975, was 6th in 2:16:52, and 21st was Gary Muhrcke (2:25:26), the winner of the first NYC Marathon in 1970. 41-year old Miki Gorman won the women’s race in 2:39:11, with Doris Brown (Heritage) finishing 2nd in 2:53:20.
Short on cash, Shorter and George Hirsch, one of the founders of the 5-borough race, hitchhiked from Central Park to Hirsch’s apartment, much to the delight of the car’s occupants when they realized who they were transporting! Rodgers had a less pleasant experience after the race, since he found out his car had been towed away by the police. He was able to retrieve the car after Fred Lebow paid the $90.00 fine!
The race almost finished without the presence of Lebow, the visionary event director, who barely avoided getting arrested after arguing with a police officer about the correct placing of barricades that were supposed to direct the runners as they progressed from Brooklyn to Queens (From Peter Gambaccini’s “The New York City Marathon-Twenty Five Years”). http://www.amazon.com/New-York-City-Marathon-Twenty-Five/dp/0847818152
The 5-boro race, which was the brainchild of long-time runner and former NY City Mayoral candidate George Spitz, was deemed a success by runners and city officials alike, and the event is now one of the greatest sporting spectacles and has been an inspiration for similar big-city marathons around the world. Spitz, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 92, was inducted into the NYRR Hall of Fame in 2014(see link below).
Starters/Finishers: 2,002/1,536; Men: 1,914/1,504, Women: 88/32; Participants from 35 states and 14 countries
Top-10: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_New_York_City_Marathon
https://tonireavis.com/2021/11/01/new-york-city-marathon-1976-the-crossroads/
Bill Rodgers Remembers 1976(for subscribers?):
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/a-chance-for-salvation
And so does George Hirsch, one of the organizers of the 1976 race, in this article he wrote for the New Yorker in 2016
https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/the-first-five-borough-new-york-city-marathon
NY City Marathon History:
https://www.nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon/GetInspired/MarathonHistory
https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/nyc-marathon
George Spitz: http://www.nyrr.org/about-us/nyrr-hall-of-fame/george-spitz
Sidenote
I was an official timer at the early NY City marathons (including the first one in 1970), but one of the most fun things I got to do for close to 40-years had to do with a different timing role. I got to ride on the men’s timing vehicle and record (with great assistance from Sean Hartnett, aka Professor Marathon) the leaders and splits at all of the mile and 5-kilometer markers (as a backup to the official data recorded along the course). It was a great way to see the race and a great way to enjoy the same thrill the runners got while moving through the crowds along the magnificent course. All without breaking a sweat, of course. (Sadly, that role was eliminated in 2017 by the NYRR, which is comfortable with the timing system now in place).
With a front-row seat, I witnessed some memorable moments over the years. In 1982 (also on Oct.24/see below), before the entry route into Central Park was changed, the runners had to cross a bare patch of lawn before entering the park’s roadway. Our vehicle, along with the accompanying police motorcycles and press trucks, kicked up a cloud of dust that the leaders had to pass through. Emerging from that cloud, as if in a scene from a movie, was Alberto Salazar, who had edged ahead of Mexico’s Rodolfo Gómez after a race-long battle. Salazar, the 2-time defending champion, went on to win his 3rd NYC title in 2:09:29 with Gómez finishing a close 2nd in 2:09:33.
In 1994, Mexico’s Germán Silva was running shoulder-to-shoulder with countryman and training partner Benjamin Paredes on the street outside the park with less than a mile to go in the race. Instead of continuing on a straight path, Silva followed the lead vehicles, which were now at the end of their day, into the park. Silva saw the waving arms and the look of panic on everyone’s face, quickly corrected his mistake, and went on to catch Paredes, winning in 2:11:21. Silva good-naturedly re-enacted his wrong turn the following night in an appearance on the David Letterman Show!
Cloud of Dust Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCIGNWVkzc
Wrong-Way Silva Article/Video: http://tinyurl.com/ygonmhh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtDiaXgYC9g
1982—As noted above (1976), Alberto Salazar (2:09:29) emerged from a cloud of dust as he entered Central Park on his way to winning the NY City Marathon over Mexico’s Rodolfo Gomez (2:09:33).
Already a fan favorite in NY, Norway’s Grete Waitz (2:27:14) won the women’s race for the 4th time and would win the race 5 more times to give her a grand total of 9 victories!
Other Notable Finishers:
Men: 3.Dan Schlesinger (2:11:54)…7.George Malley (2:13:29)…11.Ralph Serna (2:14:23)…16.Adrian Leek (Wales/2:15:56)…18.Benji Durden (2:16:09)
Women: 2.Julie Brown (2:28:33), 3.Charlotte Teske (Germany/2:31:53)…5.Ingrid Kristiansen (Norway/2:33:36)…9.Carla Beurskens (Netherlands/2:35:37), 10.Nancy Ditz (2:38:08).
Starters/Finishers: 14,308/13,599; Men: 12,025/11,700, Women: 2,283/1,899
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/821024/finishers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_New_York_City_Marathon
Past Winners:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
ABC TV Coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDQPG8tp9Ek
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/25/nyregion/salazar-wins-city-marathan-in-a-close-duel.html
1999—Morocco’s Khalid Khannouchi set a World Record of 2:05:42 at the Chicago Marathon. The winner in Chicago in 1997, he would win for a 3rd time in 2000 (representing the U.S.). Finishing 2nd was Kenya’s Moses Tanui (2:06:16), and 4th was American David Morris (2:09:32).
Khannouchi moved to Brooklyn,NY, in 1992 after failing to get funding for his training from the Moroccan Federation. After becoming a U.S. citizen in 2000, Khannouchi lowered his record to 2:05:38 at the 2002 London Marathon. That remains as the American Record (Ryan Hall ran 2:04:58 at the 2011 Boston Marathon on a course that’s not eligible for record consideration). Plagued by injuries throughout much of his career, Khannouchi officially retired in 2012.
Despite taking a spill before the ½-way point, Joyce Chepchumba (2:25:59) was able to hold off fellow Kenyan Margaret Okayo (2:26:00) in one of the closest finishes in the race’s history to repeat as the Women’s champion. Next across the line were the South African duo of Elana Meyer (2:27:17) and Colleen De Reuck (2:27:30), while American Libbie Hickman finished 6th in 2:28:34.
Top 10: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Chicago_Marathon
Complete Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P44e1vEJvJc
Women’s Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J49JcldPvw
Post Race Interview(Khannouchi): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3NuvNir4mU
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_Chicago_Marathon
Retirement: http://www.letsrun.com/2012/khannouchi-retires-0326.php
2021- Running the distance for the first time, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey ran 1:02:52 for the Half-Marathon in Valencia, Spain, smashing the previous World Record of 1:04:02 that was set by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich earlier in the year
(April 4).
Gidey, the bronze medalist at 10,000-Meters at the Tokyo Olympics, had previously set World Records in the 5000 (14:06.62/also in Valencia in 2020) and 10,000 (29:01.03/in June, 2021) Meters.
Her performance was hailed as one of the greatest in history, in any event, while others are pointing out that she’s one of the many beneficiaries of the “super shoes” that have helped produce many fast times in recent years.
(For subscribers?): https://trackandfieldnews.com/valencia-half-marathon-gidey-stuns-with-wr-debut/
Trying to Make Sense of Her Performance:
Race Results Weekly: https://runnersweb.com/running/news_2021/rw_news_20211024_RRW_Valencia.html
“Since the introduction of ‘super shoes’ which use space-age elastomers and carbon plates or rods in a thick midsole up to 40 millimeters to give athletes more energy return with each stride, the all-time lists for road running have been completely rewritten. For example, the top-12 women’s half-marathon times in history have been run since 2017 when super shoes began to be introduced as prototypes, and all of the top-7 times have been run since 2019 when the shoes came into wide use. Athletes are still learning how to use the new shoes in both training and racing and further improvements through adaptation are likely.”
Discussion: https://forum.trackandfieldnews.com/forum/current-events/1727669-valencia-half-marathon
