by Larry Eder
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/–November 12
1964—Less than a month after his double-gold medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics (800/1500), New Zealand’s Peter Snell ran 2:16.6 for 1000-meters in Auckland to break the 4-year old World Record of 2:16.7, set by East Germany’s Siegfried Valentin in 1960.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000_metres_world_record_progression
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/74357
1964
Olympic 800m/1500m champion, photo by World Athletics
1977–Carleton’s Dale Kramer, a native of Minnesota, had no trouble dealing with Cleveland’s 4” of snow and frigid temperatures as he won his 2nd straight NCAA Div.III X-Country title. A snowmobile led the runners over the course to make sure they went in the right direction!
In 2002, Kramer was named a NCAA Silver Anniversary award winner, an honor that recognizes former outstanding student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in the 25 years since graduating.
https://www.carleton.edu/news/stories/dale-kramer-named-ncaa-silver-award-recipient/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Silver_Anniversary_Awards_recipients
Div.III History: https://sagehens.com/sports/2023/8/28/d3-cross-country-historians-report.aspx
1995—For the 2nd year in a row, Mexico’s Germán Silva (2:10:00) and Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe (2:28:06) were winners at the NY City Marathon.
Silva, who famously won in 1994 despite making a wrong turn near the end of the race, made no such mistake this time, pulling away from Great Britain’s Paul Evans (2:11:05) in the last 3-miles. He was inducted into the NYRR Hall of Fame in 2014.
After Loroupe crossed the finish line, the two winners congratulated each other in an emotional embrace, for both were running in the memory of loved ones who had died. Silva’s father, Agapito, lost his battle with cancer over the summer, and Loroupe’s sister, Albina, died only 13 days ago from severe stomach hemorrhages. (From Frank Litsky’s NY Times article)
Runners had to deal with the coldest conditions in the history of the race, with the wind-chill factor registering below 20-degrees at times.
Other Notable/U.S. Finishers
Men: 5.John Kagwe (Kenya/would win in 1997&1998) 2:11:42…33.Maximo Olivares (Top American!) 2:22:20
Women: 2.Manuela Machado (Portugal) 2:30:37…4.Joyce Chepchumba (Kenya/would win in 2002) 2:33:51…8.Lidia Şimon (Romania) 2:37:39…14.Colleen De Reuck (South Africa) 2:46:18…19.Regina Ronan (Top American) 2:48:34
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/951112/finishers/1654996
Top 25: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Marathon_1995
Past NY City Marathon Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
Media Guide (2024)
Through The Years:
2014 HOF: http://www.marathonguide.com/pressreleases/index.cfm?file=NewYorkRoadRunners_141020
2000—Kenya’s Paul Tergat (1:03:47), the defending men’s champion, and Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe (1:09:07) were the winners in hot and humid conditions at the World Half-Marathon Championships in Veracruz, Mexico.
While Radcliffe had little trouble winning over Kenya’s Susan Chepkemei (1:09:40), Tergat waited until late in the race before taking control and pulling away from Tanzania’s Phaustin Baha Sulle (1:03:48), Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Jifar (1:03:50), and Kenya’s Joseph Kimani (1:03:52).
Tergat, who won the silver medal in the 10,000-meters at the Sydney Olympics less than 2 months earlier, became the first man to win 2 World Half-Marathon titles.
For Tergat, winning in Mexico also had a special significance: “Kenyan athletics really started in Mexico in 1968, at the Olympics, so it makes this win especially important for me.”
Teams (3 score): Men-Kenya (3:11:38), Ethiopia (; Women-Romania (3:34:22), Japan (3:36:25)
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhYSNub35Dc
Past Champions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Athletics_Road_Running_Championships
