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: [email protected] ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
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by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field—March 29
1912—Stanford’s George Horine set a World Record of 6-6 1/8 (1.985) in the High Jump at home in a dual meet with USC. Horine was the first to set a record in the event using the Western Roll. He would improve to 6-7 (2.007) on May 17, becoming the first man to clear 2 meters, and that was the first HJ record ratified by the IAAF. Horine went on to win the bronze medal at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
Read about the development of his style, dictated by the limitations of his family’s backyard in Palo Alto, in his Wiki bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Horine
Stockholm Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd1kuIhtNOs
The High Jump: http://www.iaaf.org/disciplines/jumps/high-jump
1921–USC’s Charley Paddock edged Stanford’s Morris Kirksey in the 100-yard dash at Stanford Stadium in a dual meet between the two schools. Both were timed in 9-3/5 (9.6) to equal Paddock’s World Record that he shared with fellow Americans Daniel Kelly and Howard Drew. However, the marks were never ratified by the IAAF. It was the closest Kirksey would ever come to beating Paddock, whom he never beat in the 25 times they met!
Kirksey finished 2nd to Paddock in the 100-Meters at the previous year’s Olympics in Antwerp, anchored the winning U.S. team to a World Record in the 4×100 (Paddock ran the lead-off leg) , and won a 2nd gold medal in Rugby!
(From the IAAF Progression of World Records)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Kirksey
1975—13 days after winning the World X-Country title, Julie Brown set a pre-IAAF World Record of 35:00.4 for 10,000 Meters at UCLA. She also established the first American Record in the event. (Kathy Gibbons had run 34:51.0 in a mixed-gender race in 1971).
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,000_metres_world_record_progression
1981—Inspired by his participation in the 1979 NY City Marathon (see below), Chris Brasher, the 1956 Olympic gold medalist in the Steeplechase, was instrumental in founding the London Marathon, which made its debut in the rain on this date. (Brasher and Chris Chataway paced Roger Bannister to the first sub-4 mile in 1954.)
The inaugural winners were American Dick Beardsley and Norway’s Inge Sorenson (2:11:48), who crossed the finish line together holding hands, and Great Britain’s own Joyce Smith (2:29:57).
Upon his return from his race in NY, Brasher wrote in The Observer:
“To believe this story, you must believe that the human race is one joyous family, working together, laughing together, and achieving the impossible. Last Sunday, in one of the most trouble-stricken cities in the world, 11,532 men and women from 40 countries in the world, assisted by over a million black, white, and yellow people, laughed, cheered, and suffered during the greatest folk festival the world has seen.”
The London race would become one of the world’s best and is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series.
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/chris-brasher-olympic-champion-and-co-founder
Results(Top-10): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_London_Marathon
How The Race Was Born:
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_London_Marathon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Marathon
Men’s Finish:
