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.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected]), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–October 28
1966—Belgium’s Gaston Roelants set World Records of 58:06.2 for 20,000 meters and 20,664 meters in the hour-run in Leuven, Belgium. Australia’s Ron Clarke set the previous record of 59:22.8/20,332 meters a year earlier.
A Look at the Past Record Holders: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/one-hour-run-world-record-history
1973—The first all-women’s marathon was held in Waldniel, West Germany, and Christa Vahlensieck won in 2:59:25.6.
The success of that race was built on the following October when Dr. Ernst Van Aaken, a West German and a strong supporter of women’s running, sponsored the first Women’s International Marathon Championship in the same town. Forty women from seven countries competed in the event. Two years later, when the race was again, the forty-five finishers represented nine countries. Still, with the 1980 Summer Olympic Games on the horizon, Olympic organizers had yet to seriously consider creating a women’s marathon. Excerpted from Olympic Marathon, by Charlie Lovett.
http://www.marathonguide.com/history/olympicmarathons/chapter25.cfm
Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/6gfwqt3
Former World Record holder Jaqi Hansen, who finished 5th in the 1974 race, offers more on women’s marathon running history. Hansen, who hadn’t been selected for the U.S. team, made it to Germany thanks to her friend and fellow distance runner, actor Bruce Dern!
https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/M+B-xx-16-1w_pix-Hansen.pdf
Noted running writer Joe Henderson hosted this panel of marathoning legends before the 2013 Napa Valley Marathon (Joan Benoit-Samuelson, Jaqi Hansen, Nina Kuscsik, Lorraine Moller).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzvMSnunmgU
1984 – Despite stopping 8 times during the race because of the oppressive humidity in the air, unheralded Orlando Pizzolato of Italy won the 15th NY City Marathon in 2:14:53 (still the slowest winning time ever in the 5 borough race). Norway’s Grete Waitz captured the 6th of her 9 Women’s titles in 2:29:30. Pizzolato would win again the following year in 2:11:34.
Because of the hot and humid weather (79F, 26C/96% humidity), the race was moved to the first Sunday in November, starting in 1986. Many runners, including New Zealand’s Rod Dixon, the defending men’s champion, dropped out of the race, and one man from France died of cardiac arrest!
“Dixon had so much to lose by dropping out,” Marty Liquori, the ABC race analyst, told the Washington Post. “But Rod knew he was in too far. The smart ones dropped out — they knew they were in over their heads. You’re fighting a losing battle with the heat. It’s got you.”
Runnerup Dave Murphy (2:15:36) thought he could catch Pizzolato but explained, “At 24 miles, I could see him stop and thought it was my race. When I saw him running again, and I wasn’t closing fast enough, I knew I had to move. But when I picked up the pace, suddenly, I felt utterly dead. It was so frustrating. I felt capable of going faster, but the humidity meant I couldn’t. It was such a fine line. I was totally disappointed to be second at the end.”
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 4. Pat Petersen (USA) 2:16:35, 5.Gianni Demadonna (Italy) 2:17:05
Women: 2.Veronique Marot (Great Britain) 2:33:48, 3.Laura Fogli (Italy) 2:37:25…5.Judi St.Hilaire 2:37:49…8.Charlotte Teske (Germany) 2:41:16…11.Gabriela Andersen-Schiess (Switzerland) 2:42:24…23.Chantal Langlacé (France) 2:51:59
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/841028/finishers/1247019
Top 25: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_New_York_City_Marathon
(for subscribers): http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/falls-freak-marathon-weather
Washington Post Coverage
ABC Coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBoKrLINeUo
NYRR Hall of Fame: http://www.nyrr.org/about-us/nyrr-hall-of-fame/orlando-pizzolato
Past Winners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
1993—The 102nd Engineers Armory (168th Street Armory) in Washington Heights, now known as the Nike T&F Center, reopened as a track & field facility after being used as a homeless shelter for years. The late Dr.Norbert Sander spearheaded the project, which ran at the Armory in high school (Fordham Prep) and college (Fordham) and won the 1974 N.Y. City Marathon. (Gary Muhrcke, the first winner of the NY City Marathon in 1970, was part of Sander’s “renovation” team). 1995, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The building is also home to the National T&F Hall of Fame.
Said Dr.Sander at the opening ceremony, “A dream has been realized here today. However, the Armory’s rebirth could not have taken place without the leadership and vision of our Mayor, David N. Dinkins. Because of him and his progressive administration working closely with our state government, we are now standing on this new track dedicated to the youth of New York. The Armory Track and Field Center is the beginning of a renaissance for the Fort Washington Armory, our high school athletes citywide, and the sport of track and field”.
Added Larry Ellis, the President of USATF at the time, “A little bit in me died when we lost the facility. This was the track and field’s indoor palace. (Ellis ran at the Armory in the ‘40s and ‘50s at DeWitt Clinton High School and NYU and later coached there at Jamaica High School)
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/29/sports/armory-track-opens-again.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/22/nyregion/miles-to-go-in-this-old-armory.html
The Armory—Now and Then(2011 article) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/nyregion/25armorytrack.html?_r=0
NY Times Obituary(Sander):
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/sports/norbert-sander-dead-nyc-marathon-winner.html
