This Day in Track & Field, February 22, James Saunders wins NYC 24 hour race (1882), Browning Ross organizes meeting to launch RRCA (1958), A Crazy US Indoor (2014)by Walt Murphy

This Day in Track & Field–December 1, Ron Delaney wins Melbourne Olympic 1,500 meters (1956), Did you know that he almost did not attend? Read the story! by Walt Murphy

This Day in Track & Field/X-Country–November 28, Lee Calhoun wins 110 meter hurdles (1956), written by Walt Murphy

This Day in Track & Field/X-Country–November 27, Al Oerter wins his first Olympic discus title (1956), written by Walt Murphy

This Day in Track & Field–February 22

1882 – With 120 miles, James Saunders wins NYC’s 24 hour race & $100 prize

http://planetultramarathon.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/the-history-of-the-6-day-race/

1911—The 4^th edition of the Millrose Games was held in front of 5,000 spectators at the Thirteenth Regiment Armory in Brooklyn,NY (on a Wednesday).

The NYAC’s Harry Gissing was the winner of the 1000-yards, the featured track event, in 2:18.8.

The 10-mile handicap race, a crowd favorite, was won by T.E. Nelson in 1:04:39.4 (with a 2-minute handicap. The race started in Bath Beach, with the last 2-miles taking place on the track.

The meet, which included a 5-mile bicycle race, was put on by the Millrose A.A., in conjunction with the Wanamaker store chain.

Gissing was one of many athletes who were featured in a trading card series that was published by the National Licorice Company.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/02/23/104820440.html?pageNumber=10

1916–Binga Dismond runs 51.0 and upsets Ted Meredith in the 440y at the Games of St.Antony, which were held at the 47th Regiment Armory in Brooklyn,NY. Dismond went on to become a noted physician in Harlem.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950DE4D9103FE233A25750C2A9649C946796D6CF

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2594046/

1958—Browning Ross, the “Father of Long Distance Running in the U.S.”, organized a meeting at the Paramount Hotel in New York whereby the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) was started. (From Gary Corbitt).

http://www.rrca.org/; http://www.rrca.org/about/history/

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Ross

NY Times Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/30/sports/browning-ross-74-founder-of-road-runners.html

1959—Ted Corbitt (2:38:57), representing the New York Pioneer Club, wins the Cherry Tree Marathon, the precursor to the NY City Marathon. This was the first marathon conducted by the newly formed Road Runners Club: New York Association. The race had 12 starters and 6 finishers. Corbitt would be the club’s first President, with Vice President: Joe Kleinerman (Millrose AA), and Secretary – Treasurer: John Sterner (New York Pioneer Club). The club had 47 members in 1959, and today is over 60,000. Corbitt would become known as “The Father of Ultramarathon running” in the U.S. and took the lead in developing a system across the country that certifies that a road race-course has been accurately measured.

The race started and finished in Macombs Dam Park near Yankee Stadium, running north up Sedgwick Avenue along the Harlem River and looping back again three times.

Corbitt’s Career Stats (Marathons/Ultramarathons):

https://tedcorbitt.com/list-of-marathons-ultramarathons/

(From Gary Corbitt, Ted’s son)

1964–With prepster Gerry Lindgren setting a fast early pace, Australia’s Ron Clarke went on to set a World Record of 13:18.4 for 3-miles at the U.S. Indoor Championships at Madison Square Garden. NY running legend Pete McArdle finished 2nd in 13:32.8, while Lindgren set a National H.S. Record of 13.37.8 in 3rd place.

As quoted in T&F News, Nebraska freshman Charlie Greene, giving an early indication of his legendary showmanship, told Bob Hayes before the start of the 60-yard dash, “You’ll have to run 5.9 to beat me”. Hayes did just that, running the first 5.9 in history. Greene ran 6.0 in 2nd to equal the previous world record.

Sports Illustrated Vault (Hayes Feature)

https://vault.si.com/vault/1964/05/18/how-fast-is-the-fastest-man-alive

1969—Leading from the gun, George Young ran 8:27.2 for 2-miles in San Diego to equal the World Record that was set on the same track a year earlier by Australia’s Kerry Pearce, who would run that time again in Seattle in 1971. Young also broke Jim Beatty’s American Record of 8:30.8 that was set in 1964.

1980—Mary Decker (Slaney) set a World Record of 1:59.7 for 880-yards at the Jack-in-the-Box meet in San Diego. Her time of 1:58.9 en-route for 800-meters was an American Record.

Kenya’s Mike Boit won the Men’s ½-mile in 1:47.9 to equal the World Record that was set by Australia’s Ralph Doubell in 1969.

Another World Record was set in the Men’s Long Jump, with Larry Myricks reaching out to 27-6 (8.38).

No record in the Men’s Mile, but it was still a high-quality affair, with Tanzania’s Filbert Bayi (3:55.5) winning a close one over Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan (3:55.7), New Zealand’s John Walker (3:55.8), and Germany’s Thomas Wessinghage (3:56.4), with American Steve Scott (3:59.3) finishing 5^th.

1981—Harvard’s Adam Dixon ran 2:19.79 for 1000-meters on his home track at the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton (HYP) meet, breaking the American (2:20.0/1973) and Collegiate (2:20.3/1979) records that were held by Tom Von Ruden and Villanova’s Don Paige, respectively. (The time was originally reported as 2:19.80)

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1981/2/23/dixon-sets-american-record-in-1000/

Harvard Hall of Fame: https://www.harvardvarsityclub.org/article.html?aid=597

1985–Sweden’s Patrik Sjöberg cleared 7-9 ¾ (2.38) in Berlin to set a World Indoor Record in the High Jump.

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrik_Sjöberg

1985—Competing in front of a sparse Madison Square Garden crowd during the afternoon session of the U.S. Indoor Championships, Arkansas’ Mike Conley won the Triple Jump with a Collegiate Record of 57-1 (17.40). He returned in the evening to win the Long Jump with his indoor best of 26-11 ¾ (8.22).

Valerie Brisco-Hooks set an American Record of 23.08 in the 1^st round of the 220y, then improved to 22.95 in the final, winning a total of $14,410 as the female overall winner of the Mobil Grand Prix.

Brooklyn native Diane Dixon was also a double-record setter, winning her heat of the 440y in 52.77 before running 52.20 in the final. The latter time also bettered Brisco-Hooks’ AR of 52.63 for 400-Meters. It was quite a night for Dixon, who also anchored her Atoms T.C. to a win in the Mile Relay, won $7,500 in the Grand Prix, and received a gold medal for running in the 1^st round of the 4×400 at the previous year’s Olympics in Los Angeles (final won by the U.S.). Dixon would eventually win 11 U.S. Indoor titles in the 440y/400m.

Said an emotional Atoms coach Fred Thompson of his prize pupil, “It was a helluva performance. After the records and getting her medal, she anchored our mile relay in 53.6. It was one of the most exciting nights in the history of the Atoms”.

American Record holder Jimmy Howard won the High Jump (7-8 [2.34]) and won $10,000 as the Men’s overall winner of the Mobil Grand Prix.

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/23/sports/dixon-betters-440-yard-mark-twice.html?searchResultPosition=1

Results: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42085717/1985-usa-indoor-championships-new/

1987—France’s Bruno Marie-Rose set a World Indoor Record of 20.37 for 200-Meters in Liévin, France.

1992—Algeria’s Noureddine Morceli set a World Indoor Record of 2:15.26 for 1000-meters in Birmingham, England. Holland’s Rob Druppers set the previous Record of 2:16.4 in 1988.

1997—Taking advantage of the sprinter-friendly altitude of Colorado Springs, UTEP’s Obadele Thompson set a World and Collegiate Record of 5.99 for 55-meters, the popular sprint distance among U.S. colleges at the time, at the Western Athletic Conference Championships. Pittsburgh’s Lee McRae held the previous records of 6.00 (1986). Finishing a close 2^nd to Thompson in 6.02 was BYU’s Leonard Myles-Mills.

1998—Mozambique’s Maria Mutola ran 1:56.36 in Liévin, France, to break the 10-year old World Indoor Record of 1:56.40, set by East Germany’s Christine Wachtel in 1988. Or so it was thought at the time. After checking video of the race, officials ruled that Mutola had stepped off the track on the final turn and decided that her time would not be ratified as a WR!

https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/mutola-powers-to-new-800m-indoor-record

Then Again…: https://worldathletics.org/news/news/mutola-indoor-mark-will-not-be-ratified

2004–Russia’s Svetlana Feofanova cleared 15-11 (4.85m) in Athens to break Yelena Isinbaeva’s week-old Pole Vault record of 15-10 (4.83). It was the 10th (and final) WR of her career.

2014—On one of the more bizarre days in the history of the U.S. Indoor Championships (or any other meet), there were controversial disqualifications in both the Women’s and Men’s 3000-meters.

Up first was the Women’s race, which was “won” by Gabe Grunewald, followed by Shannon Rowbury, Sara Vaughn, and Jordan Hasay. An official had raised a flag on the final turn after seeing contact between Grunewald and Hasay. After watching video of the race, officials determined that no foul had been committed and let the original results stand.

Since a berth on the U.S. team that would compete at the World Indoor Championships was at stake (Vaughn hadn’t met the qualifying standard), Alberto Salazar, Hasay’s coach, filed a protest, which was then upheld, with Grunewald being disqualified and Hasay placed on the World team.

Grunewald’s representatives then started working on the arbitration process. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, with Salazar withdrawing his initial protest after Hasay declined her spot on the World team and Grunewald was reinstated as the winner.

While it took two days to decide Grunewald’s fate, it took 10-months for Andrew Bumbalough to be reinstated as the 8^th-place finisher in the Men’s 3000!

Bernard Lagat and Galen Rupp finished 1-2 in the Men’s race, while Bumbalough was disqualified after being mistakenly identified as the runner who had impeded Rupp on the final lap.

This was the last race of the night, and Bumbalough and his coach, Jerry Schumacher, didn’t find out about the DQ until they were back at their hotel. When they returned to the track, they were told in no uncertain terms that Bumbalough had indeed been observed committing a foul, so they left without filing a protest. Only problem was, it was Ryan Hill, not Bumbalough, who had veered in front of Rupp as he moved outside to challenge for the lead (he wound up finishing 3^rd)!

Officials soon became aware of their mistake, but it wasn’t until the USATF meeting in December that Bumbalough’s 8th-place finish was officially recognized.

USATF officials took a lot of heat for their handling of both incidents, and formed the “Albuquerque Working Group”, which eventually put into place a series of provisions that would help avoid similar situations in the future.

https://www.letsrun.com/events/2014-usatf-indoor-track-field-championships/

http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/why-was-andrew-bumbalough-disqualified-in-usa-indoor-3000#

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/02/inside-story-andrew-bumbalough-dq-case-mistaken-identity-catastrophe/

http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/andrew-bumbalough-reacts-to-usatf-report-on-his-errant-dq

http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/grunewald-reinstated-as-3000-meter-champ

http://www.flotrack.org/article/28894-bumbalough-reinstated-ten-months-after-usatf-indoor-championships

Results: https://flashresults.com/2014_Meets/indoor/2-21-USA/index.htm

Videos:

www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&mgroup_event_id=25&year=2014&do=videos&video_id=105016

2019—LSU freshman Mondo Duplantis set a Collegiate Record of 19-5 (5.92) in the Pole Vault at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He would win the NCAA Indoor title two weeks later and is now the World Record holder and the reigning Olympic and World Champion.

2019—Kendell Williams (4496) won the Pentathlon on the first day of the U.S. Indoor Championships, which returned to

New York for the first time since 2002, but at a new venue–the Ocean Breeze Complex on Staten Island. Anna Hall (Valor,

Highlands Ranch, CO) finished 3^rdwith a score of 4302 to smash Williams’ High School and American Junior Records. (4068/2013)

Hall’s Marks: (8.59, 5-111⁄4/1.81, 41-81⁄2/12.34, 18-41⁄2/5.60, 2:16.11).U.S. Indoors

Significant birthdays

Born On This Day*

Jonathan Borlée–Belgium 37 (1988) 2009 NCAA Champion—400m, 4×400 (Florida State);

PB-44.43 (’12), 2023 SB: 46.31

https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/belgium/jonathan-borlee-14177716

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Borlée

Kevin Borlée—Belgium 37 (1988) 2010 European Champion—400m; PB: 44.56 (’12); 2023 SB: 46.14

2009 NCAA Champion—4×400 (Florida State-43.8 anchor/4th in the 400-brother won)