Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–April 16
1960—Gert Potgieter celebrated his 23rd birthday by running 49.3 in the 440-yard hurdles on a 550-yard track at the South African Championships in Bloemfontein, breaking his own World Record of 49.7. (See Birthdays below).
1983—Arizona State’s Leslie Deniz threw the Discus 213-1 (64.94) at her home field in Tempe to break her own 2-week-old American Record of 212-0 (64.62). Deniz set a total of five ARs during her career and was the silver medalist at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The gold medalist in L.A. was her former Sun Devil teammate, Ria Stalman, who competed for her native Netherlands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Deniz
Wheaties Box(2004 article): http://www.newsreview.com/chico/silver-bullet/content?oid=31825
Boston Marathon
1973—Former Cornell star Jon Anderson (2:16:03) pulled away from Finland’s Olavi Suomalainen (2:18:21), the defending champion, near the 20-mile mark and won the Boston Marathon going away. Tom Fleming (2:17:03) closed fast in the last mile to take 2nd from Suomalainen. 14th was Norb Sander (2:25:50), the winner of the 5th NY City Marathon in 1974 and the man mainly responsible for the revitalization of NY’s Armory.
Jaqi Hansen (3:05:59) won the Women’s race over Nina Kuscsik (3:06.29). Kathrine Switzer finished 4th in 3:20:30. All 3 would eventually play key roles in the fight to have the Women’s Marathon added to the Olympic program!
It was only the 2nd marathon for Hansen, who had won the Western Hemisphere race in Culver City 4 months earlier, but it was the first time she and her coach, Laszlo Tabori, had approached the race with the collective mindset of a true marathoner.
From her book, “A Long Time Coming”: “Laszlo had never been a road racer. One of the world’s best at 1500 to 5000 meters in his era, he naturally trained me as a middle distance runner. I had only modest success there, yet quite honestly the 1500 meter and mile races remained my favorites. When I suggested running my first marathon, Laszlo told me, ‘The marathon is something you do when you’re too slow to race anything shorter’. Yet he didn’t discourage me from running the distance. My first attempt wasn’t pretty, largely because I hadn’t run far enough, often enough in training. The difference between my first two marathons is that I at least trained for Boston. Laszlo piled on the miles in intervals every other night during the week, and I piled on the miles on the roads on the weekends”.
Anderson and Hansen would become co-winners again two years later at the Nike OTC Marathon in Eugene, with Hansen setting a World Record of 2:38:19.
Hansen had two photos of herself and Anderson from that day placed in frames made from wood salvaged after the demolition of the old Hayward Field in Eugene! https://www.oregontrackclub.com/hayward-field-frames
Hansen would serve as the official starter of the elite women’s race in 2013–the 40th anniversary of her win and the year of the bombing at the finish line. And both she and Anderson served as the official starters for the 2023 race to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their double wins!
https://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/?a=d&d=CDS19730417.2.3&
http://www.garycohenrunning.com/Interviews/Anderson.aspx
https://cornellsun.com/2016/08/23/step-by-step-anderson-71-stars-on-national-stage/
Results(search for 1973):
https://www.baa.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/BostonMarathonHistoricalResults.pdf
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Jacqueline “Jaqi” Hansen
Hansen on the 2013 Race: https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/2013/04/21/boston-2013/
1979–Running her 2nd marathon, 21-year old Joan Benoit (Samuelson) won at Boston for the first time, setting an American Record of 2:35:15 in cool and wet conditions (She would win again in 1983). Bill Rodgers won the Men’s title for the 3rd time and ran 2:09.27 to break his own course record. Next across the line were Japan’s Toshihiko Seko (2:10:12), Bob Hodge (2:12:30), Tom Fleming (2:12:56), and Garry Bjorklund (2:13:14).
Unfamiliar with the course, Benoit asked a fellow runner during the race, “So where are these so-called Heartbreak Hills”, only to be told by the incredulous runner, “You just passed those hills!”.
www.nytimes.com/1979/04/17/archives/rodgers-in-20927-takes-2d-straight-boston-marathon-victor-breaks.html
Top-10: https://marathonview.net/race/95340
http://www.wmur.com/sports/Joan-Benoit-recalls-Boston-Marathon-victory-in-1979/19701456
Rodgers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL5uJptj_6Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL5uJptj_6Q
Bob Hodge: https://www.nerunner.com/2017/03/09/the-1979-boston-marathon-a-watershed-moment/
40th Anniversary (2019)
1990—Olympic champions ruled the day at the Boston Marathon, with Italy’s Gelindo Bordin (2:08:19) and Portugal’s Rosa Mota (2:25:04), both of whom won gold at the 1988 Oympics in Seoul, winning their respective races. It was the 3rd Boston victory for Mota, who also won in 1987 & 1988.
http://archive.boston.com/marathon/history/1990.shtml
www.nytimes.com/1990/04/17/sports/boston-marathon-bordin-catches-ikangaa-mota-first-woman-win-3d-time.html
2001—A 10-year winning streak by runners from Kenya came to an end at the Boston Marathon, with South Korea’s Lee Bong-Ju finishing 1st in 2:09:13. He dedicated the race to the memory of his father, who passed away just a few weeks before the race.
Kenya’s Catherine “The Great” Ndereba (2:23:53) won the Women’s race for the 2nd year in a row.
Video(Men’s Highlight)
http://archive.boston.com/marathon/raceday01/webcast.htm
Results: http://www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?MIDD=15010416
2018—For many reasons, this was one of the most memorable (some might say forgettable) Boston Marathons in the 122-year history of the event.
The weather conditions might have been the worst ever, with runners having to deal with strong winds, cool temperatures, and heavy rain. Many of the world’s elite athletes, including American favorites Shalane Flanagan and Galen Rupp, went to the starting line wearing protective gear not often seen at a major marathon.
The races themselves turned out to be wars of attrition, with most of the pre-race favorites faring poorly. One of the first casualties was Jordan Hasay, who pulled out on Sunday due to an injury.
The winner of the women’s race was Des Linden, who thought early in the race that she might not be able to finish! When Flanagan had to stop for a bathroom break early in the race, Linden slowed to wait for her, thinking she would help pace her in an effort to regain contact with the lead group.
While Flanagan would fade out of contention, Linden, 2nd here in 2011, patiently stayed within striking distance, and eventually passed Ethiopia’s Mamitou Daska, pulling away to win by 4:10 over surprise (to put it mildly) runnerup Sarah Sellers, who earned a cool $75,000, the biggest payday, by far, of her career (Linden won $150,000). Linden became the first American woman to win in Boston since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach (now Rainsberger) won in 1985. Flanagan, the local favorite who grew up in nearby Marblehead,MA, was hoping to follow her 2017 win in NY with another win here, but had to settle for a 7th-place finish. Molly Huddle, another of the American hopefuls, finished 16th.
Turns out Sellers is a full time nurse anesthetist who competed for Weber State and is still coached by the school’s Paul Pilkington, who ran 2:11:13 for the marathon in 1990.
Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi, the hardest working man in running, confounded the experts by winning the men’s race, the 81st marathon of his prolific career. Rupp, one of the pre-race favorites, dropped out around the 19-mile mark.
Not surprisingly, given the brutal conditions, Linden’s winning time of 2:39:54 was the slowest for a woman since 1978, while Kawauchi’s time of 2:15:58 was the slowest for a man since 1973.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/sports/boston-marathon-rain-galen-rupp.html
Results(top 100)
Men: www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?RL=1&MIDD=15180416&Gen=M&Begin=1&End=100&Max=14142
Women: www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?RL=1&MIDD=15180416&Gen=F&Begin=1&End=100&Max=11604
Kawauchi’s Career: https://more.arrs.run/runner/28097
Linden-The Shoey:
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2018/04/18/boston-marathon-champion-des-linden-champagne-shoe-chug
Sellers: www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2018/04/16/sarah-sellers-second-place-finisher-boston-marathon
Flanagan Congratulates Linden
Bathroom Break
Behind The Scenes(2020) (subscription required?)
Past Boston Marathon Winners
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_Boston_Marathon
Born On This Day*
Neely Spence Gracey 36 (1990) 8-time NCAA Div.II Champion (Shippensburg)
2009—DMRi, 5000
2010—5000(Indoor/Outdoor), X-Country
2011—DMRi, 5000, X-Country
2nd at the 2017 U.S. 25k and ½-marathon Championships
After giving birth to her son in July, 2018, injuries and illness slowed her return to competition. Qualified for the
2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials when she ran 2:44:03 in Houston on January 19, 2020 (her first race in 18
months). After missing the 2012 (5000) and 2016 (Marathon) Trials due to injury, she fulfilled her goal of
competing at the U.S. Trials in Atlanta, but was unable to finish the race.
PBs: 15:25.34 (’15), 32:16.51 (’12), 69:59 (’15), 2:33:53 (’24);
Coached in H.S. and College by her dad Steve, the bronze medalist in the Marathon at the 1991
World Championships…born on the day her dad was finishing 19th at the 1990 Boston
Marathon….made her marathon debut in Boston in 2016 (9th-2:35:00), 8th in the 2016 NY City
Marathon(2:34:55).
www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a30516583/neely-spence-gracey-chasing-olympic-trials-standard-at-houston/
https://www.usatf.org/news/2020/neely-spence-gracey-q-a
Shippensburg Bio: http://www.shipraiders.com/sports/2010/6/24/spence.aspx
Coach: https://getrunningcoaching.com/meet-the-coaches
Stanley Redwine 65 (1961) Head coach at Kansas
2-time bronze medalist in the 800 at the Pan-American Games (1983,1987)
4th in the 800 at three World Indoor Championships (’87,’89,’91)
All-American at Arkansas (3rd-1983 NCAA); 5th at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials
PBs: 1:44.87 (1984), 1:47.54i (1989)
Set the pace for Eamonn Coghlan in 1994 when he became the first man over 40 (he was 41) to break 4-
minutes for the mile (3:58.15).
Was the USA Head Men’s T&F Coach for the Paris Olympics
Kansas Bio: https://kuathletics.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/coaches/stanley-redwine/840
Kansas Athletics HOF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIYPvmTqQiA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Redwine
https://kuathletics.com/stanley-redwine-named-team-usa-mens-head-track-field-coach-for-2024-paris-olympics/
John Smith 65 (1961) Successful throws coach at Ohio State, Southern Illinois, and currently at Ole Miss
Most prominent athlete he coached is his wife—Hall-of-Famer Connie Price, who is now his boss as the
head coach at Ole Miss! Also coached Raven Saunders, who won 4 NCAA titles, held the Collegiate
Indoor and Outdoor Records, and won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Smith himself won eight Missouri Valley Conference titles in the Shot Put, Discus and Hammer
Ole Miss Bio: https://olemisssports.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/coaches/john-smith/998
Connie Price-Smith:
https://olemisssports.com/news/2016/10/13/Connie_Price_Smith_Elected_to_USATF_Hall_of_Fame.aspx
Gert Potgieter—South Africa—89 (1937)—Set 3 World Records in the 440-yard hurdles:50.7 (’57), 49.7 (’58), 49.3 (’60-
on his 23rd birthday!).
19 at the time, he stumbled over the final hurdle at the 1956 Olympics while in medal
contention—wound up 6th.
Would have been a medal contender at the 1960 Olympics, but was involved in a serious auto
accident in Germany just 2 weeks before the Games in Rome. “Watching the mistakes made by my
rivals in the Olympic final from my hospital bed was the worst experience of my life,” he recalled.
After a long recovery, he went on to win the 1966 National title in the decathlon.
Helped lead the fight for the desegregation of sport in South Africa.
“After winning the Empire (now Commonwealth) Games title in Cardiff in 1958, he was photographed at a
meeting in then Rhodesia with his arm over the shoulder of Josh Culbreath, an African-American athlete. Such
contact was frowned upon in apartheid SA and it earned him a reprimand from the commissioner of police, who
told him ‘he was embarrassing the country’ “.
(From the Looking Back link below)
Voted South Africa’s Athlete of the 20th Century.
Looking Back(2011):
www.timeslive.co.za/sport/other/2011/08/21/Male-athlete-of-the-20th-century-reflects-on-career
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/75310
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gert_Potgieter_(athlete)
