I have always admired him as a runner and, from what little I have heard, as a human being as well.
I would love to hear thoughts and memories about one of the greatest runners the US has produced.
We'll miss you Bob.
I have always admired him as a runner and, from what little I have heard, as a human being as well.
I would love to hear thoughts and memories about one of the greatest runners the US has produced.
We'll miss you Bob.
Though I've never met BK, my favorite memory would have to be the 96 Olympic 5000m final. When he took the lead with 2 laps to go! What a move. Clearly he was racing to win the gold. Hope he decides to run a marathon some day.
THE DRUDGE REPORT has learned Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-MA) office is behind a last ditch effort to stop Judge Samuel A. AlitoÕs confirmation before next week's vote using a 2004 recusal request.
THE DRUDGE REPORT has obtained a complaint filed by H. Gerard Heimbecker of Upper Darby, PA accusing Alito of not properly listing the Heimbecker v. 555 Associates case in his Senate questionnaire.
Kennedy legal aide James Flug is behind the efforts to push this latest attack. The veteran aide has been criticized for Sen. Kennedy's misfires during the Alito hearing last week. Flug was reportedly behind the attacks Kennedy used against Alito related to the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP) and Vanguard recusal case.
In the 2004 case, Heimbecker not only filed a request for Alito to recuse himself but also the entire Third Circuit as well.
One Capital Aide aware the situation challenged Heimbecker's credibility. "The individual who filed this complaint is clearly a serial litigant. It will be interesting to see how far the Democrats will push this and what the mainstream media will make of it."
Developing...
In the early 1990s, he did not make it out of the semi-final of the NCAA 1500m, after winning the year before. His lack of a kick did him in, even at that level of competition.
All those years of racing in Europe and he never won one race.
BOB Kennedy, not TED Kennedy ya heathen shmuck.
I met him out a Stanford a few years back when he ran that 10k A standard kicking down Ritz. I was over at the massage table a few min after the race and the two of them were light-heartedly trash talking about kicking speeds while cooling down. I feel like the torch was passed that night even though Kennedy won.
Saw him run at Pre track meet one year. Tried to get his auto graph like many others were giving. Called his name. He did not even look my way. Lack of respect for him since.
qwert wrote:
In the early 1990s, he did not make it out of the semi-final of the NCAA 1500m, after winning the year before. His lack of a kick did him in, even at that level of competition.
All those years of racing in Europe and he never won one race.
You might take a similar shot at Bernard Lagat. In fact, until 2004, as I recall, Lagat never finished any better than 2nd place. He was always behind El Guerrouj and others.
I suggest you not trash such a great runner and person, even subtly.
Memories:
1. 1996 Atlanta. In the 5,000m final, Kennedy was looking relaxed through 3K in 8:00. The race was obviously turning into a kicker's contest, not to his benefit, so with precisely 800m to go he shot into the lead.
The crowd went absolutely wild. The loudest I have ever heard a track crowd, and indeed, one of the loudest crowds in ANY sport in the Olympic stadium that night.
Bob was passed with about 550m to go by 4 very good athletes, Baumann the Olympic champion, Niyongabo, a 3:46 miler and the one who was to win the gold in that race, Bitok, twice a silver medalist in the Olympic 5K, and Boulami, a 12:49 5,000m runner. He ended up 6th, still running a 1:57 final 800m. But his move was courageous. I am convinced he might have done quite well in the 10,000m as well.
Gebrselassie and Tergat closed the last 5,000m in 13:12 that year, not out of a 12:58 Kennedy's range, but there was a huge gap to the bronze with Hissou, who ran 27:38 with 13:55/13:43 splits. Even on a warm Atlanta night, I would pick Bob for that possible bronze.
2. 1996 in Zurich. This was about 10 days after the Olympic 10,000m and Gebrselassie still had his blisters.
He, Komen, Tergat, and Koech were banging out a quick pace up front. At 3K in 7:44, much faster than Bob had ever passed through that point before, Kennedy was in about 8th place and there was a big gap to the 7 Kenyans and one Ethiopian in front.
It looked like it was over for him as far as placing high was concerned.
But then you watched each lap as he swallowed up Nyariki the Kenyan there, then Koech, then another Kenyan, then he moved into 6th, 5th, 4th. Komen beat Geb that night in 12:44.90, just outside the WR. Geb jogged 19 seconds for the last 100 to come 2nd, Tergat was 3rd, and Boulami was 4th.
But Kennedy was 5th in 12:58.21, a new AR. And boy, if you had seen his face with 3 laps to go, you would know that he can run when he is hurting badly like no one else.
3. 2001 USATF 5,000m. Bob was still recovering from a car accident that caused him to miss the Sydney Olympic team in the 5K. He took it to Goucher and Culpepper, running 2:09 800's by alternating 62 and 67 second 400m laps. With 180m to go Goucher was right on his shoulder and it looked as though Kennedy was ready to be outkicked. But Goucher was finished from all those 62's and Bob burst away for the win.
4. Never saw this race, but in 1987 (?) at Balboa Park at the Footlocker Cross Country Championships, Bob tripped and fell on the big back hill, got up, and ran away to win.
He also had the rare distinction of winning NCAA X-C as a freshman.
Notes:
He was perhaps the strongest runner aerobically you can find anyway.
This guy could not break 52 seconds for 400, but he managed to run 59's for 4 laps (3:56.21 mile PR), 60's for 3,000m (7:30.84) and hold 62's for 12.5 laps. We figured out once that if he had been able to run about 1-1.5 seconds faster for 400m, the WR's from 3,000m-10,000m would belong to him today.
Besides his two 12:58 runs in 1996, he had many, many others ranging from 13:02-13:15. So consistent, so strong, and able to hit a very even pace. In 1997 I watched him go to Hechtel and tag along behind Komen in a 2 mile.
Komen went through at 3:59.2 for the mile, but Bob was there in 4:02, this guy with a 3:56 mile PR, and hung on for 8:11.59 AR.
A great runner, but truth be told, even though I have not met him, I am quite confident he is also a very good human being.
In the winter of 2000, or perhaps 2001, we got a huge snowstorm here in Indy. Something on the order of 10 inches. I never really minded running in snow, so I headed out onto the Monon for an easy 7-8 miles. Aside from myself, I was only seeing a few cross country skiiers gamely pulling themselves along the trail. In the distance, I saw another runner approaching, the only other one I was to see that day. As he approached, I saw that he was even skinnier than me, which was odd. Low and behold, it was Bob Kennedy. I was aware that he lived in the area, but I had never seen him out running before. We passed, he nodded, I nodded, and that was about it. I was seriously impressed that he was out running in such weather, when he probably had any number of indoor places to do an easy run.
After that, I began seeing him much more frequently. It was always weird seeing an American record holder out there. I never talked to him (I can't imagine interrupting someone's workout), but I got used to seeing him around.
Haven't seen him in probably a year now, so I figured he wasn't training much.
True story: Our high school was in the same conference as Kennedy's and he was a year ahead of me. I think this was '87-'88 time frame. Westerville North was hosting a cross-country meet, which we competed in. Our team was out scouting the course before the race and it starts raining like crazy. A bunch of us try to run back to shelter along this gravel road and here comes Kennedy in his car to pick us up! We pile in and I grab shotgun. Of course everybody knew at the time that he was THE MAN, and I remember thinking "this is cool".
I also remember a dual track meet we hosted where he ran the 3200m faster than our 4x800 relay team.
I bumped into him a few times during our college years at Big Ten cross meets. I ran for an NAIA school, but our coach liked to take us to Big Ten meets to keep us humble. Kennedy always took a few minutes to talk to me. I can't say that I knew him or anything, but I've always had the impression that he was a really nice guy. Broke my heart when he dropped out of the Oly Trials 10,000m in '04.
I don't know as much about the guy as many of you as I have only recently got involved with the sport, but his 10K race where he got the A standard and out-kicked Ritz is probably my favorite moment. The aging vetran pushing the sun back into the sky for one last flash of brilliance.
Taking the lead of the '96 Olympics so close to the end would have been incredible as well. Especially to hear the crowd go so bananas. I wish I was a runner then.
Also, unfortunate how his rapid improvement at 5000m mirrored the arrival and easy availability of epogen. In 1992 he was a 13;20s runner, in 1994 he progressed to 13;02. Many will never give him the benefit of the doubt on his progression, particularly considering the company he occasionally kept.
qwert wrote:
Also, unfortunate how his rapid improvement at 5000m mirrored the arrival and easy availability of epogen. In 1992 he was a 13;20s runner, in 1994 he progressed to 13;02. Many will never give him the benefit of the doubt on his progression, particularly considering the company he occasionally kept.
The "company he kept"?
And that would be...Komen, Koech, Kiptanui, and the other Puma Kenyans.
That's twice now you've slammed some great runners. I was under the impression that this thread was for sharing good Kennedy memories, not spewing your mouthfuls of slander. Start your own thread for the reflections of trolls. This is not needed here.
some of the battles Bob had w/ Twill were great memories for me. I looked up to both of those guys.
qwert wrote:
Also, unfortunate how his rapid improvement at 5000m mirrored the arrival and easy availability of epogen. In 1992 he was a 13;20s runner, in 1994 he progressed to 13;02. Many will never give him the benefit of the doubt on his progression, particularly considering the company he occasionally kept.
It also mirrored his realization that, in his words, 65 miles per week is not enough.
Yes, every elite runner from that era on has to be under suspicion because of how ludicrously the world records were destroyed. But Kennedy hasn't done anything especially suspicious, like, say, ditching the Olympics with obviously fake injuries, as Drug-gina Jacobs did.
The one and only time I saw Bob Kennedy run instead of reading his results on the internet.
http://www.american-trackandfield.com/news/kennedyreturns03season.html
Because he's obligated to?
You better be someone important to feel that way. Prick.
That was a response to lkj, not outside.
Who cares abour the kook.
Huck Finn wrote:
I have always admired him as a runner and, from what little I have heard, as a human being as well.
I would love to hear thoughts and memories about one of the greatest runners the US has produced.
We'll miss you Bob.
Was he sick? What was the cause of death.