Could Henry Rono Beat Any Of The Current Dopers?

Budweiser vs. blood doping:

Tough call, alcoholic FTW.

I got to race..........er, I was in the same race as Rono twice in a steeple and a 5000. I was really close to him.......and then the starting gun went off. Hey, at least he didn't lap me in either event!

Remember Rono was fat and out of shape, and still beat Salazar when he was at the top of his game at 10,000m.

Rono was the greatest legal distance runner ever.

Henry is in his mid 60s now His great 1978 season was 40 years ago

3000 Metres 7:32.1h Oslo (NOR) 27 JUN 1978**** 3rd on World 2017 list

Two Miles 8:14.66 London (GBR) 15 SEP 1978 ******5th ""

5000 Metres 13:06.20 Knarvik (NOR) 13 SEP 1981 ***7 11th

10,000 Metres 27:22.47 Wien (AUT) 11 JUN 1978 *** 18th

3000 Metres Stp 8:05.4h Seattle, WA (USA) 13 MAY 1978 **4th

iaaf.org

Remember all those times were WR's

Well, not the 2 mile...

Rono is really old now. Are you talking about him in his prime?

wineturtle wrote:

Henry is in his mid 60s now His great 1978 season was 40 years ago

3000 Metres 7:32.1h Oslo (NOR) 27 JUN 1978**** 3rd on World 2017 list

Two Miles 8:14.66 London (GBR) 15 SEP 1978 ******5th ""

5000 Metres 13:06.20 Knarvik (NOR) 13 SEP 1981 ***7 11th

10,000 Metres 27:22.47 Wien (AUT) 11 JUN 1978 *** 18th

3000 Metres Stp 8:05.4h Seattle, WA (USA) 13 MAY 1978 **4th

iaaf.org

Yes, but it seems like yesterday.

As we all know, he was SCREWED out of the 1980 OG like so many others. Maybe Rodgers could have won the marathon that year, too. Medal for Virgin in the 10K. And on and on.

What would he have done against Yifter in 1980?

I had the privilege of being on the starting line with Henry a couple of times. I also saw Ryun run the mile in '66 and '67. There is no question in my mind that Henry Rono is the most talented runner I have ever seen and Ryun is the second most talented runner I have seen. Henry also was a pleasant, down-to-earth, nice guy in my brief interactions with him. I have seen a lot of mid-d and distance runners over the years, but Rono and Ryun are still are the ones who stand out to me based on the talent I saw. Hicham El G may have been an equal or better talent, but I have doubts about how clean he was. The women's side of the talent discussion is a whole different conversation.

Don’t forget HR ran most of those wr solo or nearly with little shoulder to shoulder competition. Imho he could’ve been the first man to run under 13/27 with a tad more companionship during the first portion

I coach HS and love recounting the second hand stories I've heard about Rono. The training stories are great too! What an athlete. Thanks for the contributions from those of you who were racing then.

Solo wrote:

Don’t forget HR ran most of those wr solo or nearly with little shoulder to shoulder competition. Imho he could’ve been the first man to run under 13/27 with a tad more companionship during the first portion

Hey, I tried.

He also was screwed out of the 1976 Olympics. He looked like the best distance runner in the world at NCAAs that year. Although he was 24-years old at the time, I couldn't find information regarding what times he ran prior to running for WSU.

Has anyone seen any early racing results for him?

Henry trained on his own until 1973, when he joined the Kenyan army. He improved very rapidly thereafter, and, in 1974, broke Neftali Temu's army records at 5,000, 10,000, and 3,000 steeplechase, but I don't know the times. In 1975, he missed some important competitions because of injuries (he had been training in army boots), and also ran well against top competition in other races, but under conditions that weren't conducive to fast times. In 1976, he ran 8:29 to qualify for the Olympic steeplechase and won the Kenyan trials in both the steeple and the 5,000, but wasn't able to compete in either event in Montreal because of Kenya's decision to join the Olympic boycott. I'm not at all sure that he was yet at the level to match guys like Viren and Yifter in 1976, but by 1978, I don't believe that anyone could touch him when he was fit and sober. (I'm not sure that anyone could touch him even when he was unfit and far from sober.)

He was screwed out of 1976 Olympics, something about a New Zeland soccer team

ck3237 wrote:

He was screwed out of 1976 Olympics, something about a New Zeland soccer team

Close, but it was related to South Africa and their Rugby team.

ck3237 wrote:

He was screwed out of 1976 Olympics, something about a New Zeland soccer team

It was the African nations joining together to boycott the 1976 Olympics in Montreal due to South Africa. Kenya made the decision to join in on the boycott. Soccer was not involved.

What I remember is that the boycot was because of New Zealand sending a rugby team to play in South Africa. The African countries would not go if NZ participated.

Walker 3:49 wrote:

He also was screwed out of the 1976 Olympics. He looked like the best distance runner in the world at NCAAs that year. Although he was 24-years old at the time, I couldn't find information regarding what times he ran prior to running for WSU.

Has anyone seen any early racing results for him?

I would be very happy for any early addition!