Henry Rono should have won four NCAA cross country championships

He never led. I worked it. We suspect he was tired from all that racing in the summer.

I had a friend who was no star but was 2-0 against Rono. My friend was near the bottom in Wisconsin but ahead of Rono and then beat Rono again at the Midland Run in 1980 where Rono also tanked (but finished). I beat Rono at the Midland Run also, when I was in high school. So I am 1-0 against him. At Midland, Rono had flown in from Kenya just before the race and was very tired and not very fit.

I was in that race but not in the lead pack. I was in the top 30 or so and passed Rono before the mile, he was jogging with his other WSU teammates. Didn't know of or see any veering off course. Whom ever covered that race for SI and others were in the warming tent - they didn't want to be in 17 degree weather with the wind howling. The whole course was well marked despite a dusting of snow. We speculated that Rono and his teammates had some beef with their coach. Not sure. Cold wasn't the issue for him. Rono won in Spokane the year before when it was 8 degrees ( I was there too, and saw Rono out front on all 3 starts - 2 false starts where he covered at least 400 meters each time before calling everyone back) - quite the sh!t show that day in Spokane.

It was obvious Rono was not at top form in the fall of 78. He simply blew a gasket after racing over and over from early spring to late summer. He then started right into cross country and was beaten a handful of times. Teammates beat him, Chapa and Salazar, others. I actually had someone who was at the race tell me he saw Rono eating in the clubhouse not long before the race. Spring track wasn't much better for Rono. However, cross country in 79 Rono was unbeatable. 2819 for the win and not looking spent at the end....less than 60 seconds off his track wr.

According to Salazar’s book he and Rono both went off course because of snow covering the course. Salazar moved through the pack to win, while Rono struggled in the back or so it goes

Rono did out kick Salazar for the win at regionals that year, and there was a sizable gap to third place.

But Henry wasn't the only "man against boys." He was simply the best of the men. In any event, I give almost no weight to NCAA championships, except to the extent that they may indicate bigger things to come. For Henry, 1978 was his annus mirabilis, regardless of the records he set along the way in NCAA competition. His insane summer of 1981 showed his otherworldly talent. And his 10,000 victory over Salazar in 1982 was, in his own judgment, his greatest race, given all of the circumstances. As for NCAA championships, It's not even clear to me that his NCAA career even helped his development as an athlete, and the number of NCAA championships he accumulated means very little.

I would just say the following three things in response to your questions.

1. I am not sure if you meant to be humorous.

What page?

He was fourth from last. We suspected he was tired from all that hard racing in the summer. He barely won the District meet the week before over Salazaar

Shoulda woulda coulda

Barely beating the NCAA champion wasn’t a bad effort on Rono’s part and was a better performance than only beating 3 runners at the championships.