Was Henry Rono the greatest distance talent ever???

Pic of Rono's 8:05.4 steeple record in the Seattle rain. June 78 cover of T&FN

I also recall Kenny Moore wrote a sweet article in SI about that 13:21 heat at NCAAs ... wish I still had it.

mdobb wrote:

Pic of Rono's 8:05.4 steeple record in the Seattle rain. June 78 cover of T&FN

No. That was his 8:14 in a dual meet against the Ducks.

a few serious questions wrote:

I also recall Kenny Moore wrote a sweet article in SI about that 13:21 heat at NCAAs ... wish I still had it.

Is there anyway to find this? Can anyone track this down? Who knows Kenny?

This is a great thread! Many inspiring posts. I am gonna have to read that description of Rono's 5k heat before my run tomorrow... thanks malmo.

I was fortunate to race with Henry this last weekend in Albuquerque at the "Chunky Monkey." The entire field was waiting for the 5k to start, so we were just keeping loose near the starting line. Suddenly, Henry comes jogging by, gingerly striding in a shining pair of Peg TC's, I swear my heart jumped. No one had any idea that one of, if not the greatest, runners in history was jogging next to us! I introduced myself, told him I was a huge fan, and tears starting to squeeze out. he thanked me and gave me a hug. Moments later, while standing on the starting line, he reached over to me and wished me good luck. All time great memory.

malmo wrote:

Let's put it this way: could Gebrselassie ever run 13:22 in a Spokane blizzard?

Let's not go overboard with the nostalgia here. Geb ran back to back 13:11's. He could manage a single 13:22 in a blizzard carrying Rono on his back.

The thing is, he would never have tried it. No megastar distance runner will ever run as wildly intensely as Rono did under those circumstances, ever.

come on people wrote:

malmo wrote:

Let's put it this way: could Gebrselassie ever run 13:22 in a Spokane blizzard?

Let's not go overboard with the nostalgia here. Geb ran back to back 13:11's. He could manage a single 13:22 in a blizzard carrying Rono on his back.

bump rono ncaa record 805 steeple in the rain and cold.

I’m not going to go through 43 years of T&F but some time between 1978 and 1982 he was a asked about breaking the 10k record . He replied, if they can get me through in 13:48 I will then eat 63’s.

I just love that quote, “I will eat 63’s. “

1973 All-African Games, athletics, advantage Miruts Yifter.

1978 All-African Games, athletics, advantage Henry Rono.

1979 African Championships, athletics, advantage Miruts Yifter.

By 1982 African Championships, athletics, both were done.

Probably.

But don't forget he was beaten by an 800m runner over 2 miles in his greatest year (1978) who even had time to wave to the crowd as he sprinted away from him in the home straight.

Avocados Number wrote:

The question, as others have pointed out, was whether Henry was the greatest distance "talent" ever. Of course, we have no idea whether there is some greater "talent" out there -- perhaps someone who has never bothered to run competitively -- but when I think of great runners of the past, Henry is the one who stands out as the greatest talent. I don't know whether he was more talented than Geb or Bekele, but I am confident that he could have gone head-to-head against anyone in the history of the sport from 3K to 10K (and probably beyond). And I'm fairly confident that he would have crushed Geb and Bekele in the steeple.

I’m afraid we’re all looking at Rono’s greatness through rose colored glasses. We all want him to be the talent GOAT but most of us know that not to be the case. He was mesmerizing to watch run. He single handedly turned the sport inside out and, certainly, changed the notion of how to race and destroy records with such aplomb. Now, that being said, he had no kick. It takes more talent to unleash a devastating kick off of a hot pace than it does the run that hot pace. So, no, Henry wasn’t the greatest talent but he might have been the greatest racer.

Mo had no kick until al sal saucing started. Think about this rono was pre epo, on the sauce he would have run low 7:20’s, 12:38, 26:20’s.....just as fast as the pro suacers of today. I dont care what renato says talent has and always will be the same if everyone is on the same playing field. Rono on sauce and super shoes=just as fast as todays guys. Todays guys in old shoes and no sauce no faster than the old school guys

Everyone always asks “what if jim ryun had sauce and super spikes and monaco?”

Well here is an easier solution. Get todays guys with retro spikes on some podunk sh*t track and see if the can run as fast as jim did. Simple. Get hobbs on a dirt track and see if he can run sub 4

bannned i got wrote:

Mo had no kick until al sal saucing started. Think about this rono was pre epo, on the sauce he would have run low 7:20’s, 12:38, 26:20’s.....just as fast as the pro suacers of today. I dont care what renato says talent has and always will be the same if everyone is on the same playing field. Rono on sauce and super shoes=just as fast as todays guys. Todays guys in old shoes and no sauce no faster than the old school guys

Everyone always asks “what if jim ryun had sauce and super spikes and monaco?”

Well here is an easier solution. Get todays guys with retro spikes on some podunk sh*t track and see if the can run as fast as jim did. Simple. Get hobbs on a dirt track and see if he can run sub 4

I get what you’re saying but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that he had no speed. The definition of greatest talent of all time means you have a combination of strength and speed that no one else has. Your premise is that it doesn’t exist without shoes, peds, or track surfaces. While I am skeptical of the blood doping era of the 70s, steroids of the 80s, EPO, of the 90s, technological improvements through today, greatest talent still has to have strength and speed, with the emphasis on speed. No amount of enhancements could get Rono faster.

Case in point: https://youtu.be/8JZTzLne2A8

When you ask "greatest ever", you open the door widely to subjectivity.

Jefe in the CO wrote:

Case in point:

Rebuttal

Total 52 Races (40 outdoors, 8 indoors, 3 cross country, 1 road) includes 5 qualifying heats

39 wins, 13 losses

1st (39), 2nd (4), 3rd (3), 4th (1), 5th (1), 6th (1), 237th (1), dnf (2)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Indoors: 8 races: 3 wins, 5 losses

1st (3), 2nd (1), 3rd (2), 4th (1), 6th (1)

-------------------------------------------------

Outdoors: 40 races: 33 wins, 7 losses

1st (33), 2nd (3), 3rd (1), 5th (1), dnf (2)

1 mile: 1 win, 2 losses…1st (1), 2nd (1), dnf (1)

2000: 1 loss…5th (1)

3000: 5 wins, 1 loss…1st (5), 3rd (1)

3000sc: 9 wins, 2 losses…1st (9), 2nd (1), dnf (1)

2 mile: 1 win, 1 loss…1st (1), 2nd (1)

5000: 12 wins…1st (12)

10000: 5 wins…1st (5)

---------------------------------------------------

Roads 1 race: 1 win, 0 losses

--------------------------------------------------

Cross Country 3 races; 2 wins, 1 loss

-------------------------------------------------

The Races:

1/21 1 8:18.3 CR 2 mile Sunkist Invitational Los Angeles, CA

1/22 1 4:00.9 1 mile Vandal Invitatioanl Moscow, ID

1/28 1 27:48.6 10000 International Auckland, NZ

2/5 1 1:04:46 HM San Blas HM Coamo, PR

2/10 4 13:24.6 3 mile Maple Leaf Games Toronto, Canada

2/17 3 8:20.0 2 mile Jack-in-the-box San Diego, CA

2/18 3 4:01.6 1 mile Examiner Games Daly City, CA

3/10 1 4:12.2h 1 mile NCAA Detroit, MI

3/11 2 8:43.4 2 mile NCAA Detroit, MI

3/11 6 4:50.0 1 mile NCAA Detroit, MI

3/28 1 13:31.8 5000 San Jose Relays San Jose, CA

4/1 1 13:22.7 5000 SCC Spokane, WA snowstorm

4/8 1 13:08.4 WR 5000 Triangular Meet Berkeley, CA attendance 2000 70 degrees sunny

4/15 1 8:14.8 CR 3000sc WSU vs UO Eugene, OR

4/22 1 4:00.9 1 mile Quadrangular Meet Pasco, WA

4/29 1 8:24.4 3000sc WSU vs UW Pullman, WA

5/7 1 7:43.0 3000 Pepsi Invitational Los Angeles, CA

5/13 1 8:05.4 WR 3000sc Northwest Relays Seattle, WA rain, hail, windy, 55 degrees, 200+ attendance

5/19 1 27:46.6 10000 Pac 8 Conference Corvallis, OR

5/19 dnf 3000sc Pac 8 Conference Corvallis, OR

5/20 1 13:20.2 5000 Pac 8 Conference Corvallis, OR

5/24 1 7:43.9 3000 Phillips Invitational London, GBR

6/1 1 8:18.6h 3000sc NCAA Eugene, OR

6/1 1 13:21.8h 5000 NCAA Eugene, OR

6/3 1 8:12.4 3000sc NCAA Eugene, OR

6/11 1 27:22.5 WR 10000 International Vienna, AUT after a soccer game, 500 attendance 72 degrees, no wind

6/18 1 13:32.0 5000 African Games Mombassa, KEN

6/22 1 7:41.5 3000 Sportfest Cologne, GER

6/24 1 13:20.8 5000 British AAA London, GBR

6/27 1 7:32.1 WR 3000 Bislett Games Oslo, NOR

6/28 1 8:16.8 3000sc World Games Helsinki, FIN

7/2 1 13:18.2 5000 International Milano, ITA

7/20 1 27:58.9 10000 African Games Algiers, ALG

7/25 1 8:15.8 3000sc African Games Algiers, ALG

8/2 5 5:17.0 2000 International Edmonton, CAN

8/6 1 8:26.3h 3000sc Commonwealth Games Edmonton, CAN

8/7 1 8:26.5 3000sc Commonwealth Games Edmonton, CAN

8/8 1 14:02.2h 5000 Commonwealth Games Edmonton, CAN

8/10 1 13:23.0 5000 Commonwealth Games Edmonton, CAN

8/16 1 13:16.1 5000 Weltklasse Zurich, SWI

9/5 3 7:45.3 3000 International Frankfurt, GER

9/7 2 8:17.5 3000sc International Kloblenz, GER

9/9 1 27:53.8 10000 GBR vs FIN (guest) London, GBR

9/10 1 13:15.5 5000 International Rieti, ITA

9/12 1 7:49.3 3000 International Ingleheim, GER

9/15 2 8:14.7 2 mile Coca Cola London, GBR

9/17 2 4:03.8 1 mile International Gateshead, GBR

9/20 1 8:32.7 2 mile International Oslo, NOR

9/25 dnf 1 mile International Tokyo, JPN

10/28 1 23:37.2 8000xc Pac 10 Divisional Pullman, WA

11/11 1 29:22.0 10000xc Pac-10 District Fresno, CA

11/20 237 34:10.7 10000xc NCAA Madison, WI

The World Records: 81 days duration, without the aid of pacemakers, unless you consider 13:48 (10k WR) and 3:49.5 (3k WR) “pacemaking”?

4/8 1 13:08.4 WR 5000 Triangular Meet Berkeley, CA (:49.6 margin, Josh Kimeto, 13:58.0)

5/13 1 8:05.4 WR 3000sc Northwest Relays Seattle, WA (:30.7 margin, Jim Johnson 8:36.1)

6/11 1 27:22.5 WR 10000 International Vienna, AUT (:30.5 margin, Domingo Tibaduiza 27:53.0)

6/27 1 7:32.1 WR 3000 Bislett Games Oslo, NOR (:8.2 margin, Suleiman Nyambui 7:40.3)

The Splits

=============================

WR 5000m Berkley, CA 5/8/78 70 degrees, sunny

1. 13:08.4 Henry Rono

2. 13:58.0 Josh Kimeto

3. 14:03.0 Samson Kimobwa

1:07 (67)

2:10 (63)

3:14 (64)

4:15 (61) 1600m

5:18 (63)

6:20 (62)

7:24 (64)

8:28 (64) 3200m

9:31 (63)

10:35 (64)

11:38 (63)

12:09 (31) 4600m

13:08 (59.4)

(2:42.0, 2:36.0, 2:39.5, 2:37.0, 2:33.9)

==========================

WR steeplechase Seattle WA 5/13/78 hail, rain, windy, 55 degrees. 200+ attendance.

1: 8:05.4 Henry Rono WSU

2. 8:36.1 Jim Johnson CNW

3. 8:52.1 Evens WSU

4. 8:54.7 Barr CNW

63.8

66.2 (2:10.0)

64.0 (3:14.0)

65.5 (4:19.5)

65.3 (5:24.8)

65.1 (6:29.9)

61.4 last lap

After the last lap, the wind really came to life, hitting 15-20 mph. “It was very hard after 5 laps,” he said. “The last 200 meters were hard too.”

=====================================

WR 10000, Vienna AUT 72 degrees 500 attendance Jos Hermans paced first 9 laps

1. 27:22.5 Henry Rono, KEN

2. 27:53.0 Domingo Tibaduiza, COL

3. 27:58.9 Joel Cheruiyot, KEN

2:47.5

13:48.2

22:02.1

27:22.5 13:34.3 57.0

=========================

WR 3000m Oslo, NOR 6/27/78

1. 7:32.1 Henry Rono KEN

2. 7:40.3 Sulieman Nyambui, TAN

3. 7:40.4 Nick Rose GBR

2:34.0

3:49.5 1500 Rono takes lead

4:04.5 60.0

5:04.5 60.0 2:30.5

6:04.5 60.0

7:03.5 59.0

7:32.1 28.6 2:27.6 3:42.6

Rono wasn't the boogeyman, my Son. He's the man you hire to run 8:05 in a fvking rainstorm!

Your move.

mdobb wrote:

Pic of Rono's 8:05.4 steeple record in the Seattle rain. June 78 cover of T&FN

That was a picture of him running 8:14 in Eugene.

malmo wrote:

Your move.

Hey now, no need to get Centro involved in this discussion.

I remember thinking of pure unadulterated talent best manifested in this 20 year old 3000m runner. (In this case; no kick necessary.)