I didn't know kenya boycotted those 2 olympics. Wonder why? One was in western world democracy and one in the soviet union. Too bad back then people were not jumpimg ship to become American citizen. We would be lucky to claim him.
I think he still owns the NCAA XC record, from the 70s!
1976 Africa boycotted over a New Zealand Rugby team playing in South Africa. Stupid because it had nothing to do with New Zealand or the Olympics.
1980 was the US led Afghanistan invasion. Even Jimmy Carter says that was a mistake.
Rono was a sad victim in the pre-pro era. If that happened now he could just run professional races and make money.
There weren't even World Championships back then.
Of course, you mean the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1978. US was not the belligerent that time.
The African boycott did lead to a cricket and rugby ban of South Africa. Whether it was "worth it" is another question
Henry was a kind soul, very intelligent and so interesting. He stayed at my parents house for about 3 months in 1986. We trained some together and I watched him do some amazing things, he went from running 33:00 pace for a 15K at the Utica Boilermaker in 1986 in the beginning of July to 28:50 in a race in late August in Baltimore. Without a doubt one of the greatest distance runners that ever lived
Great article from 1987 that talks about his journey
For those of you who saw him race in that 1978 season, that was truly inspiring. I saw him four times that spring, including his WR 8:05.4 in Seattle in front of 200 people.
Come to think of it, perhaps his most impressive performance that year was in the heats of the steeple and the 5000 at the 1978 NCAAs in Eugene, where he broke the meet record in both events. In the steeple, he literally jogged the curves and sprinted the straights.
The crazy part of that season was that he RACED about 30 times between WSU, and the European circuit.
A number of years ago Henry was a guest at a running camp in NY (he was well past his prime). I was there as a guest of the director and ended up having dinner with Rono 1 on 1. Such a nice person, One of those people you just met but in a very short time you feel you had known them for many years. He did talk about his career, but he seemed more interested who I was (I am a nobody). We had a great talk and really enjoyed my short time with him.
Had of course known who he was when he was at his best and loved to follow those exploits and tried to keep up with his ups and downs and was great to hear in recent years he had made his way back to Kenya and seemed happy.
As someone who has battled Alcoholism, it's a hard thing to beat. You never really beat i, you just have to learn to live with it by abstaining. The closest thing to me to drinking was a hard 20 miler. I hope he stayed sober from 2015 as a poster mentioned above until his death. My hats off to him if he did and he was on HECK OF A TOUGH RUNNER!!
Henry was a kind soul, very intelligent and so interesting. He stayed at my parents house for about 3 months in 1986. We trained some together and I watched him do some amazing things, he went from running 33:00 pace for a 15K at the Utica Boilermaker in 1986 in the beginning of July to 28:50 in a race in late August in Baltimore. Without a doubt one of the greatest distance runners that ever lived
Great article from 1987 that talks about his journey
He is the reason I am on this site....well, the article about him where he mentioned his comeback and posting on this site (Maybe it was in Runners World?)
RIP Mr. Rono
The Rono comeback thread was here, but some jackass kept trying to hijack the thread and bring it to the RW forum.
Malmo,
I just stopped by this site and saw the news. I guess I always knew that this day would come, but it's nevertheless a shock. Henry put his body through so much over the years, and did so much that still defies everything I've ever read about human physiology, that there was almost a sense of actual immortality about him.
I was surprised to see your comment that the "Rono comeback thread was here," perhaps suggesting that it has disappeared from this site, which would be a shame. Remembering a particular exchange I had with Henry, I quickly googled "Henry Rono" "Mike Long," and this immediately popped up:
I was talking to Henry on the phone this morning. I suggested to him that we start another "Henry Rono training for masters mile record. PART II" thread and continue the thread from there (here) so that the effects of an even...
Henry's return to racing that week was so exciting, and I now read Henry's remarks with such fondness.
Henry turned 72 three days ago. Although I have not had any real communications with him in a long time, I have remained Facebook friends with him, and on Monday, I left this message on his page, without any sense of foreboding:
"Happy birthday, Henry! I've been a bit depressed today, thinking about Kelvin Kiptum, Sammy Wanjiru, Richard Chelimo, and so many others who have brought so much joy before passing into the shadows. I hope you are well, my friend."
I hate it when one of my idols goes down. I remember back in the day reading about a typical fartlek run that he would do. I thought, wow, no wonder he’s so good.
He's still the first name I think of everytime someone starts a "Who was the best?" thread. Would have loved to see prime Henry against Virgin and Yifter in Moscow.
So sad to hear this. I consider myself lucky to have seen him win NCAA championships twice, in cross country at Hangman Valley in Spokane, and in Eugene during "The Year". Simply incredible.
Rono achieved legendary status in 1978 when he set four world records in four different events in 81 days. Robert Johnson, who has an autographed poster of Rono on his office wall, pays his respects.
The Rono comeback thread was here, but some jackass kept trying to hijack the thread and bring it to the RW forum.
Happy birthday, Henry! I've been a bit depressed today, thinking about Kelvin Kiptum, Sammy Wanjiru, Richard Chelimo, and so many others who have brought so much joy before passing into the shadows. I hope you are well, my friend."
-AN
That was a very nice thought, AN. I'm sure Henry appreciated it.
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