Jeff Nelson: How good was he?

What always fails to be mentioned in threads about Nelson is that he was knocked off the track in his 2 mile record. He was finishing with a great kick and a "pro" that didn't want to see a high school kid beat him put him on the infield. The "pro" was disqualified buut that didn't give Nelson the the 2+ seconds he lost. If anyone wants to talk "wouldas", Nelson would have run 8:33-8:34 if he had been allowed to finish unobstructed.

I was at Oregon when Jeff was there. He was a great guy. Very shy and unassuming. He did like his Rock and Roll...Led Zeppelin, in particular.

Jeff was an unbelievable talent, but he suffered from a number of nagging foot injuries and I do think he was a bit homesick, but not unlike any Freshman away from home for the first time.

Much too much is being made of the incident in which he blew by Al and Rudy. Most workouts were quite intense in those days and Jeff was just feeling good that day.

I don't remember Al or anyone else blasting Jeff, if something was said, I'm sure it was all in fun.

I haven't seen Jeff in 26 years, I hope he is healthy, wealthy and wise.

From what I think remember reading Jeff Nelson is doing well. He re-married, works at Walt Disney, and still runs to include some low key races once in awhile. I read that he attended some of the Arcadia races in the past, and one year Alan Webb was very exicted to get his autograph. The two mile high school invitational in Utah last year that Gerry Lindgren put on was also supposedly attended by Nelson.

Boy, I totally forgot about that. I was at Drake stadium that day. I think that was the same meet where Polly Plummer ran 4:25 (?). I've got photos buried in my garage of that meet. I'll have to look for those. Who was the DQ'ed runner?

One of the earlier threads mentioned Jeff running away with the Mt. SAC XC Invite. I ran that same day, but I remembered Jeff taking over on the Switchbacks and having the race in hand by the downhill.

Anyone remember who the DQ'ed runner was? I was looking through my old photos and couldn't remember the name.

Plummer ran 4:35 that day. I don't remember the dq, only Nelson.

i might be wrong but i don't think polly plummer ran that fast the same year as nelson's 8:36...if so, she would've been a freshman running 4:35. i believe it was her senior year (1982) that she ran her national record at pepsi.

I still have a video of the race, I will have to dig it out and see if I can tell who is in the race. I can remember Steve Ortiz as the winner.

i thought jim shankel won it...could be the dude who bumped nelson.

It may be so? As a 44 year old, the races at Drake Stadium have all blended together.

Polly Plummer ran her 4:35 in 1982, so she was not in the Pepsi meet that year, neither was Steve Ortiz. Jim Schankel from SLO won the race in 8:33.

Sorry, Rupp's 5000 does NOT NO WAY convert to 8:30 for 2 miles. The previous poster had it right with Galen's 3000

meter record. 8:03.67, does NOT get it done, 218 1/2 meters to go.....8:41 or so. Also I met Jeff Nelson at the Gerry Lindgren 2 mile in Salt lake last April. I had to help out with the race. We talked for 1 hour, that guy is one humble and gentle guy. He said he loved to run in Highschool and hit 8:42 and knew he could go much faster. He said in the record run they hit 4:12 at the mile which was is fastest mile time to that date. The 8:36.3 he said to him and others was no big deal. He said it was just NOT some big deal like today. He was not attempting to do anything. Then his wife and 2 children came over and I said to his (10ish looking son) do you know what your dad did? He ran 2 miles and hundreds of thousands of guys for 25 years have not been able to break his time. His boy looked at him and stood in front of him and his wife snapped her head in his direction with this smile of disbelief. I said "This is why we are here today to try to, break your Dads record". His son said (and I swear to God!) "My Dad did the fastest ever?" "Can they run faster today?" I just told him No your Dad stands alone, no one is going to even come close. I tryed to get something out of Jeff concerning Salazar pushing him around etc. Jeff would not say one negative thing at all, he even said Salazar was great runner. He just said it was such a change to College, and then he got hurt and it "Just wasn't fun anymore". He laughed about how stupid we were back then, he said he never ate a thing, never drank water.."I didn't know anything about nutrition I just drank big gulps!" He was very quiet guy. He just did say that when he hit 8:41 one time, they had this big interview and asked him if he could break 8:40. he just said I thought "Yea I can go into the 8:30's .."but I thought it was just kind of a question for me alone, can you run faster, I had no idea that I was moving into such a great time or something, no buddy really cared that much." What could he have done with all the hype Rupp has had, with target records to look at, technology of today, tracks of today, coaches of today and equipment. Bottom line I think he was a great guy...I won't even mention the training he did...you would not believe it...he just loved to run!

What is Rupp's Junior record for the 5000 like 13:37 and change? Here is an example of splits for the 5000. Taken from the 2002 New Balance Maine distance festival 7/06/02 won by, Patrick Nthiwa, in 13:41.65...about 4 seconds slower than Rupp. 1000 meters (2:44) 2000M (5:29.7) 3000M (8:15.7) 4000 (11:03.9) 5000 ( 13:41.65). Remember Rupps' 3000 Record is only 8:03.6 which fits. You could take off 4 seconds from Nthiwa's 3000 split or...6 seconds or 10 seconds or even say Rupp came thru at his record pace of 8:03 and change ahead of these guys in the 13:41....he still comes no where near some 8:30 2 mile. With 3,218 1/2 meters for the two mile mark, or approx. 218 left, Nthiwa above, would have come across the 2 maybe at maybe 8:52. Even if you give Nthiwa a world class conversion of only 35 and change, to the two mile mark, he hits 8:50. You got to take Rupp's 3000 best, and it does not hit Nelson's 8:36.

I think I remember John Koenig from Sub 4 T.C. and Nyambui, but again I watched a lot of races back in the day.

I was looking through some old T&F News. I had the one where it mentioned Nelson's H.S. record in the High School Wrap up, but I am missing the issue (June '79) where they did the whole Pepsi meet article. The July issue mentions Jeff's lap splits, but makes no mention of him getting knocked off the track.

As an aside, it mentions David Mack's (HS senior) 1:51 in the open 800.

[uote]pre841 wrote:

Boy, I totally forgot about that. I was at Drake stadium that day. I think that was the same meet where Polly Plummer ran 4:25 (?). I've got photos buried in my garage of that meet. I'll have to look for those. Who was the DQ'ed runner?[/quote]

Possible you're thinking Patti-Sue?

We are not talking about splits here...if Rupp was able to run a 13:37, which is an average of about 4:23 per mile for 3.1 miles - then one can surmise he probably would have been able to handle 2 miles at 4:18 or faster. Of course, he doesn\'t hold the record and this is all speculation. But no one is saying he would have split 8:36 when he ran 13:37. Just that the 13:37 was worth as fast or faster than 8:36.

can we archive this thread

bring it back in 20 years

and rename it

"How good was Steve Magness"

The weird think about Rupp was that he didn't dominate the competition like Ritz and Web did their senior high school year. I seems like he did the best in the summer after he graduated. Maybe that oxygen room and special vitamins work.

the conversion chart i looked at equates an 8:36 2 mile to a 13:58 5k.