The great unknown Mike Slack.

Remember, Steve Scott had just completed his freshman year at UC Irvine in 1976, so a full college season, then tough qualifying rounds just to make the final...tough for a 19 yo.

He did run every Olympic trials 1976-1992 inclusive (or did that streak extend to 1996????). Steve, that record isn't too shabby.

Scott was pretty young that year. He was so dominant for so long, I forget that he was young and somewhat inexperienced in this race. I read his autobiography a few months ago and he was absolutely amazing. Just an outstanding career...so many sub-4s and so many OG's!! Malmo, I hope we can see the video at some point.

i saw a sample of mike slacks training and it only had him running 4 days a week.

example during base.

monday-weights

tuesday-15 mile run

wednesday-weights

thursday-15 mile run

friday-weights

saturday-15 mile run

sunday-15 mile run

I believe I first met Slicker that summer & fall of 1978. Raced with him at Falmouth, at a NIKE Club Challenge 15K race that him & BJ put on in MN. where Kirk Pfefer ran an AR road record and I finished second to him, and at the first Diet Pepsi 10K National RR race in Purchase NY where Slick kicked me down for third place behind Rodgers & Randy Thomas.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1094125/index.htm

Last saw him in 1987 when I was out in Boulder for the Boulder Boulder race. He took me on some tours of favorite running spots.

Please tell Slicker hello from Hodgie!!!

douglas burke wrote:

i saw a sample of mike slacks training and it only had him running 4 days a week.

example during base.

monday-weights

tuesday-15 mile run

wednesday-weights

thursday-15 mile run

friday-weights

saturday-15 mile run

sunday-15 mile run

Doug, that's a strange workout schedule for a middle distance guy. Obviously, it was in a base period. Slick was pretty consistent about workouts; hence 15 miles every day that he ran in a week! Does seem a little odd, I really wonder where he was at in his schedule. I know he ran 20s for long runs, and he and BJ did intervals at the U of M track. The other thing that should be remembered is that these guys (along with just about everybody) raced prolifically in that era. Unlike today! Once guys like Slick did some speedwork, they raced and maintained their speed. The problem is of course, you can only maintain that for so long until you get stale. I recall that Mike went to the Drake Relays one spring in the late 70s to run a 5k. He ran so poorly that he was in a funk for weeks and was talking to a lot of medical people about it. Looking back now, he may have just gone past his peak and was just plain stale. Slack, like all of us, would have terrible races periodically. It's interesting to see how weights changed his upper body so much over the years. The picture of him on the cover of T & F News, with Scott and Waigwa, makes him look so muscular, quite a contrast to the skinny kid I saw run at Harding HS and NDSU. Funny, I also remember when he worked in our running store downtown; he would go over to the convenience store for a Pepsi and a Nut Goodie. EVERYDAY, around 10:30. What a breakfast!

There is virtually no footage of Olympic Trials prior to '80 that I've seen. There would have to be some hiding in people's personal archives somewhere. Maybe the athletes that ran the race had family members with movie cameras at the event? Until they resurface, there is little chance to find any TV coverage from these events.

OptimusPrime wrote:

There is virtually no footage of Olympic Trials prior to '80 that I've seen. There would have to be some hiding in people's personal archives somewhere. Maybe the athletes that ran the race had family members with movie cameras at the event? Until they resurface, there is little chance to find any TV coverage from these events.

1968:

1968 Olympic Trial 1500m

- 4 min - Apr 10, 2008 - Uploaded by LetsRunFaster

Sorry the quality isn't that good, but I wanted to upload it anyway for the good race and the great track its run on.

- Related videos

so, to those in the know- what happened (if anything) to Mike in the '72 Univ Div NCAA XC champs. He finished 3rd in '71 and ... 40th in '72; finishing ahead btw of John Ngeno, DAve Babiraki, Dennis Fikes, Steve Wheeler, Knut Kvalheim, Jeff Wells, Ted Castenada among others. Anyway I always wonder what the deal was as I thought/expected a much higher finish.

[quote]BachelerFan42 wrote:

ROAD RUNNING; ; BY JOE CONCANNON;

Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext). Boston, Mass.: Mar 21, 1980. pg. 1

Garry Bjorklund and Mike Slack, the Minnesota twins who crossed the finish line together in a course record 35:12 last year, will return to run in the 5th Holyoke St. Patrick's Road Race tomorrow at 1.

The popular 8-mile race has also attracted area favorite Dan Dillon, who finished 12th in the World Cross Country Championships two weeks ago in Paris; Ocean State Marathon champion Tom Grundy and John Flora, the former Northeastern runner who has been an emerging threat on the roads.

Bjorklund had been training in Colorado. "No racing," he said, "just minding my Ps and Qs until the Olympic boycott. Then I moved back here." He picks Slack in Holyoke. "He just did 16 2:20s last night in 0:26. It's a matter of how hard he runs at Holyoke."

The field of 1000 was filled in just 14 days. "We had 850 requests for applications by Jan. 1," said race director Mike Tierney. Pittsburgh Steeler owner Art Rooney, Sr., who will be honored at Holyoke's St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday, will fire the starting gun for the race.

Tommy Leonard, the guru of New England running and a founder of the Holyoke race, was caught off guard when The Runner magazine printed the news that he was planning a Mardi Gras party outside the Eliot Lounge on the day of the Boston Marathon. Since Leonard had talked with his heart instead of his head and no such party was planned, he started from there and has recently met with city officials. "It's a possibility that we might have a party for the runners with a 15- piece swing band," he said. "There's no way we can handle 40,000 people in the Eliot. We'll have a giant block party. The city's interested, part of its 350th anniversary. I can see everyone dancing and jitterbugging. I always force myself into corners. I have to work my way out of them."

Hey... this is a great thread. All I have to add is that I was in that '78 Falmouth race! I was only 13, but it was my 3rd Falmouth. I remember that everyone thought Salazar was either dead or about to die, and that a priest was giving him his last rites, or whatever Catholics do.

malmo wrote:

Slack took 2 steps for every one of yours. I watched also walk-down 800m natioanl champ James Robinson in an 800m in Torino, Italy. He lost by inches, I think. 1:46 high.

1971 NCAA Xc Championships.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qId-mlFsHCw

1977 AAU Nationals 1500m 3rd 3:37.5

Image:

http://i55.tinypic.com/rmo8rm.jpg

Man that is a cool picture, aviators, handlebar mustache, and awesome singlet? Check, Check and CHECK, lol, I guess people were just cooler back then.

sorefoot wrote:

Man that is a cool picture, aviators, handlebar mustache, and awesome singlet? Check, Check and CHECK, lol, I guess people were just cooler back then.

Ain't that the truth.... and a cool soundtrack to go with the look.

malmo wrote:

sorefoot wrote:

Man that is a cool picture, aviators, handlebar mustache, and awesome singlet? Check, Check and CHECK, lol, I guess people were just cooler back then.

Ain't that the truth.... and a cool soundtrack to go with the look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11e-at0HBsA

Sweet. BTW, where did Slack get those crazy singlets? I can remember seeing him in other wild tops.

thepinkmonkey wrote:

malmo wrote:

Ain't that the truth.... and a cool soundtrack to go with the look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11e-at0HBsA

Sweet. BTW, where did Slack get those crazy singlets? I can remember seeing him in other wild tops.

We (or Mike?) called it the "snakeskin" singlet. Our store, GBS, should have tried to market the thing...."the Slicker"!

I'm sure it wasn't real techie, probably just a cheap polyester tank top he bought at a discount store. Usually Slack wore the NB burgundy, grey,black singlet w/ burgundy shorts when he ran for them.For a few years that color combination was a top seller in our stores, as Slack, BJ and later Beardsley all wore the NB stuff at so many races. I don't know if those items sold that well nationally, but they were quite the item in Minnesota in the late 70s-early 80s.

Also, I get a kick out of those Adidas shorts Steve Scott's wearing....look like something he got at K-Mart. His sub4 out fit was much better. Those Adi shorts must have cost him a second or two, but still didn't stop him from winning!!

old school steve wrote: On the contrary he often pushed the pace, as at '78 Falmouth reportedly coming by the mile in 4:12 enroute to a solid 4th place.

No one has ever gone out in 4:12 at Falmouth. Had slack done so it would have be the talk of the day, and an epic story told every year since then.

malmo wrote:

old school steve wrote: On the contrary he often pushed the pace, as at '78 Falmouth reportedly coming by the mile in 4:12 enroute to a solid 4th place.

No one has ever gone out in 4:12 at Falmouth. Had slack done so it would have be the talk of the day, and an epic story told every year since then.

Image:

http://i53.tinypic.com/2zevuad.jpg

Image:

http://i54.tinypic.com/1o12yb.jpg

I heard the splits for BJ and Slack were 4:12/8:4X. Probably more story than fact, but I know they took it out VERY hard on a warm, humid day. When you can force the pace so hard that Salazar was given last rites, you know there was some serious running going on! I think my pointing out Slack's alleged mile split was to refute your claim that Slack liked to sit back and "leech", not be aggressive. That certainly wasn't the Slick I knew from my days in Minnesota. When you raced against him, several years later, he may have liked to sit back. I guess it depends on the race, field etc. The picture on the cover of T & F News with Scott, Waigwa, et al is not the picture of Slack leeching off anyone. Many times he pushed the pace. He and BJ did some very aggressive racing, if you remember BJs aggressive tactics at NYC Marathon against Rodgers, for example. Both had a great deal of respect for Rodgers...I think BJ once said Rodgers was the toughest guy he ever raced! (Considering the guys he raced, that's quite a statement.) Slack also shared that respect, and both were trying to figure out tactics to beat him. Forcing the pace at Falmouth was probably a tactic that wouldn't work; Rodgers was just too tough. A very solid 4th for Slack was the result of taking it out very hard and being able to hang out against an absolutely incredible field.

There was a video of the '78 race that was as much about Bill Rodgers as it was about the race. It had some great racing footage and scenes from Falmouth. It would be great to get that on youtube.com or wherever. I just googled and here is the result..

Falmouth, The Great American Road Race

This 16 mm film made by Field and Wall Associates was released in 1979 and runs for 22-minutes. You will see the excitement of a race weekend in Falmouth, Massachusetts, by contrasting the experiences of two runners: Bill Rodgers, a premier marathoner, and Dennis Wharton, a seventy-five-year-old retiree. Falmouth began in 1973 with 93 finishers. The next year, Bill Rodgers upset world-class miler Marty Liquori and the race gained press coverage as the running boom was taking off. In 1975, Olympic champion Frank Shorter came to town and beat Rodgers, and the race was established as a world-class event. With no qualification standards people wait for lottery day to see if they will compete with the world's finest runners. Current running of this event is captured by Falmouth Community Television.

altoroad wrote:

Here's a bit more history -- old school steve was ranked #4 in the world for the marathon in 1975.

Good company:

Mike Slack was not the DIII winner in 1971 and 1972, he was the College Division winner. This took in both what is now known as DII and DIII. In 1973 they divided the meet into seperate DII and DIII competitions.