Would Henry Rono be a contender today?

It's a true honor to have Henry Rono on this board and responding to our questions and thoughts.

I don't know if he could defeat Geb or Bekkele, but as noted here, it's tough to compare eras and Henry noted, no nutrition, bad shoes, etc.

I do know I saw a lot of WSU meets and it was true magic watching Henry run. He could make a sudden burst like no other.

Henry is a true legend in running circles and at WSU. People on the Palouse still talk of the days of Henry Rono and with fond memories!

* For those who think foreign athletes don't bring anything to campus life or culture, I'd beg to differ. Henry brought a lot to the Palouse and if you didn't live there at the time, you wouldn't understand. (Not everything revolves around Eugene.) Henry created a buzz in the area, whether he was running at a WSU meet, a local indoor meet, or a cross country meet. Henry was the man!

malmo wrote:

One Who Was There wrote:

Are you also saying that Henry was not drinking while at WSU?

Where did I say that?

What you wrote was vague to me. That is why I was asking for clarification.

--There is a lot of information out there regarding Henry's life and alcoholism. Most of it revealed by Henry in interviews posted on his website from 2007, his autobiography, and also available via the web. I posted that before find via google a scan of RW article where Henry commented on his drinking whole at WSU, that Chaplin had given Henry money after practice for drinking etc.

I admire Henry's perseverance and courage, and most of all his honesty in sharing what he went through.

I take what some would consider an extreme opinion, in that I agree with Henry that he was taken advantage of, victimized and that Chaplin, WSU, Nike and others should have done more.

I also understand that at that time, and still in too many sectors of our society people are not educated on addiction as a disease and addiction treatment and recovery. We now have on television both drama and non-fiction programs on intervention, addiction treatment and recovery.

I take a pretty radical opinion that Henry was taken advantage of, and all those people could have done more. the could have insisted on being informed, and they could have risked taking stronger actions.

Too many people think or say that an alcoholic's problem is that they drink. To cure that problem they need to just "stop drinking." One of the highest profile experts in the field once said that "an alcoholics problem is not that they drink, it is that they can't NOT drink." I agree with that expert, and believe that the alcoholic should not be blamed, they should be understood.

Once you stop blaming them for their condition (as most of society does), the next question is if they are in a place where they are willing (able) to receive help. Of course that last bit is dicey, and opens the debate about interventions, and how far caring people can or should intervene...

Totally agree. Rono at his best, was never pressed.

With the kind of support and handling available to today's elites, Henry would have been right there.

It is hard to imagine him even being beaten.

His running was, many have pointed out, a transcendent work of art.

Wow! I see that your reputation for being antagonistic, condescending, and self-righteous is richly deserved.

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Bekele and Geb were much faster...

You can't compare times across generations. Was Wejo a "better" runner than Nurmi or Zátopek?

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Bekele and Geb... have more WR's...

Agreed. However, as several other people have already mentioned, Henry's career was cut short by various extraordinary circumstances.

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Bekele and Geb... have MANY more world titles...

Quite so. However, the inaugural T&F World Championships were held in 1983, a fact that you rather conveniently omitted. I would suspect that "accidental" oversights of that nature are a recurring event during your monologues.

malmo wrote:

altoroad wrote:Although his entry into WSU was surely managed by John Chaplin, I doubt that he was given a free pass in his classes.

Henry was given free passes in class at WSU. He has said it many times. He was told he didn't have to show up -- by his instructors. Henry DID want to learn, but he was overwhelmed since English wasn't is primary language.

How did that sleazebag Chaplin handle it? He gave Henry 20 dollars every day and sent him to the Cougar Cottage.

This thread got 10 times more interesting when this "Cougar Cottage" thing was mentioned. Malmo, any more dark secrets to share with us?

The legend of Cougar Cottage grows.

http://thecoug.com/cougar-cottage

Interesting story about Ryan Leaf...

Mr. Henry Rono, I'm sorry all these idots attack you, for your non running activities. It does not matter you have done what most of us only dream of doing. Your four world record in 1978, by yourself, will never be matched again.

malmo wrote:

altoroad wrote:Although his entry into WSU was surely managed by John Chaplin, I doubt that he was given a free pass in his classes.

Henry was given free passes in class at WSU. He has said it many times. He was told he didn't have to show up -- by his instructors. Henry DID want to learn, but he was overwhelmed since English wasn't is primary language.

How did that sleazebag Chaplin handle it? He gave Henry 20 dollars every day and sent him to the Cougar Cottage.

$20 back in those days at a college bar no less, must have went a long way. What did a bottle of beer cost? 75 cents or $1 at the most? And that's not factoring in happy hour deals. Rono must have got plastered on less than 5-7 bucks a day.

oldoldrunner wrote:

Mr. Henry Rono, I'm sorry all these idots attack you, for your non running activities. It does not matter you have done what most of us only dream of doing. Your four world record in 1978, by yourself, will never be matched again.

You are mistaking mentioning Henry's troubles, which he has spoken and written openly about, with attacking Henry.

Henry has spoken openly about all these things, in multiple interviews, posted on his website, and in his autobiography.

If anything is being attacked, it is the system, and John Chaplin.

well

it does seem from my "research" Henry was looking at ~ 12'50/26'40 back in late '70s if ideally prepared from '78 onwards ( no wabbits, i mean solo )

add wabbits back then & i don't think he'd have been far off 12'42.5 / 26'27.5 back then

not sure what you want to give him for better tracks/quality nutrition/shoes 20 or 30y later...

Well thats a lot of point to answer! Some I agree with & some I don't

First good point about Seb Coe. But I think he would be running 1:39 if around now. Your point is still valid though.

You could also mention that Moorcroft was in Ron's era and hammered his 5,000m record

You are assuming I think Rono is as good as Geb or Bekele which I don't. He didn't have their kick, But he would have run faster if around today and they would have run slower if around then. Because training methods have improved - but specifically in Rono's case he spent all that time in the US. Nowadays the top EA's know to keep going back to altitude or their performance will drop.

See next post for our main difference of opinion!

A big glass of beer a picher which is about eight glasses to fill in cost less than $2.00. I drink four of those a night.You can say 4X8 what do you get 32 glassess of beers.To be honest,the first two pichers goes down my throat like water,by the time I am in three I can start feeling the effects of alcohol.I like to talk about the past,but let me go and run now.I am drinking green tea and lemon without sugar right now.I am a new person.

By the way look what I am doing nowadays.Team-Rono and go to Henry Rono's Blog

Henry

the more i think about it, the more i'm drawn to believe Henry was capable of similar clockings to Tergat on the track 20y before that great man ran them

Here are the site links:

http://racenation.com/members/4956/henry-rono/View.aspx

http://www.team-rono.com/

http://www.team-rono.com/team-rono-blog/

The site have confirmed that the legend that is Henry Rono is posting to Letsrun

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=r/country=ken/athcode=2452/index.html

Question for Henry if you have time. I would be very interested to know what training you were doing when you set your records and if that training was at altitude?

Considering the psychological benefits of having other elites to push you toward greatness, such as aided Geb, Komen, Tergat, and Bekele, I firmly believe that if Henry Rono was 25 years old today, he might run times similar to Daniel Komon. That 7:32, with all the benefits todays runners have, including rabbits and tracks like Rieti, might well be surprisingly close to Komon's 7:20. This is of course speculative.

One thing to keep in mind, ventolin, is that Henry's 3000 is superior to his 5000. This leads me suspect he might possibly have had more speed than some suspect, and he could be more of a Daniel Komen than a Tergat.

Without any doubt, YES Rono would be a major contender of track, road or xc races around the world today!

Henry ran that 5k very early in season - in early april & ran the 3k & 10k in june

i'd suggest he ran that 5k wr more as a leg-stretching blowout rather than a full-fledged attack on the 5k wr

if he'd run a 5k instead of a 3k or 10k on those june days when he was properly into his season, it's very likely he wouda gone faster than his 13'08

other concerns were also that Henry must also have broken the wr for the number of races ever run in 1y by a wr holding distance runner back in '78 ( & never broken since ) !

it's stated that he ran some ungodly number of races in '78 - may have been 30 or more ( Henry or malmo can tell us or go to tilastopaja if someone has it & count his races )

with that amount of racing, it is impossible to have rested properly in order to run a peak performance at a specified meet

just 1/2ing his race program in '78 woud likely have got him under 7'30, around 13-flat & close to 27-flat

Obviously Rono would be a contender today, even without adjusting his times. The fastest 3000 this year is 7:28.37, and Henry ran 7:32.1 31 years ago.

Henry ran 8:05.4 in May in Seattle. Only one athlete ran under 8 minutes this year in the steeplechase. Case closed.