The question's already been answered.
The question's already been answered.
Can't get that one without looking it up. I do remember the picture of him barely beating poor Haro who was 2nd numerous times.
Rod Dixon was up there in that race as well.
The guy was wearing what looked like the type of hat cyclists used to always wear.
desert rodent wrote:
I still say winner of 1974 world x-c champs. Who knows him without looking it up....honor system at work here.[/quote
Pekka Paivarenta?
NOPE. Wrong year.
Pekka Pickledpeppers?
-cr wrote:
Mr Freeze == Ralph King? sure there's a story there
Mr Freeze, from North Carolina, got the shivers if the temperature dropped below 80 degrees, hence the hypocorism.
Old Track Guy wrote:
One of the best/funniest stories about Moorcroft's amazing 5k WR is that the guy who placed second thought he won after outkicking the rest of the pack. Apparently he didn't know that Moorcroft was so far ahead.
Now someone will remember this 2nd place guy. I want to say he was Athletics West, but not sure. I think he ran around 13:20 or so.
The second place guy was Ralph King.
Here's some info on that fantastic race: (stats and quotes from Track and Field News, August 1982 p.5-6)
1. David Moorcroft 13:00.42 (58.5 last lap)
2. Ralph King 13:21.29
3. Nick Rose 13:21.89
4. Henry Rono 13:25.14
...
7. Peter Koech 13:30.98
Note that Rono and Koech both ran in Stockholm the night before, resulting in a great race that included Alberto Salazar. Rono ran 13:08.97, a mark which was only behind his previous WR's. Peter Koech, who was just hoping to break 13:20, had a big PR of 13:09.50 to become the second man under 13:10. Salazar lowered the American Record from 13:12.91 to 13:11.93 in finishing third.
Here are some quotes from fellow runners on Moorcroft's 13:00 WR:
So stunning, in fact, that runner-up Ralph King (13:20.85) thought he had won the race. "I thought that the guy who took off was a pacemaker and had dropped out during the race," said King. "I couldn't believe it was Moorcroft.
On losing his record, Rono commented, "It's just a number to me. Now I think I can come back and run under 13:00. I was surprised tonight; at first, I thought he was a rabbit. I didn't think anyone was in that kind of shape right now."
Observed mile great John Walker, "I've said all along, the day the milers move up to 5000, 13 minutes is gone. After Dave ran 3:49 last week, we should have figured he could be the one to do it." "He is the fastest of the milers running 5000m now. He's got so much speed, plus he's got strength because he trains like a marathoner."
West Germany's Thomas Wessinghage, calling himself "one of the _former_ fastest 5000m runners in the world," reacted, "I have to say that's the greatest performance on the track I've ever seen. He ran splits that nobody else has ever run and he was still fast over the last laps." "I'm really stunned. He didn't need a rabbit; he didn't need anybody. There are no words to describe what we have seen."
(end passage)
Moorcroft ran PR's of 1:48.29, 3:33.79, and 3:49.34 in the months prior to his 5000m WR.
Whoops, there was a typo with the second and third place times, here are the results from the Moorcroft WR race:
1. 13:00.42 - David Moorcroft (GBR) 13:00.42
2. 13:20.85 - Ralph King (USA: Athletics West) 13:20.85
3. 13:21.29 - Nick Rose (GBR)
4. 13:25.14 - Henry Rono (KEN)
5. 13:26.22 - Clarke (GBR)
6. 13:30.06 - Jorgensen (DEN) [NR]
7. 13:30.98 - Koech (KEN)
8. 13:31.03 - Binns (GBR)
Moorcroft kilo splits:
2:38.0, 2:34.6 [5:12.6], 2:37.6 [7:50.2], 2:38.5 [10:28.7], 2:31.8
Vermonster wrote:
Whoops, there was a typo with the second and third place times, here are the results from the Moorcroft WR race:
We know
malmo wrote:
July 7, 1982 Oslo, Norway
5000m results
1. 13:00.41 Dave Moorcroft
2. 13:20.85 Mr Freeze
3. 13:21.89 Nick Rose
4. 13:25.14 Henry Rono
Moorcroft's PB prior to the 13;00 was 13;20, he never ran under 13;30 after the 13;00 breakthrough.
Is Moorcroft's biography Running Commentary a decent read?
Moorcroft's PB prior to the 13;00 was 13;20, he never ran under 13;30 after the 13;00 breakthrough.
This is not true, he ran at least 3 times under 13:30 after his 5000m world record:
13:23,60 on 13th October 1982 in Melbourne;
13:28,44 on 9th August 1984 in Los Angeles;
13:29,17 on 10tj July 1987 in London.
But this surely is a long way behind his 13:00,41...
Erik De Beck record at World Cross.
1972 7th
1973 18th
1974 1st
1975 didn't run
1976 49th
1977 18th
1978 26th
1979 26th
1980 didn't run
1981 64th
1982 17th
1983 17th
No Mariano Haro but not bad.
I'm sold on Ralph Doubell. He won a GOLD MEDAL at 800m, yet I cannot think of anything else he did on the track, and even in Australia, even within the running community, hardly anyone has heard of him.
By the way, this is no way an indictment of Ralph. He was very unlucky with injuries, and his success in Mexico City was not a fluke. He did an incredible job of running to his peak potential and doing it at exactly the right time - and he ran well tactically too. A very smart runner, who fully deserved his medal.
up all night wrote:
Erik De Beck record at World Cross.
1972 7th
1973 18th
1974 1st
1975 didn't run
1976 49th
1977 18th
1978 26th
1979 26th
1980 didn't run
1981 64th
1982 17th
1983 17th
No Mariano Haro but not bad.
Good longevity, but isn't there some Frenchman in Guiness world records who ran every IAAF world x-c champs from like 1963 to 1978...don't quote me on that.
A virtual unknown before the Olympics, Doubell, 25, has since proved that he is the finest runner to come out of the Antipodes since Snell and Fellow Aussie Ron Clarke. So far this season, he has won 14 out of 15 races, losing only the 600-yd. dash in the Los Angeles Times games. At that it took a virtual dead-heat world record performance (1 min. 8.7 sec.) by Martin McGrady and Lee Evans to defeat him. In the longer distances, Doubell has been unbeatable. In Albuquerque last month he ran 1,000 yds. in 2 min. 5.5 sec., shaving half a second from Snell's eight-year-old world indoor record. As usual he pooh-poohed the stopwatch: "The most important thing is winning. I don't give a damn what the time is."
This from 1969.
Amos Biwott '68 Steeple gold. (commonwealth bronze in '70)
PR of ~8:30(?)
This was the topic of a thread from 2 years ago...
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=1039056&thread=1038295
fantastic thread. keep it up.