Saw Buerkle set the indoor mile wr in 1978. He was a really great guy, and 71 is way too young
Saw Buerkle set the indoor mile wr in 1978. He was a really great guy, and 71 is way too young
Too young!
Godspeed, fellow bald dude.
One time Olympian, two time US Olympic team member. He competed in Montreal, not Moscow.
OH no.....was one of the most humble guys ever. So tough...Really sad to hear this news. Last I heard he was living near Atlanta working for Coca Cola?
Good guy--I was once thinking of recruiting one of his HS runners and he gave me the heads-up not to bother.
Gone way too young.
Wow!!! Rest In Peace: Dick Buerkle, who at one time held the world indoor track and field record for the mile and twice qualified for the United States Olympic team, died Monday morning. He was 72. He was coached by the famous Jumbo Elliot while at Villanova.
During his time in college he was a three-time NCAA All-American who finished third at three NCAA finals: The 1969 and 1970 indoor two-mile race and at the 1970 outdoor three-miler.
He won the men's Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in 3:58.4, beating Wilson Waigwa and Filbert Bayi for a second consecutive race on Madison Square Garden's track.
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One of the greatest wall one ever. Was about a 10:20/4:30 type in high school. Spent one year putting in high mileage with a transistor radio in hand, then won the frosh,IC4A meet. A college teammate of my HS coach. I met him at Penn one year and he seemed like a very nice man
Was supposed to say walkons ever. I hate autocorrect!
A great runner and a great person. I have known him almost since coming to Atlanta almost 30 yrs ago. Tremendous competitor, super nice guy, full of stories. Did just about every job but really seemed to loving teaching and coaching. He will be sorely missed by the Atlanta running community (as well as many runners everywhere).
People forget that his two biggest successes both came indoors at U of MD Field House.
I was fortunate enough to be in his presence at an at an all comers meet (RTC) the day the world digested the news that the Word Mile Record was now below 3:50. It appeared that he had been on the phone with Marty Liquori that afternoon and they still weren't 100 percent convinced with respect to the validity as of yet.
The somewhat limited international stature of the ?Aussie? runner who came in second was part of the doubt factor and as I recall Mr. Buerkle (or his sources) had confused him with someone else who was more prominent at the time.
lease wrote:
Good guy--I was once thinking of recruiting one of his HS runners and he gave me the heads-up not to bother.
Gone way too young.
Huh, why?
I loved his quote from the Pre biopic Fire on the Track:
"My aura was just trying to stick it to his aura!"
A great friend and a better man. Had the honor of running with him the last few times he ran and was my yoga pal for many years till the last days. A great loss.
Long ago had Buerkle as a elementary school teacher and later as a middle school track coach. Once of the nicest and most humble men I've ever met. The only evidence of his track career was when he once brought his medals for a school run-a-thon.
Absolutely wonderful man and will mourn his loss.
Student of Buerkle wrote:
Long ago had Buerkle as a elementary school teacher and later as a middle school track coach. Once of the nicest and most humble men I've ever met. The only evidence of his track career was when he once brought his medals for a school run-a-thon.
Absolutely wonderful man and will mourn his loss.
Thank you for those stories. We should all aspire to be like him.
Saw him run at MSG. tiny at, 5'7" and 1 30 pds., But very tough ...
Happy Trails to you.
Just one look at Buerkle tells you he had Rock and Roll status. RIP Mr Buerkle.
I remember one day showing up at my grandma's house in Miami and there is this bald guy sitting at the dinner table - Dick Buerkle. We end up eating a huge Cuban meal together, just him, me and my grandma as he tells story after story about his running and journeys in life. After dinner, he says, "well, you're a runner, what you've run under 9:50 as a sophomore, let's go run!"
We head out the door, my stomach is absolutely full, and we hit a 4 miler at under 6:30/mile pace. I can barely breath because of the amount of food in my stomach, but he tells me two things -
1) "open your feet before they land! remember, they are like hands, open them up to get full power into your foot!"
2) you need to run WITH your arms. Swing them huge! I took this to heart and then was known as the "bushwacker" my junior and senior year. Seeing footage from my junior year 3200m state meet on YouTube, you can see my exaggerated arm swing. He said this would produce great force - "if your arms go, your legs go."
What a great soul. Amazing how in one night he made such a huge impact on my running career and in my family, as he worked with my grandma on and off after that.
Rest in peace. If I could, I'd post the Sports Illustrated he gave me, signed, from when he beat Bali and set a World Indoor Record, I believe.
I’m a D2 female runner. Our coach explicitly told us not to visit LetsRun forums.
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2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion
RENATO can you talk about the preparation of Emile Cairess 2:06
adizero Road to Records with Yomif Kejelcha, Agnes Ngetich, Hobbs Kessler & many more is Saturday