wineturtle wrote:
Robert Fournier,
welcome... is that you registered name?
Do you know of other fast 1500 at the end of day 2? Did you know you were the second fastest USA (4th World) 1500 deca guy?
Hey Wineturtle!
I don't have a registered name, that was the 1st time I ever posted anything, I just used one of my old screen names. I'm gonna have to change it to "Over 50" SOON!
The whole time I competed from about 1977-1990 I only remember a couple of other people breaking 4:15 or even 4:20, in the meets I was in.
One race I was in I ran 4:06 or so and the person behind me ran 4:08 something. His first name was Rich, but I can't remember his last name. I think he used to compete for CSU Stanislaus.
When I became capable of breaking 4:10, the toughest race I ever had during a decathlon was against Ed Dumas of UC Santa Barbara.
Here's a funny story about the only other faster decathlon 1500 time that I know of:
I competed in a decathlon in Santa Barbara in 1981, after I had just run my 4:14.07 at the NCAA Championships the year before. Ed Dumas was put in the same heat as me for the 1500. The fastest time I'd ever seen Ed run was low to mid 4:20s, so I thought I'd have no problem winning the heat.
I lead the heat for the first 3 laps with him trailing. He passed me at the gun, I let him go figuring I'd wait until about the 150 mark and go flying past him for the win. Well, when I got to the 150 mark... I took off HARD! Well, he took off even HARDER and just left me in the dust! He put 3 seconds between him and me in the last 150, 4:13 to 4:16.
I went back to compete again the next year, Ed was there again and also got put in the same heat as me again. I had just run a 4:08 a few weeks earlier, so I figured I get a chance to redeem myself for sure this time.
Well this time, Ed takes off and is leading for the first 3 laps! We were about 4:15 pace with one lap to go. I knew if I didn't try to take off at the gun, he was probably going to dust me off again. So I bolted pass him at the gun and and gave it everything I had. My coach told me that I had put about 25-30 meters on him with 200 to go, when he started to come after me.
He was making up some serious ground in the last 100 meters, but never caught me. I finished in 4:06.2 and he had a 4:07.3! We both PRed and I ended up running a 59 last lap, which is the fastest lap I've ever run in a 1500 to this day.
The decathlon 1500 world record holder, Robert Baker, who was helping officiate the meet and timing me, thought I had broken his collegiate record of 4:06.3! He congratulated me for the record only to find out it was still his, because my eligibility ended the last year!
That was almost my name that Detmer would have erased, if I would've taken that red-shirt year, like I had planned. Oh well, maybe next life!
I wasn't actually sure what place I fell in on the all-time list, but I thought I was somewhere up there. I had a list from 1980 that if correct, would have made me the 2nd fastest American and the 3rd fastest in the world. I wasn't sure if anyone else had slid in there or not.
I think if Joe Detmer keeps competing, he'll give the world record a run for the money. He's got the speed and the size to do it!