Great duel between Salazar and Centrowitz

OED wrote:

Cummings generally raced around 140.

However, Cummings (RIP) was pretty much an all-around athlete--at least compared to most distance runners. He did a decathlon in HS (and ran ~3:58 to finish it) and I dimly recall that he may still hold the AR for decathlon 1500 (that 3:58, or maybe 3:50ish?). Cummings generally came across as a buff, athletic guy, not the stereotypical distance runner.

Rawson says in the video that Salazar was 5'11" and 141.

Bif Bradley wrote:

The guys in the 70's and '80s always looked like they could handle themselves in a bar fight, as opposed to the elite guys these days.

Salazar, Cummings, and Centrowtitz all had to have been around 160.

They said it right in the video that Salazar was 5'11" and weighed 140.

Centro, however... wouldn't be surprised if he was pushing 160. Still, 160 by itself ain't going to last too long against some drunken beer-gutted frat asshole, who generally tend to weigh in at 180+.

yeah, the video adds about 10 lbs to all those guys. I think I spied Kinky in that race and even he looked thick. cool video.

The beauty of the vids for me was just reminding how great racing was back then. Like here was a bunch of "no shit" runners who were willing to race each other and duke it out. Nowadays you just dont get that with the pacers and people ducking each other.

Poster Formerly Known asGoober wrote:

The beauty of the vids for me was just reminding how great racing was back then. Like here was a bunch of "no shit" runners who were willing to race each other and duke it out. Nowadays you just dont get that with the pacers and people ducking each other.

I kind of agree with you, but anyone racing salazar knew exactly what they were getting, just had to try and hang on. It's like the best rabbit ever, there until the end.

Those guys were awesome. Just put tons of miles on their legs and race. True workhorses.

ah, the memories! made me feel 28 again for a moment. many of those guys I trained with or ran against! To paraphrase the old saying, "one MADE the race, the other WON it."

Did anyone notice Don Clary taking over for a lap? Greatest runner ever to come out of Alaska.

Yeah, I did notice that. Great video all around.

Good stuff. Reminded me of watching Centrowitz in HS when he was at Power.

Jaycee Are wrote:

I now know with certainty that Larry Rawson was challenging viewers to go down to their local high school track prior to my father seducing my mother.

That's funny! My brothers and I always joke about that, had no idea that he was making that challenge way back then!

Well considering the amount of track meets that your average Joe watches, its still a good tidbit for the casual viewer to chew on.

Clary and Salazar ran a 8:24 2 mile in practice the week before the race. I think Matt won the Central Park 10-miler a few weeks before, and Alberto kind of dismissed Matt\'s track fitness in interviews before the race.

Clary was one guy you did not want to fight in a bar or anywhere, nickname was tank, toughest runner other than \'lickety split\'.

I watched Centro run the Lilac 10km in Rochester, NY, 2 -3 weeks before this race in 29:08, just striding through looking like it was a tempo run, a total breeze. Ah those were the days.