Gerry Lindgren's 16:08 four miler

It's just food wrote:

Kajak wrote:

Did any of you bother to research the facts? Is was 6km. And the race actually happened.

http://arrs.auguszt.in/race/68452

You know this is Letsrun, right?

Did anybody actually look at that link? Here's what it says:

Race profile

NameMount San Antonio College Crosscountry

SiteWalnut CA/USA

Date19 Sep 1964

TypeCrosscountry

Distance6 km

Results (men)

1

Finished Time Flags Given name Surname Alternate name Citizenship Birth date Prize money Actions

1 16:54 Gerry Lindgren USA 09 Mar 1946

3 17:26 Victor Zwolak USA 30 Nov 1938

What the heck kind of result page only shows 1st and 3rd place? Seems like this was probably just something some guy put together from memory. The course may have been short. But even if it's correct, 6k (~3.73.mi) in 16:54 is not the same as 4 miles in 16:08.

I don't know what is sadder - Lindgren's unfortunate mental health troubles, or the lack of critical thinking by some posters on this and other threads about Lindgren. Apparently some people will believe just about anything.

Lindgren was a great HS/college runner - one of the best, in fact. Let's just leave it at that.

Sir, the reason no 2nd place listed in results is the results are tied to ARRS profile. Gerry has an ARRS profile as does 3rd placer Vic Zwolak (Villanova).

Hope this helps.

eeehhm wrote:

the mere fact that you all are actually entertaining the idea that a guy ran a 12.30 5km (and another 1400m on top of that) on a cross country course back in the 60's, just shows what a true bunch of muppets you guys actually are.

Lol I’m not even a distance guy, and I know it’s absolute bs unless the course was seriously downhill all the way and there was a strong wind at his back.

Just think of Komen’s 2-miler, and this becomes absolutely laughable.

Yuck! Boooo! I bet you typed that thinking it sounded cool in your head. Unfortunately, that's where that should have stayed. I don't Stache from Adam, but I know a lame comment when I see one. And that was one! Booooooooo!

He could be genius and charming, but still be a kook. In fact, I'd bet many geniuses are kooks. And "done some eyebrow raising things" is the nicest euphemism for abandoned one's family ever. Why not "he gave them some space"?

Ah. So you're a close relative, then?

Yes, it's absolutely our place to judge a person by how he treats others, especially a guy who abandons his family. Did you really just ask that? What he did is gross. It's perfectly fine to judge an action like that.

The only reason to reserve an iota judgment for the guy himself is the not unlikely scenario that he legitimately suffers from some serious mental illness that prevents him from processing what he did and the effect it's had on people.

Otherwise, there's no defense for dereliction on that level I can think of.

Actual 1964 NY Times news article about the race:

nytimes.com

Gerry Lindgren Wins 4‐Mile Run in 16:54 (Published 1964)

Link:www.nytimes.com/1964/09/20/gerry-lindg...

I think the odds of a 6k race in the US in 1964 is zero. 4 miles in 16:54? Yeah that is in the realm of believable.

Is it though? That means he came through 5k in 13:07. That's pretty amazing if true.

Kipchogay does a marathon just a little bit slower than this. No humus is limited.

LOL, it's not true. Gerry's 2 mile pr is from indoor with an 8:34, aka all out effort. He did not even double that effort by running a 4 mile race in 17:08 let alone the 16:54 crap that you guys are actually believing. Oh yeah, he was on sub 2 hour marathon pace, but...he passed out. He didn't exaggerate, he lied. Yes, even top level people lie.

:(