brazilian elite wrote:
1. Americans grabbed 22 of the top 23 finishes, with Dean Matthews finishing 23rd in 2:14:46.
2. Overall, 84 runners broke 2:20. That still stands as a record for a single marathon. Seventy-six of the 84 were Americans. Africans: 0. Last year, by comparison, six Americans broke 2:20.
3. A total of 313 finishers broke 2:30.
RATING RUNNERS . . . CHANCES FOR A RECORD
Joe Concannon Globe Staff. Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext). Boston, Mass.: Apr 15, 1983. pg. 1
Abstract (Summary)
The only interruption was a six-day layoff early in the year with back problems. The rest may have done him good. He first burst on the world stage with his 1975 win in an American-record 2:09:55. He won three more Bostons between 1978 and 1980, four New Yorks, a Fukuoka, and was No. 1 in the world in 1975, 1977 and 1979. He's also run fairly recent personal records (PRs) at 10k (28:15, Jan. 15) and 20k (58:42, last September) and, above all, is hungry for Boston. One more thing. He's the crowd favorite. Boston Billy.John Lodwick, 29, Eugene, Ore. - He's had two solid back-to-back Bostons and has been ranked between fourth and seventh on the American list in four of the last five years. Consistent and conservative, a successful blend. He was eighth in 1978 (2:14:12), fourth in 1981 (2:11:33) and third (2:12:01) to the Salazar-Beardsley duel in a hot '82 race. He's 6 feet 4, on a course on which tall runners sometimes experience problems, and wasn't in contention in a 10,000-meter race last weekend in Eugene. "He's in better shape than he was last year," says Athletic West's Bob Sevene.Randy Thomas, 29, Newton - Talk of a conservative game plan, you talk [Randy Thomas]. He's finished fifth (2:11:15 PR) in 1978, eighth (2:14:12) in 1979 and 15th (2:13:48) in the fast 1981 race. He was fifth in Chicago (2:12:33) in his last marathon and has his sights set on Helsinki. "I'm in the best strength shape I've ever been in," he says. "I'm in better shape than I was before Chicago, and I'm on a course I prefer because of the hills."Benji Durden, 31, Stone Mt., Ga. - He was seventh on the world marathon list for 1982, with wins in Houston (2:11:11) and a hot Montreal (2:13:22) and a third in Nike (2:12:51). He has a second in Houston (2:12:20, Jan. 16) in his portfolio for '83. His Boston best was sixth in the hot 1980 race, then followed it up with a second in a PR 2:10:41 in late May in the US Olympic Marathon trials. Helsinki is a prime motivator and training has been on target.Dan Schlesinger, 27, Cambridge - The new kid on the Boston block via Yale, Oxford and Japan resides as a first-year Harvard Law School student. He stamped his return to New England with a sixth in Falmouth and was a surprise third (2:11:54) to the Salazar-Rodolfo Gomez duel in New York. Just coming off a virus, he expresses the thoughts of all those in pursuit of [Greg Meyer]: "If he puts in a 4:40 surge at the 19th mile, I can't help to catch him at the end."Jeff Wells, 28, Eugene, Ore. - Is it 1978 all over again? Is Wells the Wells who chased [Bill Rodgers] to the Prudential wire? He was second in a PR 2:10:15 that year, ran to a 2:10:20 in the 1979 Nike and was fourth in 1980 New York in 2:11:59. He's focusing on the marathon again after a stretch of indecision. He's learned how to run this course. The word out of Eugene is that he's regained a high-level fitness and is hungry to do well. He was eighth in 28:41 in 10,000-meter track race last weekend in Eugene, a speed workout.Bob Hodge, 27, Natick - He wore No. 1066 and raced to third (2:12:30) in the 1979 Boston Marathon. The breakthrough. He didn't finish a year ago, when he went out too fast and the heat got him, but the year included a win in Beppu (2:15:43) and a fifth in Fukuoka (2:11:52) to earn him the No. 8 US ranking. Training was disrupted by a January virus, and his eighth in the Nagoya, Japan 30k (1:34:58) and 16th in a Cherry Hills 10- miler (49:20) reflect it. He's another who trains on the course, and he's content to go in low-keying it. Shades of '79?Dave Gordon, 23, Olympia, Wash. - Perhaps the darkhorse of this field. He ran through drizzle and a blast of driving rain midway through the race to a Honolulu course record of 2:15:30 last December. That was his breakthrough race. Now he's looking for a fast time on a course suited to it. Sevene thinks of Meyer's '81 race and the similarities. (He was Meyer's coach in 1981, he's Gordon's in 1983.) The indicators, Sevene says, are tempting. "He's run 28:48 on the roads and an 8:02.6 3000 that's 0:19 under his PR," offers Sevene. His size (5-8, 125) may be a drawback on a course on which strength pays off.Marty Froelich, 25, Houston - He's a newcomer to the Marathon, with a 2:12:47 third in his Houston debut on Jan. 16. He trained six months for Houston at 110 miles per week and has incorporated the same program into preparations. Tuneups also included sixth in the Cherry Blossom 10- miler (47:59) on March 27. The '82 ledger included a win in Las Vegas' half-marathon (1:04:26).
Full Text (2458 words)
Copyright Boston Globe Newspaper Apr 15, 1983
The compelling backdrops to the 87th Boston Marathon are the names. Greg Meyer, Boston's new marathon man. Bill Rodgers, its four- time winner ready to turn back the clock. Joan Benoit, the women's favorite. Allison Roe, the world-record holder on the rebound.
Will Meyer win his first Boston? Will Rodgers win his fifth? Is Roe's world record in jeopardy? By either Roe or Benoit or both? Or will they be shooting for a different world record after Norway's Grete Waitz crosses the finish line in the London Marathon on Sunday?
Perhaps the last is the most intriguing question of all. "It'd be very exciting if Grete broke the world record on Sunday," says Roe, "and then we're out there doing our thing on Monday. If that happens, it'd only give me more incentive to run harder."
There's even the words of Randy Thomas, one of the prominent runners in pursuit of one of the three spots on the American team for the world championships this August in Helsinki, which will be decided by this race. Hetrains on the Marathon course, trains on the track with Meyer, and says of Boston 1983:
"You've got two runners in this race who have to be considered clear-cut favorites. Sometimes, that presents a problem. They know they're the only two. If they start worrying about each other too much, they could end up causing each other trouble.
"I can see Greg running a 2:08, Bill a 2:09. Greg - in the back of his mind - knows he can break the world record (Alberto Salazar's 2:08:13 in New York 1981) on this course, and it might take a 2:08 to win. Given favorable weather conditions - 50 degrees - you're going to have the fastest finish in Boston history. Someone's going to have to break 2:13-flat to get in the top 10."
The women's world-record picture is this. Roe set the record of 2:25:28 on Oct. 15, 1981 in New York. Waitz has the next fastest, 2:25:41 she ran on Oct. 26, 1980 in New York. Benoit is No. 3 on the strength of her 2:26:11 in Eugene, Ore. last September.
So the men's race could be a showdown between close friends Meyer and Rodgers; and with Meyer planning to shoot for the 10,000 in the world championships, an extra spot in the marathon could open up. The race for third and fourth could be a dandy. As in Randy.
The giant variable is always the weather. It's too early to predict. The second is the course, with its fast downhill start and critical hills just past the halfway point. Whatever, Boston's early form chart has the following on Monday's morning line.MenGreg Meyer, 27, Wellesley - He seized the lead in Boston 1981, and led for three miles from Newton Lower Falls to the second of the Newton hills. He fell apart and faded to 11th in 2:13:07. "If you're going to make a move early," says Meyer of his '81 lesson, "you'd better have the fitness to carry it out or the course will eat you alive. And so will the other people."
Meyer has the fitness to carry it out in '83. Every one of his 20- mile training runs has been on the course. He has the Chicago victory (2:10:59, last Sept. 26) in his background. He was rated the No. 2 road runner in the country by Track & Field News (to Salazar's No. 1) last year, and he's been pointing toward Boston.
His success this year indicates he is on target: The American- record 43:07 in the Gasparilla 15-kilometer on Feb. 6. The 1:31:05 victory over the tough and hilly Ohme, Japan 30k course on Feb. 20. The course record and personal-best 46:13 in the Cherry Blossom 10- miler on March 27. The Colonial Relays 10,000 27:53 on April 2, the world's best in a young '83. In terms of strength, speed, preparation and experience, Meyer is ready.Bill Rodgers, 35, Sherborn - It's been three years since Rodgers has keyed on a marathon with the intensity of Boston '83. He wants to make the Helsinki team. He's the one who started the ball rolling so Boston would be the trials race. He'd dearly love to win a fifth Boston. He thinks he can win again. He's aiming to lower his personal best of 2:09:27 (Boston 1979) and he has a new goal: "I want to join the 2:08 club."
The only interruption was a six-day layoff early in the year with back problems. The rest may have done him good. He first burst on the world stage with his 1975 win in an American-record 2:09:55. He won three more Bostons between 1978 and 1980, four New Yorks, a Fukuoka, and was No. 1 in the world in 1975, 1977 and 1979. He's also run fairly recent personal records (PRs) at 10k (28:15, Jan. 15) and 20k (58:42, last September) and, above all, is hungry for Boston. One more thing. He's the crowd favorite. Boston Billy.John Lodwick, 29, Eugene, Ore. - He's had two solid back-to-back Bostons and has been ranked between fourth and seventh on the American list in four of the last five years. Consistent and conservative, a successful blend. He was eighth in 1978 (2:14:12), fourth in 1981 (2:11:33) and third (2:12:01) to the Salazar-Beardsley duel in a hot '82 race. He's 6 feet 4, on a course on which tall runners sometimes experience problems, and wasn't in contention in a 10,000-meter race last weekend in Eugene. "He's in better shape than he was last year," says Athletic West's Bob Sevene.Randy Thomas, 29, Newton - Talk of a conservative game plan, you talk Randy Thomas. He's finished fifth (2:11:15 PR) in 1978, eighth (2:14:12) in 1979 and 15th (2:13:48) in the fast 1981 race. He was fifth in Chicago (2:12:33) in his last marathon and has his sights set on Helsinki. "I'm in the best strength shape I've ever been in," he says. "I'm in better shape than I was before Chicago, and I'm on a course I prefer because of the hills."Benji Durden, 31, Stone Mt., Ga. - He was seventh on the world marathon list for 1982, with wins in Houston (2:11:11) and a hot Montreal (2:13:22) and a third in Nike (2:12:51). He has a second in Houston (2:12:20, Jan. 16) in his portfolio for '83. His Boston best was sixth in the hot 1980 race, then followed it up with a second in a PR 2:10:41 in late May in the US Olympic Marathon trials. Helsinki is a prime motivator and training has been on target.Dan Schlesinger, 27, Cambridge - The new kid on the Boston block via Yale, Oxford and Japan resides as a first-year Harvard Law School student. He stamped his return to New England with a sixth in Falmouth and was a surprise third (2:11:54) to the Salazar-Rodolfo Gomez duel in New York. Just coming off a virus, he expresses the thoughts of all those in pursuit of Meyer: "If he puts in a 4:40 surge at the 19th mile, I can't help to catch him at the end."Jeff Wells, 28, Eugene, Ore. - Is it 1978 all over again? Is Wells the Wells who chased Rodgers to the Prudential wire? He was second in a PR 2:10:15 that year, ran to a 2:10:20 in the 1979 Nike and was fourth in 1980 New York in 2:11:59. He's focusing on the marathon again after a stretch of indecision. He's learned how to run this course. The word out of Eugene is that he's regained a high-level fitness and is hungry to do well. He was eighth in 28:41 in 10,000-meter track race last weekend in Eugene, a speed workout.Bob Hodge, 27, Natick - He wore No. 1066 and raced to third (2:12:30) in the 1979 Boston Marathon. The breakthrough. He didn't finish a year ago, when he went out too fast and the heat got him, but the year included a win in Beppu (2:15:43) and a fifth in Fukuoka (2:11:52) to earn him the No. 8 US ranking. Training was disrupted by a January virus, and his eighth in the Nagoya, Japan 30k (1:34:58) and 16th in a Cherry Hills 10- miler (49:20) reflect it. He's another who trains on the course, and he's content to go in low-keying it. Shades of '79?Dave Gordon, 23, Olympia, Wash. - Perhaps the darkhorse of this field. He ran through drizzle and a blast of driving rain midway through the race to a Honolulu course record of 2:15:30 last December. That was his breakthrough race. Now he's looking for a fast time on a course suited to it. Sevene thinks of Meyer's '81 race and the similarities. (He was Meyer's coach in 1981, he's Gordon's in 1983.) The indicators, Sevene says, are tempting. "He's run 28:48 on the roads and an 8:02.6 3000 that's 0:19 under his PR," offers Sevene. His size (5-8, 125) may be a drawback on a course on which strength pays off.Marty Froelich, 25, Houston - He's a newcomer to the Marathon, with a 2:12:47 third in his Houston debut on Jan. 16. He trained six months for Houston at 110 miles per week and has incorporated the same program into preparations. Tuneups also included sixth in the Cherry Blossom 10- miler (47:59) on March 27. The '82 ledger included a win in Las Vegas' half-marathon (1:04:26). Boston's been a long- standing objective. "Houston was great," he said to a friend, "but the party's over."Dean Matthews, 27, Atlanta - He'd warm up to tomorrow's birthday with a strong performance and his marathon credentials include a Honolulu win (1979, Gordon broke his course record), a Marine Corps win in 1981 and a 10th in New York 1982 with a PR 2:13:59. His log book includes similiar mileage, but higher quality. Size (5-9, 118) works against him in Boston. Tuneups included a course record 28:33 in the Dublin, Ga., 10k on March 19.Tom Raunig, 23, Eugene, Ore. - The finish to '82 included a second in the Maple Leaf Half-marathon in Manchester, Vt. (1:04:27), and a sixth in New York (2:13:22). It also included an achilles problem that idled him in December, and he hasn't raced this year. Sevene says, "His training is better than it was before New York." He's been on the 110-mile-per-week regimen since Feb. 1.Ron Tabb, 28, Eugene, Ore. - He owns a third in Boston (2:14:48), but was one of the casualties in last year's heat. Solid background includes wins in Houston 1980, Mardi Gras 1980 and Paris 1981, where he ran 2:11:44. He's pointing for Helsinki trip, and Sevene says, "He's in top shape." He's had some big marathons in his past, including fourth in the US Olympic Trials.Dennis Rinde, 24, Orangevale, Calif. - He's been in the top 10 in last two Bostons - seventh in 1981 (2:12:01) and sixth in 1982 (2:15:04) - and says he's in better condition than he was last year and his mental preparation is better. "I just didn't care," he says of his 1982 approach. He didn't finish Honolulu and experienced achilles problems after return. He's talking top five.Ed Sheehan, 24, Troy, Ala. - Qualified on strength of PR 2:13:47 in Rocket City last Dec. 11, and returns to old stomping grounds. He's a 1979 Harvard graduate. He's had an active race schedule leading him home, and experience and motivational factors could see him creeping into top 10. How high? It's anybody's guess once the order at the top is established.The womenJoan Benoit, 25, Watertown - The decision to run Boston perhaps was inevitable. As Sevene said two weeks ago in Eugene before the decision was made: "Sometimes, it's a good idea to go for it. There's more pros than cons. She loves the course. She's made for the course." The decision, you might say, had been reached.
Benoit's comeback from double achilles surgery on Dec. 28, 1981 to a rampaging seven-month season in '82 was one of running's top stories. She broke Waitz' Falmouth course record, set the American record (2:26:11) in the Nike Marathon and set American records for 10,000 meters (32:30.8) on the track and the half-marathon (1:09:02) and for 10 miles (53:18) on the roads. She's recently finished fourth in the World Cross-Country Championships in Gateshead, England and ran an American-record 31:43 for second in the Crescent City 10k on March 27.Allison Roe, 26, Auckland, N.Z. - She flew 10,000 milesfrom Auckland to Boston, arrived last Saturday night and won the Boston Milk Run 10K in 33:03 Sunday. Sound familiar? She'd flown through the time zones two years ago, arrived in Boston on the eve of the Bonne Bell and ran 32:42 to finish second. She pushed more that time, and two weeks later, set the world record (2:25:28) in New York.
Don't discount the fact that was her last serious marathon. Idled by achilles problems throughout the second part of '82, she regained her fitness during the New Zealand summer and, even though she's raced only a few times, her workouts are indicators she's at her New York '82 level. She also holds the Boston course record (2:26:45). Roe: "I feel I'm ready, otherwise I wouldn't be here."Jackie Gareau, 30, St. Bruno, Que. - She's been in Boston's top five on all three runs and started off with a victory (2:34:28) in 1980. She was fifth in 1981 (2:31:26) and second (2:36:09) last year. Recent races include PRs in the Jacksonville River Run 15k (fourth, 51:03, March 12) and the Cherry Blossom 10-miler (third, 54:20, March 27). Word out of Quebec is that she's on schedule to run in the 2:28-2:29 range on the right day.KarenDunn, 21, Durham, N.H. - This University of New Hampshire junior ran her first marathon last July 17 and won in 2:41:03 in Orono, Maine, and she followed it with second in Chicago (2:34:40) on Sept. 26 and third in Miami (2:40:51) on Jan. 22. Recently, she won the Cherry Hills 10-miler (55:33) and says she's better prepared mentally and physically than she was for Chicago. She's a legitimate darkhorse and a name to mark down for the future.Julie Isphording, 21, Cincinnati - She's a senior at Xavier University, has run Boston the past two years with a seventh in 1982 in 2:43:24. She's subsequently finished sixth in New York (2:34:24) and fourth in the Osaka Women's Marathon (2:38:32) on Jan. 23. She was ranked No. 5 by Track & Field News on the marathon list and No. 7 on the road list for '82. She ran a 52:32 15k on March 15, an American record for all women's race. Her goal is to break 2:34 and finish in the top five. She's on target.