This profile of Deek from the Sports Illustrated Vault absolutely blows my mind.
Today, such a lengthy, fully-illustrated profile of a great distance runner - and an Australian one at that - would be inconceivable.
Classic SI journalism, with high quality writing, photographs, and layout.
I wish we still had any sort of sports journalism of this caliber, let alone coverage of running.
I wonder when the last time.a distance runner made the cover of that magazine. I would bet 1983,with Mary Decker. I also recall covers of Dick Buerkle,. Salazar, Steve Scott, Eamonn Coughlen. Bill Rodgers, Coe, and the 1976 Oly Trials 10K.
George Atlas wrote:
I wonder when the last time.a distance runner made the cover of that magazine. I would bet 1983,with Mary Decker. I also recall covers of Dick Buerkle,. Salazar, Steve Scott, Eamonn Coughlen. Bill Rodgers, Coe, and the 1976 Oly Trials 10K.
I remember Salazar , Coe and Coghlan without google .
I do not remember Buerkle , Scott , Rodgers on other publications .
However , back in the day , my picks for 84 were Treacy , Deek , Salazar .
I got one of three - a great race , indeed !
Congrats thirty two years later , Lopes , Treacy , Spedding .
Great bloke, what a mustache?
Those were the days, I bet he went home and had a meat pie, a cold beer and pinched the missus on the backside.
135 mile weeks... week after week after week.. very Brian Sell-like.
So true wrote:
George Atlas wrote:I wonder when the last time.a distance runner made the cover of that magazine. I would bet 1983,with Mary Decker. I also recall covers of Dick Buerkle,. Salazar, Steve Scott, Eamonn Coughlen. Bill Rodgers, Coe, and the 1976 Oly Trials 10K.
I remember Salazar , Coe and Coghlan without google .
I do not remember Buerkle , Scott , Rodgers on other publications .
However , back in the day , my picks for 84 were Treacy , Deek , Salazar .
I got one of three - a great race , indeed !
Congrats thirty two years later , Lopes , Treacy , Spedding .
I thought that I remembered Rodgers, and sure enough, a quick Google shows at least 2 (both NYC).
Fond memories of anticipating the '84 Olympic marathon. Since I first became a fan in the late 70's, I suspect that there has never been another marathon like that, where, if I recall correctly, basically ALL of the uppermost tier of marathoners was in the same race - DeCastella, Seko, Salazar, Ikanga, Dixon, So brothers, etc. PERHAPS London has at least come close to this in one or more years?
Also reminds one of how extra-unpredictable marathons are. If it was a shorter race, it would be much more common for at least 2 of the 3 medals to come from the list of favorites. I don't recall if Lopes was considered amongst the favorites (I think not?), but I'm pretty darn sure that Treacy and Spedding weren't.
This reminds me of 2 other articles in SI from around that time that I occasionally recall, similarly marveling at (in a bad way!) how inconceivable one or both them are today:
#2: Conceivable, but HIGHLY-unlikely: Story about (uncharacteristically-muscular) road racer Herb Lindsay in the early 80s, when he was winning lots of road races (if I recall, the article described him as something like a "melted-down linebacker").
#2: Utterly inconceivable: Story on the ('81?) Midland (NJ) 15K, notable because it had so many great runners in it, including a VERY rare [only?] appearance in a US road race by Lasse Viren. I think that Lindsay may have won it.
perfect running cloths you can't buy any more
this would fade super thin and zero inseam
Ivy Leagah wrote:
http://www.si.com/vault/issue/44475/374/2This profile of Deek from the Sports Illustrated Vault absolutely blows my mind.
Today, such a lengthy, fully-illustrated profile of a great distance runner - and an Australian one at that - would be inconceivable.
Classic SI journalism, with high quality writing, photographs, and layout.
I wish we still had any sort of sports journalism of this caliber, let alone coverage of running.
byline: Kenny Moore (no wonder the article was so good)
lkj wrote:
135 mile weeks... week after week after week.. very Brian Sell-like.
Sell ran higher
Runners World:
Brian Sell
"But as far as feeling fresh, it's always been just a kind of calloused dull feeling in the middle of these 160, 170-mile weeks where I never feel great but I never feel like just stopping and walking either. Yeah, it's been about the same for the past five years or so. I'll have runs where I feel there's no way I'm going to get through it, and it ends up being a pretty quick one and I'm feeling pretty strong. And there are other days when I take a day off from work and I take a nap and think "I'm going to feel great" and I go out and just slog through it. It's a day to day thing.
What have been your high mileage weeks in this cycle?
BS: About 166 this week, and hopefully about the same next week or maybe 170, and then probably start coming down a little when I head down to Florida."
135 isn't anywhere near 170
Indeed, those were the good old days of coverage of track, running, etc. Some classic covers and stories referenced here.
But you guys have missed one of the truly iconic SI covers ever. I'm not sure of the year without looking it up, and don't have time right now. It was a very young Pre in his Oregon uniform running on a trail with an amazing view in the background. I think it was the first real profile piece on him, and was really about both Pre and Bowerman. Clearly remember it as an awesome article.
va coach wrote:
Indeed, those were the good old days of coverage of track, running, etc. Some classic covers and stories referenced here.
But you guys have missed one of the truly iconic SI covers ever. I'm not sure of the year without looking it up, and don't have time right now. It was a very young Pre in his Oregon uniform running on a trail with an amazing view in the background. I think it was the first real profile piece on him, and was really about both Pre and Bowerman. Clearly remember it as an awesome article.
Did you not click on karpopper's link ?
Awesome
1984 wrote:
Runners World:
Brian Sell
"But as far as feeling fresh, it's always been just a kind of calloused dull feeling in the middle of these 160, 170-mile weeks where I never feel great but I never feel like just stopping and walking either. Yeah, it's been about the same for the past five years or so. I'll have runs where I feel there's no way I'm going to get through it, and it ends up being a pretty quick one and I'm feeling pretty strong. And there are other days when I take a day off from work and I take a nap and think "I'm going to feel great" and I go out and just slog through it. It's a day to day thing.
What have been your high mileage weeks in this cycle?
BS: About 166 this week, and hopefully about the same next week or maybe 170, and then probably start coming down a little when I head down to Florida."
135 isn't anywhere near 170
Sell overtrained. Deek probably over raced. Deek had better p.rs though
Watered down wrote:
1984 wrote:Runners World:
Brian Sell
"But as far as feeling fresh, it's always been just a kind of calloused dull feeling in the middle of these 160, 170-mile weeks where I never feel great but I never feel like just stopping and walking either. Yeah, it's been about the same for the past five years or so. I'll have runs where I feel there's no way I'm going to get through it, and it ends up being a pretty quick one and I'm feeling pretty strong. And there are other days when I take a day off from work and I take a nap and think "I'm going to feel great" and I go out and just slog through it. It's a day to day thing.
What have been your high mileage weeks in this cycle?
BS: About 166 this week, and hopefully about the same next week or maybe 170, and then probably start coming down a little when I head down to Florida."
135 isn't anywhere near 170
Sell overtrained. Deek probably over raced. Deek had better p.rs though
Are you implying that there is even a hint of doubt as to who had the better career?
Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:
Great bloke, what a mustache?
Those were the days, I bet he went home and had a meat pie, a cold beer and pinched the missus on the backside.
He was a vegetarian
ukathleticscoach wrote:
Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:Great bloke, what a mustache?
Those were the days, I bet he went home and had a meat pie, a cold beer and pinched the missus on the backside.
He was a vegetarian
I don't appreciate knowing this fact. As a meat eater, I get very defensive every time I learn of a world class athlete who goes meatless.
Deek wasn't a vegetarian in the sense we know it now, but he was careful with what he ate. I was are a BBQ he went to, he brought fish. I've also eaten with him several times in Italy at race hotels which provided a fixed course of dishes in their restaurant. He ate every course they put in front of him, excellent Italian food, and washed it down with a beer.
He's a great guy, and was a superstar in Australia, recognized everywhere he went.
He raced everything,1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10000m, loved cross country (world cross especially), and obviously the marathon. He loved running and competing.
Go back to 1970 and SI had a 19 year old college freshman distance runner on the cover
http://www.si.com/olympics/photos/2012/06/29classic-photos-of-prefontaine
I noticed the quote at the bottom of page 270 in the article where Telford (the physiologist) says, "People get injured when they alter the kind or the intensity of their training. Since 1979, Rob's has changed not at all. He still runs his 400s every Thursday in 65 seconds. His Sunday run is still the same pace. He's destroyed the myth that you have to intensify training to keep the body improving."
Fascinating and the opposite of Renato's approach.