Why was Eamonn Coghlan so good indoors? 3:49 in 1983 on plywood track??!!!!

Eamonn was the Chairman of the Boards. He took it very seriously.

Did he actually try to peak for the indoor season? He was known as the 'king of the boards' and I guess his appearance fee money was greater (once that reputation had been established) in indoor meets than on the European outdoor circuit. Was it his physique that was so ideally suited to the indoor banking? Could he have ran faster in the summer if he hadn't focused on the indoor season picking up cheques?

Yes, he did. Wouldn't you if you were essentially unbeatable indoors? Coughlan was a master of indoor tactics -- passing, running the turns, the occasional elbow and cutting off other runners. He also had great acceleration, essential for passing indoors on tiny tracks. Coughlan's indoor skills infuriated better runners. Steve Scott said in his bio that after losing to Coughlan after Coughlan cut him off, he told him he was going to punch him out if he did it again.

Outdoors was a different story though. Indoor tactical tricks were not so important and the big guns like Walker and Scott were peaking for outdoors. Coughlan's acceleration was not as important because he couldn't sustain his speed for very long, whereas Walker and Scott could. Why he never ran as fast outdoors is a mystery, though.

I would disagree that a wood track is "a few seconds slower." A nice banked wood track is pretty close to as quick as a mondo banked track as long as the wood surface is fresh and not chewed up by lots of spikes. You get a spring from the wood structure itself that is more than the top surface.

I believe it was 10 laps to the mile as well; but someone might fact check on that. I'm getting old, and facts are getting a bit more fuzzy.

Was a 10 lap to the mile track too.

The whole environment was perfectly catered to Coghlan's strengths. I wouldn't call Walker's first outdoor sub 3:50 a "couple of years before". It was closer to a decade.

160m? wrote:

I believe it was 10 laps to the mile as well; but someone might fact check on that. I'm getting old, and facts are getting a bit more fuzzy.

I thought it was 11 laps to the mile i.e. 160y

Don't forget that he also was the first master to go sub-4:00, a feat not replicated for over 20 more years. Of course he did it indoors! His indoor self is almost like an alterego.

160m? wrote:

I believe it was 10 laps to the mile as well; but someone might fact check on that. I'm getting old, and facts are getting a bit more fuzzy.

11×160 yards=1760 yards = 1 mile

The video shows it was 10 laps to the mile! 1/2 mile was at the starting line.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

160m? wrote:

I believe it was 10 laps to the mile as well; but someone might fact check on that. I'm getting old, and facts are getting a bit more fuzzy.

11×160 yards=1760 yards = 1 mile

No, the Meadowlands was a 10 laps to the mile track. I ran on it.

The Meadowland's track was 10 laps to the mile.

The old, old Millrose track was 160 yards, then the last MSG track was 145.45 meters (11 laps to the mile)....I measured the last one many times.

The Sports Illustrated article mentions that Coghlan helped design the Meadowlands indoor track. Perhaps, he also helped tweak it in the right places to give it more spring. Seriously, if you tighten the bolts and fasteners and the support spars underneath, you could definitely make it faster. And replace any old, loose boards. Too bad the old Meadowlands track was dismantled and junked. As shown by the Idaho State indoor track (in Pocatello), a wooden banked track can be preserved and kept useful for many years. That track is still in use today.

great video!!!

Amazing that Larry MF Rawson was on the call in 1983!

D.Katz wrote:

The Meadowland's track was 10 laps to the mile.

The old, old Millrose track was 160 yards, then the last MSG track was 145.45 meters (11 laps to the mile)....I measured the last one many times.

Was this owing to records being set there?

1) Coghlan wanted to be good during indoor season. He must have trained accordingly.

2) 5'10" if I recall. Coghlan's leg length to height were not what we see in other world class runners. Coghlan has relatively short legs. 160 yard tracks with very tight turns, Coghlan taking short quick strides suited him well on those tiny tracks.

3) Coghlan has stated he was up all night before 1976 Olympics 1500m final due to itchy legs from shaving his legs. Coghlan can say he did not medal because it was an error taking the lead on second lap in said race. Coghlan can say it was an error not protecting lane one coming down the homestretch of 1976 Olympics 1500m final. Coughlan can say it was an error to take the lead with 300m to go during 1980 Olympics 5000m final. Truth: Outdoors from 1976 to 1983, Coghlan was not the best runner in the world in any event 1500m to 5000m (I know about his 5000m W.C. gold-1983). He decided to carve out a niche indoors.

4) Back then, Millrose Games were at MSG. If my memory is correct, smoking was allowed then inside MSG. Many runners did not want to put up with those conditions during that era indoors.

Look at the crowd at that meet. That was common. I went to the Millrose Games at MSG a few times and there were 15k-18k.

Why isn't track as popular- I don't buy into the "no teams" etc theories you often hear on letsrun.

It WAS popular at one time.

I have heard tales that Villanova once had a banked track set up in a parking lot so the team could practice the turns. I don't know if this is fake news or not.

I would not doubt it. My high school got an old banked wooden 160 yard track from a local college and set it up on the football field in the winter for practice.