Gregorek. Holy smokes.

Should have thought of this before I posted - Rojo et al, if you have any sense you'll grab this thread and clean it up into an article so the whole site can appreciate it.

Just want to take this opportunity to thank Pete for sharing his knowledge and memories with us in the public space. Pete, I’ve been a fan of yours ever since Rick coached me in high school 2004-2008 and I found your Advanced Runners Handbook with Bob Glover at my local used bookstore for about a dollar. You gave me some college advice on the phone way back when. I always enjoy seeing your posts here.

Pete is very modest about his personal accomplishments as well - maybe with some prodding he’ll tell us stories from his own days as an elite 400m runner.

Pete Schuder wrote:

Sorry for digressing, just an old guy reliving some great experiences....ha, ha.

Your post is one of the reasons many of us still go on Let's Run. Thanks for the great information.

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I may be one of the more optimistic posters here, but I think Gregorek's time is simply a breakthrough and he is on his way to consistently faster performances in the future.

So awesome. Thanks to Pete, we can appreciate the BU track for what it is - a functional monument and homage to the minds, athletes, and arenas that made track popular in the US! Fitting that it’s the scene of so many recent sources of entertaining exploits. The glory days memorialized and eternalized in an oval!

Thank you all for the kind words. I have always tried to give back to track and field for the wonderful life the sport provided for me and my family. Getting the track built at Boston U was very rewarding, but it took a lot of very good people to get the job done. The project was $22 million by the time all got done, when it was originally estimated to be $16 million. The Architects actually threw their original plans away when Bruce Lehane and I were allowed to come to an organizational meeting and we presented our ideas. Bruce pushed for the "seventh" lane for jogging, while I wanted a dropped track and a permanent banked 200m track, so people had a good view of the track and field facility and we wouldn't have to put up and take down the track every year. There were footprint issues (the railroad tracks in the back wouldn't allow for a wider track or seating on the backstretch). I wanted the pole vault runway outside of the oval because tennis had priority on the infield. Again, the land for that was not there. However, we all felt that the Architects came up with some great designs, especially being able to have the throws circles off to the right and secured as it was over at Harvard, and getting the seating to be close to what I had hoped for. After a great deal of research I were able to locate Floyd Highfill and Tracks West (he and his partner were already semi-retired when I contacted Floyd) and off to the races we went.

Being a bit prejudiced, I think the facility is one of the best in the country. Having spent 16 years in the Old Armory with the rats, dust and having to put up and take down the old oval 16 times with the help of our track and field team, it was all worth it when we walked into the new facility.

One final note. Jack Parker, the former hockey coach, was instrumental in seeing to it that we had our new facility built before the new Hockey Arena and Recreation Center was built. I was eternally grateful to Jack for insisting on that, as I would suggest had we been last in the priority line of those three projects, there would not be a track there today.

So, I think Boston University deserves a lot of credit in supporting indoor track and field, not only for our teams, but for so many other teams from around the country. The University doesn't have the kind of football and basketball money as do many of the other schools that now also having excellent indoor facilities, and it was one of the first Universities (along with Harvard) to have an indoor 200m banked track in the country. The original track was put up in 1978 when Dave Hemery, former BU Olympic Champion (for Britain) in the 400 Intermediate hurdles got that done. By the time the new BU facility was built, the NY Armory had put their facility to the paces, Penn State had a hydraulic lift track, Notre Dame had their oversized track, as did Iowa State. Soon thereafter, indoor facilities have become quite common, with too many to even list. Yet, the BU track still stands tall among the many. I also give great credit to the present coaching staff that has continued the tradition of having open college meets that I started in 1986, the Terrier Classic (Dave Hemery Inv) and the Valentine Invitational (John Thomas Inv), along with Bruce Lehane starting the mini meets over Christmas break. Hats off to all for the dedicated service they provided and provide for the track and field community at large.

Again, thanks for the kind words and appreciation for what we all try to do for our sport.

sandybeaver wrote:

Just want to take this opportunity to thank Pete for sharing his knowledge and memories with us in the public space. Pete, I’ve been a fan of yours ever since Rick coached me in high school 2004-2008 and I found your Advanced Runners Handbook with Bob Glover at my local used bookstore for about a dollar. You gave me some college advice on the phone way back when. I always enjoy seeing your posts here.

Pete is very modest about his personal accomplishments as well - maybe with some prodding he’ll tell us stories from his own days as an elite 400m runner.

Thank you and I love how well the Charter guys are doing at the college level. Man, talk about guts and determination...Kieran Tuntivate had one heck of a great weekend. I can't imagine how he ran that second race, as I once ripped off the skin of the bottom of my foot when my spikes got stuck on a wooden track at Millrose. I couldn't walk for about a week.

d1 scrub wrote:

where do you come up with this einsten? it is a 200m track

Both straightaways are slightly downhill!!

Thanks, Pete and Burnsy for sharing your wealth of historical knowledge specific to track construction. This is the best of the site, reminiscent of what it could be at times back in the early 2000s. I ran my fastest mile on that banked Harvard indoor track back in 1989 (only 4 seconds and I was in better shape) and I still remember what a burst of speed the bank gave me when I went up a bit to pass on the outside before the last straightaway.

Pete- thanks for sharing! Like plenty of others here, BU is the site of one of my proudest lifetime PRs. It would be great if @rojo @wejo could

As for Gregorek- I'm not as surprised as many others. NJNY seems to take indoors pretty seriously and 3:49.9 is worth about 3:33.0 for a 1500. Fast, but not as earth-shattering as many would have us believe. This guy did make a world championship final 18 months ago. If Centrowitz, Murphy, Jenkins, etc. pursued an aggressive mile racing schedule indoors they'd be looking at sub 3:50 in a perfectly paced race as well. For those using Engels' time as a benchmark- look at his last lap split (31.17). He clearly overextended himself a touch and should have been able to run 3:50-3:52 off of slightly slower early splits. All the credit in the world to Gregorek though- that's still a hell of a time.

Speaking of CU Lions, a nice run by Napolitano as well!

could write an article about this*

A longtime inside observer at NJNY has touted Gregorek as the one with the best ' mile potential'.

I still have splinters in my hands from building the track 3 years in a row (1990-92). But I would do it all over again. Even though it was hard work, the entire team came out to help. It built an amazing team spirit. And that wasn't futile as BU won Indoor New England Championship back-to-back when I was there. The Armory, with all its shortcomings, Pete didn't mention the leaking roof in his post, was a magical place where athletes from all over the world loved competing. Pete, love to connect again wherever you may be.

Hans:

Surprised to see your post, but good to see you had great memories of the old Armory. Not sure if you remember when we set the record of putting the track together in 8.5 hours and then eating pizza afterwards....ha, ha. Hope all is well. You can reach me at pschuder at bu.edu

Best wishes.