No one should be happy with Jimmy Carter.
That prick ruined many opportunities for athletes with that one decision. In the end no one knows are even remembers.
No one should be happy with Jimmy Carter.
That prick ruined many opportunities for athletes with that one decision. In the end no one knows are even remembers.
Really
Politics in athletics?
Eb55 wrote:
Are you high. Virgin was no match.... to yifter and shifter.
https://youtu.be/Gn4aDPOV_40
Yifter was the master of the "sit and kick" tactic with that unbeatable kick and speed he had. It would have made a more interesting Moscow '80 nevertheless. Craig essentially paced Yifter.
Wow that kick was hilarious. Love the announcer calling that Yifter would put 50 meters on Virgin in the last 300 too.
historysfinist wrote:
worth reposting......Craig senior year of High School.....!!!!!!!!!!!!
Craig Virgin - 1973
Lebanon HS in Lebanon, IL
4/07 8:50.4 2 mile & 4:17 relay leg
4/24 8:55.6 & 4:16.6 St Clair County meet
4/28 8:59.0 Granite City Invite
5/02 9:24.2 O'Falon Relays
5/03 4:27.9 & 2:02.1 Conference meet
5/05 8:46.6 & 4:11.8 relay Orphan Relays
5/15 8:54.0 Cahokia Invite
5/18 8:53.6 & 4:10.9 District
5/21 8:48.6 & 4:08.5 Meet of Champions
5/25 4:10.0 State meet heat
5/26 8:42.6 & 4:12.2 State finals
6/01 4:05.5 Top 10 meet
6/09 8:40.9 Intl Prep Invite - HS 2 mile record
6/23 13:36.8 3 mile at Ntl Jr AAU
7/04 4:06.1 Freedom Mile (5th)
7/14 8:10.2 3000 for 3rd vs West German Jrs
7/20 8:16.0 3000 win vs Poland Jrs
7/28 13:58.2 5000 win vs USSR Jrs
All-time IL boys hs 1600 list
#4 4:04.1c Craig Virgin '73 - Lebanon. was 4:05.5 mile win at Top Ten meet at Thornridge HS.
Jr, '72 state mile champ in 4:09.2
Sr, state mile 2nd in 4:12.2 after state 2-mile win and 5th in Freedom mile in 4:06.1
All-time IL boys hs 3200 list
#1 8:37.9c Craig Virgin '73 - Lebanon. was 8:40.9 2-mile to win International Prep Invitational (IPI).
Fr, '70 state 2-mile 7th in 9:31.9 for new national freshman and age-14 records.
So, '71 state 2-mile 2nd in 8:57.4 for new national soph & age-15 records & '70 state XC 6th.
Jr, 8:54.2 indoors in '72, state 2-mile win in 8:52.0 for new ntl age-16 record & '71 state XC champ in 13:59 (#4 all-time IL state meet).
Sr, '73 state champ in 8:42.6 for new national age-17 record, 13:58.2 5000 meter win in dual meet vs. USSR Jr team (3rd all-time ntl HS, still 4th) & '72 state XC champ in 13:50 (#1 all-time IL state meet).
In addition to him running so many hard races, I've heard his interval workouts were close to all-out effort. He's proof there can be success without Tinman.
rojo wrote:
BlackSwanGroup262 wrote:
This YouTube video is pretty cool.
INCREDIBLE VIDEO. Thanks so much for sharing. I've emailed and talked to Craig several times over the years but my goodness, I never fully appreciated what he did until I saw that. So great. I think I'll put it where the QOD normally appears next week to get US fans pumped for World XC.
Thanks for sharing this, I loved it, great video. Also, read his book "Virgin territory " to get an insight into one of Americas greatest runners.
no kick virgin wrote:
Wow that kick was hilarious. Love the announcer calling that Yifter would put 50 meters on Virgin in the last 300 too.
The announcer was Marty Liquori, who I think was the best distance-running commentator in the game. Not only was he incredibly knowledgeable and insightful, he was funny. His El Guerrouj "could eat a candy bar and run a 63" was just one of the most memorable off-the-cuff remarks in broadcasting.
crumpline wrote:
No one should be happy with Jimmy Carter.
That prick ruined many opportunities for athletes with that one decision. In the end no one knows are even remembers.
He can build all the houses he wants, but I'll never forgive him for that. And just 22 years later, the U.S. did exactly what the Soviets did -- invade Afghanistan -- and with exactly the same justification -- going after Islamic terrorists.
What a stinking waste that boycott was. Good on the Brits for telling Iron Maggie to f* off.
I was there for the 10,000 at the '80 Trials, and Virgin just toyed with Herb Lindsay and the rest of the field, throwing in Rono-like surges down the straightaways. Even so, he still ran 27:45 -- in the rain. I don't think he could have beaten Yifter in Moscow, but I think it would have been a must more interesting race.
If you read Virgin Territory, Craig says multiples times throughout that he overcooked his training and didn't know when to quit. Has obvious regrets on that score, and believes he would have done better at numerous key meets had he learned when to back off.
I should amend that to say *often* overcooked his training. He obviously also got it right quite a lot of the time, but underperformed on important occasions by his own admission due to having run himself into the ground training.
historysfinist wrote:
So, '71 state 2-mile 2nd in 8:57.4 for new national soph & age-15 records
Virgin and I are the same age, and I remember seeing that time in T&FN and thinking, "Geez, I'd better start running faster if I'm going to catch this guy."
Hah!
One of the great mysteries is why the 1981 world cross has never shown up anywhere that I know of on video. Same thing with 1982. Surely if 1979 and 1980 exist, then its hard to know why '81 and '82 seem to have been lost forever. Really, really a shame.
Rose won the junior race when he was 19. This would have been a career-defining victory for him. Such a great, great runner and wonderful guy but he lacked a single standout victory to mark his career with.
malmo wrote:
"Oh what a tragedy for the Bristol boy. What a tragedy! "
malmo wrote:
historysfinist wrote:
worth reposting......Craig senior year of High School.....!!!!!!!!!!!!
6/09 8:40.9 Intl Prep Invite - HS 2 mile record
.
cotton shirt wrote:
27:39.40 Craig Virgin (USA) Walnut, CA AAU Championship 17 Jun 1979 NR
.
The amazing this is that both of these records were run on the hottest days imaginable! i know people who were actually at the race when Craig broke Pre's 2 mile record. They said it was so hot that afternoon that the asphalt track was sticking to the runner's feet. An amazing run. His 10k AR at nationals in 1979 had the same formula. Oppressively hot and windy. Craig obliterated the field from the gun. Paul Geis and Bill Donakowski foolishly hung on for two laps.
27:39 the hard way.
65.1
2:09.5
2:41.9 1000 (26:59.0 pace)
5:26.4 2000 (2:44.5, 27:12.0)
8:11.4 3000 (2:45.0, 27:18.0)
10:57.7 4000 (2:46.3, 27:24.3)
13:44.9 5000 (2:47.2, 27:29.8)
16:31.4 6000 (2:46.4, 27:32.3)
19:20.3 7000 (2:48.9, 27:37.6)
22:09.5 8000 (2:49.2, 27:41.9)
24:58.3 9000 (2:48.8, 27:44.8)
27:39.4 10000 (2:41.1)
13:44.9/13:54.5
1979 Walnut California
1. Craig Virgin 27:39.4 MRm,ARm
2. Ric Rojas 28:24.2
3. Frank Shorter 28:26.6
4. Robbie Perkins 28:26.8
5. Marc Hunter 28:40.8
6. Tom Wysocki 28:43.8
This is funny to me as it is coming from the guy who always claims that the Duel in the Sun wasn't as hot as people make it out to be.
The high in Walnut, CA on 6/17/79 was 64, and the dew point was under 50.
It was an amazing video. I love watching those old races.!
Ugh the boycott annoys me every time I am reminded of it. Craig is a legend.
BlackSwanGroup262 wrote:
This YouTube video is pretty cool. It includes his 1980 / 1981 victories. His 1980 kick was pretty awesome! Thanks for asking it. I enjoyed learning about Craig. How can we get back to crowd support at the 1980 World Cross Country Championship? It was amazing to that many cheering a XC championship!
https://youtu.be/Ti1PP0aKCqg
These are the World Cross races I remember as a kid. I can't imagine having letsrun and meets like that.
They had real crowds and everyone ran.
I miss those days. It'll take money and marketing to bring it back.
Taro wrote:
crumpline wrote:
No one should be happy with Jimmy Carter.
That prick ruined many opportunities for athletes with that one decision. In the end no one knows are even remembers.
He can build all the houses he wants, but I'll never forgive him for that. And just 22 years later, the U.S. did exactly what the Soviets did -- invade Afghanistan -- and with exactly the same justification -- going after Islamic terrorists.
What a stinking waste that boycott was. Good on the Brits for telling Iron Maggie to f* off.
I was there for the 10,000 at the '80 Trials, and Virgin just toyed with Herb Lindsay and the rest of the field, throwing in Rono-like surges down the straightaways. Even so, he still ran 27:45 -- in the rain. I don't think he could have beaten Yifter in Moscow, but I think it would have been a must more interesting race.
Virgin and Salazaar could have done a tag-team operation on the Ethios and Finns in the 10000m to give Virgin the win and the US could have potentially swept every men's distance-running event in Moscow from 800m through to the Marathon. This would have triggered a distance running tsunami in the US throughout the 80s and pushed back the African domination of the sport by another 20 years. In the women's distances with the US presence at the games, there would have been more political pressure to drugs test the athletes and the US women could have competed on a more equal footing against their Eastern European and Russian counterparts. It is painful to think how many opportunities for hard working Americans were killed by that boycott
BlackSwanGroup262 wrote:
It was an amazing video. I love watching those old races.!
Is there a video of 81 when they kicked too early?