Re: t-and-f: Henry Rono

[Tom Derderian]

It was some time well after that that I found Henry Rono at the mile  
mark of the Riverside 5 miler in MA at 4:50. He had a big spare tire  
of fat blubbering up and down with each step. He stayed just ahead of  
me all the way for the 25 minutes. I wonder what his absolute VO2 max  
was!
Tom
On Mar 30, 2007, at 11:23 PM, Benji Durden wrote:

Chas. L. Shaffer wrote:
I'd go to see him run if it was within 300 miles.  My wife and I  
were
among the roughly 200 fans present when he broke the WR in the
steeplechase at the Northwest Relays in Seattle on May 13, 1978  
with a
8:05.4 (h).  After that I saw him race several more times,  
including the
great 10,000m duel with Salazar in 1982 in Eugene.

I am looking forward to his masters record pursuit, whatever it  
may bring.
I am glad to hear that Henry is back on a good path.

Charley Shaffer
Seattle
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Lucky you!  I never saw him race in person.   I remember being in  
Knoxville
for the 1982 TAC meet, when they let foreigners compete, and he  
was listed
in the program.  I kept thinking that I was seeing him warming up,  
but it
was not to be.

bob
(KC4TEO)

I actually compete against Rono a few times on the roads. In 1980  
he flew in
on the Concorde from Europe to NYC for the Midland Run 15K and then  
came to
the start via helicopter. He promptly went backwards in that race  
and was
never a factor. Later that year at the Cascade Runoff 15K, I was  
leading the
race with him at my shoulder at about 2 miles and he leaned into me  
as we
went into a curve where I lost my footing due to the wet volcanic ash
(remember this was the year of Mt. St. Helens). I cracked a rib but  
still
finished ahead of him. The next year at the Bloomsday 12K I finally  
saw him
really run. He ran in training shoes and buried all of us chasing  
him. It
wasn't even close. When he was on, it was scary.

bd
--
Benji Durden
[EMAIL PROTECTED]