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] -----Original Message----- >From: Bob Duncan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Mar 30, 2007 7:18 AM >To: t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu >Subject: Re: t-and-f: Henry Rono > >Tom Derderian wrote: >> 19:25 >> On Mar 29, 2007, at 11:37 PM, B. Kunnath wrote: >> >>> Rono posts regularly here: >>> >>> http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php? >>> board=1&id=1828663&thread=1444899 > >Yep, that's where I saw his posts. At first, I thought that I was >hallucinating or reading the posts of an imposter. >Given Henry's natural gifts and motivation, it will be fascinating to see >how this turns out. I'm sure lots of people are rooting for him. > >bob > >>> >>> Any predictions for his 5k time at Carlsbad? >>> >>> bob >>> >>> >>> >>>> From: "Bob Duncan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>> Reply-To: "Bob Duncan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>> To: "'Track List'" <t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu> >>>> Subject: Re: t-and-f: Henry Rono >>>> Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:45:19 -0500 >>>> >>>> I accidently came across some posts from Rono the other day on one of >>>> the running forums. I almost couldn't believe that it was him, but the >>>> training claims and master's mile goal matched those of the LA Times >>>> story. >>>> >>>> Ironically, I had found the Rono posts while doing searches for another >>>> comebacking athlete from the same era, Patti (Catalano) Dillon. >>>> >>>> bob >>>> >>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "malmo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>> To: "'Jorma Kurry'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; >>>> "'Track List'" <t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu> >>>> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 7:43 PM >>>> Subject: RE: t-and-f: Henry Rono >>>> >>>> >>>>> Henry ran a 5:32 mile in a time trial last week at Albuquerque >>>>> (5000'). From >>>>> 220 pounds to 165 since last May. >>>>> >>>>> malmo >>>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>>> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jorma Kurry >>>>> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 7:42 PM >>>>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Track List >>>>> Subject: Re: t-and-f: Henry Rono >>>>> >>>>> Great article. I know Malmo was posting info at one point about his >>>>> attempt >>>>> for an age-group mile record, or something of that sort. Is there an >>>>> update? >>>>> He's among the many greats I'd love to meet (Rono, that is :) ). >>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>>> To: "Track List" <t-and-f@lists.uoregon.edu> >>>>> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 7:00 PM >>>>> Subject: t-and-f: Henry Rono >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> From the Los Angeles Times >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-crowe26mar26,1,1452093.story? >>>>> coll=la-hea >>>>> dlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true >>>>>> >>>>>> CROWE'S NEST >>>>>> >>>>>> Rono tries to distance himself from troubled past >>>>>> The runner, who broke world records in four events in short period in >>>>>> 1978, says his life is on the upswing after alcoholism and >>>>>> homelessness. >>>>>> >>>>>> By Jerry Crowe, Times Staff Writer >>>>>> March 26, 2007 >>>>>> >>>>>> Henry Rono, once the world's preeminent distance runner and some say >>>>>> the >>>>>> greatest of all time, probably is best known for his mind- boggling >>>>>> assault >>>>> >>>>>> on the record books in the spring and summer of 1978, when he broke >>>>>> world >>>>>> records in four events over an 81-day period. >>>>>> >>>>>> "I was ahead of everybody," he says. "I wasn't competing with people. >>>>>> I >>>>>> was competing with time. It was me and the clock." >>>>>> >>>>>> The clock he could handle. >>>>>> >>>>>> The bottle, he couldn't. >>>>>> >>>>>> The Nandi tribesman from Kenya, who in 1978 was a Washington State >>>>>> student >>>>> >>>>>> unprepared for the sudden fame and blinding spotlight, has battled >>>>>> alcoholism for nearly half his 55 years. >>>>>> >>>>>> His country's boycotts of the 1976 and 1980 Olympics denied him an >>>>>> international showcase, and he says unscrupulous managers and corrupt >>>>>> Kenyan track and field officials, combined with his own erratic >>>>>> behavior, >>>>>> left him penniless. >>>>>> >>>>>> Rono notes in his soon-to-be-published autobiography that he was so >>>>>> down >>>>>> on his luck in the mid-1990s - homeless and out of prospects - that >>>>>> he >>>>>> showed up at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., and pleaded for a >>>>>> job >>>>>> cleaning floors. >>>>>> >>>>>> His former sponsor, the great runner says, turned him away. >>>>>> >>>>>> If that was a low point for Rono, it was one of many. >>>>>> >>>>>> He says that he was intermittently homeless through much of the 1980s >>>>>> and >>>>>> '90s, was arrested more than once for driving while drunk, and >>>>>> drifted in >>>>>> and out of rehabilitation centers more times than he cares to >>>>>> remember. >>>>>> Friends took him in, then threw him out when his drinking got out of >>>>>> control. In steadier times, he worked as an airport skycap. He parked >>>>>> and >>>>>> washed cars. >>>>>> >>>>>> But all that is past, Rono says. His life is on the upswing. After >>>>>> shuttling from town to town for years, he says, he finally settled 11 >>>>>> years ago in Albuquerque. He says he has been sober for the last >>>>>> five. >>>>>> >>>>>> A full-time teacher pursuing a graduate degree in special education, >>>>>> he >>>>>> has taken a year off from work to write his recently completed >>>>>> memoirs and >>>>> >>>>>> train for the Masters World Track & Field Championships in September >>>>>> in >>>>>> Italy. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Sunday, he will compete in the Carlsbad 5K, and before the year is >>>>>> out >>>>>> he hopes to establish an age-group world record in the mile. >>>>>> >>>>>> "I want to alert the public that I am back into running," he told >>>>>> race >>>>>> organizers in Carlsbad after signing on for their event. "I want to >>>>>> teach >>>>>> people that you can come back from the streets and being homeless and >>>>>> recover your life again." >>>>>> >>>>>> The 5-foot-8 Rono, whose weight once ballooned to 220 pounds, says he >>>>>> is >>>>>> down to 165, 20 less than he weighed in December, when he ran in a 5K >>>>>> in >>>>>> Cincinnati and said, after spying a photo of himself, "I look like a >>>>>> heavyweight boxer." >>>>>> >>>>>> His goal, he says, is to slim down to about 140. That's what he >>>>>> weighed as >>>>> >>>>>> a 26-year-old sophomore in April 1978, when in a dual meet at >>>>>> Berkeley he >>>>>> set a world record of 13 minutes 8.4 seconds in the 5,000 meters. A >>>>>> month >>>>>> later, in Seattle, he established a steeplechase mark of 8:05:4, and >>>>>> a >>>>>> month after that, in Vienna, he set a record of 27:22:47 in the >>>>>> 10,000 >>>>>> meters. Sixteen days later, in Oslo, he set his fourth world record: >>>>>> 7:32.1 in the 3,000 meters. >>>>>> >>>>>> "It was amazing," he says, "but the way the media was handling my >>>>>> success >>>>>> was intimidating. I was not prepared for that. It was very >>>>>> stressful." >>>>>> >>>>>> Don Franken, a longtime track promoter and president of a sports >>>>>> celebrity >>>>> >>>>>> talent agency, says Rono was "a fish out of water," struggling to >>>>>> find his >>>>> >>>>>> way. >>>>>> >>>>>> "It was such a culture shock coming here from Kenya," Franken says. >>>>>> "He >>>>>> was lost - and he had an addiction. You could call him a tragedy, but >>>>>> how >>>>>> many people set four world records in such a short span of time?" >>>>>> >>>>>> Rono's records in the 3,000 and the steeplechase stood for years, but >>>>>> by >>>>>> the early 1980s, he was drinking heavily. He started showing up drunk >>>>>> at >>>>>> races, or not showing up at all. But his talent was so immense that, >>>>>> in >>>>>> September 1981, he reportedly got drunk the night before a race in >>>>>> Oslo, >>>>>> ran for an hour early the next morning to sweat out the alcohol, then >>>>>> set >>>>>> a world record in the 5,000 that night. >>>>>> >>>>>> Those days are long past, but Rono says his life has changed for the >>>>>> better. No longer homeless, he bought a house a few years ago. >>>>>> >>>>>> "I feel happy with what I'm doing now," says the gap-toothed Kenyan, >>>>>> noting that he runs two hours every morning and another hour in the >>>>>> evening. "I'm enjoying running. I'm doing more running now than even >>>>>> when >>>>>> I was young." >>>>>> >>>>>> He is reclaiming his identity, he says, "controlling my life." >>>>>> >>>>>> Franken is rooting for him. >>>>>> >>>>>> "He's gone through a hell of a lot of struggles," the promoter says, >>>>>> "but >>>>>> he's come out a survivor. Yeah, it's a tragedy that his career wasn't >>>>>> longer because he could have achieved so much more. He could have put >>>>>> every record out of sight. >>>>>> >>>>>> "But you talk to him now and he has a very good attitude. I think in >>>>>> the >>>>>> long run he's going to contribute a lot more in other ways, so his >>>>>> talent >>>>>> will not be wasted. I think he'll be able to still inspire and >>>>>> motivate >>>>>> people, and that's going to be his legacy. I think he's still got a >>>>>> lot >>>>>> more to give." >>>>>> >>>>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _________________________________________________________________ >>> Watch free concerts with Pink, Rod Stewart, Oasis and more. Visit MSN >>> Presents today. http://music.msn.com/presents? >>> icid=ncmsnpresentstagline&ocid=T002MSN03A07001 >>> >> >> >> > >
