Q. from Ed:
>>>>
How many marathoners have won world cross since then, or even placed top
five?
>>>>
Hmmmm ... Lopes was not technically a marathoner. Similar to Shorter, he
just happened to be great at it. Though he was marathon WR holder in '85
and for a few years after, he had competed at 10,000m for 14 years by then.
1972: Non-qualifier in the Munich 10k, 28:53.
1976: FIRST WORLD TITLE IN XC; Silver in Montreal 10k, 27:45.
1980: injured
1982: Athens EC, 4th, 27:47; 27:24 #2 on World list
1983: Helsinki, 6th, 28:06; 27:23 annual leader
1984: SECOND WORLD TITLE IN XC; 27:17 #2 all-time
1985: THIRD WORLD TITLE IN XC; Marathon WR
He only completed four marathons ever: Rotterdam '83, LA Olympics '84,
Chicago '84, Rotterdam '85
... All after the age of 36. He started running the 10,000m at age 22. He
clearly went into the event with the least chance of getting outsprinted, as
he had to face all the great kickers at one point during that era: Viren,
Cova, Schildhauer, Vainio, Mamede, etc.
I would say that Lopes has been the only World Cross winner (in the modern
era) to even run the marathon seriously. Virgin and Treacy both ran
marathons, but like Lopes they both specialized in the 10k.
Similarly, I don't think there has ever been a miler who has WON the WCCC.
It has almost always been a 5k/10k type ... heavily leaning towards the 10k:
Lopes, Schots, Treacy, Virgin, who won in 82/83??, Lopes, Ngugi, Skah,
Sigei, Tergat, Mourhit.
I think that runners must have been pretty tough back then, because Virgin
ran a marathon not long before both of his wins (Mission Bay 1979 and
Fukuoka 1980) and just after his second win (Boston 1981).
In 1985, first and fifth went to the Marathon Olympic medallists Lopes and
Treacy, respectively. then lopes went on to his 2:07:12.
... And in 1975 Bill Rodgers placed third in Rabat, Morocco one month before
his 2:09:55 win in Boston.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed & Dana Parrot [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2001 4:24 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: t-and-f: Tergat Out Of World Cross!
Marty Post wrote:
> Granted the level of competition world-wide might be a lot tougher these
> days but consider this back in 1985:
> On March 24, Carlos Lopes won the World Cross Country Championships by
four
> seconds over Paul Kipkoech.
> Four weeks later, on April 20, Lopes took 52 seconds off the world record
in
> the marathon, 2:07:12 in Rotterdam.
How many marathoners have won world cross since then, or even placed top
five? I think you hit the nail on the head with your first comment - the
level of competition IS a lot tougher, or at least a lot deeper, which
translates to more difficult to win.
- ed Parrot
