Henry Rono's incredible 1978 season by the numbers

The World Records: 81 days duration, without the aid of pacemakers, unless you consider 13:48 (10k WR) and 3:49.5 (3k WR) “pacemaking”?

4/8 1 13:08.4 WR 5000 Triangular Meet Berkeley, CA (:49.6 margin, Josh Kimeto, 13:58.0)

5/13 1 8:05.4 WR 3000sc Northwest Relays Seattle, WA (:30.7 margin, Jim Johnson 8:36.1)

6/11 1 27:22.5 WR 10000 International Vienna, AUT (:30.5 margin, Domingo Tibaduiza 27:53.0)

6/27 1 7:32.1 WR 3000 Bislett Games Oslo, NOR (:8.2 margin, Suleiman Nyambui 7:40.3)

The Splits

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WR 5000m Berkley, CA 5/8/78 70 degrees, sunny

1. 13:08.4 Henry Rono WSU

2. 13:58.0 Josh Kimeto WSU

3. 14:03.0 Samson Kimobwa WSU (10k WR holder)

1:07 (67)

2:10 (63)

3:14 (64)

4:15 (61) 1600m

5:18 (63)

6:20 (62)

7:24 (64)

8:28 (64) 3200m

9:31 (63)

10:35 (64)

11:38 (63)

12:09 (31) 4600m

13:08 (59.4)

(2:42.0, 2:36.0, 2:39.5, 2:37.0, 2:33.9)

==========================

WR steeplechase Seattle WA 5/13/78 hail, rain, windy, 55 degrees. 200+ attendance. :30.7 margin of victory

1: 8:05.4 Henry Rono WSU

2. 8:36.1 Jim Johnson CNW

3. 8:52.1 Evens WSU

4. 8:54.7 Barr CNW

63.8

66.2 (2:10.0)

64.0 (3:14.0)

65.5 (4:19.5)

65.3 (5:24.8)

65.1 (6:29.9)

61.4 last lap

After the last lap, the wind really came to life, hitting 15-20 mph. “It was very hard after 5 laps,” he said. “The last 200 meters were hard too.”

=====================================

WR 10000, Vienna AUT 6/11/78 72 degrees 500 attendance Jos Hermans paced first 9 laps

1. 27:22.5 Henry Rono, KEN

2. 27:53.0 Domingo Tibaduiza, COL

3. 27:58.9 Joel Cheruiyot, KEN

2:47.5

13:48.2

22:02.1

27:22.5 13:34.3 57.0

=========================

WR 3000m Oslo, NOR 6/27/78

1. 7:32.1 Henry Rono KEN

2. 7:40.3 Sulieman Nyambui, TAN

3. 7:40.4 Nick Rose GBR

2:34.0

3:49.5 1500 Rono takes lead

4:04.5 60.0

5:04.5 60.0 2:30.5

6:04.5 60.0

7:03.5 59.0

7:32.1 28.6 2:27.6 3:42.6

What's the story here?

3/11 6 4:50.0 1 mile NCAA Detroit, MI

malmo wrote:

4/1 1 13:22.7 5000 WSU Invitational Pullman, WA snowstorm

WSU needs to update their record book. At the link below on page 8 the Mooberry Track record is listed as 13:38.2 by Joel Cheruiyot in 1978.

Funny to see Ducks Cruz (800) and Hill (1500) with Mooberry Track records. That must have irked Chaplin.

older than dirt wrote:

malmo wrote:

4/1 1 13:22.7 5000 WSU Invitational Pullman, WA snowstorm

WSU needs to update their record book. At the link below on page 8 the Mooberry Track record is listed as 13:38.2 by Joel Cheruiyot in 1978.

http://www.wsucougars.com/pdf9/2560909.pdf?SPSID=749754&SPID=126818&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=30400

Funny to see Ducks Cruz (800) and Hill (1500) with Mooberry Track records. That must have irked Chaplin.

Mystery solved. Rono's 13:22.7 was run at Spokane Community College, not Pullman.

Good catch. That race was at SCC in Spokane. Here is the first-hand account from Deryk Bridges, a friend who was in the race:

"I was in that race..... absolutely the most amazing thing I've ever seen.... at a distance... HA! Race was in Spokane at SCC in a blizzard..... Rono went out in the middle of our pack at the first lap in slightly over 70 seconds then I'll never forget when he said...."Excuse me,... excuse me" and we gave him a little gap of space (we were huddled as a group because of the wind and sleet).... when..... BAM! He shot out like a canon. He in one turn put a gap of over 50 meters on us and kept rolling. I think it was Joel Cheryot who was rabbiting ahead for him... anyhow...someone was ahead and he shot out and caught up, passed them and still ran that first mile in something like 4:16 or 17 and just kept going. Mind you, no one warmed up for that race.... the Kenyons were playing soccer and kick ball in the gym. I get cold just thinking about it.....I was a freshman at the time. Of course he more than lapped the field. And don't ask my time.. HA!.."

But there is a glaring embellishment in that program. Josh Kimeto and John Kneno are listed as running 7:37 and 7:38 in Kiganjo (elevation 5500) in 1976. Of course this is a grand fabrication of epic proportions. Neither Kimeto nor Ngeno could run anywhere near that fast at sea level.

11/11 1 29:22.0 10000xc Pac-10 District Fresno, CA

11/20 237 34:10.7 10000xc NCAA Madison, WI

Forgive my ignorance, but what caused his NCAA XC performance?

Great question!

I think that was at that Cobo Center at the time. I wonder the same thing too!

ronowejo wrote:

11/11 1 29:22.0 10000xc Pac-10 District Fresno, CA

11/20 237 34:10.7 10000xc NCAA Madison, WI

Forgive my ignorance, but what caused his NCAA XC performance?

237/241

He took a wrong turn at 2 miles, stepped in a hole and twisted an ankle. It was very cold so he shut it down.

malmo wrote:But there is a glaring embellishment in that program. Josh Kimeto and John Kneno are listed as running 7:37 and 7:38 in Kiganjo (elevation 5500) in 1976. Of course this is a grand fabrication of epic proportions. Neither Kimeto nor Ngeno could run anywhere near that fast at sea level.

You're right, those 3000 times don't make sense. Josh Kimeto and John Kneno must have run the race at sea level, or the dirt track in Kigano was short. Maybe someone has a 1976 T&FN that describes the race.

You Know Me wrote:

What's the story here?

3/11 6 4:50.0 1 mile NCAA Detroit, MI

Probably just tired from the 2 mile loss to Gerald Deegan just before. Also, the flu bug had been going around the team, Samson Kimobwa dropped out of the three mile because of it.

Rono was no novice on Cobo Arena's indoor lumberyard, running 8:24.8 (1st...4:14.8/4:10.0) and 4:02.8 (3rd) in 1977.

older than dirt wrote:

You're right, those 3000 times don't make sense. Josh Kimeto and John Kneno must have run the race at sea level, or the dirt track in Kigano was short. Maybe someone has a 1976 T&FN that describes the race.

It never happened - at sea level, or on the Boston Marathon course with a hurricane behind them. Apocrypha.

2) 7:46.67 Josh Kimeto KEN Viareggio, ITA Aug 3, 1977

1) 7:47.9 John Ngeno KEN Nice FRA Aug 21, 1977

His performance in the NCAA heats still blows me away. Was it the 5000, where he sprinted the straights and "jogged" the curves to get his 13:21?

6/1 1 8:18.6h 3000sc NCAA Eugene, OR

6/1 1 13:21.8h 5000 NCAA Eugene, OR

mdobb wrote:

His performance in the NCAA heats still blows me away. Was it the 5000, where he sprinted the straights and "jogged" the curves to get his 13:21?

6/1 1 8:18.6h 3000sc NCAA Eugene, OR

6/1 1 13:21.8h 5000 NCAA Eugene, OR

I was still in HS in those days. We didn't have the internet so it took 1-2 days to get results. I forget how old Malmo is, perhaps he can describe first-hand NCAA in Eugene that year. I just remember being stunned reading about Rono's performance at that meet. I almost gave up running but went on to run Division I on the west coast and run against the Kenyans of WSU.

Man!! I should have been in that 3/11 mile. I ran 4:39 that year and could have claimed a major scalp to boast in my running career.

I saw his 5k in person. It was an unbelievable performance. Even more unbelievable is why Chaplin ran him in a 5k prelim.

Great season, maybe the best ever, but he was never the same again. I wonder if those 50+ races ruined him. Yes, he was an alcoholic but he was drinking even DURING that fabulous season. Great runner, but burning the candle at both ends ruined him.

Les wrote:

I saw his 5k in person. It was an unbelievable performance. Even more unbelievable is why Chaplin ran him in a 5k prelim.

Great season, maybe the best ever, but he was never the same again. I wonder if those 50+ races ruined him. Yes, he was an alcoholic but he was drinking even DURING that fabulous season. Great runner, but burning the candle at both ends ruined him.

If you read his autobiography, he makes pretty clear that Chaplin was a terrible influence on him, at least from his perspective. Because he was so talented, Chaplin ran him ragged--like a prize goose who lays platinum eggs every time out, so you keep squeezing. His job was to bring home points for his team. Chaplin encouraged him to drink as a way of relieving the tension that Chaplin's exploitative demands on him precipitated.

Read Rono's autobiography, OLYMPIC DREAM. It's all there.

Les wrote:

I saw his 5k in person. It was an unbelievable performance. Even more unbelievable is why Chaplin ran him in a 5k prelim.

Great season, maybe the best ever, but he was never the same again. I wonder if those 50+ races ruined him. Yes, he was an alcoholic but he was drinking even DURING that fabulous season. Great runner, but burning the candle at both ends ruined him.

After Ovett schooled him in that famous two mile at Crystal Palace, Rono was never the same again, much like Prefontaine after he got schooled in Munich. He realized right there and then that no matter how many surges and slowdowns he could muster, he could never beat the top kickers.

I'm sure this is true, but Rono kept drinking AFTER COLLEGE. I think he was just one of those people who was genetically predisposed to alcoholism. I think his Kenyan teammates also drank, but none of them got anywhere near as bad as Rono did.

Moe's Tavern wrote:

Man!! I should have been in that 3/11 mile. I ran 4:39 that year and could have claimed a major scalp to boast in my running career.

You wouldn't have claimed any scalps. You would have had to get through the qualifying heats first.