Re: t-and-f: Viren article and journalism

2002-09-04 Thread ron bowker

Martin,

Speaking of journalistic inaccuracy,  I'm not sure whether the reference
to a "5km race out in the middle of nowhere" is a statement made by yourself
or a quote from your local newspaper.
Regardless,  I would not consider a 5 K. along the harbour in downtown
Victoria (Capital of B.C., population of about 350,000,  host City of the
1994 Commonwealth Games) "out in the middle of nowhere".

Ron Bowker



At 02:37 PM 9/4/2002 -0400, Martin J. Dixon wrote:
>I was trying not to offend anyone. It was an observation but I stand by my
>statement and I have made it before and I am not just talking about track.
>Me thinks that it hit a little too close to home. I don't think it is
>arrogant to try to be accurate. Maybe it's just the nature of the beast
>producing 100 or so pages of newsprint on a daily basis but that article had
>several errors in it and the 5 hour one was glaring. An "endurance athlete"
>should have known better. If I made that many mistakes on a daily basis in
>my business, I would lose my client base so fast it would be shocking not to
>mention the constant dealings that I would be having with our insurance
>company. Maybe that is the standard. I don't know. Very small example.
>Yesterday morning, I am reading in our local paper about a girl from our
>area that represented Canada at the Commonwealth games in the triathlon. Our
>firm actually sponsors her. The paper said that she won the women's division
>of a 5km race out in the middle of nowhere in 16:50. I'm thinking to myself
>that the time seemed a little quick so I started poking around. I wanted to
>see the other times to see if there was some problem with the course. Here
>is what I found in about 2 minutes:
>http://pih.bc.ca/results/2002/songhees5k.html Look at the 7th place time. I
>pointed out the problem to the sports editor and they ran a correction. He
>thanked me for the information and made no editorial comments about
>"arrogance". If you make a mistake, you fix it and try to do better the next
>time. You don't deflect the blame.
>Regards,
>
>
>Martin
>
>
>Martin J. Dixon, B. Math. (Hons), C.A., Partner
>Millard, Rouse & Rosebrugh LLP
>Chartered Accountants
>P.O. Box 367
>96 Nelson Street
>Brantford, Ontario
>N3T 5N3
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>
>
>IMPORTANT NOTICE:
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>
>
>James Tysell wrote:
>
>> T & F fans,
>>
>> I sent a couple of entries to the list about the Viren article to a
>> journalist  friend of mine, here in N. Calif.
>>
>> Here is his reaction:
>>
>> "Yeah, if there's anything that makes me not want to cover track and
>> field,
>> it's the fact that there is so much data, coupled with some really
>> persnickety fans. Not to say all track fans are that way, but I've been
>> on
>> the t-and-f list before, and it gets pretty nauseating.
>>
>> I don't know the guy who wrote that story, but he's a Sacramento-based
>> freelancer who also seems to be an endurance athlete. He wrote some Tour
>> de
>> France stories over the summer and apparently talked to Viren when he
>> was
>> overseas. He's definitely not some "young kid."
>>
>> Anyone who says "anytime I read a newspaper article about which I am
>> intimately familiar, the errors are numerous" is just too arrogant for
>> his
>> own good."
>>
>> another perspective..
>>
>> Jim Tysell
>
>
>
>
>
>
>




Re: t-and-f: ANOTHER WOMAN MARATHON WR!

2001-10-07 Thread ron bowker

   I was in Oslo for the Byers ultimate "rabbit stealing the race" story.
Tom (Byers) was signed up to rabbit the first 1200 of a World Record
attempt (can't remember if it was a Mile or 1500).  Anyways,  it was the
final, featured event in Oslo, and the field was great.  I remember
Walker,  Wessinghage, perhaps Ovett,  and several other of the World's
best at that time.
   We had lunch with Tom that day,  and he was saying his running was
going very well,  and to quote, "if those guys aren't with me, I'm going
for it".
   The race startedthe crowd was into it, and Tom was doing his job
very well.  But the racers were watching each other.no-one wanted
to be the guy behind Byers, and thus the leader after Byers dropped out.
   So, as these guys were busy watching each other,  and Tom was out
front doing his job,  a gap gradually opened up, and increased with each
lap.  So with about 300 metres to go,  Tom looked around and was maybe
40 or so metres in front of the pack,  and a big pack it was.  Rather
than step off the track,  he gunned it down the backstretch,  and for 
those of us who knew what Tom wanted to do,  it was incredibly exciting.
The crowd figured out very quickly what was going on,  and completely
forgot about the World Record attempt,  and started to scream for Tom.
   Finally,  with about 200 metres to go,  the "real racers" figured
out what was happening, and set out after Tom.  He was still moving
well through the corner,  and they were gaining,  but not that much.
Then, coming out of the corner into the stretch,  Tom was tiring, and
about 10 guys were trying to find a lane to sprint home in.I'm
sure the outside guys ended up in lane 5 or 6.  With each step in the
last 50 metres, the pack got closer to Tom, and the crowd was in total
"I'm cheering for the underdog" mode.  Unbelievable drama,  almost like
it was being played out in slow motion.
   About 4 guys passed Byers..unfortunately, that was in the metre
or so after the finish line.
   One of the most exciting events I've ever seen.

   Ron Bowker



At 12:51 PM 10/7/2001 -0400, Martin J. Dixon wrote:
>John Liccardo wrote:
>
>> I think Paul Pilkington is the name you're searching for.
>>
>> John
>>
>> >
>> >The name I was trying to remember was Bob Kampenian(sp???) I think. How
>> >about retelling the Byers
>> >tale Malmo.
>> >Regards,
>> >
>> >
>> >Martin
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>> _
>> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
>Right. Thanks. Bob had his own claim to fame. Afghanistan is being hit as
I type this.
>Regards,
>
>
>Martin
>
>
>
>
>
>




Re: t-and-f: Zatopek's greatest "record"

2000-11-24 Thread ron bowker

   Ron Clarke told this story about Zatopek,  and referred to it as
the "epitomy of fame".


   Clarke paid a visit to Zatopek in Prague,  many years after Zatopek
had retired.  Zatopek took Clarke for a run in the forest he used to
train in,  and Clarke said Zatopek was still very fit,  that he ran
through the forest "like a madman".
   Then they went shopping for some crystal the area is famous for.
   Zatopek drove down the street, took a U-turn,  parked in a no-parking
zone, and got out of the car to go shopping.  A policeman ran down the
street blowing his whistle and shouting at the violators until he got
close enough to recognize Zatopekat which point,  he exclaimed
"Emil!!!",  burst into a smile,  asked for an autograph,  and told
Zatopek and Clarke to enjoy their shopping.
   After a considerable time in the crystal shop,  they emerged,  and
Zatopek's car wasn't in front of the shop.  Zatopek first looked left
and then right,  where he spotted his car well down the street.  So he
signalled and whistled,  and the original police officer drove the car
back up the street,  opened the doors for Clarke and Zatopek,  shook
their hands and wished them well,  and off they drove.
   Clarke told the story to illustrate the tremendous fame and respect
that Zatopek had in his country,  even many years after his athletic
feats.

Ron Bowker

At 12:25 PM 11/22/2000 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>The best thing the amazing Emil Zatopek ever did was to give one of his 
>Olympic 5,000-meter gold medals to the legendary Ron Clarke. From all I've 
>heard and read, Zapopek was an absolutely terrific man. He will be missed.
>
>Steve Lurie
>
>




Re: t-and-f: Henry Rono / Trivia...

2000-10-27 Thread ron bowker

Hey Drew,

I've heard the stories,  but I wasn't commenting on his personal
lifejust how he was on the track when he was at his best.
Did he underachieve relative to what he might have accomplished???
No doubt about it.

Ron Bowker

>
>This is NOT Dan's 'knowledge' of Henry. Sorry, Ron, but obviously Henry
>never lived with you. He lived with me for about two years. There was a LOT
>of excessiive drinking, LOTS of fines to be paid (by me), LOTS of time
>getting him out of jail  and LOTS of time spent in unecessary stuations all
>because of drinking, drinking and more drinking. We all know he was among
>the greatest ever, but that doesn't erase the fact that he was probably also
>among the biggest underachievers ever. /Drew
>
>
>




RE: t-and-f: Trivia: why not much improvement?

2000-10-27 Thread ron bowker

   What a shame for someone to only have this memory or knowledge of
Henry Rono.
   Does anyone have the NCAA results from Eugene circa 1977 or '78.
   The results alone won't tell the story,  but Rono was magnificent.
   In the 5000 (I don't recall whether heats or final,  because he was
running everything fast),  I remember the following.  Rono and a team-mate
taking the first Mile out in sub 4:10,  and then Rono doing a workout the
rest of the way on his own.accelerating the straights,  and running
easily on the corners,  and finishing without any apparent effort in a
time of about 13:21.  He looked like he could have run those straights
and corners like that for ever. Sad what happened later,  but one of
the best distance runners ever,  in my opinion.

Ron Bowker

>
>I don't see many of today's top Kenyans drinking a six-pack every night and 
>showing up to races 15 pounds overweight.
>sideshow
>
>
>
>




Re: t-and-f: John Walker memories

2000-10-23 Thread ron bowker

How's this for a (true) John Walker story?

In about 1973,  we hosted a Meet in Victoria, B.C., Canada.  This Meet
was the wrap-up for a series of Meets across Canada which occurred after
the Pacific Conference Games,  and included teams from Japan,  Australia,
New Zealand,  Canada,  and the United States.
There were about 20 entries for the Men's Mile,  and as the Meet Director,
I had the task of separating into A & B Sections.  The cutoff came at
4:06 something,  and there were two listed at that level --- an American
who I can't recall,  and a Kiwi named John Walker.  Yes,  John was a
4:06 miler at this point,  but the N.Z. press kit was calling him as a
future Peter Snell.
At the Technical Meeting,  I asked the Coaches who should go into the
A and B sections of the Mile.  The American Coach said to put "his boy"
into the fast section as he was really ready to go,  and the N.Z. coach
said that John was improving but that the B section would be fine for him.
Well,  the A section was won in about 3:58.5 by Crouch of Australia, with
Rod Dixon second in (I'm trying to remember here) around 3:59,  with the
American nowhere in sight.  The B section was won by John Walker in about
3:58.8,  not only his first sub-four,  but a PB of around 6 1/2 seconds.
At the Pub after the Meet,  Walker was prowling around looking for the
guy who had put him in the B section.  I said to him then,  and have 
reminded him since,  that if he wasn't so pissed at being placed
in the B section,  he might never have run 4 minutes for the Mile.  He
laughed and we shared a brew.  Shortly after this,  John moved into
the World Elite in the 1500 and the Mile.

True story!!

Ron Bowker