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 started....the 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 > > > > > >
