It was a 1500
http://www.michtrack.org/past/articles/century/century9.htm > 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 > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
