1980 New York City Marathon

My marriage was blowing up.  I lit the fuse. I was losing control of RUNNING magazine.  Had no idea.

Only one thing made sense, the Big Apple. From Track & Field News.  November 1980.

With recollection from Patti Catalano.  November 2019.

ALL AROUND THE TOWN.

East Side, West Side… through all five boroughs.

Alberto Salazar, Grete Waitz and Patti Catalano set new standards of excellence as the New York Marathon reached new heights.

The Rookie.

The very nickname speaks of youth and potential.  Spectacular accomplishments which must merely preface an imminently glorious career.

The Mule.

Another of the sobriquets to which this particular 22-year-old answers.  This one is an indication of his awesomely stubborn tenacity.  His ability to push himself to the limits of his body – and indeed beyond – is already legend.  This is, after all, the man who was packed in ice and who received the last rites of his church after collapsing in the heat of Falmouth in 1978.  He tries very hard.

Alberto Salazar.

The true name of the 7th-fastest marathoner in world history and the 2nd-fastest American ever, following his 2:09:41 triumph in the 1980 New York Marathon.  Not an insignificant effort by any standard, it takes on special significance since this was the Oregon senior’s first race at the distance.  Indeed, his initial competitive venture beyond 8 miles.

More experienced runners followed in his wake, as favored Bill Rodgers finished 5th.  Mexico’s Rodolfo Gomez, who had led the Olympic marathon from 12 through 23 miles, finished 2nd in a career-low 2:10:14.  Briton John Graham clocked 2:11:47 in his third 26-miler ever, edging 4th-placer Jeff Wells (2:12:00).

Norway’s peerless Grete Waitz, who placed 74th overall, cannot run 2:09, but already there is talk of sub-2:20.  In the third marathon of her life – all of which have been in the New York race – she produced her third consecutive World Record.  This latest, 2:25:42, cut the 2:27:33 she ran here last year (Which, in turn, reduced her 2:32:30 of 1978).

Patti Lyons-Catalano (116th overall) became the second woman to break the 2 1/2-hour barrier with her American Record 2:29:34.  That lowered the mark of 2:30:57 she had run just seven weeks earlier in Montreal.

Waitz’s teammate Ingrid Christensen [sic], took nearly eleven minutes off her previous best of 2:45:15 with 2:34:25 in third as the first seven women all set personal bests.

After Wells in 4th, no one else broke 2:13 on a course generally considered to be something less than fast with its many sharp turns and occasionally hazardous footing.  The weather was a factor, but only a few agreed on whether it was a positive or negative one (45 degrees with a blustery winds seems less than ideal).

However, the bluster reached 35 miles per hour and originated at the runners’ rear for most of the race.  Call it a tailwind, which it was for about 20 miles, but then the course turned south while the wind kept blowing from the north.  Or vice versa.  Anyway, as Gomez noted, and every marathoner knows, the 6 miles of headwind seemed much more of a handicap than the 20 miles of tailwind had been an aid.

More than 14,000 starters gathered at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Staten Island, many of them hours before the race and clothed in garbage bags to combat the chilling wind.  Gary Fanelli and Fenk Nenshun led the hordes over the bridge and China’s Fenk led through 4M (18:54).  Salazar and Norway’s Oyvind Dahl were among the most prominent followers.  A green-and-yellow kit hat, with pom-pom above and 4-time winner Rodgers below, bobbed in the middle of the group of leaders.

“Since this was my first marathon, I wasn’t going to force the pace like I might do in a track race,” Salazar said after it was all over.  “I just wanted to hang with the leaders and get to a point where I could pick up the pace.”

Salazar’s coach, Bill Dellinger, later explained, “We wanted him to stay with the main group at the lead and each time it became a smaller group, he was to stay in contact…  Keep moving with them until 6 miles was left, a distance Alberto was familiar with.  A that point, it would be a little more than a 10,000-meter race.”

Many tried to get the best of Salazar.  Dave Babiracki got the honors through 9M, but only by a stride.  It was Steve Floto – he of the movie-star looks, shag haircut and 2:15:55 PR – who finally began to break up the pack.  His job was made easier when misfortune struck down Rodgers just beyond 20-kilometers.

The American Record holder collided with another runner and fell heavily at that point, losing as much as as 100 meters on the leaders.  (“I hit somebody, tripped and went flying through the air.  No, I don’t know who it was,” Billy said later.)  He sprang back up and, despite a slight limp and a pair of well-skinned knees, sprinted to close the gap.

But the effort was too much even for the great Rodgers who had raised some eyebrows by running in the Toronto Marathon just three weeks earlier.  He narrowed the margin to 50 meters, but never got closer and eventually came home disappointed 5th in 2:13;21.

At the same time as Rodgers was picking himself up off the pavement, Floto was making a move.  He went through the halfway point at 1:04:42, some ten seconds clear of Salazar.  By 15 miles (1:14:21), his lead was down to 25 meters.

Then the legions reached the Queensboro Bridge, in years past the site of the world’s longest carpet, which is laid on the rough metal grating of the span to protect the feet of the runners.  But an awesome deluge the day before the race (more than one-and-a-half inches of rain and 50 mph winds) caused race director Fred Lebow to decide not to use the carpet.

Floto surrendered the lead and Dick Beardsley emerged as the temporary leader until the group of Salazar, Gomez and Graham roared past.  A three-man race had begun in earnest, with Wells lurking ominously in 4th.

By the 20-mile mark (1:38:58), Salazar – with his efficient shuffle-stride – and Gomez ran side by side.  Graham trailed by ten meters.

Here was when Alberto had planned to move and when Gomez slowed at an aid station for a cup of water, Salazar suddenly found himself with a ten meter lead.  He was off and running, as they say.

At 35-kilometers (1:47:30), he led by six seconds.  He ran the 21st mile in 4:57, up a slight grade and into the wind, Gomez, a lighter, bouncier stylist, apparently found the breeze more debilitating.  By 23 miles (1:53:47), Salazar led by close to 200 meters and was quite obviously in a class all his own on this day.

“I was pretty confident with about six miles to go,” he said later.  “I felt real good, but I was scared of Gomez.  I thought he might be as fast as me.

“The last half-mile or so I really started to hurt.  My stomach started to knot up, but I kept telling myself, ‘Everybody else feels worse.'”

Behind Salazar, the women’s race had reached resolution much earlier.  Waitz plowed through five miles in 27:00, only a stride ahead of Lyons-Catalano.  Patti eased off, fearful of blowing up, and watched the greatest woman distance runner ever pull away.  Waitz passed ten miles in 55:25 and the halfway post in 1:12:30.

Montreal Olympian Don Kardong says, “There was always a group of men who wanted to run with her.  They sort of closed in around her, but when she started to run the second half of the race, she left them all.  There wasn’t anybody who could stay up with her.  But the greatest moment still was when she passed Lasse Viren at 10 miles.”  The Finnish immortal didn’t finish the race and countryman Martii Vaino placed 196th in 2:35:20.

Waitz hit 17 miles in 1:34:10.  A mile before, Patti had left husband Joe Catalano.  “I just told her to go get’em,” he said.  “She put her head down and took off.”  But Catalano was running only to break her announced goal of getting under 2:30.  Waitz cruised by 25 miles in 2:19:18, at which point husband Jack yelled encouragement.  “I needed that,” Grete claimed later.  “I felt tired.”  But few who watch her run – and surely none who run against her – can fathom fatigue in the Norwegian star.

The 27-year-old schoolteacher broke her global best by 1:51 and later admitted, “I slowed down in the middle of the race because I didn’t think I would be able to get to the finish.  But I had more strength at the end.”

After dropping out, Joe Catalano got back to the finish area just in time to sprint the final 200 yards alongside his wife as she sped to her American best.  Patti finished with long hair flying, eyes closed and a grimace – surely a mixture of pain and joy – on her face.

She admitted later she had been less psyched for New York than for Montreal, where she met her Boston conqueror Jacqueline Gareau.  But she was willing to take a shot at Waitz through the five boroughs of New York.  There may have been no chance for success, but Patti Catalano was willing to try.  And that she did.

“I felt really good,” said an excited Catalano afterwards.  “But I couldn’t get my legs to go any faster.”  But she found some extra energy at the awards ceremony: she jumped up and down so enthusiastically, officials could hardly get the runner-up medal around her neck.

Salazar admitted his victory didn’t surprise him too much.  “I think I proved something to people who said I couldn’t do it, who think running a marathon is some mystical thing,” he said.

“Some people told me that you have to run a lot of times to be able to run a good marathon.  I’m not at all sure that’s true; it’s just a race.

“Other people said, ‘You can’t be so confident about it because you’re a 10,000-meter runner and a marathoner has to prepare differently.’  But I have run some 10,000 races that hurt a lot more than this marathon did.  Certainly, I wanted to do well, if only so I wouldn’t have to hear people say, ‘I told you so,’ if I didn’t run well.”

One who didn’t question Salazae’s ability to run a top-notch marathon was Dellinger:  “First of all, you have to almost take it for granted that there isn’t anyone in the race who wants to win more than Alberto.  He has the talent of a 10,000-meter runner, he has a very efficient running style, and he has incredible mental toughness.

“The longer the race, the more time you have to think about it and that’s where Alberto’s toughness comes in.  You have to want to stay with a killing pace and Alberto does.”

Praise also comes from Rodgers.  “He beat a crackerjack field, a tough field.  There were a lot of good runners out there today, but they all got nailed.  It’s phenomenal that he could win a race like this in his first marathon.”

Of his own effort, the pre-race favorite said, “I thought I was in 2:10-2:11 shape.  I ran as tough as I could and I feel I proved I was in good shape.  I know I can run 2:10 this year.

“Maybe I’m pushing myself into the ground, pressing my luck.  It was frustrating to be the third American in this race.  I didn’t come here to get fifth.

“But I have to congratulate Alberto.  Now I’m going to train to beat him.”

Rodgers may not get that chance very soon.  Salazar said he may not run another marathon until next year’s New York affair.  His immediate plans include the TAC cross-country race in late November and then completing his final season of outdoor rack eligibility at Oregon next spring.

Despite his stupendous debut, Salazar said, “To me, the marathon is just another race.”  But he quickly added, “Under the right conditions, I can run it faster.”

In Salazar’s victory in New York, we may well have seen the man who can run 2:07.

And now there is no more Rookie.

Don’t know who took the picture.  Didn’t know turtlenecks were in.


November 5, 2019. A note from Patti.

Just read your Twitter on the 1980 NYC. Nice.

I was very excited about running it.  At first, less so because I had already run the Montreal marathon.   When I went to Norway to run xc races, all the talk was NYC marathon .  I was asked by many athletes if I was running it.   No, I said, I had just run Montreal a couple weeks ago.  After the marathon  and before Norway I squeezed in a half marathon, missed my AR by 4 seconds.   I was bummed…though it was about 80 degrees in VT that day.

While racing the xc races… I had two things on my mind with one thing I couldn’t shake..not breaking 2:30.  See, I would have if I knew the last 6 miles of Montreal were to be run all alone.  Yup… no spectators.   I did not know that part of the race was run on special part and nobody could go there.   So I lost time wondering if I had taken a wrong turn my concentration was broken, no more free flow running.  I ran worried.   All I saw every mile was the clock and a small aide station. And no English.
I finished.   I had won.  But I knew I lost time.  so I kept thinking about it.  

When I got  back to Boston  I knew I could it but I’d have to really drum myself up. And I had a smidge of doubt.
I came home on a Wednesday.   Tufts 10K was the following Monday.  I wanted to run it.  I was told no. Like many of my races.  lol.
I called the race director myself and asked if I could run.  Yup.   After a stressful weekend of arguing, I won tufts ten in a new AR time with my shoelace untied starting from the Mass. Ave. bridge.  I knew  I had more stuff left. 
I was filled with knowing I could run under 2:30 now. 

Again I was met with no.  It was ok, as I now had the confidence to call Fred myself.  Even he doubted me.  After a plea, he relented.   Though there was no funds left, no clinic.  Fine, I said.  I was given a shuttle ticket for two and a twin bed at the Mayflower. 

I ran. At five miles, I heard my split… saw Greta, felt really good but backed off… knowing marathon is a long race and given time, things  change.
And they did.   The highlight of my competitive career.   At about 16M, off the bridge I saw Greta.  I gradually made my way to her, then beside her.  We ran together for about a minute or two.  lol.  Then she just went home.  lol.  I actually laughed when she did.  She was ahhmazing.   
so I hung on to my goal, break 2:30.  

Side note.  While in Norway  the first race, a 7-mile xc.  I took off like crazy…led for 2 miles.  Greta came up beside me and asked, what are you doing? I’m  trying to beat you.  lol. 
Ingrid passed me.  And I would have none of that.  After I gathered myself, I chased her down.   
It was Ingrid’s response to my answer to her when she asked if I was going to do nyc.  I said no.  She said, too bad.  I think she wanted to get me.  I raced 4 xc races finishing second to Greta with Ingrid 3rd.

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