Original Gangsters Of Running (Don Kardong)

You entered a marathon with hills? You idiot. – Don Kardong

Giving it the old college try against Steve Prefontaine

OK, I think I have some time today to give this a shot.

Toughest opponent and why?

Obviously, it was Pre. I think I figured out at one point that I was 0 and 9 against him. Compare that to my 3 and 1 record against Viren. But to be honest, there were a lot of other guys who gave me a tough time. Dick Buerkle, for example. And my teammate, Herm Atkins. In the marathon, Shorter and Rodgers, although I beat both those guys at one time or another. Well maybe not Frank, at least in the marathon.

Most memorable run and why?

Most memorable race was the Olympic marathon, where I ran my PR and almost snagged a medal. I remember a lot about that race. My whole Olympic experience was a blast, and to top it off with a great performance made it especially memorable.

My 12:57.6 three-mile at Hayward Field was also pretty memorable. It was a 20-second PR for me, run in front of the greatest track crowd in America.

I’ve got to throw in my rim-to-rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon. It wasn’t a race per se, but an incredible experience. Very, very difficult, but also fascinating, because the trail drops through multiple layers of geological history. If you let yourself, you can imagine running back through time. On the other hand, the Grand Canyon feels timeless, too, and the result is kind of a religious experience.

Favorite training tip?

Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But you need recovery days, too.

Biggest disappointment?

Not being able to return to the Olympics. I’m not sure I would have made the 1980 team anyway, because I think overall we had more world-class marathoners in America then than we’ve ever had, before or since. But the boycott made it all a moot point. I would at least have liked to have a shot at it.

What would you do differently today?

People ask me if the training today is much different than it was for me, and near as I can tell it really isn’t. Distance training in the U.S. got dramatically harder in the 1960s and 1970s, but then it kind of leveled off. You can only do so many miles, so much speed work, and so on.

I think the only thing I might do differently now is incorporate surges more deliberately. Anaerobic threshold runs are pretty effective without being destructive, and when I was doing longer intervals I generally did them as hard as I could. Might have been a mistake.

Favorite philosopher?

Zarathustra. If Zoroastrianism was good enough for Freddie Mercury, it’s good enough for me. [ Zoroastrians believe there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, or the “Wise Lord”. – ed.]

Favorite comedian?

Bill Murray. I could watch “Ghostbusters” forever. In fact, I have. Just ask my family.

And a personally important song of the era?

“Not to Touch the Earth” by the Doors. It gets pretty strange at the end, but what’s not to love about the line “Not to touch the earth, not to see the sun, nothing left to do but run, run, run. Let’s run!”

Don,
Great pics. Thanks.
Just got a photo of the lead pack at Montreal. Bill’s right there up front with Frank, and Waldemar and Lasse. No sign of tall Kardong.
What was your tactic/strategy?
You obviously have come to peace with 4th place. Really? And have they sent you a replica bronze?
Jack

Jack–
In that start line photo I sent, I show up pretty clearly because I’m about 6 inches taller than everyone else.
My strategy was to go on auto-pilot for the first ten miles, then start picking off guys who went out faster than they should have, which was just about all of them. I’ve watched the Canadian TV video of the race, and I’m nowhere to be seen until I’m back on the track. Of course they were shooting the leaders, not the come-from-behinders.

I was clearly there for a medal. But I also couldn’t have run any faster, so where I finished was just fine. It was, after all, fourth in the world, and there are a lot of people in the world. But it still pisses me off that a country (East Germany) had a national cheating program for over a decade, and the IOC has done nothing about it.
You know what they say, life ain’t fair.
–Don

The Commies had the best doctors back in the day. Don Kardong deserved the bronze. No doubt about it whatsoever. Makes me crazy.

As is his style, he’s taking it better than I am. And the controversy will never die. Not as long as men run.

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