I raced Ron Wayne at least once. I was in sight of the finish line when he won. I was right there.
Unfortunately, I had another six-mile lap to go. He beat me by only ninety-two (92) places.
Sounds a lot closer than ten kilometers.
When did you start running and why?
When I was a junior at Brockton High School, I joined the cross country team to help with my fitness for the upcoming basketball season. In addition, the coach, Harry Allen, was also the Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach and I thought that if I could show him I had a strong work ethic, it might help my chances of making the varsity squad.
Two and a half months after running my first ever workout, I placed 19th in the Massachusetts Class A State Cross Country Meet. Now I had a decision to make: Do I play basketball or keep running? I joined the indoor track team.
Toughest opponent and why?
Throughout the ‘70’s there certainly was a fraternity of tough competitors, but I would have to identify my toughest opponent as a school rivalry. I attended college at UMass Amherst which at that time was a member of the Yankee Conference.
Also, in that conference was UConn and one of their runners, who was a year ahead of me, was John Vitale. We raced against each other in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Furthermore, during and after college we competed against each other on the roads throughout New England. This included many Boston Marathons and numerous other 26.2 mile events throughout the US. Over the years, we each had our share of victories and defeats against each other. One such victory was finishing less than a second ahead of Vitale to win the national marathon championship.
Most memorable run and why?
When one competes for 20 years, you develop a collection of fond memories. I will tell you my favorite one first, but also discuss a close second.
I was born in Boston and every Patriots Day my parents would take me to my grandparent’s house on Beacon Street, Brookline to watch the Boston Marathon. From the time I could read, I went out on the street with the Boston Globe in hand that listed all of the runner’s names (only 200-500 competitors in the race during the 50’s to mid-60’s). I would look up the street to see the runner’s numbers, so by the time they came by me, I would find their name in the newspaper and yell out their name with words of encouragement.
My dream was to play for the Red Sox (my Brockton North Little League All-Star Team was State and New England Champions), but who knew that I would end up becoming a marathon runner. In 1977, my best Boston finish was 4th place, top American. To accomplish this achievement in my home town and to have a police motorcycle escort me in to the finish line was extremely exciting.
Another memorable race was winning the New England High School Cross Country Championship that capped an undefeated fourteen (14) race season that included the Massachusetts State Class A Championship. What makes this a head-scratching senior high school season is that I had only been running for less than fifteen (15) months.
Biggest disappointment and why?
After competing in the May 1976 Bay To Breakers Race in San Francisco, I came down with bronchial pneumonia, causing me to miss the Olympic Marathon Trials in Eugene, Oregon later that month. I attended graduate school at the University of Oregon from 1972-1974, so I was very familiar with the Trials Marathon race course, as it had been part of my training loops for several years. These Trials would have been my best chance to make the Olympic Team.
Later that year, in December 1976, I placed second in the Honolulu Marathon beating Olympians, Don Kardong, Jeff Galloway, Kenny Moore, Tony Sandoval, Jack Foster and 1976 Boston Marathon winner, Jack Fultz. So I guess that was my Olympics.
What would you do differently if you could do it again? Why?
After college, I was self-coached and other than the majority of my Sunday 20-25 mile runs and speed workouts on the track, I trained by myself. I was very confident with my high mileage training regimen, but one tactic that was missing was tempo runs, something that is very popular today. I believe I would have benefited greatly from tempo training.
Also, what if I had joined a training group/club, such as Greater Boston, that had athletes better than me? I believe I would have improved significantly.
Also, perhaps I raced too many marathons every year. In 1974, I was the first person in the world to run four (4) sub-2:20’s in the same calendar year. In 1977, I was the first person in the world to run five (5) sub-2:20’s. Today, most top runners only race a spring and a fall marathon. Maybe fewer marathon races would have produced faster times.
What was your ‘best stretch of running’? Why do you think you hit that level at that time?
Research has shown the average lifespan of an elite marathon runner is about ten years. Over my nine-year career of racing marathons, I had several successful stretches, but my best was from December 1976 through October 1977. During that time period, I placed second in Honolulu and ran five (5) sub-2:20 marathons in 1977 that included, third at Trails End, fourth at Boston, sixth at Amsterdam, fourth at Nike OTC and fourteenth at New York.
In 1977, I was ranked sixth best marathon runner and ninth best road runner in the United States by Track and Field News. [The Bible Of The Sport! – ed.] Due to pneumonia, I missed about four months of training during the summer and early fall of 1976, which, although very frustrating, forced me to rest. I believe the rest followed by consistent training, staying healthy and injury-free, as well as luck, all contributed to my best stretch of running.
[Interesting sidebar: https://www.jackdogwelch.com/?p=14421]
What was your edge?
Eating a loaf of toast a day and consistently running 140-150 mile weeks.
Favorite philosopher? Quote?
My favorite slogan came from a Nike advertisement that read, “There is no finish line” which concluded with the tagline, “Beating the competition is relatively easy, but beating yourself is a never-ending commitment.”
Special song of the era?
In December 1965, before leaving for my first ever high school indoor track meet, I stretched out on the couch in the family room and listened to the Beatle’s album, Rubber Soul that had just been released. I won the mile that day, my first-ever high school win. As a relaxation and visualization exercise, for the rest of my high school career, I listened to that album prior to all of my indoor and outdoor track meets. Some of my favorite cuts were Nowhere Man, Drive My Car, Michele, Girl, In My Life and Run For Your Life.
Favorite Comedian?
Definitely Jerry Seinfeld. One of my favorite episodes is the “Hot Tub.” Jean-Paul, an Olympic marathon runner from Trinidad and Tobago, famous for over-sleeping and missing the Olympics. Jean-Paul is in town to run the New York Marathon. The night before the race, J.P. stays with Jerry. Meanwhile, neighbor Kramer overheats a new indoor hot tub pump and blows out the electricity in the building, causing Jerry’s alarm clock to fail, Jean-Paul doesn’t get his wake up call. Nonetheless, Jerry still gets J.P. to the race start.
Near the race finish, Jerry, Kramer and Elaine see Jean-Paul leading the race and cheer him on. Kramer, who had fallen asleep in the hot tub – still freezing from the hot tun incident, is drinking scalding hot coffee. Thinking it’s water, Jean-Paul grabs the drink from Kramer.
You can just imagine. Right there, so close to victory, Jean Paul is forced to drop out of the race.
I guess you had to be there.
And Ron Wayne was. Usually in the lead pack.
The Loaf Of Toast OGOR.
https://www.enterprisenews.com/x232979981/Brockton-native-Ron-Wayne-headed-for-UMass-Hall-of-FameB
I included the following list of personal bests, because if you can’t believe the Association Of Road Racing Statisticians, whom can you trust?
| Type | Distance | Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RD | 10 km | 31:51 | Boston MA/USA | 19 Apr 1981 | ||
| RD | 15 km | 48:33 | Portland OR/USA | 25 Jun 1978 | ||
| RD | 10 mi | 53:49 | Quincy MA/USA | 10 Jun 1972 | ||
| RD | 20 km | 1:03:37 | West Roxbury MA | 26 Oct 1975 | ||
| RD | 1/2 Mar | 1:13:47 | Perry FL/USA | 26 Oct 1974 | ||
| RD | 25 km | 1:18:54 | San Francisco CA/USA | 15 Sep 1974 | ||
| RD | Mar | 2:15:04 | Eugene OR/USA | 11 Sep 1977 |
A number of the times listed as personal bests are not accurate. I attached a 10K race result that shows I ran 28:50. The half marathon time listed was a training run. There were very few half marathon races in the 1970’s. The two I raced, Bakersfield (probably ’78 or ’79) and San Luis Obispo (’80 I think) I won both and the times were 1:05 something. I will try to find the actual times.
I think the only accurate personal best time you listed is the marathon.
The only PR that really matters.