Everybody talks about the special secret shoes. What about the arm bands? – Barker Ajax
by Toni Reavis
(Set to Don McLean’s tune Vincent)
Sub Two-Hour Man
| Pacers formed in reverse V form, As you tried for what was beyond the norm, On that run out on a misty Vienna day. Lasers on the road, Placed the pace for the runner’s skill, Who embraced the task in the autumn chill, With soles that felt the carbon beneath your stride, Yet there was nowhere you could hide. As crowds along the dead flat way, Stood hushed at first as you whittled away, At a time that’s never been seen before, Officials keeping score. Up and back ‘neath a gray clad sky, The pace held firm as the miles flew by, As eyes took measure of your task, Hidden behind that inscrutable mask. Now I understand, What you tried to do for me, And how you were ridiculed for your audacity, And how you tried to just let it be, Skeptics would not listen, we did not know how, Perhaps we’ll salute you now. Sub Two-Hour Man, Constant pace that told a tale, Of an historic chase for this running grail, Gazing out from eyes of deep-set brown, The time it did count down. Four thirty-four per mile, A speed that was hard to reconcile, For those who remembered a high school time, Yet for you it was just sublime. Through morning hours with leaves that fell, A yearning heart with a truth to tell, All held within the runner’s thin/clad frame. Now I understand, What you tried to do before, And how you never closed the door, Not all in Monza were on your side, Perhaps in Vienna you turned the tide. As when the clock was there in sight, On that misty autumn morn, You dropped your pacers as winners always do, But I could have told you, Eliud, Sub-2 was only meant for one as beautiful as you. Sub Two-Hour Man, Records kept in dusty halls, Monumental marks on plaque strewn walls, With eyes that watched the sport and can’t forget, Like those champions that you’ve met. The whip-thin man in INEOS clothes, Whose furrowed brow hides a joy that knows, What no other man has ever felt before, He’s broken down the door. Now I think I know, What you tried to do for me, And how you ran into history, To inspire us all in our own way to be. We never understood till now, All that’s left to left to say is – WOW! |