1982 Nike/OTC Marathon

Benoit Lowers American Record To 2:26:11

Eugene, Oregon, September 12 – Ho-hum. Another misty 64-degree day at the Nike/OTC Marathon. Another sterling field here to chase a $100,000 purse. More great competition and another (just the fourth in the race’s twelve-year history) American Record for women.

Joan Benoit, the small woman with the giant heart, completed her comeback from Achilles surgery (see p. 50) by clocking 2:26:11, her third AR. The mark, the fastest non-World Record ever run, has been eclipsed only by the times of Allison Roe (2:25:29) and Grete Waitz (2:25:42). It replaces Patti Catalano’s AR of 2:27:51. It seems like a minor medical miracle.

There was nothing diminutive about the way Benoit went after the title. Running as if her checks were fluttering back marked “Insufficient Funds,” the Athletics West star never looked back. No matter – there was no one to see.

Following at a distance, albeit faster than ever before, was Laurie Binder. Never having a serious shot at victory, the 35-year-old Binder beamed broadly as she crossed the finish line $9000 richer with a PR 2:33:50.

Following her was Ellen Hart, running her second marathon, in 2:35:17. She jogged Boston a few years back during her schooldays at Harvard, so the half-hour improvement was no surprise.

Debbe Eide translated some of her recent track success to the road to garner fourth place in 2:36:13, more than seven minutes ahead of the next finisher.

Two-time AR holder Jackie Hansen took Miki Gorman’s 2:46:36 down to 2:38:19. That was 1975. She’s not talking about her time in ’82.

I am hard pressed to come up with any good memories from that day because apparently I ran, too. So, it’s not like I got to watch Joan’s win. 

Way past my prime, I just ran to see what shape I was in, and might’ve won an age group because I got a little prize money. Little is an understatement, which had to go into a trust fund. Which I withdrew the next day to pay for babysitting, which allowed me the time to train.

What a sham those stupid trust funds were. Right?

Jackie Hansen 10/07/2020

Right.

“I don’t know why we didn’t go after them sooner,” Mike Layman mused after finishing fifth in the men’s division at 2:13:14. He was referring to a pack which had chased Odis Sanders and Ron Tabb, occasionally at quite a distance, for much of the race. The answer probably has something to do with large sums of above-the-table money and credibility.

At Nike/OTC, you earned your bucks by how you ran that day, not how you’ve run in the past or by how many times you’ve gotten your picture in Track & Field News. As for credibility, well, quite simply, neither Sanders nor Tabb was considered a serious threat to the likes of Rodolfo Gomez or defending champion Benji Durden.

Sanders had ten seconds on Tabb at 15M (1:15:10), but what’s this at 27km? It seemed the pack was beginning to take Odis a little more seriously. Sanders maintained his lead as he passed 20M in 1:40:14. The Pack (soon to be a movie made for television) was a full fifty seconds in arrears.

Evidently, at this stage of the race, the runners had to start figuring out how to get to storied Hayward Field first. A move by Paul Cummings at 1:44:30 succeeded in limiting the winner’s identity to himself, Durden, Gomez, Layman, Hailu Ebba and Dan Schlesinger.

As you can see, the two pacesetters were being written off; particularly at 1:46:15, when The Six-Pack swept past Tabb as if he were smuggling gold bullion in his tennies.

When Gomez hit 35km in 1:49:32, it was obvious that the Mexican Olympian had the best understanding of the metric system. When he moved, Layman simply couldn’t turn his legs over fast enough. Schlesinger was already dropped and the others began optimistic pursuit. Gomez rushed by Sanders at 1:53:00 without so much as an adios.

Approaching forty kilometers, Gomez had a seventeen-second lead over Ebba and Cummings, who in turn were holding off Durden by ten. One had to pity Benji, faced with the task of outkicking two – not one, but two – sub-four-minute milers on that last leg home.

Apparently, all three were on their last legs, as Gomez finished in 2:11:35, sixty-six seconds ahead of the ecstatic Ebba, an Ethiopian native and Oregon State graduate who will run faster. Durden managed to tighten up less than Cummings, who finished fourth, pleased despite a final mile in six flat.

Gomez covered the second half of the race in 1:05:04 after a 1:06:31 opener. “I ran according to my plan,” he explained. “Since I arrived, I thought I could win.”

It was the third such 1982 victory for Gomez, who had earlier captured marathon crowns at Rotterdam and Athens. “I want to win four marathons,” he said. “I want to run against Alberto [Salazar] at New York. I’ll run with him all the way.”

I apologized to Ron Tabb for my flippant commentary.

Nothing here for me to get worked up about, I hadn’t done anything since winning Paris in May of ’81 so you were telling it like it was. Not bothered at all by your comments.

1. Dick Brown talked me into letting him coach me. I had been self-coached since after college in ’77. He was coaching Kevin McCarey, Jeff Wells, and John Lodwick at the time, so I agreed to give it a shot. In the end all of us sucked in the OTC marathon and I left afterwards.

2. My grandparents came out to visit Mary and I and it would be the last time they’d see me race in person.

3. In February of ’83 Dellinger began coaching me and I ran 2:09 at Boston in April and beat Benji. Obviously, I had the ability, I just needed a recipe. Later in May, I’d beat Gomez at Prefontaine Invitational in the 10K.

Ron Tabb 10/07/2020

Benji said he’d think about it on his run. He’s famously cerebral.

I was out for 12.35 miles running and walking. I ran a bit over 10.5 miles. I wore a mask the whole time because of smoke from the fires. I saw an owl being harassed by crows, a snapping turtle out for a walk, a coyote, many prairie dogs and had a nice run.

About ’82 Nike. It was a rainy day; never heavy, but I was always kicking water up onto my hamstrings, which bothered me mentally and later physically.

I don’t remember ever worrying about the breakaway group. My focus was always on Rodolfo. Around twenty miles I decided to start surging to break up the pack of runners and see how Rodolfo would respond. I managed to get him to pick up the pace and drop me.

I struggled a couple miles, dropping back several places. There was a stretch through the woods where I felt better, maybe around twenty-four miles, and I began to pick off runners one by one.

As we ran towards Hayward Field over the last 800, I could tell I had a chance to catch Cummings and pushed a bit more. We hit the track together with 200 left and I kicked and pulled away. 

Post-race, my hamstrings were cramping knots. Rich Phaigh worked on me without oil as we stood in the rain at the top of the track. I was able to walk after that, but he had rubbed off all the hair from my hamstrings – lol.

Benji Durden 10/08/2020

[Salute to Walt Chadwick for his editorial assistance.]

Here’s p. 50.

Joan Benoit: Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Source: ARRS (Association of Road Racing Statisticians)

Results (men)

Finished	Time	Flags	Given name	Surname	Alternate name	Citizenship	Birth date	Prize money	Actions
1	2:11:35		Rodolfo	Gomez		MEX	30 Oct 1950	$20,000
2	2:12:41		Hailu	Ebba		ETH	12 Dec 1950	$12,000
3	2:12:52		Benji	Durden		USA	28 Aug 1951	$8000
4	2:12:55		Paul	Cummings		USA	05 Sep 1953	$6000
5	2:13:14		Michael	Layman		USA	30 May 1954	$3000
6	2:13:40		Dennis	Rinde		USA	15 Oct 1958	$2000
7	2:13:41		Antonio	Villanueva		MEX	25 Jul 1940	$1500
8	2:13:45		Domingo	Tibaduiza	Reyes	COL	20 Nov 1950	$1250
9	2:13:47		Kevin	McCarey		USA	27 Jun 1954	$1000
10	2:13:48		Rudi	Verriet		NED	29 Dec 1956	$800
11	2:13:59		Dan	Schlesinger		USA	10 Jun 1955	$700
12	2:14:07		Ric	Sayre		USA	09 Aug 1953	$600
13	2:14:53		Jon Peter	Anderson		USA	12 Oct 1949	$500
14	2:15:03		Odis	Sanders		USA	16 Jun 1959	$450
15	2:15:26		Ron	Tabb		USA	07 Aug 1954	$400
16	2:15:37		Thom	Burleson		USA	17 May 1952	$350
17	2:15:47		Jeff	Wells		USA	25 May 1954	$300
18	2:16:07		John	Moreno		USA	30 Mar 1955	$250
19	2:16:12		Athol	Barton		NZL	31 Oct 1947	$200
20	2:16:43		Leonard	Hill		USA	11 Aug 1952	$200
21	2:17:00		Alex	Kasich		USA	05 Jan 1955
22	2:17:25		Carlos	Victorino		MEX	14 Feb 1958
23	2:17:51		Andy	Palmer		USA	26 Nov 1953
24	2:18:56		Paul	Raether		USA	14 Feb 1953
25	2:18:59		John	Freeburg		USA	28 Oct 1958
26	2:19:02		Larry	Barthlow		USA	20 Feb 1957
27	2:19:22		Inge	Simonsen		NOR	01 Jul 1953
28	2:19:43		Steve	Benson		USA	04 Dec 1951
29	2:20:47		Rafael A	Parra		COL	1955
30	2:21:07		Randy	Melancon		USA	25 May 1953
32	2:21:20		Amado	Hernandez	Lopez	ESP
33	2:21:20		George	Hernandez		USA	01 Jan 1953
34	2:21:43		Roderick	Berry		USA	03 Feb 1960
37	2:22:06		Mike	Ruffatto		USA	01 Dec 1954
38	2:22:23		Barney	Klecker		USA	25 Aug 1951
39	2:22:24		James	Walker		USA	17 Apr 1955
43	2:23:07		William	Hall		USA	1940
48	2:24:00		Doug	Kurtis		USA	12 Mar 1952
49	2:24:16		Jim	Bowers		USA	06 Nov 1938
50	2:24:28		Max	White		USA	1950
75?	2:37:40		Alex	Ratelle		USA	12 Sep 1924

Results (women)

Finished	Time	Flags	Given name	Surname	Alternate name	Citizenship	Birth date	Prize money	Actions
1	2:26:12		Joan	Samuelson	Benoit	USA	16 May 1957	$20,000
2	2:33:51		Laurie	Binder		USA	10 Aug 1947	$9,000
3	2:35:18		Ellen	Hart	Peña	USA	19 May 1958	$5000
4	2:36:14		Debbie	Eide		USA	31 Jan 1956	$2500
5	2:43:34		Marja	Bak	Wokke	NED	21 Mar 1957	$1000
6	2:45:23		Janis	Klecker	Horns	USA	18 Jul 1960	$500
7	2:46:41		Jacqueline	Hansen		USA	20 Nov 1948	$250
8	2:47:23		Linda	Edgar		USA	25 Aug 1951	$250
9	2:47:23		Elaine	Campo	Triplett	USA	13 Dec 1950	$250
10	2:49:15		Susan	Smith		NZL	1958	$250
11	2:50:25		Marilyn	Matthews		USA	10 Jul 1953	$200
12	2:51:11		Vanessa	Vajdos		USA	28 Aug 1951	$200
13	2:51:38		Ann	Farrington		USA
14	2:52:17		Bonnie	Dwyer		USA	14 Oct 1957
15	2:53:02		Shirley	Weaver		USA	08 Apr 1942
16	2:55:05		Sandra	Kiddy		USA	27 Nov 1936
19?	2:59:47		Hilary	Naylor		USA	1946
26?	3:06:36		Agatha-Sue	Lee	Ward	USA	18 Jul 1939

Database updated with data from 05 Oct 2020 20:27:12.