This race report, doubtlessly for Track & Field News, arrived as a December 19, 2013 “memory” from Mark Zuckerberg. “Shared with the public.”
Don’t remember being at the 1991 Cascade RunOff. Suppose it’s true.
Don’t remember filing this story. Sounds like I wrote it.
“Throwback Thursday,” Huh?
Portland, Oregon, June 23 – I’ve sat in a lot of press trucks. I’ve watched a lot of races. This one made it seem like the first time. But times don’t really matter on the road.
Alejandro Cruz, looking physically so much more mature, started pushing the pace on the first little incline on the course.
He was actually 10 secs. ahead of WR pace through the first couple of miles. At the base of Pill Hill, Cruz REALLY surged. I was worried he was going to hurt himself. Split a gut. William Musyoki and Marc Plaatjes stayed with the madness. Reaching 5K – one mile “straight” uphill – in 14:53, Cruz pushed the decline. Plaatjes can’t keep up downhill. Musyoki seemed content to let Cruz lead this dance. Which heads uphill again. Straight up. Some 440 feet.
At Cascade, there’s a theory – Destroy everybody before the top. If you’re not there then, you’re nowhere. Bill Reifsnyder pulled the exception to that rule.
Nearly a dozen secs. back at the route’s peak, Reifsnyder stayed close enough to worry the two leaders. First, Cruz would look over his shoulder. Then Musyoki would look too, to see what Cruz was looking at. Reifsnyder kept checking his watch. As the sun finally broke through the cloud cover, Reifsnyder was closing. The leaders hit 7M in 33:10. Bill was 5 secs. back. Cruz looked again, picked up the pace. Reifsnyder pulled alongside at 8M (37:37). Musyoki watched like a spectator.
Everybody expected Reifsnyder to rest up after working so hard to catch the two frontrunners. I’m sure that’s what the leaders expected. That’s what Reifsnyder figured himself.
“But when I came alongside them,” Bill explained later, “I figured I had the momentum, so I decided to go for it.”
Well, Cruz practically dropped his draws. He looked like a balloon somebody just let the air out of. Musyoki looked whipped. All of us thought the race was over. Except William. He refused to lose. He refused. It was that simple. 42:01 for 9M. Let me tell you, Mr. Musyoki was smokin.’ Amazing.
“I had nothing left,” Reifsnyder admitted. “I’d used it all up just getting there.”
Musyoki won in 43:29, 2 secs. in front of Reifsnyder.
Dorthe Rasmussen seemed to move into the lead by chance, but when the women’s leaders hit the hills, her superiority this day became apparent. The great Dane scored a 49:09 win. Both the men’s and women’s winners earned $7,000 – this was the 10th anniversary of the first “money” road race in the U.S.A. What a long, strange trip it’s been.
Name Cascade Run Off
Site Portland OR/USA
Date23 Jun 1991
TypeRoadDistance15 km
Notes
Record quality course
Race Time Bias Men: -27.58 sec (-1.83 sec/km) Women: -30.99 sec (-2.06 sec/km)
Competitive level Men: 686 Women: 689
Prize money $57,750 Race series
Results (men)
| Finished | Time | Flags | Given name | Surname | Alternate name | Citizenship | Birth date | Prize money | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43:29 | William | Musyoki | KEN | 25 Nov 1966 | $7,000 | |||
| 2 | 43:31 | Bill | Reifsnyder | USA | 13 Apr 1962 | $5,000 | |||
| 3 | 43:46 | Alejandro | Cruz | MEX | 10 Feb 1968 | $4,000 | |||
| 4 | 43:48 | Steve | Kogo | KEN | $3,000 | ||||
| 5 | 43:58 | Stephen | Jones | WAL | 04 Aug 1955 | $2,500 | |||
| 6 | 44:16 | Leonardo | Reyes | MEX | 07 Aug 1962 | $2,000 | |||
| 7 | 44:17 | Mark | Conover | USA | 28 May 1960 | $1,500 | |||
| 8 | 44:21 | Alfredo | Vigueras | MEX | 12 Jan 1963 | $1,000 | |||
| 9 | 44:24 | Mark | Plaatjes | RSA | 01 Jun 1961 | $750 | |||
| 10 | 44:26 | Mark | Curp | USA | 05 Jan 1959 | $500 | |||
| 11 | 44:44 | Artemio | Navarro | MEX | 25 Jan 1950 | $1,250 | |||
| 12 | 44:52 | Michael | Heilmann | GER | 26 Oct 1961 | ||||
| 13 | 44:53 | Martin | Mondragon | Avila | MEX | 11 Nov 1953 | |||
| 15 | 45:11 | Faustino | Hernandez | MEX | |||||
| 16 | 45:14 | Andres | Espinosa | Perez | MEX | 04 Feb 1963 | |||
| 17 | 45:22 | Brian | Sheriff | ZIM | 11 Nov 1961 | ||||
| 18 | 45:23 | Bert | vanVlaanderen | NED | 25 Nov 1964 | ||||
| 19 | 45:36 | Paul | Pilkington | USA | 12 Oct 1958 | ||||
| 20 | 45:42 | Isidro | Rico | Rangel | MEX | 15 May 1961 | |||
| 21 | 45:43 | Manuel | Vera | MEX | 19 Mar 1951 | $500 | |||
| 25 | 46:12 | Domingo | Tibaduiza | Reyes | COL | 20 Nov 1950 | $250 |
Results (women)
| Finished | Time | Flags | Given name | Surname | Alternate name | Citizenship | Birth date | Prize money | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 49:09 | Dorthe | Rasmussen | DEN | 27 Jan 1960 | $7,000 | |||
| 2 | 49:48 | Libbie | Hickman | Johnson | USA | 17 Feb 1965 | $5,000 | ||
| 3 | 50:14 | Lisa | Rainsberger | Weidenbach Larsen | USA | 13 Dec 1961 | $4,000 | ||
| 4 | 50:29 | Anne | Audain | NZL | 01 Nov 1955 | $3,000 | |||
| 5 | 50:40 | Yekaterina | Khramenkova | BLR | 16 Oct 1956 | $2,500 | |||
| 6 | 50:55 | Lorraine | Moller | NZL | 01 Jun 1955 | $2,000 | |||
| 7 | 51:17 | Kristy | Johnston | USA | 03 Jun 1965 | $1,500 | |||
| 8 | 51:33 | Karolin | Szabo | HUN | 17 Nov 1961 | $1,000 | |||
| 9 | 51:43 | Sandra | Guidotti | USA | $750 | ||||
| 10 | 51:51 | Diane | Gentry | Bussa | USA | 09 Aug 1961 | $500 | ||
| 11 | 52:30 | Bernadette | Torrez | Miller | USA | 1964 | $250 | ||
| 12 | 52:40 | Laurie | Binder | USA | 10 Aug 1947 | $1,000 | |||
| 13 | 53:05 | Carla | Borovicka | USA | 15 Dec 1961 | ||||
| 14 | 53:11 | Maria | Trujillo | deRios | USA | 19 Oct 1959 | |||
| 15 | 53:37 | Marcia | Narloch | BRA | 28 Mar 1969 | ||||
| 16 | 54:03 | Debra | Myra | USA |
Source: ARRS (Association of Road Racing Statisticians)