I did run competitively in High School and college, but I was only an average runner. During those years especially, 1962-70, I ate, drank, sleep, and lived for running. I read about and watched as many runners as I could. My interests in the Kenyan runners played no little part in becoming a missionary in Kenya for 16 years (1972-88). There I was privilege to see some of them train and compete in their homeland.
Mike Boit was a Kenyan world class 800 meter runner. He competed for Stanford during his undergraduate years, and when he returned to Kenya he trained on the same grass track where I ran at Nairobi High School. It was the first time I had seen the speed of such a great distance runner up close. And, to able to, run fast of a very smooth grass track, barefooted, was a sensation I will never forget.
I remember seeing some of the old tapes and photos of Nurmi running. The first great Finn I remember is Lasse Viren who won the 5,000 and 10,000 Olympic golds in both '72 and '76. sporting-heroes.net He had amazing finishes whenever he ran. |
