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Rono was the guy for me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rono
Breaking records!
Because he ran for WSU (in the region where I grew up) I was probably more aware of him than others.
Legendary Washington State distance runner Henry Rono dies at 72
Henry Rono resisted having his life defined by 81 magical running days in 1978, or by the tragic downward spiral that overtook him a scant few years later.www.spokesman.com
"In May 1982, Rono won the Lilac Bloomsday Run in Spokane, chugging through the 12 kilometers – he would admit later – with a powerful hangover. When he headed to Europe to run that summer, he did so with a pronounced beer gut that had meet promoters reticent to have him race. In a July 5,000 in Finland, he was lapped and failed to break 15:40.
Yet he somehow raced himself back into shape in meets across the continent, and by September broke his 5,000 world record in a race in Knarvik, Norway."
(NOTE: I also ran this edition of Bloomsday...not quite as fast as HR).
I'm also a big Prefontaine fan, but I was too young to really appreciate him until it was too late.
Rono v Ovett v Malinowski - 1978 2 miles race.
3 great runners.
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