Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)
This Day in Track & Field–April 10
1880—Frank “Black Dan” Hart won the O’Leary Belt walking competition before a full house at Madison Square Garden, covering a record 565 miles in 142 hours. Hart was considered the premier “pedestrian” at a time when six-day walking races were all the craze.
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/hart-frank-black-dan-1859
http://www.runningpast.com/frank_hart.htm
NPR Story: http://www.npr.org/2014/04/03/297327865/in-the-1870s-and-80s-being-a-pedestrian-was-anything-but
(Scroll Down) https://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2018/07/v-8-n-48-all-kinds-of-stuff.html
1896–Greek Spiridon “Spyros” Louis, wearing shoes that had been donated by his fellow villagers, gave his country a thrill by winning the inaugural Olympic Marathon in Athens. According to the British paper The Guardian, Louis “…passed the leader, Edwin Flack, a London-based Australian accountant who had earlier won the 800 and 1500 metres.”
“Flack entered the marathon despite never having run further than 10 miles before. He eventually became delirious with dehydration and his companion asked a Greek spectator to help keep him on his feet.”
“But Flack was so confused he attacked the spectator and pushed him to the ground before being bundled into a carriage and taken away for treatment by Prince Nicholas of Greece.” http://sport.guardian.co.uk/olympics2004/athletics/story/0,14782,1293622,00.html
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/NewSport/SpiridonLouis.html
American Ellery Clark, a future Hall-of-Famer, won the High Jump (5-11 ½ [1.81]) and Long Jump (20-10 [6.35]) in Athens and M.I.T. grad Thomas Curtis won the 110-meter hurdles.
Another American, Tom Burke, who had earlier won the 400, won a 2nd gold medal in the 100-Meters. As you can see in the photo below, Burke (2nd from the left), was the only man in the final using the now-common crouch start. And the runners were separated by ropes! (photo in the attached file if it doesn’t appear in this email)
Marathon Report:
History of the Marathon:
http://www.amazon.com/Olympic-Marathon-Centennial-History-Storied/dp/0275957713
Clark-HOF Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/ellery-clark
1963—John Pennel jumped 16-4 (4.98) in Natchitoches, Louisiana, to break his own American Record in the Pole Vault (16-3/4.955). For unknown reasons, neither mark was ratified by the IAAF as a World Record.
1976–In his 2nd final in the event, Edwin Moses won a 400-meter hurdles race for the first time, running 50.6 at the Dogwood Relays in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee grad Doug Brown, the American Record holder in the Steeplechase, won his specialty (8:30.8) a day after winning the 10,000 (28:24.8).
A Tennessee foursome of Lamar Preyor (20.1), Ronnie Harris (20.3), Jerome Morgan (20.8), and Reggie Jones (20.5) won the 880y-Relay in 1:21.7 to equal Texas A&M’s 6-year old World Record.
I was at this meet and remember asking Moses’ coach, “Who is this guy?”. It wouldn’t be long before the whole world knew who Edwin Moses was. He would win the gold medal at the Montreal Olympics later in the year and went on to have a remarkable career that would see him win a 2nd Olympic gold medal in 1984 and set 4 World Records (best of 47.02).
Related links: http://www.laureus.com/academy/members/edwin-moses
http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Moses_Edwin.html
Hall of Fame Bio(1994): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/edwin-moses
1982–Eager to put on a good show for the loyal Eugene fans, race director Alberto Salazar assembled a field for a special 10,000-meters in Eugene that included himself, World Record holder Henry Rono (27:22.4), 3-time NCAA 10k Champion Suleiman Nyambui (he would win his 4th in June), and Great Britain’s Adrian Royle, who had beaten Salazar to win the U.S. X-Country title the previous fall. The Oregon alum told the Eugene Register Guard, “I haven’t run well here in three years…I’ve been injured and things just haven’t worked out. I owe people here a good performance”.
Well, the fans that stayed to watch the race after the Oregon-LSU dual meet was over, despite having to endure a heavy rain the whole time, were rewarded with one of the great distance races in history.
After Rono led through the first mile in 4:27, Salazar took over and went through a steady stream of laps in the 66-67 seconds range. Only Rono and Royle were able to stay with him, and by 4 miles it was just Salazar and Rono at the front. With just over a lap to go, Rono jumped into the lead, but Salazar stayed right with him. Coming off the final turn, Salazar sent the crowd of more than 5,000 fans into a frenzy as he drew even with Rono and the two greats went stride-for-stride down the final straight before Rono held on for a narrow win. Rono’s time of 27:29.90 was the 4th-fastest in history at the time, and Salazar’s 27:30.00 was #5 and just missed Craig Virgin’s American Record of 27:29.16. From: T&F News)
Much has been written about Rono’s past problems with alcohol, and he reportedly had one drink too many the night before this race, making his performance all the more impressive!
Kenny Moore’s great coverage in Sports Illustrated:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1982/04/19/yall-come-ready-to-run
T&F News Cover(May): https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1982_05.jpg
2021—Sha’Carri Richardson established herself as a potential Olympic gold medalist in the Women’s 100-Meters by running 10.72 at the Miramar Invitation in Florida. Or so people thought at the time—she would win the 100 at the U.S. Olympic Trials but lost her chance to compete at the Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance.
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2021/04/10/shacarri-richardson-100-meters/
Born On This Day*
Nathan Green 22 (2003) 2023 NCAA Champion-1500 (Washington-‘25); 2022-7th
5th in the Mile at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, 2nd in 2025
5th in the 1500 at the 2024 U.S. OlympicTrials
2022 U.S. Junior Champion-1500
PBs: 1:46.23 (2024), 1:47.68i (2024), 1:46.50i (2024-O.T.), 2:18.56i (2024/#5 All-Time College),
3:32.20 (2024), 3:53.67 (2024), 3:53.25i (2024), 3:50.74i (O.T./2025), 7:40.09i (Dec.2024)
H.S. PB: 4:00.97 (2021) 2023 NCAAi: Video Coverage
Washington’s Milers (2024):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Green_(runner)
Vernon Norwood 32 (1993) 2-time Olympic gold medalist-4×400 (2021/1st round, 2024),
Also a 2-time Olympic medalist in the Mixed 4×400 Relay -2021 (bronze), 2024 (silver)
4-time World Champion—4×400 (2015, 2019, 2022/ran 1st round all 3 years, 2023);
2016 World Indoor Champion—4×400 (DQ’d for a lane violation in his heat of the 400); Silver medalist in the
4×400 at the 2018 World Indoor Championships
Bronze medalist in the mixed 4×400 at the 2022 World Championships
4-time NCAA Champion-LSU (2014-4x400i; 2015-400, 4×400 (indoor & outdoor)
Currently a Volunteer Assistant Coach at his alma mater
2016 U.S. Indoor Champion—400m, 3rd in 2018;
4th at the 2019 & 2022 U.S. Championships
Won $25,000 for his 4th-place finish in the “Long Sprint” group at the 2025 Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston
Became a mentor to 16-year old Quincy Wilson during the 2024 Olympics
PBs: 20.30 (2021), 32.39i (2025), 44.10 (2024), 45.31i (2015); 2025 SB: 44.70
IAAF Profile:
https://lsusports.net/sports/tf/roster/coach/vernon-norwood-2/
Olivia Borlée—Belgium 39 (1986) 2008 Olympic gold medalist—4×100/Anchor(Upgraded from silver); Bronze medalist
In the 4×100 at the 2007 World Championships;
Borlée and 2008 Olympic teammates Kim Gevaert, Elodie Ouedraogo, Hanna Marien were
moved up from 2nd place to 1st after a member of the “winning” Russian team was
retroactively disqualified for a doping violation. They received their gold medals 8 years after
the race before 40,000 partisan fans at the 2016 Van Damme Memorial meet in Brussels.
PBs:11.39 (2007), 22.98 (2006), 53.38 (2014);
Upgrade: http://tinyurl.com/BelgiumGold2008
Member of the world’s fastest running family that includes brothers Jonathan (44.43),
Kevin (44.56), and Dylan (45.57). All are coached by their father-Jacques.
Royal Family: http://spikes.iaaf.org/post/super-belgiums-borlee-brothers
Kara Patterson-Winger 39 (1986) 4-time U.S. Olympian-Javelin (1st round in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021);
Closed out her lengthy career in fine style in 2022:
Won her 9th U.S. title
Won her 1st global medal (silver) at the World Championships (on her final throw)
Won in Brussels and regained the American Record with her final throw of 223-5 (68.11)
Winner at the Diamond League final in Zurich
Became the first American woman to earn a #1 World-Ranking in the event by T&F News
9-time U.S. Champion (’08-’11,’14-’15, ’17-’18, ‘22); 8th at the 2015 World Championships, 5th in 2019…didn’t
make the final in 2017
2019 Pan-American Games Champion
All-American at Purdue: NCAA-2008(5th), 2009(2nd)
Married to discus thrower Russ Winger, who was one of her coaches!
Wiki Bio:
Olympic Dreams: www.denverpost.com/olympics/ci_28608727/wingers-throwing-dreams-together
Retirement:
https://www.tracksmith.com/journal/article/kara-winger-still-in-flight-mode
Videos
’22 WC:
Interview:
68.11:
DL Final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgFMbmMUF6c
Dave Moorcroft 72 (1953) Set a World Record of 13:00.41 for 5000-meters in Oslo in 1982;
Has donated the right shoe he wore that night to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA)
Other PBs: 3:33.79 (’82), 3:49.34 (’82); Former Chief Executive of British Athletics;
WR Video(Last 2-1/2 laps):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Moorcroft
https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/david-moorcroft-bislett-mowa
Deceased
Mae Faggs 66 (1933-Jan.27, 2000) 1952 Olympic gold medalist—4×100 (Bronze in 1956, 6th in the
100 in ’52); Former Tennessee State Tigerbelle.
Hall of Fame Bio (1976/Charter Member):
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Faggs
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77820
OG 4×100: https://www.olympedia.org/results/59185
Johnny Hayes 79 (1886-Aug.25, 1965) 1908 Olympic gold medalist—marathon
Wiki Bio:
A Look Back:
Photos: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2012/feb/29/olympics-2012-athletics
Floyd “Chunk” Simmons 84(1923-April 1, 2008) 2-time Olympic bronze medalist—Decathlon(1948,1952)
Competed collegiately for North Carolina—also played football for the Tar Heels
Became an actor and stuntman in Hollywood(became friends with Clint Eastwood), then became an artist and
photographer; Earned a Purple Heart in World War II.
Mother called him her “Little chunk of love”
Wiki Bio:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.obituaries/4FKYev4LYbU
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0799754/
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79043
Video Interview (2 hours/recorded in 2007):
