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V 2 N. 17 Pat Clohessy R.I.P.

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 In the early 1960's, long before the Kenyans started appearing in droves on American University doorsteps,  Coach Johnny Morris at the University of Houston developed a pipeline of great Australian distance runners to lead an "Aussie Invasion" into south Texas.  Al Lawrence was the top figure in that group, already an Olympic medalist in the 10,000 meters at the Melbourne Games.  But others also came along and made Houston a dominant university in the distance events.  Among them was Barrie Almond, Pat Clohessy, and Laurie Elliott, Herb's little brother.  Over at Abiliene Christian College another 'roo' landed, one John Lawlor who had hidden writing talents to describe that sudden plunge from the beer swilling outback to the more 'refined' life at a Christian college campus.   We used to think that these Down Under lads had a leg up on us being about three or four years older when they started university.  But we also came to realize that yo...
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V 2 N. 16 A Blast from the Past about Old Cinder Tracks

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 Once we put something onto a blog, we never know what to expect in comments, reactions, and delay time.   The following letter came today from Robert Swisher who attended Southwest High School in Kansas City, MO in the 1970's.   He was referred to an old post we had in 2022 about cinder tracks that still exist.  His old track at Southwest HS is still there.  I'll let Robert tell you about that track. Also here is the link to the piece we published a few years back.    Cinder Tracks That Are Still Around George Brose Here is Robert Swisher's letter. Good morning, A friend sent me the link to your June 2022 article about cinder tracks. I graduated from Southwest High School in Kansas City, MO in 1975.  The school was opened in the fall of 1925, and a cinder track was installed sometime around 1927 as far as we know.  The Kansas City School District faced severe financial and enrollment issues during the mid 1970s that continued well ...
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V 2 N. 15 Ernie Cunliffe R.I.P.

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   Ernie Cunliffe,  Stanford USA 800 Meters, Rome 1960 World Record 1000 Yards Yesterday, Saturday June 6, 2026, my friend Ernie Cunliffe passed away.  He died peacefully after a long race with cancer.  He was a middle distance runner by trade, but he proved his ability to go long distance as well.   I'd been communicating with Ernie by phone for the past few months knowing that this last race he was in would soon have an ending, but he kept kicking the finish line out a bit further each day.  He knew he was in his last race, but a lifetime of competitiveness kept a spark of intensity ignited right down to the last steps.   If you got to know Ernie, you would find out that running was not his only passion.  He spent a lot of time in the mountains of Colorado on multiple expeditions, and I believe he summited all of the 14,000 foot peaks in that state.  I got to know Ernie by passing on my knowledge of going up Mt. Kilimanjaro, ...
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V 2 N. 14 The Much Awaited Boston Pic's from Ned Price

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 A little late getting these up this year.  I was in a meeting this morning.  But Ned came through for us. Taken at the 7.8 mile mark. Brief results, you can get details elsewhere. Women:   1. Sharon Lokedi Kenya   2hr 18 min 51 sec Best US   5. Jess McClain  2hr 20min 49sec                      Jess beat Shalane Flanagan's US all time best of 2hr 22min 2sec set in 2022 Men:           1. John Korir  new course record   2hr 1min 52sec Best US     5. Zouhair Talbi Mor/USA    2hr 3min 45sec In photos Korir does not appear but Shaon does appear.                                Jim Brown and Ned Price back in the 1960's.  Not the Jim Brown of                              ...
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V 2 N. 13 Bob Hall R.I.P.

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                                                  Bob Hall at the Legendary Falmouth Race I just noticed in the New York Times today that Bob Hall has died on April 12, 2026 age 74.  What an incredible individual!   He knew of all the boundaries to participating in his sport, and he accepted none of them.  In the early 1970's there were very few disabled athletes going head to head or even in a category of  their own.  Bob just got on the road and raced whomever showed up, and he beat most of them.  Sort of like the old race car term  "run what ya brung".  Initially his wheelchairs had very little modification on them.  Wheelchair engineering mechanics weren't into that kind of development in those days, at least not for sports competition.  Yet he could go like hell.  There were none of those lowriders,...
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V 2 N. 12 Comparing a Space Performance and Track and Field Performances

  On April 15, 1970, fifty-six years ago, the record for distance travelled from earth by humans to outer space was set by the Apollo 13 mission. That distance was 248, 655 miles.   Yesterday that record was beaten by Artemis II with a 4,105 mile improvement to 252,760 miles.   That is a 1.65% improvement over the old record.   This 1.65% gain is getting incredible publicity at the moment. Since this is a track and field blog, I thought I would look at and compare   some track and field record improvements over the same time period.  On those same dates   the records for several track and field events and their improvements are seen below.   Interestingly women’s performance increases have exceeded men’s in all events.     Hardly any women were pole vaulting in 1970, so that makes that improvement somewhat less significant, but in all else, I think women have beaten men in increased performance. A more extensive enquiry would also ne...
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V 2 N. 11 A Remarkable Family

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                                                                        Copy article link This Easter morning in beautiful British Columbia I decided to open my hometown newspaper. The Dayton Daily News and see what was happening.  I don't have a subscription to the paper, and normally the stories don't open completely for me to read.  But today for some unexplained reason they opened (divine intervention?), and I was treated to this incredible story of resilience in a family of not so ordinary people.   The Kash family of Oakwood, Ohio, which touches the south boundary of Dayton have had an incredible journey in the world of track and field, music, and medical challenges.  While none have made a big name in the track world that you will recognize, there is still optimism that it may s...
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