Exclusive flashback: Bill Cosby in masters relay at Penn 1985

Through the magic of video sharing, we can now see Bill Cosby running at the 1985 Penn Relays (not 1988 as labeled) in a race staged for his sitcom. (Click here for the video.) It’s a two-team race in which Cosby (as Dr. Heathcliff “Combustible” Huxtable) runs the anchor leg of a 4×4. I timed his leg in 57 seconds — part of the fantasy fiction of “The Cosby Show.” We chatted about this episode a month ago. Bill — then an M45 comedian — is surprised to see a woman passing him before the finish, and it turns out to be a 1984 Olympian. Enjoy this 14-minute clip, which was shortened to leave out a few family storylines.

According to these episode notes, the part of Sanford B. “Tailwind” Turner is played by Josh Culbreath, 1956 Olympic bronze medalist in the 400-meter hurdles. (At the 1956 Olympic Trials in Los Angeles, Josh took third behind Glenn Davis in the first sub-50 intermediate hurdle race in history. The more celebrated milestone from that meet was Charlie Dumas and the first 7-foot high jump.)

During the mid-1950s, Josh won that event three times at the Penn Relays. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Education from Temple University — the same Philly school that Cosby attended on a track scholarship in the early 1950s.

This episode originally aired May 8, 1986, during Season 2 under the title “Off to the Races,” and was the second to incorporate masters track into the a storyline. The first aired during Season 1 on February 28, 1985.

Called “Back to the Track, Jack,” it was summarized thusly:

Cliff’s college track coach contacts him and asks to run in a charity event between Hillman and its rival, Norton College. Heathcliff “Combustible Huxtable” trains, but soon learns that he is not the runner he was all those years ago. Stars Al Freeman Jr. as Coach Ernie Scott, 1956 Olympic medalist Joshua Culbreath as Col. Sanford B. “Tailwind” Turner, Dhamiri Abayomi as Himself.

In a cameo of the Penn Relays show, Bill Cosby’s real wife, Camille Cosby, is seen sitting with TV wife Phylicia Rashād in the stands laughing at Bill’s quarter-mile antics. The Penn announcer also mentions (1968 Olympian) Larry James as being on the team Cosby is racing.