Sprinters training with distance runners a fine tradition
Pete Magill, noting the wonderful interview with W55 sprinter Sharon Warren at Carmel’s site, was impressed with Sharon’s willingness to train with distance great Marie-Louise Michelsohn. (See his blog post.) Pete recalls how his old USC sprint teammate James Sanford once tried running mile repeats with the Trojan distance crew. (He survived just one.) That gives me permission to recall my mile story. In the early 1970s, the Kansas sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers would challenge Kansas swimmers to a mile time trial at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence (site of the Kansas Relays). We would score it like a cross-country meet. On Oct. 1, 1973, I ran a 5:11 mile — behind a fish (5:02), high jumper Randy Johnson (5:03) and long jumper Danny Seay (5:09). Glad I kept my training diary. (Geeze, I weighed 144 pounds at 6-4.) Two years later, I ran a 4:56 mile indoors. No swimmers needed for pacing.
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