Olympic
Trials
Marathon Course
May 22. 1976 Eugene, Oregon
Note Course begins with 2 laps plus
110 yds around Stevenson Track at
start and 400 yds on track at finish
Q Refreshment (§} Sponge
Station " Station
4I First Lap
*1 Course
10
18th £
Shorter strongest of strong field
By JOHN HENDERSON
Of the Emerald
Olympic gold medahst Frank Shorter sat
in the unsheltered bleachers at Hayward
Field, staring up at the gray, threatening
clouds above him.
"I’m hoping Saturday for sunny and warm
weather," said Shorter. “On the right day,
you can go as fast here as anywhere else in
the world.”
Shorter should know. He tied with Kenny
Moore for first place in the 1972 Olympic
Marathon trials in Eugene, and is expected
to win again in the trials which begin here
Saturday at 4:30.
The top three finishers qualify for the
1976 Olympic team but Shorter isn't about
to buy any Montreal sight-seeing maps yet.
The wiry, tanned Yale graduate who prac
tices law when he's not running, is a veteran
of tho grueling 26-mile 385-yard race. He’s
run it enough times to know predictions are
hard to make.
"It’s hard to get optimistic about a
marathon because it's so long," said Shor
ter, who runs for the Florida Track Club. "I
usually get optimistic about two miles from
the end. It’s too long of a grind to get any
pre-conceived notions. I’m just going to run
as hard as I can and if nothing goes wrong, I
should make the team."
Oregon and the Oregon Track Club will
conduct a special invitational meet in con
junction with the marathon, featuring a
women’s 10,000 meter race.
Saturday’s marathon may not be the rout
that it was in '72 when Shorter won in
2:15.58. With the marathon growing in
popularity every year, there will be a
number of runners among the 71 entries
who may challenge Shorter.
Among them are Edward Mendoza
(2:14.13) of Arizona, Russ Pate (2:15.22) of
the Columbia Track Club and American re
cord holder William Rodgers (2:09.55) of
the Greater Boston Track Club. Rodgers
and 1975 AAU champion Gary Tuttle
(2:17.26), of the Beverly Hills Striders are
expected to be Shorter’s biggest challen
gers.
“The field is much better this year,” said
Shorter who has run 2:10:30 and hold four
of the top 10 times for Americans. “Four
years ago. 2:20 would be the third place
time. Now there are 30 to 40 with better than
that. Rodgers ran a real strong Boston
Marathon and Tuttle is a real strong dis
tance runner. There’s just a question of
whether he can do it in the marathon.'
Another runner who could’ve challenged
Shorter was Kenny Moore of the Oregon
Track Club. Misfortune struck the former
Oregon great as he came down with a
104-degree temperature this week, and
was forced to scratch.
"I think that's really too bad,’’ said Shor
ter. “Ken could’ve made the team by the
way he was telling me about his training.
But part of getting ready for these things is
preparing yourself in case things do not go
right.”
With Moore out and a gold medal already
to his credit, Shorter is considered the favo
rite, a position he's very familiar with.
"I’ve been the favorite for a long time," he
said. “I've gotten used to it, but I can't worry
about losing. Once you start worrying about
losing, it's time to get out. I can only try as
hard as I can.
"It is flattering to consider yourself the
person they’re gunning for. But if all the
guys are looking out for me, it should be an
advantage. If they’re worrying about me, it
can only help me. ’
Another thing that should help Shorter is
Eugene's marathon course. The run con
sists of two laps around a flat layout, stretch
ing from Hayward Field to Belt Line Rd. and
from Autzen Stadium to Springfield.
“It’s as fast as any course I’ve run on,”
said Shorter. "Two loops are faster than
going out and back. And international rules
have stated that maximum level difference
can be only 50 meters. By that, Boston
doesn’t qualify. The main purpose is to run
26 miles as fast as you can on roads. If
you're going to run over hills you might as
well run on a cross-country course.
“I like this course. I'm a form runner, not a
strength runner.’’
Shorter has only run one marathon in the
last two years, but doesn't think that will hurt
him.
“The marathon isn't the kind of race you
train for by running it.” he said. “The 10,000
meters isn't the kind of race either. You can
train for it by running the 1500. Now that I
think it over, I just needed two hard efforts
within two months. I thought it would be
better if I stayed away for a while. I didn't
have to prove to myself I could am it be
cause I knew I could."
After this year, the 28-year-old Shorter
will be looking forward to more relaxation
and less running. Leisure time is rare in a
life full of law books and stopwatches.
“I'm going to start concentrating more on
law and less on running,” he said. “I’ll still
run at the competitive level, but if I want to
go skiing, I'll go skiing. If I want to go fishing,
I'll go fishing. I want a situation where I can
do what I want to do and not worry about
running my 20 miles every day."
Those 26 miles around Eugene, how
ever, will be the only thing on Shorter's mind
Saturday.
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