Hurdling toward a 1980 Olympic goal
By GREG HANBERG
For the Emerald
Henry Marsh is ready and
eager
Life has been somewhat of a
roller-coaster for this country's
number one ranked (1978)
steeplechaser ever since he ran
a personal best of 8 21 6 for the
3,000 meter race in an interna
tional meet in Stockholm in
1977
Since then, his track career
has fluctuated between flashes
of brilliance and periods of
frustration His latest battle with
mononucleosis has temporarily
slowed down his training
schedule, but he should be
more than ready to go by this
upcoming summer, which of
course happens to be an Olym
pic year And he's ready to
recapture some of his early
1979 form, which proved to be
most successful
Currently, the 25-year old
Marsh is a second-year law
student at Oregon in addition to
training at Athletics West, the
Eugene-based track and field
Club under the instruction of
Harry Johnson, the club s
administrative adviser
Marsh held the American
record at the time of his Stock
holm race as his racing future
appeared ready to blossom
But Marsh hasn't bettered
that time since, due in part to a
knee injury which sidelined him
for three months in 1978 (the
same year in which he got mar
ried) and his current bout with
mono as he was finally regain
ing top form this year
I'm not really happy with the
way Ive come along Marsh
admits I ve been pretty frus
trated since running a PR
(personal record) in 1977 I got
off to a slow start in '78 and l
thought this past year would be
my best until I got sick I just
don t think I ve progressed as
well as I could have "
Marsh attended Brigham
Young University where he was
first introduced to the steeple
chase running 9 25 in his first
year After a year of running with
BYU. Marsh took a two-year
leave of absence to Brazil, a
mission he performed for BYU
and the Mormon Church There,
Steeplechase nit.
MarsVsonlyba‘S’‘He„ry
a medal
Marsh seldom trained and came
back to the United States 20
pounds overweight But it
wasn't much longer after that he
was soon back to normal weight
through training back at BYU
Marsh knocked off over a
ten my mark I set in 1977 by
now," he continues. "Especially
this year, but that s what my
sickness did to me. I should
break my record this upcoming
year, but you never know in
athletics ”
Photo by Jo« Yogerst
Life for Henry Marsh is anything but easy The Olympic hopeful in
the steeplechase is currently juggling law school at the University, a
family and an intensive training routine aimed at winning Marsh a
medal in the 1980 Olympics
minute from his freshman time
and had ran 8 23 and been
named an Ali-Amertcan twice in
cross country by the time he left
the university After establishing
the American record in Stock
holm (which has been bettered
by only Doug Brown. 8:19 3, a
teammate of Marsh s at Athle
tics West) that same year. Marsh
has had a tough time breaking
that mark But he seems to be
on the verge of that now, and
establishing a personal (and
perhaps American) record
seems inevitable at this stage
The steeplechase seems to
be adept at my style of running,"
says Marsh "I may not have as
much foot speed as 5 000-meter
runners, but I run much better
with barriers It’s my kind of
race
"I thought I would have bea
Marsh had a good summer up
until the time he got sick in
Canada He ran 8 23 in Stock
holm, then finished first in both
the Sparticade (8:28) in Moscow
and the Pan-Am Games (8 43 in
humid weather) in Puerto Rico
before finishing fourth in the
World Cup (8 30) in Montreal,
not realizing he had mono
before the race until he got
home.
“The frustrating thing about
this was I was gearing all of my
training towards the World
Cup." says Marsh Everything
was perfect this year until the
mono I was happy with my
summer, though, and getting
sick shouldn't offset my train
ing I should be back in full
shape by January ”
As it stands right now. Marsh
is not a favorite to win a medal at
the 80 Olympics, although his
times were ranked fourth best
on the world list before he got
sick, whereas now he is ranked
around tenth Henry Rono, the
Washington State runner and
current world record holder in
the steeplechase, is considered
the early favorite for Olympic
gold Poland s Bronislaw Malin
owski, the 1976 silver medalist,
also in prime contention, along
with a number of East Germans
who could play key roles in the
steeplechase finals at Moscow
next summer And there's also
the concern of qualifying for the
American team, despite being
ranked number one in the
country
"I’m not a shoo-in to make the
(Olympic) team," explains
Marsh “In athletics, the differ
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ence of a couple of seconds
could mean the whole world
There's just not that much mar
gin of difference You can’t be
complacent.”
But if the breaks have their
way of evening themselves out,
then 1980 could be a banner
year for Marsh
”1 was really happy with the
way Henry was coming along
this year,” says Johnson. “He
has enormously untapped po
tential I know it, he knows it and
by looking at him in training it's
obvious "
And, quite understandably.
Marsh looks ahead to 1980 and
what may lie ahead
“I still like my chances of at
least making the team,” says
Marsh “As far as a training
schedule goes, I don’t really set
goals or times I should meet I
just try to do the best I can and
the times will take care of them
selves I'm just trying to get
ahead I have a hungry atti
tude ”