Running News Daily

Remembering the USA Olympic Trials 10000m 50 years back

50 YEARS AGO the temps hovered near 95 degrees at the start of the 1972 Olympic Trials 10,000 meters.

That's pretty dang hot for a twenty-five lap race...but nowhere near as toasty as the pace that Frank set. His scintillating 4:25.4 first mile was nearly world record pace.

One by one, those that had tried to hang with Shorter got dropped like a bad habit beginning about 2 miles (reached in 8:58.5 by the former Yalie).

Meanwhile Florida Track Club teammates Jeff Galloway and Jack Bacheler, running their own steady-eddy tempo in arrears, began gobbling up the roadkill.

The last to fall off was homeboy Jon Anderson wearing the signature yellow and green striped Oregon TC kit (he had graduated from Eugene's Sheldon High School and at the time of these Trials, his Pop was the Mayor of TrackTown). 

Anderson fell back as far as 6th place, some 60 yards out of third,  while grabbing his sides as though he was battling a side stitch.

Then all of a sudden with a couple of laps to go, and much to the delight of the partisan crowd, Jon channeled his inner Lazarus, showing new signs of life.

While Frank and Jeff were just too far ahead to be 'catchable', Anderson's late charge reeled in Jack. The pair of lanky distance runners bumped shoulders coming out of the final turn. It was a collision caused by fatigue, not aggression, and drew Bacheler a disapointing DQ, while Jon sped across the finish line, up by 6/10 of a tick.

1 Frank Shorter 28.35.6 

2 Jeff Galloway 28.48.8  

3 Jon Anderson 29.08.2  

4 Tom Laris       29.43.0  

5 Bill Clark         29.57.0  

6 Don Kardong 30.21.2  

7 Gregory Fredericks 30.37.6  

8 Dave Antognoli 30.39.6  

DQ Jack Bacheler 29:08.9

SIDEBAR: Seven days later in the marathon race, Shorter and Kenny Moore would tie for first while Bacheler, chaperoned by teammate and now 10,000 meter Olympian Gentleman Jeff Galloway, would cruise home in third spot to make his second Olympic Team (Jack was also on the 1968 team at 5,000 meters). Frank finished fifth in the 10,000 meters in Munich clocking 27:51:32 an American record but not good enough for a medal.  Frank a few days later won the Olympic Marathon.  A feat that helped escalate the running boom in America.  

Four years later Frank added a silver medal to that gold when he finished second in the marathon at the games in Montreal.

Postscript from Pete Stein:

Tom Laris made the Olympic team in 1964, competing in the 10,000 … He missed making the team in 1969 … And was one of the favorites, along with Frank Shorter, to make the team in 1972 … For a good portion of the race, he was running with Frank Shorter, well ahead of the other competitors in the race … And then, affected by the heat, ultimately, fading back … Ultimately, he finished fourth, serving as an alternate to the team … and not running in the Olympics

I felt very bad for Tom, because I knew how hard he worked to make the team … and how bad that he wanted to make the team as he knew that it would be his last opportunity

Months later, we crossed paths and I expressed my feelings for him … And he shared some thoughts that I have never forgotten … and which have served me well.

He said, “I believe that everything happens for a reason … And that sometimes things don’t work out the way that I would liked … And at the time, I would be greatly disappointed … but I learned to look for the reason that this happened as I moved on in my life … And ultimately, I would find the reason … And realize that ‘my disappointment at that time’ was a good step in the right direction that led to better things in my life.”

As I said, I never forgot what he said to me … And it served me well in my life.

(07/06/2022) Views: 1,818 ⚡AMP
by Mike Fanelli