A Legendary Run

I'm currently reading The Perfect Distance by Pat Butcher which chronicles the history and rivalry between Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. As Butcher covered Coe's world record mile run, I had flashbacks to when I first heard about the race. For the most part, before the wealth of shared videos on sites like YouTube , the history of running legends (triumph and heartbreak) were typically passed on by track elders in stories and, ever so often, backed up with grainy VHS tapes to the next generation ... somewhat like a storyteller in some African cultures passing on their history. I remember feverishly trying to locate all articles, videos, and pictures after first hearing about Sebastian Coe. Now, amazingly enough, it takes a 2-second google search to find a wealth of information or an actual race! Now track legends can be shared visually as well as orally, which is a good thing when it comes to Coe because words can hardly describe the effortless simplicity of his form ....so natural, a being who was truly born to run fast.

What makes this run more fascinating is that he hadn't raced the distance in 2 years and ran a limited number of times before then. He had a personal best of 3:57.6, though fast, was over 3 seconds slower than most of the main competitors, including the world record holder John Walker who boasted a time of 3:49.4. At the time, the Dubai Golden Mile in Oslo, Norway, was the best mile field ever assembled (though, to be fair, Ovett had not entered). Coe had broken the 800 meter world record twelve days earlier and 19 days after this race he would break the 1500 meter world record - three world records in 41 days.

I especially like how the announcer compares Coe's effort to the rest of the field as he heads to the finish. Watch and enjoy.