RUNNING WITH NATURAL POT
In the ’70s and ’80s, when I was addicted to marathons, my two heroes were Bill Rogers and Frank Shorter. I met both a few times after races and found them very different. Frank was almost impossible to chat with while Bill was friendly, light-hearted, and outgoing. Frank will always be remembered because he was the only American to win an Olympic Marathon. But, in many ways, Bill was the best marathoner of the time.
In 1975 he entered the Boston Marathon as a virtual unknown who certainly did not look like a winner. His hand-lettered t-shirt said BOSTON GBTC, his shoes were given to him by Olympian Steve Prefontaine, his headband was given to him by famed runner Tom Fleming to keep his long hair out of his eyes and he wore white gardening gloves. Not a look of a serious runner. In spite of all this and stopping twice to drink water and once to tie his shoes, he won in 2:09:55, the fastest time by an American to date. He then went on to win Boston and New York four times each. He still holds American records in 15K, 20K, 25K, 30K, and one hour. Track and Field News ranked him number one in the world in 75, 77, and 79.
But it wasn’t all clear sailing. When Bill graduated from Wesleyan University in 1970, his life took a downward turn. He quit running and started smoking and going to bars. He had a low-paying job at a hospital that sometimes involved transporting bodies to the morgue. He hated this part of the job and was fired. Then his bike and motorcycle were stolen, and he found himself broken and directionless. Two friends and national runners, Jeff Gallaway and Amby Burfoot, inspired him to start running and racing again. Then it was off to the races and setting records.
In 2013 he wrote the book, Marathon Man: My 26.2-Mile Journey From Unknown Grad Student To The Top Of The Running World
He attributes his racing success to what he calls “running within yourself,” a form of mental and physical awareness. There are a number of quotations attributed to Bill. “The marathon can humble you.” “You have to be very bold. You sometimes have to be aggressive and gamble.” “If you want to win a race you have to go a little berserk.” And finally, “To be a constant winner means preparing not just one day, one month or even one year, but for a lifetime.”