Historical Mojo?

Frank Shorter, 1972

Can mojo be passed on in a historical context? There are a few of us here in Gainesville that are hoping so. Previous members of the Florida Track Club have included some pretty talented runners, and some of us want in on that action. Maybe it's in the water.

Bear with me, this is a bit convoluted. I was having a conversation last Saturday with OB, a fellow Florida Track Club member, after the 5K the Club held as part of the Five Points of Life Marathon and Half-marathon race weekend. We had been talking about the recent speakers at the monthly FTC meetings AND we were talking about the Gate River Run 15K race coming up in Jacksonville - the FTC has had a sizable contingent travel to this race in previous years, and OB and I are both going. The last two speakers at our meetings were early members of the FTC. Coach Roy Benson was our last speaker. Naturally, Frank Shorter's name came up.

From 1969-1979, Roy Benson was first the Cross Country and then the Track Coach at UF, and served as President of the newly formed Florida Track Club. At this point in running history, local running clubs served as training grounds for post-collegiate amateur runners. Coach Benson was running the FTC when Frank Shorter, Jack Bachelor, Jeff Galloway, and Ron Jourdan were training with the club and qualified for the 1972 USA Olympic Team. I'm hoping many of you know Frank, but I'd only be willing to bet money that one of my regular readers recognizes Frank's name. He is the winner of the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal in marathon and the 1976 Silver Medal. He is the last American man to win Gold in the marathon. He is also the last person to see Steve Prefontaine before he died - not a fact Frank likes to remember. Anyway, OB mentioned that he wanted to get a FTC singlet to wear for the 15K. The movie "Without Limits" which was about Pre, had been on TV and OB had noticed that in one of the scenes, Frank was racing in his FTC singlet. OB thought it would be cool to represent the Club like Frank did, and maybe get a little of Frank's mojo. Now OB is pretty fast and regularly places in the top three in his age group; he has the potential to do really well at the 15K so if dressing like Frank helps him feel faster, I say go for it. Plus it's always nice to represent - especially at an out-of-town race.

Steve Prefontaine leads his friend Frank Shorter.
It was Pre's final race, on May 19, 1975, at Hayward Field.

No, I won't be wearing a FTC singlet. There are some sizing issues with the ladies' singlets. I really just need to have Running Banana make me one.

Incidentally, my Saturday long runs almost always include a stretch of road that was one of Frank's favorite training routes. I didn't know that when I started running it - it just happens to be one of the hilliest sections in town.

Some quotes from Frank Shorter that I like:

• Because running fast is more fun than running slow.

• Hills are speedwork in disguise.

• You don't run 26 miles at five minutes a mile on good looks and a secret recipe.