Those of us who ran track in the late 70s/early 80s worshipped these guys and I really enjoyed this short blog post comparing the three:
http://runnerstribe.com/blog/post/show/id/489-Ovett-Coe-and-Cram.-Whos-the-greatest-
Phil
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Thanks for sharing. I grew up in the UK during that era and was a huge fan 
Close to the same era…The XC coach at UT El Paso is Paul Ereng…Really nice unassuming guy.
Cram, commonwealth games 1986 800m:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cceACL2S0UA
Cram, Zurich 1985 v. Cruz:
http://www.youtube.com/...&feature=related
Ovett, 1500m European Champs 1977. The action starts at 3:05, great commentary from Ron Pickering ´And one man´s blazing speed has pulled this race asunder!!!´
Those of us who ran track in the late 70s/early 80s worshipped these guys and I really enjoyed this short blog post comparing the three:
http://runnerstribe.com/...m.-Whos-the-greatest-
Phil
That was the golden era. The battles between Coe, Ovett, Cram kept us motivated daily at track practice and I was not even a middle distance runner…was a sprinter back then, but these guys were gods.
I like this part of the blog post:
*Let’s be honest and begrudgingly concede that this particular question is essentially impossible to answer for the sheer weight of criteria it contains. Should we concentrate solely on personal bests and number of world records? How about racing temperament and championship results? What about the basic and pure talent for running *
**
And therein lies the problem. The nice thing is that this question will never be answered. What is cool is that these guys kept elevating each other’s results.
Perhaps on an equivalent note this generation of runners forgets the duels between Roger Bannister and Landy back in 1954.
Bannister is known to all of us because he was “first” to break the 4 min barrier, but Landy broke his record a few months later setting up the stage for 1 mile final at the Empire games in Vancouver in 1954 which some say was the single greatest race of all time…probably because it was run in the same year as when the guys had both elevated the game of middle distance running and gone under 4 minutes.
Here is a nice write up
http://www.runblogger.com/...ster-john-landy.html
The Perfect Mile: Roger Bannister, John Landy, and One of the Greatest Races of All Time
Image by I am I.A.M. via Flickr
The final of the one-mile race at the Empire Games in Vancouver, Canada on Aug. 7, 1954 might just be the greatest running race of all time. The race featured two of the titans of middle-distance running, Roger Bannister of England, and John Landy of Australia. Both of these men were world famous runners, both were at the peak of their respective careers, and both had, within the previous six months, broken the 4-minute mile time barrier that many at that time thought was impenetrable (they were the first two runners in history to do it). This latter fact is in part what made this race so compelling.
Without a doubt, Roger Bannister is best known for running the first sub 4-minute mile (he did so on May 6, 1954 in Oxford, England - see Runblogger’s post on Bannister’s sub 4-minute mile). Few people realize, however, that Bannister’s record stood for less than 2 months - it was broken (by over a full second) by John Landy in June of that same year. Some said Landy’s feat was all the the more impressive since he accomplished the time in a genuine race (in Finland) without the aid of dedicated pacers. Imagine, then, a situation where the two most famous runners of their day, and the first two men to run a sub 4-minute mile, were able to face each other down on the track. This is exactly what happened in August of that same year at the Empire Games in Vancouver.
One of my main reasons for writing this post is that on my run this afternoon, I finished listening to the audiobook version of “The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It” by Neal Bascomb. If you’re not familiar with “The Perfect Mile,” it recounts the story of Bannister, Landy, and American Wes Santee as they competed to become the first to break the 4-minute mile barrier. Naturally, I assumed that the “Perfect Mile” in the title referred to Bannister’s record breaking race - I was wrong. It turns out that the Empire Games race, now commonly referred to as “The Miracle Mile,” was far more compelling, and I literally got goosebumps as the reader recounted the details of the finish. I highly recommend this book, and the audiobook reader is phenomenal. I listened to a good chunk of the 14 hours of audio while running myself, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Now back to the race.
More than anything else, the one-mile final of the 1954 Empire Games was a race about strategy. Roger Bannister and John Landy were both fast, of that there is no doubt, but they both approached races with different styles. Landy was a front-runner - he blazed through the initial miles with the hope of blowing away his opponents before they knew what hit them. Bannister, on the other hand, was a kicker. He preferred to hold tight to the leader, and then blast past them in the final leg with his deadly-fast kick. Both men knew their opponent’s style, and Neal Bascomb does a great job in “The Perfect Mile” describing the agonizing days leading up to the race as the two runner’s tried to figure out the appropriate strategy to use to beat their opponent. The race itself lived up to the hype (and then some), and both men decided to stick to their favored strategy and hope for the best. So who won??? I’m not going to tell you here in this post for fear of spoiling the climatic race for anyone planning to read “The Perfect Mile.” Sorry!
However, if you just can’t wait, I’ve made use of the miracle of modern technology known as YouTube to provide video footage of the race in its entirety. For your viewing pleasure, here is the race that has come to be known as “The Miracle Mile:”
If you have any picks for the greatest race of all, leave a comment. I hope to do additional posts like this in the future and I’m always looking for new material!
Great stuff!
I will troll some of Eamonn Coghlan’s indoor races to see what I can dig up…perhaps one of his Wanamaker Mile victories?
Or perhaps you like steeplechasers: Henry Marsh v. Boguslaw Maminski in West Berlin in 1983?
And just to make this sound like a letrun.com post: JimRyunJimRyunJimRyunJimRyun!
Coughlin was amazing in the day and even as a 40 year old (broke 4 min at 40?). I remember watching the Milrose games on that tight track at Madison Square gardens. I think they had live coverage on ABC or NBC. Good times!
epic. thanks for the link.
My quads are still hurting from the Coe workouts our college track coach made us do after he spent some time with Coe and his dad in the summer of '78. A Brit teammate shared with us that Ovett was the working man’s favorite and Coe was the professional’s favorite. We just wanted half of their speed for our races. Doug
Coughlan showing Steve Scott (in his Sub 4 singlet) what is up indoors for a then-world record of 3:49.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGXGTfGB_wc
I just loved watching them run. I always was more of a Coe fan. I couldn’t tell you why. It really was a wonderful era for track and field. Perhaps the last time it felt like the best were considered major stars and celebrities. Thanks for sharing.
I think your 2 line post captures the feelings of a generation of runners. They made you want to race. x2 on Coe, and I don’t know why either.
Not really an overlap, but Brendan Foster deserves a mention too!
I was a Coe guy also, and I’m not sure why. Coe always seemed more highbrow whereas Ovett seemed more blue collar. It could be that Coe got way more press, because he gave interviews and set more records, at least early on. Ovett wasn’t known for being real freindly with the press to say the least.
Have to put my vote in for Ovett here. At the time here in the UK the class divide was still really evident and it was very much a case I felt of Blue vs White collar worker attitudes. Where I lived in a North West idustrial town I didn’t know anyone who was a Coe fan, we all supported Ovett, if only we had the choice these days, truly a golden era, thanks for the post.
Never seen so many white guys in an 800 final in my life. Just saying
I think I would have been a Ovett fan, but I grew up in the US and we didn’t hear much about Ovett. All of a sudden this guy named Coe was breaking WRs and sometimes another Brit would take one back. But you just didn’t read much about Ovett.
A legendary photo of Coe which may capture the spirit of the era better than words: http://fotoreporter.no/element.php?id=4
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This guy used to run 1500m for the UK - used to be awesome when he managed to hang on to the pack…
