1964 Jack 15 Mile. #1 is Buddy Edelen, who set the world record in the marathon the previous year (and won this in 85 minutes). #2 is Ron Daws, who went to the 1968 Olympics in the marathon. Cotton socks. No stopwatches, much less GPS units. No hydration packs or gels. Mostly canvas shoes.
2013 Oakdale Duathlon, men's start. It wasn't even sunny, but they wore sunglasses. Tech shirts and neoprene, though no proof of aid in performance (just fashion). Separate starts for men and women. A couple of $10000 bikes.
I see no improvement, only loss, over 50 years.
7 comments:
I agree. And I don't even have to look that far. Part of me wants to separate myself from all this because of what you posted - and related issues.
The Jack 15 is a South Dakota race.
http://jackandviv.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/an-oral-history-of-the-jackrabbit-15-road-race/
I see the similarities
groups competing... tying to get the best out of their bodies on the given day.
Sure looks sunny in your photo of the Oakdale Duathlon to me! And don't you have a GPS watch yourself?
Fashions change; I suspect Edelen and Daws would be wearing technical fabrics too were they competing today.
I'm not going to bother trying to justify the $10K bikes, though ...
Didn't you say the second pic is a duathlon? Doesn't that explain why they have on bike/tri shorts and glasses?
I for one always wear glasses when I ride because otherwise my eyes get all dried out. I learned this because early on there was an overcast day and I didn't and I paid for it for days (dry-eyes).
Yeah, I knew the Jack was in SD, but I didn't think anyone else would know.
I was at the Duathlon. It had a different vibe; there were a couple of professionals, but it didn't have the camaraderie nor the competitiveness of older races.
I am 56. I ran the second and third Twin Cities marathons. Seems to me that the choices at the aid stations were water or ERG. Puzzles me these days, when I get empty GU wrappers stuck on my shoes in the early miles of races...
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