Rob De Castella, the first World Marathon Champion: 14 fun facts about Deek !

Rob De Castella was a particular favorite of mine. In the summer of 1984, my training partners, Tim & Dan Gruber, and I met Rob De Castella as he prepared for the Los Angeles Olympic Marathon. Rob was not only gracious but patient with me, and I recall a workout where Rob ran 8 x 400m in 61-62 with a 40-second 200m float in between with Tim Gruber. I ran 8 times a 400 in 71-72 with 45 second 200m float with Dick Telford, who at 46 had run a 2:26 marathon. Our visit with Rob changed Tim and my approach to training, using the complex training method (20-22 on Sunday, hill repeats on Tuesdays, 18 miles on Wednesdays, 8x400m on Thursdays, and races every two-3 weeks). We ran PBs in everything.

Rob De Castella is one of the great ones. He also lead by example and I wanted to write about he and Steve Jones today, on a NYC Marathon weekend to give younger readers a sense of history of our sport. I hope you enjoy it.

14 fun facts about Rob De Castella, 1983 World Champion at the marathon, 1986 Boston Marathon winner 

1. As. Junior Rob’s team had scored a perfect score of 15 in the Australian championships. The next year, Rob and a teammate decided to see if they could get a score under fifteen points. Rob put his mate on his shoulders and cross the finish line. They were DQed, and Rob’s coach, Pat Clohessy, was not amused. 
2. Rob finished tenth in the 1980 Olympic marathon in Moscow in 2:14.31, 8th in Fukuoka in 2:10.44
3. Rob won the Fukuoka Marathon in 1981, breaking the world record of fellow Australian Derek Clayton, in 2:08.18. . Rob did not get complete credit for it, as Alberto Salazar had run a faster time (2:08.13) , except the course had been mismeasured, and Salazar had run 148 meters shorter than the distance.
4. In 1982, Rob De Castella won the Commonwealth Games marathon in Australia, having been over 90 seconds behind the leader. The last 5k made brilliant sports TV as DeCastella battled Juma Ikaanga, his competition,  to take the gold, winning by 80 meters, to the delight of Australians (and the entire city of Brisbane).
5. In a made-for-TV marathon, Rob De Castella defeated Alberto Salazar, then undefeated and at the line, held off Carlos Lopes at the Rotterdam marathon in April 1983.

6. Later that year, Rob De Castella won the World Championships in Helsinki, becoming the first gold medalist at a WC marathon. 
7. In 1984,…