This Day in Track & Field, October 24, Chris Papanicolaou is first man over 18 feet in PV (1970), Bill Rodgers wins first Race through 5 Boroughs (1976), by Walt Murphy News & Results Services

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by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission

This Day in Track & Field–October 24 

1970—While the rest of the world saw it as “just” another World Record, U.S. fans (and others who hadn’t yet joined the metric family) viewed it as a barrier-breaker when Greece’s Chris Papanicolaou became the first man to clear 18-feet (5.49m) in the Pole Vault in Athens.

WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christos_Papanikolaou

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_New_York_City_Marathon

1976 –It was on this day in the Bicentennial year that the NY City Marathon moved from its humble beginnings in Central Park to embrace all five boroughs of the Big Apple. The first six editions of the race were held within the confines of Central Park.

Frank Shorter, who won a silver medal at the Montreal Olympics 3 months earlier to go with the gold he won in 1972, and Bill Rodgers, who had broken Shorter’s American Record the year before, were persuaded to compete, giving the race instant credibility, and they were joined by 2,000 additional runners at the starting line on the Staten Island side of the Verrazzano Bridge.

Rodgers, who  was looking for redemption after finishing a disappointing 40^th in Montreal, went on to capture the first of his four consecutive titles in New York in 2:10:10, while Shorter, who entered more out of curiosity than a desire to run well, finished a respectable 2nd in 2:13:12. (It was later learned that Shorter ran the race with a fractured bone in his ankle!). Tom Fleming, the winner in Central Park in 1973 and 1975, was 6th in 2:16:52, and 21^st was Gary Muhrcke (2:25:26), the winner of the first NYC Marathon in 1970. 41-year old Miki Gorman won the women’s race in 2:39:11, with Doris Brown (Heritage) finishing 2nd in 2:53:20.

Short on cash, Shorter and George Hirsch, one of the founders of…