This Day in Track & Field, X-Country, December 3, Derek Clayton sets Marathon WR (1967), Brad Schlapak wins US XC (1995)), by Walt Murphy

This Day in Track & Field/X-Country-December 3   

1950-Brazil’s Adhemar da Silva set the first of his 5 World Records in the Triple Jump, reaching out to 52-6 (16.00) in São Paulo. He would win the gold medal at the 1952 Olympics.

WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_jump_world_record_progression

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

1964-Australia’s Ron Clarke set a World Record of 13:07.6 for 3-miles in Melbourne. A distant 2^nd in 13:31.0 was New Zealand’s Murray Halberg, who set the previous WR of 13:10.0 in 1961.

WR Progression: https://www.arrs.run/RecProg/RP_wwT.htm

1967-Australia’s Derek Clayton set a “World Record” of 2:09:36.4 to win the 21st Fukuoka Marathon in Japan.

Clayton, whose personal best before the race was only 2:18:28, and New Zealand’s Mike Ryan set a fast early pace which separated them from the rest of the field.

Ryan started to lose contact between 15k-20k, while Japan’s Sei-ichiro Sasaki was maintaining a decent pace in 3^rd place. Clayton passed the half-marathon mark in a quick 1:03:22, still far ahead of Ryan (1:03:51) and Sasaki (1:03:56).

It looked like Mutt and Jeff when the 5’-4  ½” (1.64) Sasaki drew even with the 6’-2” (1.88) Clayton before the 30k mark. The two ran side-by-side for the next 5k before a side-stitch forced Sasaki to back off. Clayton went on to complete his record run, while Sasaki finished 2^nd in 2:11:17, which was also under the previous record of 2:12:00 that was set by Japan’s Morio Shigematsu in 1965.

Said Clayton about the race: “The Fukuoka International marathon on December 3, 1967 was the most memorable event of my life. This fact most probably will remain true for the rest of my life. It was a very special day for me, and the emotional high I experienced on the day cannot be described in words.”  (From Ken Nakamura’s detailed report on the race—see WA link).

(The IAAF/World Athletics didn’t recognize road performances as official World Records until 2004)

WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression

https://worldathletics.org/news/news/marathon-part-2-1967

Video: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/140326/

1978-Japan’s own Toshihiko Seko was the winner of the Fukuoka Marathon in 2:10:21. It was the first win of his career, but certainly not the…