A Runner’s Personal Summary
by Jeffrey Watkins (written October 2010)
To my teammates: “I’m looking for a few men that
don’t know it can’t be done”.
-Henry Ford used those words to describe the men he sought
to pioneer the auto industry.
That same statement may apply to why our coaches chose us to
run the 100 mile relay, but the real question is, Why did we
say yes?
Each of us in some way have our own thoughts on that, but it
is quite remarkable to me that we all agreed to come
together one fine day for an attempt at setting an
unheralded track record, and were able to accomplish
something we couldn’t imagine at the time. That day
was June 16, 1968. Now, over forty years later, we are
still amazed that we set a time of 7hrs. 27min. and 55.6
sec.( 4:28.2 pace), which remains the current 100 mile relay
world record today. |
Top Row (left to right): Bob Brown, Brian
Brooks, Jim Rycyna, Charles Quagliana
Bottom Row (left to right): Franklyn Pfeil, George
Bickford, Jeff Watkins, Jeff Hulshoff
|