Joel Patenuade, editor of Silent Sports, sent me a piece that touches on some of the history of the Syttende Mai Run. To say the least, I had no idea this event has the history that it does.
In my previous post, I mentioned that it looks like the event is on the rebound with almost 200 more runners participating this year compared to last year. Well, apparently that is nothing compared to the kind of numbers the event used to draw.
This year, there were 363 finishers in the 20-mile race. After reading Joel’s piece on the race, I learned that in 1985 there were 1,472 finishers!
Not only were the numbers higher but the competition was tougher. Nowadays if you’re a male runner and you hold 6 minute pace or faster over the hills from Madison to Stoughton, you will be in the top 5. In 1983, Tom Kaufman, Madison West boys cross country coach, finished in 1:58.42 (5:56 pace) and took 65th! That time would have placed 3rd this year.
| Matt Hooley winning the 2006 Syttende Mai. Not exactly a record but still fast! |
To say the least, the women’s race was quite a bit tougher as well. Listen to this: In 1980, Lorraine Moeller, an Olympic
marathoner from New Zealand ran the course in 1:55.36! At the time, this was a world record for the women’s road 20-miles! A world record in Stoughton! I imagine that still stands as the women’s course record. The men’s record is equally impressive, if not more so. In 1983, James Ingold of Monroe won the race in 1:40.20. Yeah, that’s 5:01 pace. Remember this course is HILLY!
All of this brings up a number of thoughts for me.
For one thing, no doubt, the number of quality runners showing up for weekend 5Ks around the country was much, much higher during the running boom of the 70s and early 80s then it is today. I’m not sure what has happened since then. We seem to have a new running boom but it’s focused more on finishing races than it is on running quality times.
The other question on my mind is what happened to the Syttende Mai? With the popularity of the marathon, perhaps most people overlook the 20-mile distance? Also, from what I hear the race is hilly. Maybe that is keeping people away? And, of course, there’s that race called the Madison Marathon. From what I hear, this race used to have organization issues but it is now picking up momentum and getting better every year.
Still, I think the history of the Syttende Mai Run deserves to be remembered.