The Men Of Montana

I was four seconds behind Henry Rono at the mile mark. Rono, at the time, held world records in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the 5,000 meters, the 10,000 meters, and, for a stretch, even the 3,000 meters. It was my first collegiate cross-country race, and I had no business being anywhere near him.

I was an 800-meter runner. I'd turned out for cross country at the University of Montana in my senior year almost on a whim, hoping the extra strength work would finally let me run the 1500 meters the way I'd always wanted to. So there I was, four seconds off a world record holder, not knowing any better, going out with the lead pack because it felt easy. What the heck, I thought. I could go for it and run with the big guns.

Dave Gordon, my teammate, got me by three seconds in the end, using his strength over the last 800 meters. I was still ahead of some fast, long-distance guys that day. For an 800-meter man who'd wandered into the wrong race, it turned out pretty well.

Let's back up, because that race only makes sense if you know how stubborn I was as a teenager.

I ran the mile in high school just long enough to get the school record, and I won it once against the best runners in the state, across every division, at a significant invitational my senior year. Then I decided to run only the 800 (the 880, back then) at the state meet. I had a mental block about the mile for some reason, and I never ran it again in high school, even though my coaches wanted me in both events and I was the state leader in each. I won the state championship in the 880. I've wondered what would have happened if I'd trusted the mile the way I trusted the 880.

So, going into my senior year of college, something finally clicked in my 21-year-old brain. Cross country, I figured, might build the strength I needed to stop being afraid of the longer races. That's how an 800-meter man ended up on a start line with Henry Rono.

Those Montana Boys Sure Could Run

We had a great cross-country team at the University of Montana that year, and it started with Dave. Dave Gordon ran 2:11 in the marathon and made the USA World Championship marathon team, finishing 9 seconds short of making the U.S. Olympic team. Nine seconds.

My roommate Tom Raunig wasn't far behind him: a 28-minute guy in the 10,000 meters, a collegiate All-American, and eventually a 2:12 marathoner who finished tenth in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Two guys on our team are in the top ten at the Trials. That's not a normal roster. That's the golden era of distance running at the University of Montana.

Mike Brady rounded out our marathon depth, running 2:15 and qualifying for the Olympic Trials himself. And Scott Browning had wheels most milers would envy — a 29-minute 10k guy on the roads later on in his running career who was on our NCAA Division 1 indoor national 4x800 team, a team I anchored as the school record holder in the 800 meters at the time.

Montana didn't need another 800-meter man on that cross-country team. I turned out anyway.

My First Cross-Country Race in Montana

That first race was on a challenging, hilly course — and for some reason, I could always run hills well. Several great foreign runners lined up for Washington State that day, the era when the Cougars were NCAA Division 1 cross-country champions. From what I recall, four of their top five runners were from Kenya, Ireland, and Greece. Steve James was the lone American on that WSU team, and he later qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the steeplechase — still one of the best our state has ever produced in that event.

And in the middle of that field was Samson Kimobwa, a 27-something 10k runner and former world record holder from Washington State and Kenya. I went out with him too, not knowing any better, the pace feeling almost easy after a career of racing the 800 meters flat out.

Lessons Learned

Looking back, I wish I had listened to my coaches and started running the mile more and other longer races at an earlier age. But it's gratifying, as an old guy now, to know I was at least in the mix with those long-distance stars for one race. I always wished there had been more four-mile races like that first one in Missoula — I seemed particularly suited to that distance, even if I found it out a decade too late.

It's also gratifying to look back and see the job our coaches did. My coach, Marshall Clark, was a fantastic man who'd coached at Stanford for years before coming to Montana. He led Stanford to a second-place finish at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships, and he coached Olympic marathoners Tony Sandoval and Don Kardong there — Sandoval won the Olympic Trials marathon, and Kardong finished fourth in the Olympic Games itself. Marshall also coached Olympian Duncan McDonald. According to his obituary, Coach Clark also served as the head coach for the USA  track team at the 1972 International indoor Meet in Moscow, Russia.                                                                                             

Coach Clark was the one who talked me into cross country that senior year. And yes, he could sure make those Montana boys run fast.

The lesson from this article for current runners: listen to those coaches earlier in your career, and have confidence in your God-given ability. Find your best event before it's too late.

Blessings,

Coach Weber

Philippians 4:13

Rono and Kimobwa are running on the Missoula golf course at a meet two years earlier in 1977. The picture is from my teammate and friend Dave Coppock, who ran in the 1977 race. Dave was also a steeplechase runner for the Griz and became the head cross-country and track and field coach at the  Montana State-Billings, for years.

Rono and Kimobwa were world record holders at one point in their careers. Rono held the world records in the 5000 meters and the Steeplechase. Kimombwa was the the world record at 10,000 meters.

Learn more about  Henry Rono and Samson Kimobwa.

Rono is on the right running in Pullman,  Washington.

Image credit: Unknown

This picture was given to me by Scott Descheemaeker from  Montana State. The image is from an old Montana and Montana Duel cross-country meet. Scott was a cross-country runner for MSU and a steeplechase runner in the spring.

Dave Gordon, running for the Nike Pro Team (after his career at the University of Montana), Athletics West, nearly made the Olympic Team, finishing fourth at the Olympic trials. Dave was on a USA World Championship Marathon Team and, one year, was the first American Finisher at the Boston Marathon.

Dave is number 10 in the picture above and is running in the U.S. Marathon Trials in this picture.

Photo Credit: Leo Kulinaski, Jr.

You can read more about Dave Gordon’s running journey in The Story Of Dave Gordon (coachweber.org)

Tom Raunig was one of my roommates at Montana. Tom ran 2:12 for the marathon and was a sponsored pro athlete with the Nike Club, Athletics West. This picture shows Tom in a race while coaching at Montana State.

Tom became the head coach at the University of Montana for 12 years.

Photo credit is Unknown, but I found the picture on Mike Carignan's Facebook site.

Marshall Clark Led Stanford to a second-place finish at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships before becoming head coach at the University of Montana. In college, he coached United States  Olympians Don Kardong, Tony Sandoval, and Duncan McDonald.

Marshall passed in 2002. He is one of the most underrated middle and long-distance coaches ever. Never one for the limelight, he quietly went about his coaching and making a difference in hundreds of lives. 

Photo Credit: Unknown

Samson Kimobwa set the world 10, 000 meter record in 1977.

Photo Credit: United Press International

Henry Rono was the most dominant distance runner in the world when we ran at the University of Montana. He set world records in the distance events. I saw him set the then-world record in the steeplechase at the University of Washington while warming up for the 800 meters at the same track and field meet. Rono has passed now but I will never forget him.

Henry Rono Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rono

In May of 2024, we extended an invitation to Dr. Jack Daniels to speak in Olympia at the 40th anniversary celebration of the first women's marathon trials. Dave Gordon, Jack, and I enjoyed a mini-reunion. A University of Montana alumnus, Dr. Daniels has been instrumental in my coaching career. He also assisted Dave during his tenure with Nike's Athletic West Pro team.