Book Review
Book Review
Cold Clear Day: The Athletic Biography of Buddy Edelen
by Frank J. Murphy (1992)
Leonard "Buddy" Edelen was one of the best American runners that people have
never heard of. He set the world record in the marathon (2:14) in 1963.
Edelen also won the 1964 U.S. Olympic marathon trials; was the first American
to break 2:20 for the marathon; was the first American to break 30 minutes
for 10,000 meters; and was a Big Ten champion in cross-country and the two-mile
at the University of Minnesota.
Edelen made the most of his native talents through discipline, intelligence,
and hard work. This is not unusual in distance running. Many
of America’s most accomplished runners, such as Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers,
and Joan Benoit Samuelson, were solid but not phenomenal athletes in high
school and college. In 1955, Buddy Edelen’s fastest mile of 4:28 marked
him as the best prep runner in South Dakota -- but not necessarily much more
than that. At that time, the U.S. high school mile record was 4:17 and falling
fast. It was 4:12 by 1958, and continued to drop steadily until Jim
Ryun ran an astounding 3:55 in 1965. That record stood until 2001,
when Alan Webb rang up his 3:53 for a new high school mark. (In 2001, according
to DyeStat.com, the top 100 high school milers had personal bests ranging
from 3:53 to 4:18.)
Edelen grew up through a somewhat troubled childhood in the Midwest, mostly
in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) area. After college Edelen took what
amounted to little more than a subsistence-type job teaching in England so
he could train hard and race internationally against the world’s strongest
competition. After college, Edelen was mostly coached by mail by Fred
Wilt, who lived in the U.S.
Although the book is not really conclusive about this issue, it appears that
Edelen overtrained, and that this led to his career-ending sciatic problems.
In Edelen’s only Olympic competition, the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he finished
sixth in the marathon as he struggled against the injuries that resulted
in his premature retirement soon afterward.
In the last newsletter, I reviewed another book by Frank Murphy (The Silence
of Great Distance: Women Running Long). I enjoyed both books for the
way they went beyond races, times, and results. The Buddy Edelen biography
is interesting in terms of Edelen, his personality, and his life, as well
as its insights into what a world-class athlete experienced in the 1960s.
There are numerous photos in the book, which add a nice touch. Amazon.com
has it in paperback for about $12.
Mike Dooris, February 2002
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