Rono,Foster,McCleod,-5000m.Final-1978 Commonwealth Games,Edmonton

The great Henry Rono,one of Kenya's greatest ever athletes (and my personal favourite).Unfortunately his genius came along during the period when Kenya pulled out of two consecutive Olympic Games,in '76 and '80.Luckily his best year,1978,when he broke four world records(3K,3K steeplechase,5K and 10K...still a unique achievement),coincided with a Commonwelth Games.Held in high humidity and at slight altitude it was never going to be a WR,but it does at least show just how damned good Rono was at his peak.The only likely threats were Brendan Foster and Rod Dixon,both of who'd shown good form going into the Games,but Foster was still suffering badly from his exertions in the 10K,which he'd won,and Dixon sadly just didn't get it together on the day.Rono,however,was just cooking!

[@johnmoorely7275]

Coleman was a great commentator. Prepared, informed and with a terrific ability to build the excitement without overdoing it.

[@jeffallinson8089]

When you consider the quality of the athletes in this race, Rono's achievement is nothing short of sensational.

[@matthewrichards9658]

Still remember watching this live as a 9 yr old. Not sure if i've seen such a huge winning margin since.

[@davewphillips]

12.38: "But Rono's ruined the race, it could have been a tremendous race if Rono hadn't been there" - ha ha ha, what classic commentary! David Coleman RIP

[@evamose3984]

Rono has joined him

[@usafo6546]

Nick Rose was a legend of NCAA XC and track in the early 1970s. He was the first wave of world class British athletes who accepted a scholarship to run at American University. In Rose' case, he ran for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Some other schools who established a foreign pipeline included Villanova, UTEP, Washington State, Kentucky, etc. Rose' contributions to running in and around the stare of Kentucky are legendary, and are greatly appreciated.

[@trickygoose2]

@@bfc3057 Rose's biggest win on the track was the 1977 European Cup Final 5000.

[@ahmosethemelanite9325]

BBC COMMENTATORS ARE THE BEST...RIP.Amazing how Kenya has produced the greatest Runners the world has ever come to watch..

[@runcaz7802]

You seem to have forgotten the Ethiopian runners both men and women.

[@trickygoose2]

104F is incredibly hot for Edmonton. I went to the 2001 World Champs there and it was in the 80s for pretty much the whole week. The locals said it was rare for it to be that warm for more than 2 or 3 days.

[@Jeanemilr-hn7tj]

IL y eut de formidables Athlètes, De , Michel JAZY, Ron CLARKE, Steve OVETT, Henry RONO, Avec , Courage et Panache, Vous êtes Inoubliable, Henry RONO, Reposez en Paix, Nous vous Aimons Tant, Merci, Forever, ☀️☀️🌙🌙🍀🍀🩵🩵🇫🇷🇫🇷🌹🌹

[@philemonkipkoechkandie4972]

Henry Rono the great. The man who never won an Olympic gold because Kenya boycotted the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

[@kindergartenone8605]

then you might as well add HENRY MARSH, BILL RODGERS, STEVE SCOTT, TONY SANDOVAL to the list of AMERICANS who were denied of potential gold....

[@SirPeter6464]

@@kindergartenone8605 the Scott myth goes on. Did he ever beat Coe or Ovett? I mean ever?

[@SirPeter6464]

Henry Rono looking like he dropped in from another planet. Already drinking very heavily and by his own admission an alcoholic later. Still with us and still looking for age WRs!

[@gweightman]

@@SirPeter6464 He beat Coe in The Dream mile in 1983, but only because was Coe was suffering from toxoplasmosis, apart from that he wasn't even in the same league.

[@gweightman]

@@kindergartenone8605 The chances of Steve Scott winning the 1980 1500m were zero.

[@patriciachelimo5334]

Waoo rest in peace Henry Rono

[@danielobrien189]

Rest in peace, good sir.

[@patrickenright6094]

What a difficult race to run in, so up & down, people making spurts here and there, an opening lap of 62 followed by a 65. Pack of hardmen.

[@patrickenright6094]

Patrick E What a performance by Rono, he destroyed a world class field. No pacemakers in those days, just full on head to head racing.

[@patrickenright6094]

Patrick E God bless the commentator, who died at Christmas 2013.

[@langatjosphat]

the second kenyan had a burst of great finish

[@redrum4100]

Thanks for this. Top athletes involved here. Among others... Rono: 5 world records. Foster: 2 world records, Olympic record & medal. Jones: 1 world record. Musyoki: 1 world record. Simmons: 1 world record. Rose: 1 world record. Nyambui: 1 world record & Olympic medal. McLeod: twice world 10,000m champ (Golden champs were the then worlds) & Olympic medal. Dixon: Olympic medal and world ranked number one. Hutton: London marathon winner

[@tommytempo1]

Dixon - + World Half Marathon Record and 2 x World Cross Country Bronze.

[@redrum4100]

@@tommytempo1 Half record? Here's Wiki page and Rod's not on there... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_marathon_world_record_progression#Men

[@tommytempo1]

@@redrum4100 Ask Rod!

[@tommytempo1]

@@redrum4100 Philadelphia Half Marathon in 1981.

[@redrum4100]

@@tommytempo1 You might prove me wrong here but if memory serves me right this race was on the same day that Herb Lindsay ran 1:01.47. So Dixon's would have been a record if he had ran a day earlier.

[@simenyasikhulu]

Henry Rono was great and broke several world records. After him came Kiprotich Rono and Paul Kipkoech.

[@simenyasikhulu]

Shreeves. David Moorcroft was also a great and gifted runner at his time. He is one of the athletes we really admired.

[@simenyasikhulu]

The techniques of running have changed with time. The days of Brendan Foster, Dave Bedford, Zatopek and all the other great runners of the fifties, sixties, eighties, seventies and even nineties we usually had a field with few very good runners and the rest just fair. By fair I mean those with qualification times but not real threats to the champions. The champions were able to confidently run very fast even during major championships and win while breaking records. But presently, a field could be crowded by a very able group of runners. The runners end up not running the way they have been training. You will find that the races are run initially very slowly. They increase their speed in the last four or five laps. At this time, it is too late to break records. By the way, Mo Farah has a finishing speed that no other long distance runner can keep up with. with him. In fact, his last two laps he runs them in about 1:50 (one minute and fifty seconds.seconds. Nowadays, to break long distance you need pace setters. Mo Farah can break world records if he gets good pace setters. I believe he can.

[@simenyasikhulu]

David, I did not mean that the slowness is because they are crowded. What I mean is that presently in a championships race you would get tough runners such as Farah and those from Ethiopia, Kenya, America, Uganda, etc. Most of these countries have runners who have run under 27:20 in 10 000m. Instead of each of them running his own race, they start marking one another and the best are reluctant to do what they are expected to do. Look at the 5000m world championships of 2015. You will see that the initial stages of the race were run slowly. The very best of the runners knew each other and keeping an eye on each other. But at the end of the race, Mo beat them again because of his kick. In the same championships in 10000m, the race started quite fast. The winning time was good. What are your predictions for Rio? Who do you think might win the men's 10000m race? I do believe that one of the medal winners in the 2015 world championships' race would be among the medal winners.

[@kambibolongo7530]

Can someone please post the 1978 All Africa Games 10,000 meters final held in Algiers, Algeria where Henry Rono lapped the entire field including silver medalist Mike Musyoki of Kenya and Ethiopia's Mirutz Yifter, the1980 Moscow Olympic double gold medalist in 5K and 10K?

[@johnb7226]

What?

[@user-st5tk7hh1n]

From mkurugenzi diastories❤

[@ahmosethemelanite9325]

I love the BBC comentators...

[@paulfhoffman]

Henry Rono and Gerry Lindgren -- should have made for some interesting workouts in Pullman WA.

[@drrsc]

Rono would not have been so carefree if Steve Ovett had been in this race

[@keirbateman267]

Ovett would not have been able to cope with McLeod or Foster never mind Rono

[@kevindean1327]

When was Ovett a 5000 meter runner? I've never heard of him competing above 2 miles!!

[@alphatango2614]

@@kevindean1327 Not in 78 but in 86 het won the 5000m at the Commonwealth Games if I remember correctly

[@howardamess452]

@@kevindean1327 Steve Ovett competed against Rono and Bronislsw Manilowski about 2 months after this final and won it in a new world record track record..taking the one off Brendan Foster from 1973!

[@marcweeks9178]

According to Wikipedia, Steve Ovett's personal best in the 5k run is 13:20, which he ran in 1986. Rono's best was 13:05, so I'm not so sure that Rono would've been too scared.

[@Thinkmacflythink]

Go COUGS !

[@charlesporter1148]

For chrissakes ron Clarke ran 13:16 on a slow dirt track all by himself back in 66...clarke never had anyone to pull him along....and also worked full time..so what's the big deal with rondos 13:23 on a tartan track ??? Give me a break....

[@coryholland1811]

No disrespect to Clarke but no championship wins. Great runner though without question.

[@charlesporter1148]

@@coryholland1811 well nice of you to respond...another Clarke fan I see...however in numbered form I'll explain why Clarke never was understood by critics 1 ) Clarke's loss in 64 was in part due to inexperience...he had the world record in the 10k but nonetheless he was simply in great shape without much experience in competition 2) Mexico 68 was a joke at altitude where the guys at altitude advantage won in 2 minutes slower time than Clarke's record...just the month before at sea level Clarke showed his sea level fitness by lapping bedford easily.. 3) after 68 Clarke ran with a damaged heart in later championships...a damaged heart that caused him death by kidney failure. 4) Clarke biggest problem was not concentrating on the 10 k where no one could run with him so he set himself up for potential defeat by runners at 5k but Clarke simply liked to run any distance...regardless of winning or losing 5) Clarke never peaked for any race in particular simply training thru every race for progressive fitness...he could have had more superior records if he wanted to....ive read 4 different books by Clarke so I have all this inside information about him.. .....feel free to comment on my thoughts...i always thought where Clarke screwed up a bit was not setting up a series of 10k races with lindgren to push him...then we would have seen some real fireworks ....glad you stopped by...clarke ryun snell Elliot almost nearly forgotten but always the original frontiersmen..

[@coryholland1811]

I agree a very great runner indeed. Hero to fellow great runner Frank Shorter and many others I'm sure. I think one his greatest performances was a top ten finish in the Tokyo Olympic marathon with incredible splits (30:30 ish 10km 1:03 half if I remember rightly. @@charlesporter1148

[@craigneeve61]

if Rod Dixon had been able to run in his shoes he would have got a medal, he had his bag stolen just before the race so had to borrow someone elses

[@moroccoal-adarisa2300]

Aouita & Hicham from 🇲🇦Morocco said : Bye bye to all of them 😂😂😂😂😂

[@tsmay4598]

Wrong video.

[@thingme9941]

Rod Dixon should have won the 5000 if it hadn't been for the fact my great-aunt gave him my other great-aunts bata-bullets.

[@howardamess452]

Nah No chance Brendan Foster REALLY WAS in red hot form also in 1978! Plus he beat both Quax and Dixon in the 5k 10k races.. Medals in both+a new European Record equivalent to David Bedfords old time Rono may have been the 10km world record holder, but i certainly doubt Rono would have won the 10km Foster was undefeated at 10km .. The fastest in 1977 as well. Foster ran in Crystal Palace in 1977 Foster vs Quax Stewart Rono Mcleod etc Foster came back from injury and won it! 🏆

[@tomazyakobo8556]

BANA BA KENYA >> mama yangu, baba yangu >> May the most high BLESS Kenya!! Brendan Foster is only good at commentating and big mouth. He was only good in Europe

[@michaeladrian2210]

Nonsense. Foster's record stands without need of excuse nor vilification.

[@keirbateman267]

@@michaeladrian2210 if results of road, x country and track races of the day are taken into account I have a strong suspicion, it's just a feeling because I haven't researched the records that Mike McLeod was no.1 in the North East contrary to popular perception.

[@howardamess452]

@@keirbateman267 also.like that of Brendan Foster...Mike Mcleod won an Olympic Medal...albeit it REALLY CERTAINLY SHOULD have been gold Vainnio and Cova both cheated, the first with steroids, the latter at blood doping Plus....Mcleod beat Musyoki and Antibo The next one was Mo Farah..in the footsteps of Zatopek Viren Yifter Kuts et al...double Olympic games champion!