racing

1981 London Marathon | A Historical First | Ep 22

Posted on by garygft

London Marathon | One minute you are strangers on the streets of London and the next you are united in sports forever and friends for a lifetime.

That is what happened for American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen at the 1981 London Marathon.

1981 London Marathon

These two marathoners had never met when the gun went off to start the first ever London Marathon. They ran together near the head of the pack for miles, neither able to gain distance on the other.

In the final stages of the race, a moment in sports history began when Beardsley turned to Simonsen and asked, “should we go in together.”

Not knowing if Simonsen had agreed to that, they raced on, stride for stride, towards the finish line where the answer became apparent. Hand in hand, they crossed the finish line as co-winners of London’s first marathon.

Never before, and most likely never again, will a marathon finish this way.

Here are Dick and Inge with the story of that race, in their own words. Why would two such competitive athletes who had trained so hard to win the marathon agree to do this while running the race?

What effect did this race have on their lives? Would they do it differently in hindsight?

Listen and enjoy.

New Balance Unveils London Marathon-Inspired 1500s – HYPEBEAST

Further Listening:

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Ironman World Championships | Iron War | Ep 21

Posted on by garygft

“The Greatest Race Ever Run.”  “Iron War.”

Those are two of the descriptions of the 1989 Ironman World Championship, a race that changed the face of Ironman Triathlons from being not only an endurance test, but also a true race.

The men who created this historical moment are Dave Scott and Mark Allen.  

1989 Ironman World Championship

These two triathletes entered the 1989 event well aware of one another’s abilities, but could not possibly have foreseen that this race would pit them literally side by side for over 8 hours.  

On this podcast, Dave and Mark share with each other and you the physical strains, the mental emotions and the mind-boggling journey of two rivals through a triathlon that made history.  

It would be 15 subsequent years before the two could talk with one another about this race.  If you think the competitiveness dissipates with time, listen closely.

This is the story of two of the world’s finest athletes ever, in a race you could not script.  Most importantly, this is their story as personally related by the two who ARE the story and the rivals.  

Sign up for the fortnightly free newsletter from Dave Scott, 6-time Ironman World Champion covering a wide range of topics from health, aging, nutritional insights, training physiology, mobility, stretching and strength training  plus swimming, cycling and run biomechanics. 

Additionally, why not ask questions directly to Dave by going to https://davescottinc.com/.

Further Listening:

Be sure to subscribe to the Sports Rivals podcast to listen to this rivalry on your favorite podcast app:

If you loved this episode, check out our others: