Gems In Our Midst

South is Home to Many Elites Who Shaped Our Running Landscape

By Pete Rea/ZAP Fitness/Running Journal/June 2009

The South has a long and deep tradition of professional sports stars. From Hank Aaron and Tom Glavine on the Diamond, Dan Marino and Johnny Unitas on the Gridiron, and of course Dominique Wilkins and Dwayne Wade on the Hardwood, the Southern states are as rich as any region in terms of our athletes paid to perform their craft. The aforementioned athletes, in the so called “premier 3” of pro sports (Baseball, Basketball, and Football) live their athletic careers, and to some degree their post athletic lives, in the public eye. Today’s professional baseball or football player spends little time with John Q Public and every move is followed and critiqued by the talking heads.
The life of a professional distance runner could not be more dissimilar from these spotlighters. The life of a professional distance runner is, 99 percent of the time, outside public view, and when a runner’s career is over most live out their days with the rest of us in the obscurity of the masses. This month I would like to bring to your attention a handful of our sport’s very best who live right here in the South amidst the masses, and for a time showed the country and the world a clean pair of heels.

Dick Buerkle – Buerkle epitomizes the quiet distance runner, never touting his own career, despite a career few Americans can match. Buerkle competed for Villanova University as a walk-on and transformed himself into one of the greatest runners of his time. Buerkle made two Olympic teams in the 5,000m (’76/’80) and, in 1978, broke the indoor World Record in the mile with a time of 3:54.9. Buerkle continued his success well into his 50s breaking 33:00 for the 10K as a grandmaster. Buerkle teaches elementary school in Metro Atlanta.

Joan Nesbit-Mabe – Joan Nesbit Mabe is a living legend in the South. A collegiate All American, Nesbit-Mabe won the Peachtree Road Race, made the Olympic Team in the 10,000m in Atlanta, and has scintillating PRs of 15:24 for 5,000m, 8:51 for 3,000m, and 32:04 for 10,000m. Mabe also ran 4:32 for 1,500m as a 40 year old (roughly a 4:51 mile). Joan now coaches the Carrboro Athletic Club and is active in the running community throughout the Triad.

Tony Waldrop – Waldrop is one of the greatest runners most young American runners have never heard of. In 1974 Waldrop ran 3:55.0 to break the indoor World Record in the Mile run as a student at the University of North Carolina. Waldrop also ran 3:53.2 for the mile to win the Penn Relays and was an All-American in XC, an accomplishment he amazingly considers his greatest feat. Waldrop walked away from his career in the Olympic year of 1976 at his very peak, something rarely seen in today’s environment - "I never regretted the decision (to retire during the Olympic year), maybe there were one or two seconds (of momentarily regret) when I watched the 1500m at the Olympics... I accomplished a lot more in track than I ever imagined I would. There were a lot more things I wanted to do with my life and I think it would be the same today (even if I was competing in the era of professional track and field)."

Jim Beatty – Jim Beatty is arguably one of the four-five greatest American long distance runners. A graduate of the University of North Carolina where he was the ACC Champion in the Mile, Beatty is best known for becoming the first man to break 4:00 for the mile indoors when he ran 3:58.9 in Los Angeles in February of 1962. Beatty also simultaneously held the American Records in the 1,500m, mile, 3,000m, three-mile and 5,000m events (the only American ever to hold these records at the same time) and was an Olympian at 5,000m in 1960.

Zola Budd Pieterse - Better known by her maiden name of Zola Budd, Pieterse, a native South African, is a former Olympic track and field competitor who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 meters with a best of 15:01, and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross-Country Championships. Budd's career as a pioneer in women's distance running was meteoric. She always trained and raced barefoot, and was a British Olympian in 1984. She is (somewhat unfortunately) best known for her collision with Mary Slaney in the 3,000m race at the 1984 Olympics. Here in the South we celebrate our new famous resident for all her accomplishments. Now 43 and living on the coast of South Carolina, she recently won the Myrtle Beach Half-Marathon in a time of 1:20. Zola – welcome to Dixie!

Ray Flynn – The hills of Eastern Tennessee, for a two-decade long generation from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, was home to one of college running’s dynasties – East Tennessee State University, lead by Coach Dave Walker. One of Walker’s best was Irishman Ray Flynn. Flynn was an All-American while running for the ETSU Bucs and followed up his collegiate success with a storied professional career that included two Olympic berths and an Irish record in the mile of 3:49.77, a time that remains their national record. Flynn now operates Flynn Sports Management in Gray, TN.

Marty Liquori – This Gainesville, FL, resident and Villanova graduate holds the distinction of being one of only four American high school runners to ever break the 4:00 mile (name the other three for this month’s bonus). Liquori made the 1968 Olympic 1,500m final at age 19 and was ranked #1 in the World from 1969–1971 in the mile. He was also the world’s #1 5,000m runner in 1977 with a best of 13:15. Liquori now works full time in broadcasting.

John Tuttle – Of all the South’s “elite gems” John Tuttle should be celebrated not only for his quality of performances, but perhaps more than any other for his longevity. Tuttle, an Auburn University graduate, was an Olympic Trials Qualifier in 1980, ’84, ’88, ’92, and ’96 – making the Olympic Team in 1984 with his gutsy third place run at the Olympic Marathon Trials. Tuttle was the USATF Master’s Runner of the Year in 1999 and broke the USATF Master’s 8K record with a time of 23:24! He also holds the 10K masters USATF record of 29:26. John Tuttle lives in Metro Atlanta and still competes to this day.

There are dozens of other top runners, both men and women, living in our midst here in the Southern States. The above eight are merely a small cross section of our region’s very best. And unlike the stars in the power sports such as baseball, basketball, and football – the above runners may live right next to you and me.

ZAP Fitness is a Reebok Sponsored non-profit facility that supports post-collegiate distance runners in Blowing Rock, NC. ZAP puts on adult running camps during the summer and is available for retreats all year. The facility has a state of the art weight room, exercise science lab for testing and a 24-bed lodge. Coaches at the facility include 2-time Olympic Trials Qualifiers Zika Rea and Randy Ashley as well as head coach Pete Rea. For more information go to www.zapfitness.com or call 828-295-6198.