PUZZLE PIECES

Despite what Forrest Gump’s mother contended, life really isn’t much like a box of chocolates. It’s more a jigsaw puzzle of odd-sized pieces that interconnect in such a way that even when dozens of pieces are missing the big picture can be clearly seen. This was the analogy we faced as we worked over the past several months to put together what we’ve been calling The Encyclopedia Marathonia, a collection of roughly 200 encyclopedia listings related to the marathon, each limited to 25 words or less. Our goal was to construct a (relatively) clear picture of the marathon as an event made up mostly of very real, very human people.

As the listings expanded toward our limit of 200, we wrestled with thousands of potential listings from which the 200 that said the most about the sport and lifestyle of marathoning could be culled. In some cases, narrowing our selections was an excruciating process.

In 1983, Americans took the first three spots at Boston (the last year an American male won Boston), all of them under 2:10: Greg Meyer, Ron Tabb, and Benji Durden, in that order. We decided to go with Greg Meyer and Benji Durden but not Ron Tabb. Why? Greg Meyer was obvious: a consistently strong finisher and compatriot and competitor of Bill Rodgers, he won the big one, and it didn’t come as a surprise. Also, often overlooked, his marathon PR is actually quicker than his friend “Boston Billy’s.”

Benji Durden was worthy of inclusion because of his consistency during his era: besides going under 2:10 at Boston in 1983, he was also one of the three U.S. Olympic marathoners who qualified to go to Moscow in 1980 but never got the chance. He continues his involvement in marathoning as a respected coach in the Boulder, Colorado, area.

Ron Tabb was a real surprise at Boston in 1983. He’d been a decent marathoner, but nobody expected him to take second in under 2:10; he never did anything close to it again. And, yes, he was married to Mary Decker, but that had nothing to do with marathoning.

At the other end of the spectrum were gotta-includes: Abebe Bikila, Boston Marathon, carbohydrate loading, Nike, Runner’s World, Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers, Derek Clayton, Joan Benoit, Kathrine Switzer. Each of their puzzle pieces is large and impossible to ignore. The puzzle missing those pieces would not hold its edges together, much less its center.

There will be some observers of the scene who will make arguments—