Marathon, Men

By 1976, defending champion Frank Shorter was comfortably established as the top marathon runner in the world. For four consecutive years (1971-74), he had won what was considered the top race in the world, Japan’s Fukuoka Marathon. His biggest competition in Montréal was expected to come from another American, Bill Rodgers, who had surprised in 1975 by winning the Boston Marathon in 2-09:55. Canada’s Jerome Drayton had won the 1975 Fukuoka race over Australian Dave Chettle and Rodgers. Two Japanese runners, Akio Usami and Shigeru So, were also highly considered.

But the big story in Montréal was a runner who had never before run a marathon. A last-minute entry was Finland’s Lasse Virén, who in both 1972 and 1976 had won the 5,000 and 10,000 on the track. He entered the marathon to attempt to duplicate Emil Zátopek’s distance triple from 1952.

The day of the race was warm and overcast, but a drizzle at the start turned into a steady rain throughout the race. This was not good news for Shorter, who did not like to run in the rain. Bill Rodgers pushed the early pace but he was running with an injured hamstring and would eventually fall back. At 25 km, the lead group included Shorter, Rodgers, Virén, Drayton, and a little-known East German former steeplechase runner, Waldemar Cierpinski. Shorter then put in a surge, attempting to drop the field, and only Cierpinski responded. At 30 km, it was Cierpinski who surged and Shorter could not match him. He gradually pulled away and won by almost 50 seconds. Shorter won the silver medal, and the bronze went to the defending silver medalist, Belgium’s Karel Lismont. Lasse Virén finished a respectable fifth.