Family, former teammates, watch on as Ron Clarke World Athletics Heritage plaque unveiled

With his son Marcus, grandson Sebastian, former clubmates and training partners looking on, Ron Clarke’s World Athletics Heritage Legend plaque was unveiled at Melbourne’s Duncan Mackinnon Reserve on Sunday 16 July by the mayor of Glen Eira, Jim Magee.

Marcus Clarke and Chris Wardlaw spoke at a ceremony following the formal unveiling. At the time of Ron Clarke’ death in 2015 at the age of 78, Wardlaw praised him as “the man who changed the world,” a reference to the scope and magnitude of his world record performances across distances from 2-miles to the one-hour run.

Fittingly, Clarke changed the world this particular afternoon as well. After a week of bitterly cold mid-winter weather the sun shone brightly and warmly throughout the afternoon.

The sunshine was appreciated by those gathered on the trackside forecourt. Glenhuntly AC club president Mick Ryan acknowledged the traditional indigenous owners of the land and then members of the so-called Ferny Creek Gang who had trained with Clarke in Melbourne’s Dandenong Ranges.

These included clubmates and co-Tokyo 1964 Olympians Trevor Vincent and Tony Cook, clubmate and 1962 Commonwealth Games teammate John Coyle, marathon legend Derek Clayton and several other members of the Ferny Creek Gang, most but not all also Glenhuntly runners.

Following the unveiling Clarke’s son Marcus and Chris Wardlaw, dual Olympian and Sydney 2000 athletics team head coach spoke on different aspects of his career.

Marcus Clarke elaborated on his father’s athletics achievements. Best-known as a record-breaker, the plaque caption credits him with 17 world records. Statisticians accept two more, including a 28 minutes 14 seconds 10,000 metres in Turku at the start of his 1965 tour. The run did not count as an official as permission from the Australian federation for Clarke to compete was not received until the last minute.

Ron resolved that matter himself when he ran 27:39.4 at the first edition of Oslo’s Bislett Games the following month. World-changing as that performance may have been, it was ‘merely’ the highlight of what was arguably the greatest week in his athletics career, a view Marcus Clarke endorsed.

On 10 July, at London’s venerable White City stadium which hosted the 1908 Olympic games, Clarke lined up against US teenage prodigy Gerry Lindgren. Lindgren shot to fame when he “beat the Russians” in the annual USA v USSR match almost exactly one year earlier.  He finished ninth in the Tokyo 1964 Olympic 10,000 and had already equalled Clarke’s 6-mile world record.

Clarke and Lindgren met in the 3-miles at the English AAA championships. Clarke set off fast and it was very quickly a very quick two-man battle. The lap times for the middle stages of the race look even on paper, but in reality it was surge and counter-surge as Clarke tried to dislodge the US teen. Only in the last three laps did he draw clear, crossing the line in a world record 12:52.4.

Oslo, four days later, was another matter. Having cajoled two runners to race against him, Clarke was on his own within a few laps as he slashed nearly 36 seconds off his own world record.

As if this wasn’t enough, his final race of the tour was against Olympic 10,000 silver medallist Mohammed Gammoudi over 5000 in Paris. Clarke won comfortably in 13:32.4.

Chris Wardlaw said he drew three major influences from Clarke. Ambition, the first, came from an address Clarke gave to his school assembly (both completed their secondary schooling at Melbourne High School. Clarke told the boys there was almost certainly an Olympian (or two, or three) amongst them) but it was not yet clear who it would be.

The second characteristic was optimism. Wardlaw set up a track 10,000 to make an attempt to get the qualifying time for the Montreal 1976 Olympics. A gusty wind loomed as a potential obstacle. Wardlaw discussed postponing the race with Pat Clohessy. Exit Clohessy; enter a few minutes later Clarke. Clarke reassured Wardlaw the treat the wind as asset rather than a liability, making the easier bits easier and the tougher bits just another opponent there to be beaten.

The result? An Olympic qualifier for Wardlaw and the first of two as a competitor and many more as coach, at Sydney 2000 as head coach.

The third and final strand was contribution. Wardlaw noted how Clarke gave freely of his time and resources, notably in 1980 in opposing any boycott of the Moscow Olympics. Clarke came to Wardlaw, one of the leading athletes battling to convince governments, the Australian Olympic Committee and the national federations to stay the course.

Clarke also contributed behind the scenes to many of Australia’s top athletes – distance runners especially) from the time of his retirement onwards. Sometimes formally via the Ron Clarke Fund and now Athletics International’s Ron Clarke scholarship; sometimes informally; but always there.

Something to reflect on as we dispersed in the late-afternoon sun.

Note: World Athletics president Sebastian Coe announced the awarding of Clarke’s Legend Plaque at the World Cross-country championships in Bathurst on 18 February 2023 along with an award in the same category to John Landy. He hailed the pair as “two of the greatest middle and long-distance world record breakers,” saying their careers had “inspired generations of runners around the world.”

By Len Johnson for Athletics Australia
Posted: 19/7/2023