Here is a topic that is fun to debate but has no right answer.
Which elite athlete in our sport has/had the all-time SMOOTHEST RUNNING FORM?
Famous names that pop into my mind are Sebastian Coe, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Hicham El Guerrouj, Mary Decker/Slaney & Eliud Kipchoge. One friend told me that “Watching Marty Liquori run the indoor boards was like watching an antelope run laps in a shot-put circle.”
But without any hesitation my vote goes to Tom McLean. ‘Tom who?’ you ask.
Tom was my teammate at Bucknell. Tom, or “T” as we called him, was an extraordinary athlete. A part-time basketball player (or vice versa) who ran a 1:45 800m. In 1976, he was NCAA 800m champion, winning at Franklin Field in front of a packed stadium including dozens of us who came into Philadelphia to see him. A year later T ranked #5 in the world. Check out the videos below including him pushing then-Olympic Champion Alberto Juantorena all the way to the finish line the only time they raced.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. Those who saw T run in his prime still talk about his impeccable form. Here are some memories from Bucknell teammates who had the pleasure of witnessing him in full flight.
“I remember his senior year at indoors conference and him anchoring the 4×4. In my memory he was a half of a 200 meter lap behind. He had laser eyes on the guy in first. And opened up his beautiful, long stride and just reeled him in. Not sure if we needed the win for the team championship, but I can still see his gaze and stride going around a turn like it was yesterday. The team won the championship. He had the most amazing stride – power, grace, floating and barely touching the ground.”
“I’d never before seen a perfect runner. His 1:45 form was effortless. I especially remember his back foot on stride, parallel with the track, like you could place something cherished on it, a family photograph, and it’d be fine.”
“[We] were in the upper deck overlooking the beginning of the backstretch of the 880 final. Tommy in last place at the end of the first lap. Through the turn he begins to accelerate and moves out a lane. What came next was the most incredible 150 yards I’ve ever seen – last to first with a five-yard lead. I turned to [my friend] and said, ‘Why do we even try. No way in hell you or I ever do that.’ Effortless. Magic. Sheer beauty.”
A few footnotes:
McLean went to high school at Blair Academy in New Jersey where he was the first basketball player to score 1,000 career points in the school’s history.
McLean was basketball coach Jim Valvano’s star player at Bucknell. Yes, that Valvano. This was early in Valvano’s career. He went on to national fame at North Carolina State University, coaching his team to the 1983 NCAA title.
Legendary Villanova coach Jumbo Elliott told a Philadelphia paper that McLean would be a better runner if “he quit basketball and went to a real running school.” OUCH, that’ll leave a mark. Our coach, Art Gulden, a legend in his own right, with an unbeaten dual-meet XC streak that spanned 16 years, 18 straight conference titles, 3 IC4A titles, many NCAA XC qualifiers, did not take kindly to the quote!
Not only was T a formidable athlete, he was also a role model for other minority students at the mostly white Bucknell of the ‘70s. He understood that he was a part of something much larger during his years in central Pennsylvania.
McLean served as Executive Director of Programs for USATF for 11 years.
T’s race versus Juantorena, with the announcer 100% in the tank for Alberto!
McLean striding away from his rival Mark Belger to win the NCAA title:
So, who is YOUR pick for “smoothest runner in T&F history”? Comment below to let us know!
I would definitely put Thom McLean in my top three smoothest male runners that I have seen in person. The other two would be Matthew Centrowitz (the son) and Sebastian Coe. The top form on a runner I did not personally witness but saw in old video footage is Peter Snell of New Zealand. My top choice for female runner would be Grace Jackson of Jamaica. Her stride was almost Edwin Moses-esque!
Great choices Jamie! I just watched a clip of Grace Jackson. Smooooth indeed.
Smothest ever by far Rudy Chapa U niv of Oregon. High on his toes. Looked like he could float across water!
Inspired pick Brad. I hope to see Rudy in a couple months and will tell him that his name came up in this debate.
I appreciate the accolades and comments about my running style, performance, and running gait…I was teased for walking and running on my toes when I was younger so this recognition is so cool.
As runners/athletes, we all have a cadre of influences in our training and completion style. I think it is a New Jersey Metro NY thing, to look cool, to be efficient, and to win.
An older guy form the neighborhood, Henry Rock was someone I wanted to stride like…. long story.
So I would have to say, my list of influences ranges from the XC runners @ Essex Catholic HS, ( Marty Liquori, Mike Keough). I loved watching them run XC and wanted to be like them. The great Tom Fleming was another one to watch and emulate. Watching Vince Cartier, Joe Savage, though somewhat contemporaries, taught me the indoor “lean”! I use to watch Martin McGrady in The Garden, etc. when I was in the 7th and 8th grades…he was unreal on the Boards!
I always marveled at the science of Running the Vince Cartier as an HS student was unreal! Seeing these runners —Madeline Manning (on TV ), Bryon Dyce, Andy Stanfield, and Cheryl Toussaint,(in the Garden), Denis Cochran-Fikes (Van Cortlandt in XC), in my early days when choosing between the XC, 2mile, or the 880yds. or the 440yd, really impacted me.
But the coolest guys to emulate outdoors were Bruce Collins ( 110HH/400IH) and Larry James ( 220/400/440)…watching them run at the Penn Relays was such a pleasure and hard to emulate.
Their styles and grace were wonderful to watch.
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Tom: Glad you enjoyed the profile! I love that you singled of out two alumni from my high school, Essex Catholic, as well as friend and mentor Tom Fleming. – – Jack
Wariner
I ran with Tom at Blair. Always the smoothest on the track and in life