Old-Fashioned Guy

Irish Ron Delany is an old-fashioned guy. He wears his black hair in a classic bartender's bob, and he figures that a foot race has only one purpose: to find out whether one man can run faster than another. The problem is not so simple as it seems. When the big winter track meets bring some of the best milers in the world to the tight-banked boards of Manhattan's Madison Square Garden, it is quite a trick just to find running room. Spikes slice close to bare shanks in the opening sprint for the pole; elbows have a habit of splaying wide when the pack gangs up on a turn. And when the pack contains men like Hungary's crack Istvan Rozsavolgyi, holder of three world records for outdoor middle-distance running, the problem is even more complicated. For while Ron runs to win and only as fast as he has to, Rozsy runs against the clock. He knows from wind-broken experience that setting a new record for the indoor mile may be the only way to defeat The Delany.

If racing against Rozsy worried Ron, the pale, frail-looking Irishman in Villanova's colors gave no sign last week when he glided easily into the early laps of the National Amateur Athletic Union mile. He picked a place in the clear, just off the pace, and let Chicago's Phil Coleman tow the field along. His slow (2:05.2) half bothered him not a bit. Farther back, Rozsy began to show concern. He wasted energy jockeying for the lead.

Ron bounced along, his head bobbing, his spikes scratching splinters in his peculiar, pecking stride. Then, rounding into the final quarter, he threw his head up in surprise. Rozsy had sprinted past him, was kicking downhill into the short straightaway. Puzzled, Ron turned it on. It seemed a little early for the final sprint, but if that was the way it had to be--well, Ron knew what to do. He lengthened his own stride, won by twelve lengthening yards.

It all happened so fast that Ron ran the last quarter in 56.4, was clocked for the mile in 4:03.7, just one-tenth second short of the indoor record. It was obvious that even if the Hungarian gets around to running up another record for himself, The Delany will probably be pounding home in front of that race too.

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