Running Philosopher

TRACK & FIELD

As Australia's most promising teen-age runner, Ron Clarke received the honor at 19 of carrying the Olympic torch into the Melbourne stadium for the start of the 1956 Olympics. The slim (6 ft. 168 lbs.) distance man did not himself catch fire until about a year ago.

Early this month at London's White City Stadium, Clarke became the first man to break the 13-min. barrier for the three-mile run. He covered one mile in 4 min. 15.4 sec., two miles in 8 min. 36.4 sec., flitted across the finish in 12 min. 52.4 sec., lowering his own month-old world record by a full 8 sec.

He was only warming up. Last week, Clarke broke the 28-min. barrier for the 10,000 meter run (about 6 1/4 miles). Lapping the other runners at Oslo's Bislet Stadium, he clocked in at 27 min. 39.4 sec., slicing 34.6 sec. off the record he set four weeks ago. On the way to the 10,000 meter mark, he established a new world record of 26 min. 47 sec. at the six-mile mark as well.

All told, Clarke now holds the world record in five events ranging from three miles to ten miles. Yet he is remarkably detached about his exploits. He has no coach, trains by running about 22 miles a day through parks, city streets, and just about anywhere except on a regular track.

His "philosophy of running," as he calls it, is simple: "I want to win at all costs. I have the killer instinct. But I do differ from most trackmen. Two seconds after the race, win or lose, I don't care any more. Losing encourages me to do better the next time. On the other hand, I know that if I win tonight, I'll probably lose the next race. My attitude was summed up very well by Kipling. 'If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same...'"

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