If you own a program for the 47th annual Kansas Relays, you’re one of the lucky ones.
The programs were sold out by 12:30 p.m. as an astonishing 32,000 persons, lured by upper 70-degree temperatures and, of course, Jim Ryun, witnessed Saturday’s show.
“Surprised?” said KU business manager John Novotny. “That’s not the word for it. We were setting up shop for about 22,000 people. That’s how many we had last year.”
Previous record attendance at the Relays was 23,700 five years ago.
Novotny took a bath last year where he ordered 5,000 programs printed and just 3,000 were sold. So this year he ordered only 4,000. Therefore a lot of people who wanted them didn’t get them.
What they did get, though, was a victory by Jim Ryun in the Glenn Cunninghamm Mile and, if that wasn’t what most of them came to see, then the world is flat.
“One of the reasons for the big crowd,” said Novotny, “is that we have such a great student participation. I’d estimate we had 7 to 8,000 students.”
The crowd total, of course, does not include the usual freeloaders who camp out on Campanile Hill. This year that group was bigger than ever with several war dissidents conducting an orderly but noisy protest.
The protestors, although unwittingly, played hob with at least three events — the Cunningham Mile, the open shot put and the pole vault.
As the milers were lining up for the day’s premier attraction, it was time for the protestors to give their allotted speech over the public address system.
Later Ryun, who won in 3:57.1, said the delay bothered him.
“I felt good warming up,” he said, “but somehow I lost a little bit while I was waiting around.”
Ryun set the pace in the race and that’s something he doesn’t like to do. The first three quarters, consequently, were rather pedestrian. Only a blazing 53.8 final quarter pushed the time under four minutes.
Ryun outkicked Tom Von Ruden in the stretch to win in 3:57.1. Von Ruden’s time was 3:57.9.
“I didn’t feel too good during the first three quarters,” Ryun confided, “but when it came time to respond to Von Ruden, I began to feel better and better all the time.”
Von Ruden, in contrast, said he felt great the first three laps. “I really felt good to the end,” admitted the former Oklahoma State standout, “then I just couldn’t go. On the last curve, I felt that unless somebody (Ryun) died I was in trouble.”
The open shot put, matching Randy Matson and Al Feuerbach — the only two men in the world ever to throw over 70 feet, was conducted just below Campanile Hill.
And, although neither mentioned the presence of the protestors, something obviously was bothering them. Feuerbach won at 69-1 and conceded he’s had better days.
“Today was kind of a sluggish day for me,” the former Emporia State muscleman said. “It was probably the first one I’ve had all year. I had one throw slip right off my hand too, and that’s the first time that’s happened this year.”
Matson, the world record holder (71-5) and ’68 Olympic gold medalist, threw a trifling (for him) 68-3 ¼. The hulking Texan has now lost eight straight head-to-head confrontations with Feuerbach.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Matson pondered. “I might have been pressing. I should have gotten a good throw, though. I shouldn’t have gotten beat by 69-1.
“I’m disappointed. I’m going to have to start winning sometime. I can’t just tell myself. I’m going to pull it out in the Olympic Trials.”
A demonstration inside the stadium around noon delayed the pole vault for a half an hour, but that wan’t the main reason the competition didn’t conclude until semi-darkness had settled over the stadium.
Although Isaksson didn’t do it, he still won at 17-5. He missed three times at 17-10 and part of it had to be his anxiety to get out of town.
After the vault was over, Isaksson and teammate Hans Lagerqvist rushed to get dressed in an attempt to make an 8 p.m. flight out of Kansas City for the West Coast. They didn’t make it, arriving just moments after the flight departed.
During the afternoon competition, Isaksson had had to wait 4 ½ hours before he got in his first vault. When he missed the 8 p.m. flight, he faced another four-hour wait. The next flight didn’t leave until midnight.
The big hang-up was simply that there were too many competitors in the vault. Open and university-college events were held in conjunction. That meant more than 40 vaulters in the field.
“Twelve is enough,” said Isaksson, “and maybe that’s a little too much, too. When you have to wait, it all disappears. The darkness made it difficult too.”
Because of the large field, it had been decided to stop the university-college competition at 16 feet. At that point, the open vaulters would begin and go right on up until they were finished.
Instead, the two separate events went together all the way to conclusion. Meet director Bob Timmons said afterwards that the five open event participants had agreed, despite the obvious delay, not to interrupt the university-college competition.
