RT Archives: Marathon Man

Medalist Steve Spence makes Pennsylvania proud

Around Chambersburg, PA, it appears that things haven't changed all that much. The city's 30,000 people still relish the tranquility that goes with their agrarian way of life; the surrounding tree-covered hills still stare across the Cumberland Valley; and 29-year-old Steve Spence still floats smoothly along the towpaths that line the old Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

Spence also still devotes what spare hours he has to working as an assistant track and cross-country coach and Chambersburg University (where, when time allows, he'll finish his Master's Degree in Business Education); he still indulges in fly fishing and golf; and he still looks to his wife, Kirsten, and his two-year-old daughter , Neely, for support. Those things won't change; nor should they. The Spence formula for success has already proven its worth.

OK, so he HAS just won a bronze medal in the marathon at the World Championships in Tokyo, and he IS the first U.S. male long-distance runner to claim a major championship medal since Frank Shorter in 1976. But it has to be kept in perspective: that was a job that had to be done. Spence believed he had the tools and he performed the task admirably. If there are celebrations in which to indulge, Steve Spence will do so quietly, in a style that's similar to that in which he became the USA's most prominent marathoner.

"I went into the World Championships with no one having any expectations of me doing well," he explains, his soft-spoken manner reflecting his understated personality. "If I had bombed, people wouldn't have thought it was any big deal. They would just say, 'Oh well, the Americans didn't do it again.' Bit I expected to do well. The bronze medal wasn't a surprise to me. I felt more a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment as I had worked so hard."

Regardless of this, Spence's World Championships success did nothing if not make the folks back home sit up and take notice. Since Shorter's Olympic medals of 1972 and 1976, there have been athletes of sufficient stature to earn major championship laurels: Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar are just two. None, however, had managed to do the trick until Spence crept almost silently into the limelight. Now, as much as he might like things to remain as they've always been, that likelihood is suddenly very far removed.

"A lot of people recognize me on the street now," he says, almost embarrassed to admit it. "They congratulate me, and now I get a lot of invitations to make appearances. It's fun and I've enjoyed the attention, but it's very demanding mentally and I have to be selective. I made an appearance at the Philadelphia Half Marathon and I was there for four hours. People were just so excited."

These are superficialities, though, and as he speaks thoughtfully of greater topics -- what's in store for himself and for U.S. distance running -- it's evident that Spence is all too aware of the ramifications of a World Championships medal on the condition of top-level marathon running in the U. S.

"I've received a lot of calls and letters from runners I've competed against," he proffers. "Ed Eyestone's reaction was that the monkey is now off our backs; that there won't be as much pressure on us to perform. Jon Sinclair now feels that he can run a marathon, too. He qualified for the Olympic Trials [ set for Columbus, OH, on April 18th] by winning the National Half Marathon Championship [in Parkersburg, WV]. But I think things are on the way up, from the 1500m on up, with people like Joe Falcon, Reuben Reina, Bob Kennedy, Shannon Butler and Aaron Ramirez. It seems like there's a resurgence of Americans."

Spence, in fact, may be viewed both as a forerunner of and a catalyst of that resurgence. In prompting runners of Sinclair's caliber to contemplate transferring their domestic road success to the championship marathon level, he may have injected just the spark that's needed to push America's distance men -- never short on talent -- to the heights that have proved elusive for more than 15 years.

There are still more responsibilities, though, that come with so striking an international efflorescence. With championship success comes the opportunity and , possibly, the obligation to elaborate on the conditions that have hampered, and still injibit, the international aspirations of America's elite marathoners. He ponders the road to the Barcelona Olympic Games next year -- a road, it seems, that's lined with pitfalls both for him and for his U.S. peers.

"I haven't put a whole lot of thought into the Olympic Trials as yet," he says, a hint of steel giving an edge to his usually velvet tones. "As far as I'm concerned, the Trials are not something to look forward to. I feel that I should be on the team right now. I've proved that I can run a hot-weather marathon, and four months [the time between the Trials and the Games] is a very short period in which to come back. I'll have more a sense of relief after the Trials if I do well. It's ridiculous to think that anyone can run top-quality marathons four months apart. Physicaly, it may not be that difficult, but mentally, it's very demanding."

The point is particularly pertinent given that Spence's Tokyo success in September '91 came after a selection race the previous November (the Columbus Marathon, which he won in a PR of 2:12:17). For now, the U.S. selection procedure remains steadfast, for better or worse, and Spence, Sinclair, Eyestone, et al will have to live or die by it. Spence intends to live, as evidenced by his inclination to look beyond the Trials -- frequently the apex of American road racers' aspirations -- to the race at the Games, the one that really counts.

"I wouldn't bother to go if I didn't think I could do well," he asserts without a trace of bravado. "I don't think I could ever say I expect to win, as so many things can happen. I could run the best race of my life and finish fourth ... or eighth. But hopefully I'll be in medal contention and have a chance of winning. It will be very hot, and the course has a big hill at the end, so my strategy at the Games would be similar to Tokyo; possibly a little less conservative. But i feel as though, in Tokyo, I was just starting to learn what I can do in the marathon. Each marathon I run, I feel as thought I'm learning a lot."

He may be both student and teacher, exploring the limits of his own ability while also instructing his U.S. rivals about their own unfulfilled abilities. As that inexorable process continues, Spence does what he can to maintain the status quo.

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