Lord Burghley was quite the character. Another of my favorite stories was when he had his 2nd hip replacement and had the original silver-plated titanium hip mounted on the hood of his Rolls Royce. You can't make this stuff up!
Indeed. Even with the newer L shaped models I remember a friend of mine going down in a high hurdle race on, what must have been, the last remaining cinder track in the New England prep school league at Choate in the late '80s. I'll bet he still has that scar.
2nd place gets the world record, crazy! Love the insight on the evolution of the hurdle!
I really enjoyed the article. The combination of sports and history is great reading.
Glad you enjoyed it Barry. I sent it to Vin as well and he hadn't heard this story before.
Such a great read. I will say I was really surprised by the Chariots of Fire fabrication of the winner of that race.
Thanks Bill. Imagine that, a fabrication to satisfy a movie script.
This was fantastic. I'd love to learn more about this Lord Burghley fellow. He sounds like a man of many talents.
Lord Burghley was quite the character. Another of my favorite stories was when he had his 2nd hip replacement and had the original silver-plated titanium hip mounted on the hood of his Rolls Royce. You can't make this stuff up!
Hurdles are still scary!
Indeed. Even with the newer L shaped models I remember a friend of mine going down in a high hurdle race on, what must have been, the last remaining cinder track in the New England prep school league at Choate in the late '80s. I'll bet he still has that scar.
Loved this, Josh! 2nd place for the world record…sigh!
Great piece of writing. Fascinating account of the evolution of hurdles, and the Darwinian characters who made it happen.
Thanks Earl. I haven't forgotten about your special interest in Big Ben Eastman. That story will be out sometime soon.
This might be the best piece Hanna has written in this series.. This is an author who KNOWS track!
Thanks David. A lot of time spent running on the track and even more reading about it over four decades.