Author: Vernon Gambetta

In June 1973 I started graduate school at Stanford University. I studied to get my masters degree in education with an emphasis in physical education. I could not believe I was there. Given my spotty academic record in high school and my first two years of college it was a miracle that I was accepted. At least once a day the whole time I was there I would pinch myself to make sure it was really happening. I started in summer school (June 1973) so I could spread my course load out over four quarters instead of three. That summer I had seminar classes with directed reading that fueled the flames of my intellectual curiosity. The library in the school of education was a treasure trove of old physical education materials from the days when Stanford was one of the leaders in the field. I also discovered the medical school library, a wealth of information on physiology and the emerging field of biomechanics. I was like a kid in a candy store discovering new ideas that I could apply to my coaching. In the fall I taught two physical education activity classes, took 18 units of course work and coached track & field. I was given responsibility for the fall track program and coached the jumps and the decathlon. Fall track was my responsibility. Before that, fall track was not a priority. Marshall Clark, the cross-country coach, convinced Peyton Jordan the head coach to let me take it over. Marshall felt my enthusiasm and youth would help to invigorate the program. Mind you that the year before I had been coaching in junior high school and now I was working with mature athletes getting ready to compete in the Pac Eight and NCAA’s. At first it was a bit daunting, but I quickly adapted. The athletes were eager because they had never had a well-organized fall track program before so they bought in. Some of my fondest memories of fall track were Monday’s at the Stanford golf course. Everyone but the throwers met there for intervals and hill sprints. The course was closed for maintenance on Monday so we had it all to ourselves. What a beautiful training venue, frankly I have seen none better. We lived in married student housing, on the twelfth floor of a high-rise. Very interesting place in an earthquake – kind of redefined rock and roll! My wife taught at the Stanford pre-school in the morning and then worked in the library government documents section in the afternoon. Our total income for the year was less than six thousand dollars, but for both of us it was like heaven. I was coaching in college and learning and she was back to where she had gone to college with many of her friends. There were frequent visits to Track & Field News in nearby Los Altos where I bought every publication they had for sale. Also hung out some at Runners World in Mountain View. It was a small operation back then and I hit it off with the editor, Joe Henderson. At Runners World I got access to back issues of coaching and training journals that I would not have been able to find anywhere else. The summer after graduate school I wrote my first book “Hurdling and Steeplechasing’ a Runners World booklet of the month. I finished my masters in June 1974. I learned so much in my formal studies but I learned even more from the people I came in contact with during that year as well as the situations and events. Stanford was and is an amazing place to learn both in and out of the classroom. Dr Wesley Ruff was my advisor. He was a pioneer physical educator who had a background in gymnastics. I realize now looking back that many of his ideas are what we now call functional training. He was very encouraging and helpful. If fact he encouraged me to stay for my PHD so I applied and was accepted. But then when I realized it would take me away from coaching I decided not to pursuer that route. Marshall Clark was the cross-country coach. My daily interaction with him talking coaching and exchanging ideas was the highlight of my year at Stanford. He was great middle distance and distance coach as evidenced by the athletes he produced with virtually no scholarship money. Don Kardong, fourth on the 76 Olympic games marathon, Duncan McDonald the American record holder at 5,000 meters and Anthony Sandoval and a host of others. I respected his clam quiet demeanor and his focus and dedication to his athletes. He was not a scientific coach, his coaching was more by feel and experience and he was good at it. Noontime runs on the golf course with Jim Gaughran, the swim coach and Marshall were special. Listening to them talk gave me so many great ideas on training for middle distance and distance. Getting to know Alphonse Juilland AKA “The Prof” Professor of French and Italian was an experience. He was a joy to be around, probably my first exposure to someone of that intellectual stature and he a real a real track aficionado.  He was a master’s sprinter who at one time held the world record for the 100 meters in his age group. I will always remember his grey beard, pipe, elegant clothes and upright running gait. I have many fond memories of going to Zots in Portola Valley after workouts with him for a beer and discussions that ranged from training to his conservative political beliefs. Being around the young Anthony Sandoval opened my eyes to the dedication it took to achieve at the highest levels. Tony was a sophomore in college then but you could the ingredients that would eventually lead to his world-class status. He had a beautiful economical running style that you just knew would be a perfect fit for the marathon. He was a double major in premed and engineering. To say he was focused in order to pull that off would be an understatement. I loved to watch him do his Wednesday workout on the soccer field of short rest 300’s in descending sets. He would eat it up. Because of Peyton Jordan’s reputation internationally there were frequent visitors from foreign athletes and coaches. Getting to talk to those coaches and watch the their athletes train furthered my education. One of the athlete’s who visited was Marcello Fiasconaro world record holder in the 800 meters and also a sub 45-second 400 meter runner. I will never forget watching him run 2 x 330 on the hard stadium track on a cold day in January. He took full recovery, which as I recall was close to 20 minutes. He ran 33.1 and 32.8! Another highlight was Finnish distance coach who had actually seen Lasse Viren train his insights into Viren’s training were very informative and thought provoking. At the time Stanford was characterized by political activism; this was only three years removed from the riots on campus in reaction to our invasion of Cambodia. I loved the atmosphere. The students were alive and involved and concerned about the world. It was heady and exciting times. It was also the time of Jack Scott and the so-called Athletic Revolution, a movement that empowered the athlete. This really signaled the end of the “dumb jock” culture. I would say that Stanford was at the forefront of this movement. The triple Jump coaching or as a I look back on it my cloning phase of coaching was an interesting experience. I coached two triple jumpers both of whom had jumped in the forty-six foot range the previous year. They were two different body types, one was stocky and strong, and the other was taller, leaner and faster. I was enamored with the Russian method of triple jump training as exemplified by the ideas of Vitold Kreer and the training of Victor Saneyev so I trained them both the same. Naturally the stockier stronger jumper thrived and improved to jump over 50 feet foot and the leaner faster athlete barely survived even though he also improved to the 48-foot range. The lesson here is to coach the athlete and adapt the training for the event to their physical qualities instead of being married rigidly to a system. Peyton Jordan was the head coach. In college at USC he had been a great sprinter. He had great success first at Occidental college and in his early years at Stanford through 1968. He was the 1968 Olympic coach. He was very much opposed to the political activism surrounding the 1968 team and out of touch with the black athletes. Society was changing faster than he was willing to admit and he was unable to adapt to the current reality. It was tough to watch. Here was a man with tremendous talent and ability who became very bitter and alienated from the Stanford community. He had been a great coach. He had an amazing coaching eye and feel for the events but he could longer relate to the athletes. The few times he let go and let his guard down were very revealing. He was a great teacher. He was more into himself and starting to turn his attention to his own running. He stayed on for too long. He left in 1979. In his retirement and through his running he seemed to resurrect his image. He certainly said all the right things in interviews I hope it was sincere. He was a man I just never could connect with. It was an amazing year for me in journey of learning to coach. It certainly was a pivotal year in my career. I learned so much both inside and outside the classroom. Lessons I continue to apply today.