– That race that changed two lives. It was Grete Waitz’s life and it was my life, says Runar B. Gundersen to news. He has run the New York Marathon 43 times, but stood on the starting line for the first time in 1978. So did Grete Waitz. The proof is wallpapered on the wall of the 71-year-old’s home in Drammen. Where all start numbers from each race are framed in glass. On another wall hangs a poster both of and from the athletics team itself. “A greeting to Runar. Thanks for the good tips in 1978 in New York.” Signed Grete Waitz. 43 STARTING NUMBERS: Runar B. Gundersen tells about his first encounter with the New York Marathon and how it changed both his and Grete Waitz’s lives. Photo: Martin Leigland / news – She seemed very lost None of them really intended to run in New York. But they both went and met completely by chance in the sea of people on Staten Island before the start on October 22, 1978. Gundersen was exhausted after trudging around New York the days before. Waitz showed up without preparation. She had never run a marathon before. This was just one trip she was going to take with her husband Jack Waitz before she called it quits. – She seemed very lost as she stood among 10,000 people. This is how dramatist Gundersen describes the sight of a lonely Grete Waitz in the middle of the crowd before the New York Marathon. – As always, she seemed very nervous, explains Gundersen, who knew Waitz through athletics in Norway. NM: At Bislett in July 1978, Grete Waitz had no idea that a few months later she would become a historic marathon runner. Photo: NTB – She was like “what on earth am I doing here?”. She stood there alone and looked around. Then I went away and we started talking, says Gundersen. He had run a marathon before in Norway, but this was Waitz’s first long-distance race. Therefore, the future world star asked his compatriot many questions during the next half hour. – I tried to give her the best advice I had. The most important thing, especially for a track runner, is that you must not open too hard. For her, it would surely be very easy to take the lead early. Because she probably didn’t think it was going fast. That’s how it is with track runners who haven’t trained for marathons. Because it doesn’t feel fast, explains the 71-year-old, who never thought that Waitz would become historic that day. – I said: “You mustn’t make that up. You can stay in the lead, but don’t go up.” That was the most important advice. But I never in my wildest dreams thought she would finish the race. Watch the women’s WC final in the marathon from 07.00 on news! 1978: More than 11,000 people ran from the start on Staten Island on October 22, 1978. The fastest of all the women was a Norwegian athlete who had never run a marathon before. Photo: Ap – Made no preparations But Waitz did not follow Gundersen’s advice to take it easy. – I think the experience she had along the way was that it didn’t help much. Because she didn’t do what she was told, widower Jack Waitz tells news, who confirms that Gundersen met her before the start and gave good advice. ATHLETICS COACH: Jack Waitz says that Grete was mad at him after the race because he had made her participate. Photo: Audun Braastad / NTB He reminisces back to the historic October day, and says that Grete came to the start completely unprepared: – First of all, we were not prepared to go out and run a marathon, so to speak. We were there as tourists, because this was a trip to New York before Grete was due to quit, so we didn’t make any preparations “what so ever”. The husband had also told the would-be marathon icon that she had to stay behind the seasoned competitors, even if it was going to be slow for her. – She probably did not take this advice from Runar very seriously, says Waitz. – She was really hurt and it is well known that what she was most concerned about when she reached the finish line was not that she had won, but that it was to get hold of me, to give me, as they say in good Norwegian “a hard time” because I had talked her into running the marathon in New York. Waitz laughs and says it calmed down quickly. – Wasn’t this advice to take it easy in the first place good advice that she didn’t follow? – It was very good advice and absolutely what she should have done, says Waitz and elaborates: – Because after 30 kilometres, as we usually say, then the marathon begins. First of all, she had not run any long distances, as you do to be prepared. It simply didn’t go very well, so to speak, but it was her willpower that brought her to the finish line. It would probably have been a slightly different feeling for the race if she had followed the advice. THE YEAR BEFORE: Jack Waitz shouts instructions to his wife during an international match against Greece at Bislett in 1977. Photo: Scanpix / SCANPIX Can’t be believed Within a few hours, Waitz went from being an unknown Norwegian athlete to becoming a major world star. She won the New York Marathon and set a new world record. – There were lots of funny episodes at the finish line there because no one knew who she was because she had a handwritten start number on her chest and she was not on any lists. There was actually quite a bit of confusion, says Waitz. – That day changed my life. There is no doubt about that, says Gundersen. THANKS: “Greetings to Runar. Thank you for good tips in 1978 in New York”, says the poster Gundersen received from Waitz several years after the meeting before the start of the New York Marathon. Gundersen says that there are many who do not believe his story. Especially Americans, because in the USA Waitz gained movie star status. – The funniest story was when I was sitting on the subway on the way to the start. I would guess it was in the early 2000s. I sat there alone, also there was an American couple next to me. I would guess they were ten years older than me. They started chatting, as Americans do, and heard that I was from Norway. We talked a little about Norway. They had been there and it was so wonderful. Then they said: “Have you heard of Grete Waitz?”. This was confirmed by the dramatist, who was asked another question: “Have you ever met her or seen her?”. Yes, he had. “But up close?”, was the follow-up question. Then Gundersen began to tell the story from 1978. HONOURED: Grete Waitz together with Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar were honored at the 25th anniversary of the New York Marathon in 1994. All had won the race several times, but no one other than Waitz has won nine times. Photo: Ap – They looked at each other, the man and the woman, when I finished. With a very strange look. They both got up at the same time and then the man said in a sharp voice: “We are moving to another place. We don’t want to sit here and listen to such nonsense.” But Gundersen has proof. After 40 years, he found again the film he had taken on an 8 millimeter camera. – It’s a bit funny then, because luckily I filmed it. I have digitized that. There you see lots of people passing by, because no one knew her. I was the only one who knew her. It’s a bit strange. The next day was a little different. Grete Waitz won the first ever World Cup gold in athletics in Helsinki in 1983.
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