A Hungarian Distance Dynasty
This article, which recalls Hungary's distance magnificence of the mid-’50s, is from the April ’96 edition of T&FN. It was sparked by the passing of multiple World Record setter Sándor Iharos. by Jon Hendershott  Before the world distance map was redrawn--by Kenyans in the '60s, Finns in the '70s, Italians in the '80s and North Africans in the '90s--there were Hungarians.
A fabulous trio from the central-European nation dominated global distance running in the mid-'50s, and the brightest star of them all was Sándor Iharos. Beginning in May of '55, the lanky Iharos set 8 individual World Records from the 1500 through the 10,000 in a bit more than a year (see chart for his whole dozen). Yet he never won a medal at the Olympics or European Championships. The recordsetting brilliance of Iharos was recalled on January 24 when the star's light went out--Iharos died in Budapest at age 65. Iharos, László Tábori and lstván Rózsavölgyi made up the core of the Honved (Army) club in Budapest, directed by renowned coach Mihály Igloi. In total, 21 global bests were set by Igloi-coached athletes--first Hungarians, then Americans after he defected to the U.S. following the '56 Olympics. "All successful programs emanate from one source. Whether it was Honved in Hungary or the Los Angeles TC here, that source was Mike Igloi," says Jim Beatty. Beatty was the premier U.S. miler in the early '60s, setting four ARs at both 1500 and the mile, a 2M WR and, of course, producing the historic first sub-4:00 mile indoors. "Mike constantly talked about the achievements of the three Hungarians," says Joe Douglas, a journeyman halfmiler with the LATC who has gone on to coaching renown of his own with the Santa Monica TC. "He was tremendously proud of them." Tábori tied Iharos's 1500 WR, while Rózsavölgyi set bests at 1000, 1500 and 2000 and won the '60 Olympic 1500 bronze. All four also had part in long-distance relay WRs. Like Igloi, Tábori defected to the U.S. after Melbourne, where he ran a close 4th in the 1500. He now coaches in the Los Angeles area and owns a running store. "We were three different people, with different temperaments," says Tábori, 64. "But we all had one goal: to improve. Igloi had the knowledge for us to do that." Igloi's coaching centered on huge amounts of interval training, still a relatively new concept in the '50s. Beatty recalls, "We ran 80-100M a week, but no rep was longer than 300m: Mike believed that an incredible amount of speed training also built stamina." "People of the time said Igloi ruined us," Tábori says. "We didn't believe that because we believed in him. If an athlete doesn't believe in his coach, don't train with him." Roberto Quercetani, T&FN's European Editor for almost 50 years, recalls, "After Iharos ran his 3M/5000 records in the same race, someone said, 'Iharos finished surprisingly fresh for a man who had 700 training sessions in the past year.'" Says T&FN Founding Editor Cordner Nelson, "At that time, other training methods didn't include enough speedwork. The secret for the Hungarians was that they definitely trained for speed. The key for Iharos was Igloi being ahead of the times in terms of speed training." Beatty adds, "I'm not sure athletes today could do that amount of work. Plus, we all worked full-time jobs, then trained." Tábori believes Iharos "could run better in training than in big races." His best title placings were 6ths in the '54 European 1500 and '58 5000. He ran 10th in the 1960 Olympic 5000 and 11th at 10,000. But the irony of Iharos's career was, despite his AOY-caliber season in '55, he didn't compete in the '56 Games--where many historians believe he could have won the 1500. "Sándor always had weak ankles and he was hurt at the time of Melbourne," Tábori says. The bloody Soviet invasion of Hungary--and a stormy but hush-hush romance--also distracted Iharos. After quitting running in the early '60s, he drifted from job to job and also battled alcohol problems. Tábori says that Iharos was "pretty much of a loner. He had had a hard childhood; he never knew his father. He was a great friend, if you could get close to him-but he let very few get close." In Quercetani's estimation, "As a competitor, Iharos definitely was below Tábori. And he probably lacked the basic speed of Rózsavölgyi. But he could digest immense training loads. For his 'wide compass,' Iharos excelled Gunder Hägg and was the forerunner of Saďd Aouita." Perhaps a fitting epitaph for Iharos is Beatty's recollection, "Igloi always said of Iharos, 'A great runner; a beautiful runner.'"
12 WRs For Iharos
Sándor lharos set an even dozen World Records in his career, with a watershed stretch of 8 individual marks running from May of '55 through July of '56. The 8 individual records:
1955
1. May 14: 3000--7:55.6
2. May 30: 2M--8:33.4
3. July 28: 1500--3:40.8
4. September 10: 5000--13:50.8
5. October 23: 5000--13:40.6
6. (3M en route--13:14.2)
1956
7. July 15: 10,000--28:42.8
8. (6M en route--27:43.8)
The 4 relay records:
1953
1. September 23: 4 x1500--15:29.2
(Garay, Beres, Rózsavölgyi, Iharos).
1954
2. July 14: 4x1500--15:21.2
(Tábori, Rózsavölgyi, Mikes, thaws).
1955
3. September 29: 4 x 1500--15:14.8
(Mikes, Tábori, Rózsavölgyi, Iharos)
1959
4. September 29: 4 x Mile--16:25.2
(Kovács, Szekeres, Iharos, Rózsavölgyi)
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