Two of the greatest distance runners in the history of American athletics spoke twice on Tuesday, December 4th, in Seto Hall. Guests of the English course Literature of Sport, running immortals Jim Ryun and Frank Shorter fascinated students and faculty alike with their intellects, their eloquence, and the stories of their achievements. They conducted two sessions in Seto during the morning and both were well attended by a cross-section of the student body and faculty.
Mr. Ryun became legendary as the first runner to run the mile in less than 4 minutes while still in high school. He went on to dominate the mile and the 1500-meters, setting the world record for the mile twice outdoors and once indoors; his world record of 3:51.1 in 1967 stood for almost eight years, which is an eternity in world-class running. 
He set the world record in the 1500-meters in 1967 and the world record for the indoor mile in 1971. In 1968 he won the silver medal in the 1500-meters at the Olympics in Mexico City. In 1966 he won the Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in America and he was the youngest man ever to be named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. A graduate of Kansas University, he recently concluded a distinguished career as a member of the United States Congress for five terms representing his home state of Kansas.
Mr. Shorter is the last American to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon, which he accomplished in 1972 at the Munich Olympics. He won a silver four years later in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. He also won the gold medal in both the marathon and the 10,000 meters at the Pan Am Games in 1971. A graduate of Yale where he was a pre-med student, Shorter also has a law degree. He, too, won the Sullivan Award, in his case in 1972. Since retiring from competitive running, he has had several outstanding careers. In particular, he has made enormous contributions to track and field in America and the world by helping to found and continuing to represent the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which works to keep athletics free of illegal performance enhancing drugs. 
These two gentlemen's combination of scholarship, athletic achievement, and public service made them ideal men to speak to 'Iolani students, many of whom also combine academics, athletics, and community service in their own lives. It was particular fascinating to the students to hear the very different routes the two men took to their athletic success. The young people in attendance absorbed much of value from Ryun and Shorter about setting goals, working hard, finding mentors, honoring the guidance of those in mentors, living a balanced life, and following the paths life presents.
The two men seemed very comfortable with each other as a speaking team and with their audience as they explained their backgrounds and then answered questions on many subjects. The questions ranged from academics to running technique to the Munich Olympic massacre to their friend Steve Prefontaine, the American icon whose premature death in an auto accident at the age of twenty-four rocked the world of track and field. If the comments by students and teachers afterwards are any indication, the 4,000-mile journeys Mr. Shorter and Mr. Ryun made from their homes in Colorado and Kansas respectively were well worth it for everyone involved.
