A little more than a decade ago, Ed Eyestone was a church missionary in Barcelona, Spain, and an all but forgotten distance runner. On a lark he ran a road race one day with hopes of winning converts, but instead he suffered the most humiliating defeat of his career. "Little kids and old ladies were passing me," he recalls. But as chance would have it, Eyestone will return to Barcelona this summer, this time as a member of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team.
On Saturday morning, Eyestone, the former Bonneville High and BYU star, earned a spot on the Olympic team by finishing second in the U.S.Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in Columbus, Ohio.Steve Spence, who finished third in last summer's World Championships, broke away from Eyestone and Bob Kempainen in the final half-mile to win the race in 2:12:43. Duplicating his finish in the Olympic Trials four years ago, Eyestone was a close second in 2:12:51, with Kempainen third in 2:12:54.
Utah's Paul Pilkington, another pre-race favorite, dropped out of the race at 14 miles. Of the other Utah entries, Chad Bennion placed 14th in 2:19:25, and Larry Smithee dropped out of the race. It was uncertain how Tracy Fifield fared, but he wasn't listed among the top 55 finishers.
"Going back to Barcelona means it's just going to be that much better," said Eyestone Saturday afternoon while receiving a massage in his Columbus hotel room, which was crowded with well-wishers. "I am definitely pumped to make the team again."
If nothing else, Saturday's performance confirmed again that Eyestone is one of the sport's steadiest performers. Only four other Americans have managed to qualify for the Olympic marathon twice during the last four decades - Bill Pfitzinger, Frank Shorter, Kenny Moore and John Kelley.
"It's tough to put it together like that on one given day four years apart," said Bob Wood, Eyestone's agent. "It's such a dice throw just to make one team. So many things can go wrong in training and in the race."
For Eyestone, some things did go wrong. He came down with a cold earlier in the week, and throughout the race he could be seen blowing his nose. At 10 miles he developed a stitch in his side and had to ease off the pace slightly.
"That was a scary moment," said Eyestone.
There was another scary moment to come. At the halfway mark, Keith Brantley, Bill Reifsnyder and Ken Martin bolted and broke away from the lead pack of 30 or so runners, which included Eyestone, Bennion, Pilkington and Spence.
"It was scary," said Eyestone. "I thought it was way too early (to make a move), plus I was working pretty hard at the time. I wasn't ready to make a move. We still had half the race to go."
A short time later Martin came back to the pack, but Brantley and Reifsnyder continued to surge and by 17 miles they had opened a 20-second lead on the rest of the chase pack, which was now thinned to three runners - Eyestone, Spence and Kempainen.
"I started getting concerned then," said Eyestone. "It was intense at that point. They still had a 20-second lead at 18 and 19 miles. I started thinking there's first and second, and three guys are fighting for third."
But at 19 miles, Eyestone, Spence and Kempainen started closing the gap rapidly while the leaders looked nervously and repeatedly over their shoulders at their pursuers. Eyestone and Co. caught and passed them at about 22 miles, and Brantley and Reifsnyder faded quickly out of contention. Urging each other on, Eyestone, Spence and Kempainen ran together the rest of the way until the final half-mile.
"I don't think three miles have ever gone slower," said Eyestone.
Spence made the first move to break from his two rivals. Eyestone rallied and closed the gap, but Spence made another move and pulled away.
"I'm happy to make the team, but in retrospect I'm ticked off," said Eyestone. "I don't think I concentrated at the end of the race. I just wanted to make the team. I was tentative when I should have been deciding I wanted to win. I should have initiated something rather than waiting for something to happen."
For Eyestone, the race not only put him back in the Olympics, but it also put money in his bank account. The top three finishers received $56,000, $46,000 and $36,000, respectively (including $16,000 in training stipends), plus a $1,000 bonus each for breaking 2:14 and another $2,000 bonus for breaking 2:13.
Eyestone has three months to rest and recover for the Olympics. In the meantime, he will consider trying to make the U.S. team in the 10,000-meter run at this summer's U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Now that he has one Olympic berth secured, anything else is a bonus.
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How they ran
Results Saturday from the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials (top three finishers qualify for Olympic Games):
1. Steve Spence, Chambersburg, pa., 2 hours, 12 minutes, 43 seconds.
2. Ed Eyestone, Bountiful, Utah, 2:12:51.
3. Robert Kempainen, Minnetonka, Minn., 2:12:54.
14. Chad Bennion, Murray, Utah, 2:19:25.