Naming this complex becomes simple.
This week, BYU will do a rare thing: Name a facility after a living person.
The last time it happened, it was over a stadium and LaVell Edwards. This time the school's track complex will be named after Clarence Robison. When it comes to this sport in this state, there is no other name.
Robison is Utah's da Vinci when it came to creating a track dynasty in the Rockies. There were 18 conference championships in 40 years of coaching, more than 100 all-Americans, one national title, 20 national champions and 26 Olympians. But those who know Robison best remember him for just turning boys into men.
Take the case of Richard Millett. Back in 1952, Robison recruited Millett out of sunny Arizona to train at BYU. But while serving a mission, Millett wrecked his knee. Three orthopedists told Millett he would never compete on a championship level again. With no anterior cruciate ligament, Millett thought he was done. But Robison saw something in Millett, took a gamble by keeping him on scholarship and encouraged him to build the muscles around his knee. Millett set personal records and became a 220-yard low hurdle conference champion.
As one of Robison's first recruits, Millett has fond memories. "My time there was filled with wonderful experiences and outstanding opportunities for building character and strength," Millett said.
In years to come, other athletes followed: triple jumper Perti Pousi, world record hurdler Ralph Mann and other all-Americans such as Anders Arrhenius, Richard George, steeplechaser Henry Marsh, Raimo Phil, the late Paul Cummings, Doug Padilla, Ed Eyestone and sprinter Frank Fredricks, to name just a fraction.
The honor? "Well, I guess if you live long enough, some of these things come your way," Robison said. "I am very honored and humbled by this."
Clarence Robison grew up in Fillmore. He was a phenomenal athlete blessed with abnormal aerobic capacity. Back in those days, American medical wisdom frowned on excess running because it was believed it would enlarge the heart and lead to early death. Utah used to have a man vs. horse competition, a distance run from Salt Lake City to Vernal, more than 150 miles. One day Clarence decided to run alongside two of his athletes in the race — Robison ran 67 miles just for fun.
Now, some 65 years later, I asked Robison if he could go out and run a mile. "I'd have to take my lunch," he said.
Robison was BYU's first Olympian, qualifying for the U.S. team in 1948 with no formal training in his event, the 5,000 meters. In fact, the fourth time he ever ran that race was in the Olympics.
While in Europe, Robison discovered Europeans were light years ahead of the Americans in training techniques. He began asking questions. He took notes and listened. He also made connections that opened the door to BYU recruiting around the world, from Fiji to Africa, from Sweden to Finland. Robison made the planet his classroom.
It is little wonder that five years ago, when his successor, Willard Hirschi, retired, BYU tapped in to Clarence's DNA and hired his son Mark to take over the program.
Mark Robison says the honor of naming BYU's track and field complex after his father is a worthy salute: "I think it's fabulous. To this point, he's had almost every honor you could imagine and has been in all the halls of fame. To leave a lasting legacy in his memory with his name is wonderful. In 50 years, whether somebody knows who he is or not, his name will be up there. He is track and field here. He put it on the map and the rest of us are just trying to keep up."
Clarence Robison will be 80 years old in June. Since retiring, he's served his church on a mission in Turkey and worked as a father, husband and grandfather.
When asked to name three things his father taught him, Mark didn't have to hesitate for a second.
"He taught me how to treat people — to treat people as if you were going to need a favor tomorrow because most of the time you will. He taught me to have the right perspective about athletics; that it is not the end, just the process, just one of the fun things you get to do this time in your life, that there are more important things to be concerned about. Life is bigger than track and field or any other sport.
"He taught me that, as a coach, there are other things I must do that are more important, like raising my family, to have balance and not to get all turned around."
Sounds like good advice for the rest of us.
What's in a name?
If it's Clarence Robison, the name means a man who always found his stride. A man who represents triumph over time, doing the distance, and finding value beyond victories.
Robison's Olympians
1948 — Clarence Robison
1968 — Perti Pousi, Kenneth Lundmark
1972 — Perti Pousi, Ralph Mann, Lasse Viren, Pekka Vassela, Zdrovko Pecar, Anders Arrhenius, Saimoni Taimani, Usula Sotutu
1976 — Richard George, Henry Marsh, Lasie Viren
1980 — Kenth Gardenkrans, Henry Marsh
1984 — Paul Cummings, Henry Marsh, Doug Padilla, Stefan Fernholm
1988 — Henry Marsh, Doug Padilla, Ed Eyestone, Soren Tallhem
1992 — Frank Fredericks, Ed Eyestone, Soren Tallhem, Oluyemi Kayode
1996 — Jason Pyrah, Frank Fredericks
2000 — Jason Pyrah, Kenneth Andam, Leonard Myles-Mills
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com