Coffee before the race⁴

I always say that the past is dust, but in my case, quite often the past is gold! Today, for inspiration, I was watching a videotape of my best seven-mile performance. It took place in Connecticut on 30 March 1980. That day I ran at a 7:19 pace. So the past for me is not dust; it is gold.

Five minutes before the race started, our limousine driver, Pavaka, came up to me and said, “Guru, would you like to have tea or coffee?”

In those days, I seldom took tea and coffee, so I said, “I do not want anything.”

“No, Guru, coffee will do you good,” said Pavaka.

So he brought me a cup of coffee and I got strength from it in the beginning of the race. My first mile split was 6:51! Later on, the coffee stopped working. Even so, my split for the last mile was 7:09.

My timing for the race was 51 minutes and 18 seconds. It still remains my personal record.