“One of the few other parts of the race I remember clearly is running up Heartbreak Hill. I looked up and literally couldn’t see where I was supposed to run. The hot weather brought out everyone with their BBQ’s and beer and obviously crowd control wasn’t a high priority…
“Luckily, a motor cycle cop came to my rescue and led me up the hills. I’ve never been so grateful to suck exhaust fumes for 3 miles instead of oxygen. It was the only way I could have fought my way through the crowds.
Bob Wallace
Omaha, Nebraska
Age – 30
2:17:18
[Bob Wallace (June 21, 1951 – July 21, 2020) was a distance runner from Croydon, Victoria, Australia, best known for running the marathon, with a PR of 2:13:14 in 1981. He was a 1974 NCAA All-American at the University of Texas-El Paso and Australian national marathon champion in 1977. In April 1982, Wallace came in ninth in the Boston Marathon (2:17:18), a race famously known as the “Duel in the Sun.” He later moved to Dallas, Texas, where he owned a running store, Run On. He also wrote a book, “Running Your Bucket List Marathon.”
He recorded the “unabridged, unedited, un-redacted, unprofessional” account of his only Boston race on the runproject.org website, from which the above excerpt is taken.
A tribute to his life can also be found there.]