Gardena Runner Hopes to Win 10-K, Then Marathon

Sweat glistened on Willie Musyoki’s forehead, the result of a 15-mile run. A good road run for the diminutive Kenyan, a heavy favorite to win today’s Redondo Beach Super Bowl Sunday 10-K Run, is a daily ritual.

Musyoki, a member of the Gardena Valley Runners, will use today’s 10-K as a tune-up for the Los Angeles Marathon. And there are those who

suggest that he won’t even break a sweat doing it. His coach, Dan Ashimine, predicted that Musyoki won’t set the seaside course on fire in Redondo Beach unless he gets pressure from other runners.

“It won’t be an impressive win, just another tune-up for the L.A. Marathon,” Ashimine said.

But Musyoki said of the more than 10,000 runners chasing him: “It’s not a small race. Everyone there is out to win. I’m not going there to run easy. Maybe someone there will race me.”

Which would play right into his strategy, Ashimine said. “That guy loves to be pushed.”

Ashimine added that he is peaking Musyoki for what could be a surprise finish in the marathon. “There’s no question in my mind that he will do well in L.A.”

Ranked among the world’s 10 best by several road-racing publications and the Assn. of Road Racing Athletes, Musyoki has developed into the premier street racer for the Gardena Valley Runners, a club founded by Ashimine and predicated on his belief that a good long-distance runner need not train hard to be successful.

That’s not to say that Ashimine doesn’t put his stable of about 75 runners through long workouts. In fact, an average runner usually puts in more than 60 miles a week. But the pace is about 8 1/2 minutes per mile, slow by most training standards.

When Musyoki first met Ashimine, he was running five-minute miles--and hurting.

“I overtrained,” Musyoki said in a thick Kenyan accent. “I used to go faster every day, and when I went to compete in races, I had no good runs.”

Musyoki gradually slowed to a seven-minute mile pace, Ashimine said. “All of a sudden he has blossomed.”

A top high school runner in Kenya, Musyoki received a track scholarship in 1987 from Blinn Junior College in Texas. He left Blinn to run road races in Europe. However, he didn’t set the world on fire overseas despite consistent performances that included 20-K runs in less than an hour. When Musyoki returned to the United States in 1988, he was treated with little regard.

“I wanted to race, but the meet directors didn’t know much about my running,” he said.

A major shoe company sponsored him for a while, but Musyoki needed more than shoes to pay his bills. Race promoters often pay advance money to outstanding runners, but it was difficult to ask for an advance without a reputation. So Musyoki ran everywhere he could to establish himself. In 1988 he competed in 56 road races of 10-K or longer.

Ultimately, he burned out.

“I used all my energy in training,” he said. “By the time I got to Gardena, I realized I was out of shape.”

Musyoki heard about Ashimine through a junior college track coach and called him on a Friday morning last March. That afternoon he was on a plane to Jacksonville, Fla., a flight paid for by Gardena Valley Runners, to race in a 15-K sponsored by the road racing association. Ashimine’s only stipulation: Musyoki would have to race wearing the Gardena club’s yellow tank top.

“Dan just gave me the ticket and said, ‘Here, go run for us,’ ” Musyoki said.

Musyoki finished third. The next week, Ashimine--who had still not met Musyoki face-to-face--sent him to Orlando, Fla., where he finished second in a 10-K, well under the old course record.

“With these world-class runners, sometimes you have to take a chance, so I just told him, ‘Here’s your ticket; now go,’ ” Ashimine said.

Since then, Musyoki has trained under the go-slow approach preached by Ashimine. By his own estimate, Musyoki won nine major road races in 1989, including the Bastille Day 8-K in Newport Beach, the Star Festival 5-K in Gardena and a lengthy Spanish road race last December.