ORANGE COUNTY HALL OF FAME : He Has Never Run Scared : Scott, a Standout Distance Runner in 1970-80s, Didn’t Give Up in His Battle Against Cancer

Here comes Steve Scott, running hard, legs churning, arms pumping.

Is this his final lap? Or is he simply breaking from another starting line?

Even he can’t answer definitively. His career is at a crossroads, and he can’t help but wonder whether there are more quality miles to be run. Certainly, he hopes he’s not finished.

One thing is for sure: Scott will always be considered one of the two great American men’s milers. He ran too well for too long to be thought of as anything less.

In the 1970s, he set UC Irvine records for the 800 meters, 1,500 and mile, marks that might not be broken in his lifetime.

In the 1980s, he made three U.S. Olympic teams and set a national record in the mile that might last into the next century.

In the 1990s, he competed in his fifth consecutive Olympic trials, competing against much younger men. He didn’t win a spot on the 1992 team, but they knew he was there.

This year, he’s battling cancer.

Unwilling to settle for anything less than a clear-cut victory, Scott said he wants to return to a high level of fitness, perhaps make another run at the Olympics and break 4 minutes for the mile when he’s 40.

New challenges to be faced and conquered.

Sunday, Scott will be enshrined into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame. You’re supposed to be retired to enter, but Scott isn’t ready to quit.

Perhaps that’s why it’s difficult for him to answer questions about his place in U.S. track and field history. In his mind, there’s so much more running to be done.

For the moment, his recovery dominates his days. He had successful lymphatic surgery in June.

“The recovery from surgery is lasting longer than I thought,” said Scott, 38, who lives in Leucadia, in north San Diego County. “I have the drive and the desire, but I’m not sure my body is able to do anything seriously again. I’ll continue running the rest of my life. I get a lot out of it.

“But if I’m going to run, why not race too?”

At present, Scott is reduced to jogging at an easy pace. It’s frustrating for someone so used to covering ground so quickly.

“I’ve never had this much time off,” he said. “Maybe when I was a freshman or sophomore in high school.”

Even if he never runs another step, Scott’s status appears secure.

Recently, he said a track nut, a real student of marks and accomplishments, sent Scott a letter. In it, the man compared Scott’s times and finishes to those of Jim Ryun. The man concluded that Scott was superior to Ryun.

Vince O’Boyle, UC Irvine track and cross-country coach since the mid-1980s, agreed.

“We recognize the Ryuns and (Marty) Liquoris, but Scott’s got to go ahead now,” O’Boyle said. “Look at his longevity. Steve is still basically at it. He’s like a Nolan Ryan. He’s still more competitive then some of the young people coming up. That says a lot for a human being.”

Gratifying words to be sure, but Scott finds it difficult to look back. When he’s asked to speak at school assemblies, he has to remind himself not to tell the same story again and again.

When he was competing it seemed to be good policy to look ahead, to grab whatever lesson was to be learned from a race--good or bad--and move on. There was always the next race, the next lap, the next mile.

“Personally, I think I am (the best U.S. miler),” he said. “But you can’t fight a legend. We’re talking about a different era when Jim Ryun ran. It’s like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. Babe Ruth will always be a legend. Even though Hank Aaron hit many more home runs, the home run king is still Babe Ruth.”

A closer look reveals much in Scott’s favor.

Ryun remains the fastest teen-ager in history, running a world record 3:51.3 when he was 19 in 1966. A year later, he improved to 3:51.1, a mark that made him the favorite in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

But high altitude and the gut-wrenching tactics of Kenya’s Kip Keino left Ryun with the silver medal. Four years later, Ryun fell during a qualifying heat in Munich, and his career was essentially history.

Liquori picked up the torch through the mid-1970s, but the event was ripe for Scott’s picking when he left UCI in 1978.

Scott quickly graduated from standout collegian to world-class miler. At Irvine, he ran 800 meters in 1:47.6, 1,500 in 3:36.1 and the mile in 3:53.93.

“It’s mind-boggling to think a guy (from Irvine) could do that,” O’Boyle said.

Scott then plunged headlong into the great mile wars of that era.

Great Britain’s Sebastian Coe, who won gold medals in the ’80 and ’84 Games, and Steve Ovett (bronze in ‘80) were clearly the best. But Scott was never far behind. And on a cool July night in 1982 at Oslo, he ran a mile faster than any other U.S. citizen--3:47.69. It remains the fifth-fastest mile ever run.

Scott went on to finish second in the 1,500 at the 1983 World Championships, was a disappointing 10th in the ’84 Olympics and a surprising fifth in Seoul in 1988.

He set American records, indoors and outdoors, in the 1,500, mile, 2,000 and 3,000. And he ran under 4 minutes for the mile an amazing 135 times, far more than any other American.

In the years since 1982, some Americans have come close to Scott’s mile record, but it still stands, a tangible symbol of his dominance in the event.

Now, it’s difficult for him to come up with a U.S. runner capable of breaking 3:47.69.

“Steve Holman has the potential to run faster than I did, but he won’t have the long career or the consistency,” Scott said. “He’s very injury prone. The guy has the natural ability to go under 3:47. Will he have the opportunity?”

Scott always seemed to avoid serious injury.

“You have to be able to bounce back,” he said. “The ability to get through hardship, whether it’s a bad race or an injury that knocks you out for a year. One of the keys is mental tenacity, stepping to the line and getting the most out of yourself in a race.”

Coach Len Miller hammered that notion into Scott and his teammates at UCI.

“He was like a drill sergeant,” Scott said, laughing. “He dedicated his life to us. He was my best, and worst, memory of Irvine.”

Once on the European circuit, Scott found those same qualities of toughness and unyielding commitment to winning in New Zealand’s John Walker, the first man to run a mile in less than 3:50.

“He taught me a lot about training, about the sport, about attitude,” Scott said.

When cancer struck this year, Scott called upon a lifetime of tenacity.

In June, his doctor went searching for 15 possible cancerous lymph nodes. Scott said he felt more nervous before important races than before the surgery.

There is less chance of recurring cancer with each passing month, Scott said, and so far, monthly X-rays have shown everything is fine.

Since June, he has had time to reflect. What stands out, more than medals or records, is his love of running.

“For a while there, in the early days, it was more difficult to get out the door to run,” Scott said. “The thing that would drive me out to run was that I had to perform. I was on scholarship in college. I had to train because I wanted to make the high school team.

“After awhile, things changed. I was out there because I wanted to be out there. It was fun. The challenge was enough. I’d go for a 20-mile run and get rained on. It wasn’t a drag. It was fun.

“It was so hard when I had cancer and had to take all this time off. I love running long runs on the trails in the mountains. It’s something I truly missed.”

And he’s not ready to give it up.