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Show 102 Akron Beacon Journal read, "But Professor's Still a Dash Man," and from Des Moines, Iowa, The Des Moines Tribune read, "Professor, 69, (Puff!) Can't Finish Last."39 In the 1970 race, Eyring finished twenty-first in a field of twenty-two, but kept a record intact that he had never fin- ished last in a race. But the race grew in size and in l97l, Eyring had so many contenders, he had to run the race in heats. As a result, the inevitable hap- pened, he finished last, since he was running against his fastest students in the third and final heat. To explain this oddity, he said that "he had suffered at the hands of an optical illusion."40 But regardless of his place, Eyring was the favorite of everyone at the races, "not the favorite to win, just the favorite."41 At the l973 race, CBS newsman, Charles Kuralt, featured Eyring and the race on his special series, "On the Road," on national television. The summer of l975 brought another challenge to Eyring. Dr. G. Homer Durham, his old competitor at the 1958 race and Commissioner of Utah's Higher Education System, issued a public challenge on July 15 to Eyring and their old foe, Dr. McMurrin, to compete in a mini-decathlon. There were to be four events, the fifty yard dash, the golf ball drive, a frisbee throw and serving of tennis balls. Dr. McMurrin, Dean of the Graduate School, declined the opportunity because of a previous commitment at a family reunion in Southern Utah. Eyring immediately accepted the challenge and telephoned Dr. Durham that he accepted. were set for Friday, July 23 at l p.m. The events Eyring spent his spare time practicing golf, tennis and frisbee throwing, sports taken up for the first time in his life. Dr. McMurrin, unable to attend, did predict the winners of the events in a public letter to the Salt Lake Tribune.42 |
