Arthur Lydiard
From WikiRun
| Arthur Lydiard | |
| Nationality | New Zeland |
|---|---|
| PR | Marathon 2:39:05 |
| Born | July 6, 1917 at Auckland, New Zealand |
| Died | Dec. 11, 2004 at Texas |
Arthur Leslie Lydiard, ONZ, OBE, (July 6, 1917 – December 11, 2004) was a New Zealand runner and athletics coach.
He also played rugby for 13 years. After World War II, when he dropped rugby, he started jogging to stay in shape. He eventually trained 100 miles a week and won several New Zealand marathon championships.
His best-known New Zealand runners, all of whom came to prominence in the 1960's, were Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, Bill Baillie and John Davies. He coached Snell to world records in the mile and half-mile. From 1965 to 1972, he coached the Olympic or national teams or both for Mexico, Finland, Venezuela and Denmark.
Lydiard died of a heart attack while lecturing in the United States at the age of 87 on December 11, 2004. [1]
Contents |
Athletic Career Highlights
- 1953 New Zealand marathon champion
- 1955 New Zealand marathon champion
Coaching Theory
Although his main focus was training middle and distance runners his training methods were for every athlete whose first concern is to build speed on increased stamina. [2]
Athletes he coached
He coached 12 international athletes from his own small town, proving that it was his methods of training and not the recruiting of elite athletes that was responsible for his success. [2]
Here is a list of some of the athletes he coached:
- Murray Halberg, 5,000 meter Olympic gold medalist
- Peter Snell, 800 meter Olympic gold medalist and Olympic record
- Barry Magee, Olympic marathon bronze medalist
- Bill Baillie, New Zealand ten-mile record holder
- Jeff Julian, 1960 Olympic marathoner
- Ray Puckett, Olympic marathon representative in 1960
- Dave Powers, 1960 Olympic marathoner
- John Davies, 1962 New Zealand mile champion
- Colin Lousich, 1951 New Zealand six mile champion
- Lawrie King, 1953 and 1954 New Zealand six mile champion
- Bill Roger, 1956 New Zealand six mile champion
- Kerry Williams, 1960 New Zealand 3,000 meter steeplechase champion
- Alex Shaw, 1961 New Zealand 3,000 meter steeplechase champion
Honors
- Made an OBE in 1962
- Awarded NZ's highest royal honour, membership of the Order of New Zealand 1990
- Inducted into New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, 1990
- Made life member of Athletics NZ, 2003[3]
Quotes About Lydiard
Bill Bowerman, "I am but the disciple. Arthur Lydiard is the prophet."[4]
Author
He was the co-author, with Garth Gilmour, of several books on running including the following.
- Run to the Top, 1963
- Running the Lydiard Way, June 1978
- Running to the Top, January 1997
- Running with Lydiard, May 2000
- Distance Training for Masters, October 2000
- Distance Training for Women Athletes, May 1999
- Jogging with Lydiard, May 2002
- Distance Training for Young Athletes, June 1999
External links
- A non-profit with the goal to bring the Lydiard training system to all potential athletes worldwide
- Excellent Book on Arthur Lydiard's Training
- NY Times Obituary
Notes
- ↑ Pete Nichols. (2004, December 30). Obituary: Arthur Lydiard: Athletics coach who first championed jogging. The Guardian,p. 20.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Arthur Lydiard, Arthur Gilmour (1962). Run to the Top, 15.
- ↑ http://www.multidays.com/html/articles/arthur_lydiard_article.htm
- ↑ George Chesterton (2004, August 1). NO TURNING BACK: Arthur Lydiard, athletics coach :[First Edition]. The Independent on Sunday,p. 11.