RIP Bill Dellinger - Olympian. Coach. Mentor. Friend. RIP Bill Dellinger, 1934-2025

Great post with even better quotes. I wrote a few of those down, thanks for posting.

Today, I’m remembering Bill Dellinger—not just as a legendary coach, but as a man who shaped the trajectory of my life through quiet belief, relentless wisdom, and unwavering loyalty.
“They’re all good days, Ben. All of them. Life will always choose the race. You get to choose how you run it.”
Coach said that to me once, and it’s never left me.
When I was dealing with social anxiety—avoiding parties and sitting alone in my dorm—he didn’t try to fix me. He took me to the bar and taught me how to play darts. When I was unknowingly burning out from walking miles around campus just to avoid the silence of my dorm room, he invited me to ride along in his golf cart a couple days each week. I thought it was recovery time. He knew it was quality time.
That’s the kind of coach he was. That’s the kind of man he was.
After the race of my life:
🦆 “You might have woken up this morning a basketball player, but you’re going to bed tonight as a runner. Great race. I look forward to being in touch with you.”
Before I even got to Eugene, during one of the hardest seasons of my life—when running was an afterthought and I was facing a potential 5-to-15-year prison sentence—he stood by me when it would’ve been easier not to. He held my scholarship. He chose to believe in me. That belief didn’t just keep a door open—it reminded me who I was. And who I was meant to become.
And when I finally arrived in Eugene, emotionally broken and unsure of everything ahead:
🦆 “Ben, you’re in Eugene because of your heart. I’ll teach you to run.”
Some of the lessons he gave me still guide me today:
🦆 “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
🦆 “You need to decide if you like the wind hitting your face, or if you like creating the motion that has your face hitting the air… I’m not talking about running. I’m talking about life.”
🦆 “Maybe in time, you’ll learn to be an activist for yourself. An activist for your thoughts.”
🦆 “I’m disappointed that you, Ben the Person, hasn’t pushed Ben the Runner to get everything out of the gift that’s in you.”
🦆 “Let’s get you fit to get fit. It’s never too late.”
🦆 “As soon as you start experiencing success, there’ll be someone who doesn’t have the success you have—or doesn’t want you to be successful—and they may talk negatively about you. The faster you learn to pay zero attention to those people, the farther you’ll be on your own path.”
Coach didn’t demand loyalty—he earned it. His athletes didn’t run hard out of fear. They ran hard out of respect.
You saw something in me before I knew it was there. That kind of belief doesn’t fade. It lives on.
Rest easy. You didn’t just build runners. You built men.
🦆 Go Ducks 🦆

@BenAndrews

👍

Thanks 🙏

Thank you!

That's a really great post and tribute. I've always thought that a truly great coach is more concerned with developing their athletes as people, not just as athletes.

For you, I'll do that. I can tell you are a good person.

I was fortunate to have met him - he and his wife hosted me in his home and shared stories with a fan that he owed nothing to. It is an experience I'll never forget. His trophy wall was... un freaking real.

RIP to one of the best in the sport. His running career and his coaching career are worthy of praise and admiration as their own separate accomplishments - he did both where most mortals can only dream of one.

Tremendous man

RIP

Malmo & Lease, Thanks for sharing those videos! That race was actually so awesome. So nice to see real lead changes like that. They were battling the whole way! Amazing that America got Gold and Bronze in that race!

p.s. And the mud all over their shorts. They were running on a dirt track in moccasin-like leather spikes.

Image:static.designboom.com/wp-content/uploa...

knew Bill

a fun spirit incognito i thought charitable

he did very well with 3 olympics and in heaven with the position of track coach.

guiding al sal, chappa, mack, mcchesney, slaney, jim hill, martin, borleau, byers (the rabbit that got away_ and so many others, AT THE SAME TIME.

byers BTW was a 350 miler and was not so far away from the big podium actually, 3rd on the 1k list.

obviously Dellinger focus was very diluted, but there was no solution to that, to build the nations best program you need numbers.

that said. UofO had the most horrible record of milking the best of the athlete while they were in the program, and the athletes, almost all, never achieved their potential. a lot of runners were lost in the program.

dellinger's training, mainstay was a lot of mid=d work, repeat miles, 4 miles , lydiard like, light on speed intervals. that was from the optics from the B group.

"30 years old" "out of retirement" bronze medal

Dude would be crucified on these boards today (sadly).

I never met him but wish I had. A remarkable man. He was both a world class athlete and a world class coach. Most people don't realize how rare that is, in any sport. For those two completely different skill sets to reside in the same person is exceedingly rare.

Resume includes

Dellinger had a couple of indoor 2 and 3 mile world records

AI says, Bill Dellinger won every collegiate cross country race he entered while competing for the University of Oregon. That’s a pretty remarkable feat, especially considering he was also a two-time NCAA champion on the track and a three-time Olympian.

toward instruction, and for athletes entering university, coaches,

they may study dellinger's program in detail and farm the benefits and lessons learned.

the point of the messanger

maybe dellinger would like that.

What makes you think that?

This doesn't make any sense.

The Winning Running book is a gem if you are looking for high-quality workouts.