It was Halberg but that gets into a touchy area. Halberg, Bill Baillie and Bill Rodger (not the US BR obviously) had gone from New Zealand to live in Australia for a while. I think it was before the 1956 Olympics. They did spend some time at Portsea but only briefly.
When Halberg began running well Cerutty claimed that he had coached Halberg. Halberg made it very clear that he had never been coached by anyone other than Lydiard and made a point of saying so in "A CLean Pair of Heels."
Perc felt that if you sought him out for advice or you stayed at Portsea then he had spent some time coaching you.
I never "heard" him say he was Halberg's coach. I did hear him say that he worked with Halberg. Same with Agostini and Cuthbert as sprinters.
This is nothing compared to what I hear american coaches doing. I once sat in on a recruiting meeting where the coach claimed to have coached a major female distance runner in the US. The extent of his coaching was as the distance coach of a World Junior team she was on.
I think if you look at Brooks Johnsons resume he will list Marie Perec as one of his athletes. In want form did that take place. (A visit to Chula Vista)
Ray L
You seem to have first hand knowledge of Perce.
How do you feel about Larry Myer's book?
I ask because I noticed some discrepancies in that
book compared to "Be Fit Or Be Damned" and some
other materials I've read.
Nor did I but it was something that evidently was an issue for Halberg who wanted to make it clear that he'd only ever been coached by Lydiard.
Sounds like an eccentric but tasty side dish
I never met Myer's and only corresponded with Perc. I did have several explanatory letters from Perc and I would ask him further qestions after reading Schoolboy Athletics, Athletics: How to become a champion, and Be fit or Be Damned. I also had access to 3 other books that Perc wrote. Perc invited me to Portsea in 1974. I could not get there until Jan of '76 and he died in the interim.
I had extensive conversations with many athletes and coaches who knew him. Chicks Hensley offered a tremendous amount of insight. Albie Thomas and Frank McCafferty spent a great deal of time at Portsea and were also very informative.
The article below may educate a few:
http://www.sgdac.org/About/Athletes/A%20Thomas/LivingLegend.pdf
Sorry, to answer your question.... yes, I do find some discrepencies in Myers work.. I can see how that would happen as Perc was often contradictory. That being said, his work on nutrition, the Zen of running, weightlifting, and biomechanics were years ahead of his time.
Many don't know that he was also the founding father of ultrarunning in Australia/New Zealand.
I think it was Tony Rafferty who was a major disciple of Percy and expanded into taht area of athletics.
Wow how about train, it doesnt matter what you drink during your meals, that won't make you any faster.