RIP Danny Henderson

Thanks Doug,

What an interesting interview with Danny. I believe, Jon was trying his principles of training a few years back with Wheaton runners if I remember accurately. I know he contacted me, but I really have no input. On a personal note, after not being able to run for 11 years, I fought my way back. Unfortunately, two weeks before my fall marathon, I found out I had a broken bone in my foot. Maybe the 20 miler, a 20 x 400 interval session, and a 5 mile race in the previous week was not the best idea for my 65 year old body. I might need a coach, but definitely not Jon L. at this point

I am Danny's post college coach, Jon Lederhouse. I was heartbroken to hear of his passing yesterday and can affirm all the good things that have been posted about him! I was privileged to have the opportunity to try short rest interval training with him in the mid-80s and see the success he had with it. Yes, I had him try crazy sets (worst one was 5 x 1600 on 5:00 sendoff and he held 4:40-4:45 on each) and learned from each other to modify and find a good balance of training work:rest ratio. Generally, the shortest rest period included in sendoffs would be 20-30 seconds as in his standard 5K goal set of 20 x 400 on 1:30 improving from a 69 to 64 average over our two years. In hindsight, my biggest challenge in coaching him was twofold. One was failing to develop an adequate recovery period within our monthly workout plans, and second in determining the duration needed for a taper to be maximally effective. I learned things from Danny that I was able to apply to my college swim coaching career and enjoyed our extended friendship. Now, in my retirement, I coach local runners using the same short rest interval principles but have discovered based upon their taper responses that I should have given Danny almost double the amount of taper than I had given him.

I ran for UCTC when you were at U of C.

Danny was my college teammate, fellow UCTC vagabond and friend. He was so much more than just a very good runner. As a 400m hurdler, I didn’t interact with him much on the track, but I watched him do some pretty mind-boggling things. He was very quiet and managed to keep a low profile even on a small campus like Wheaton, where I believe he is the best athlete in the school’s history. Fortunately, I ended up traveling to meets with him post-college and really found out what a great guy he was.
I suspect that anyone who reaches the level that Danny did has friends who tell stories about the superhuman things they did along the way, some of which are actually true. I have a ton of them, but here’s one I can fully document. In the summer of 1978, we traveled together to Eastern Europe with about 30 guys and ran in about a dozen meets. Danny made the leap from being a very good DIII runner to whatever the next level is on that trip. He ran 14:11 in Belgrade one evening, rode a bus across then-Yugoslavia the next day and then ran 13:50 in Celje, which stood as the all-time DIII record for over 40 years. I on the other hand ran a 400m PR in the first meet and followed that up with just about the worst 400 IM race of my life. Danny was all kinds of tough.
Danny did not like being typecast or defined by his running but his running demonstrated a depth of character and courage that few people have. Great runners are not always great guys as anyone who has ever entered that world could attest to. And guys who try to accomplish great things often fail very publicly. Danny accomplished much more than most, risked crashing and burning to get better (right Jon Lederhouse?), and remained a genuinely kind-hearted, gentle guy through it all. Count me among the many who will miss him greatly.

Not a chance. He was never married or had children. End of story. Whoever started that rumor on this thread should get some help.

(Sorry, new to this posting gig. This comment is in response to an earlier post.)

Wonderful to read your account of Danny! Tedwin is our Wheaton's 51.3 D3 400 mt. hurdle champion and STILL college record holder, and yes, I can attest to everything you referenced (much of which applies to you as well).

Ted, I am a classmate of yours. I remember when you guys went overseas. I believe that Cutis Alitz was the other distance runner on that trip. The vile poster posting ridiculous stuff about Danny show what a cesspool Let’s Run can be. All those deleted posts are his. I put a bunch of photos of Danny on my personal page if you are interested and can find me.

Jon, it is interesting to hear more of your feedback on Danny’s workouts. If you saw my above post, it is a joke because at my age I could not do such workouts. I think I would have enjoyed them when I was younger as I had no speed at all, but had great endurance and could recover quickly in workouts and between workouts. They may have made me a faster/tough runner.

I’ve seen your post and loved the pictures. I’ve got a few more that I will try to add.

As for the troll, I’m invoking the principle that it’s foolish to wrestle with a pig because you both get dirty and only the pig has fun.

Such a shock to lose Danny. I so enjoyed his dry, snarky humor and his quiet, humble spirit.

I only knew Danny a little bit.

He was a kind and gentle man who ran light on his feet.

Rest In Peace my friend.

Very nice, Gerard.

For those who don't know Gerard, he was 1st, 1st and 2nd at the National Championships 10,000m '86 -'88.