Another Masters Runner wrote:
I splurged on the book as a Christmas gift to myself since it's shockingly expensive to buy (I paid $125 and that was the cheapest I found). I feel like I'm pretty knowledgeable about distance running history, but I hadn't heard or learned all that much about Herb Elliott over the years as compared to, say, the Lydiard guys (esp Snell) or Jim Ryun and the great milers that followed. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem like Elliott gets quite the historical attention as Snell, Ryun, Keino, etc.
I was stunned to learn how great Elliott really was! Elliott's record and perhaps unrealized potential for even further greatness is extraordinary. In case anyone doesn't know his history, here is a chronology of his career (sorry, this is long):
1. Ran a 4:20 mile at age 17 (nearly 18) in late 1955
2. Missed most of 1956 with a broken foot from a freak accident, only starting to train again in December 1956 under Percy Cerutty
4. Improved to a 4-flat mile at age 19 in March 1957 (off 3-4 months training!), which ends the Aussie season in 1957
5. Spectacular 1958 at age 20: first US & European tours and runs WRs of 3:54.5 mile and 3:36.0 1500m.
6. Gets married in early 1959, has a new job at Shell and starts university coursework on the side, so has limited time and attention for training and runs just a few races in 1959 off of "1958 fitness"
7. In late December 1959, he stops smoking (!) to start more serious training for Rome Olympics to begin in Sept 1960
8. 1960: at age 22, he runs a limited race schedule, partly due to an injured arch (from a 33 mile run!) and an injured knee
9. mid-June through mid-August 1960: trains in Melbourne during its rainy winter while working full time (training at lunch and after work); not feeling fit and runs a few time trials but no races
10. mid-August 1960: goes to Rome not feeling race fit but starts to round into shape and ends up winning 1500m gold in early Sept with a WR of 3:35.6 in what is still the largest margin of victory ever (nearly 3 seconds). Enrolled full-time at Cambridge Univ. shortly thereafter and effectively retired -- undefeated for career at 1500 and mile -- after Rome.
To sum it up, with full-time jobs throughout, he really only started what we'd think of now as serious training/racing in late 1956 at age 18; trained/raced full seasons in 1957-1958 at ages 19-20, setting massive world records in the 1500 and mile; ran relatively sparingly at age 21 in 1959; then struggled through injury and time/training/racing constraints at age 22 in 1960 but still showed up in Rome and blew the doors off the rest of the world. Then retired undefeated. (And for those who care about these things, he was a front-runner who would typically take off on the 3rd lap and dare the kickers to try to stay with him.)
Given slow tracks, lack of pacers, lack of PEDs, his relative youth when retiring, his limited number of years competing, and his good but probably not ideal training from Cerutty, it's easy to imagine that he had far more upside (under modern conditions) than the already-impressive low 3:50s mile-equivalent that he ran! Wow!
A few other random things that grabbed me:
1. Given that the book was written in 1961 and he was writing about his first trip to the US in 1958, it was surprising to hear his comments about how fat Americans were. I thought America's obesity problem dated back to the early 80s, but apparently it started much sooner!
2. As has been much much-discussed elsewhere, Cerutty was eccentric but he had Elliott doing heavy weight lifting (high weight, low reps) at a time when that was unheard of. There was also an emphasis on whole grains, raw foods and restricted meat intake that was ahead of its time.
3. Elliott wanted to run the marathon (which was after the 1500m) at the Rome Olympics but wasn't selected since he was too late in asking and the Aussie selectors had already agreed on 3 other runners. Elliott never raced longer than 3 miles, but knew he could handle the distance (see 33-mile run above). Cerutty and Lydiard definitely had some similarities in high volume for middle distance guys.
4. Compared to other books by runners in that era, which tend to be somewhat bland and controversy-avoiding, Elliott (maybe influenced by the outspoken Cerutty) was relatively candid in his assessment of his competitors and their weaknesses.
It's well worth the read if you can find a copy!
I love the suggestion. I am a huge fan of books, rare books, running books! Thanks for the recommendation.
If you liked that one, I am sure you know No Bugles, No Drums by Snell.
