Self Made Olympian

Read it and report back. Okay? Thanks.

If you don't know anything about Daws, he was a good but not great runner who trained his a** off and made the '68 Olympic Marathon team. He (along with Lindgren) was one of the first guys to consistently do super high mileage.

I read the book about 20 years ago, interesting read.

I found it an interesting book (read it BITD). Some very interesting ideas there.

My college coach also read it. The team was in the midst of a "long season"--one competitive guy (who went to Nationals) and the rest a bunch of potato eaters--and the coach, who probably read the book in September, instituted stair-running workouts in the middle of the season.

He was a good guy and a highly knowledgeable coach who'd had some outstanding teams, and I'm sure he was desperate for anything that might help the team win a meet, but these workouts (in October) didn't seem to have the desired effect--though maybe nothing would have that year, I don't know.

One of the things I learned (for my own coaching) from the experience: try to read stuff like this in the *off* season, *think* before you take specific bits from one person's training and add them to your own, and try in any case not to institute new wrinkles until your next training year (when you've had a chance to figure out how they'll fit in with everything else you're doing klllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll).

Sorry about that last bit. Cat stepped on the keyboard just as I was sending the post...

If I remember correctly, Ron Daws didn't break 5 in high school and never even broke 4:40 in college. His marathon pr was about 2:30, which isn't going to get you to the Olympics today.

Daws was a Lydiard disciple. It is an interesting read as Ron was an independent thinker who made his own treadmills, shoes, and training plans.

Daw's marathon p.r. was actually 2:20 (which is still not fast enough to make an Olympic team these days), but he pulled off a masterful race when the trials were held in Alamosa.

Daws was married to Lorraine Moller and notably coach Steve Hoag (another Minnesotan) to a 2:11 Boston marathon.

i believe you do remember correctly but it points to ron giving an excellent account of how to develop to one's potential. things fell into place for him and he became an olympian, something he earned through persistence, good planning and belief in himself, we could all use those qualities.

I competed at the same time as Ron Daws. He did not have a great deal of talent and yet with a lot of thought, competitiveness and very hard work he became a United States Olympic and Pan American Games Team member, a United States Marathon Champion. He was inducted into the National Road Runners Hall of Fame in 1986.

Some of Ron's best Boston Marathon runs follow:

1965--15th--2:29:31

1966--9th--2:24:27

1967--18th--2:28:42

1968--5th--2:29:17

1969--4th--2:20:23

1970--47th--2:33:04

1973--10th--2:24:09

1974--21st--2:22:16

I read his book many years ago. It is worth reading. We can all learn from Ron Daws, a self made Olympian.

I was just given a box of old Runner's World booklets and magazines this morning from another runner. There were about 20 magazines from 1971-72 a couple of pictorial issues and a 1972 Olympic recap magazine. There are about 20 of the booklet of the Months all in pristine (seems unread shape). Booklets include The Self Made Olympian, Frank Shorter Story, Dave Wottle Story, Always Young (George Young), Tale of the Ancient Marathoner (Jack Foster), Gerry Lindgren Story, and a bunch of other interesting books on training and such. The only one I already had is the Frank Shorter book, so I am in running reading heaven, as these are books I have always wanted to read. Christmas came early I guess. Maybe I should start with the Ron Daws book.

Great book. Definitely a must read. Might have to pick it up again for the holiday. Ron tells how he did it. Most memorably, I remember him talking about preparing for the heat by training in layers. It's the little things like this (being methodical) that make it a great book. I'd also recommend Bill Rodger's Marathoning.

jaguar1 wrote:

Most memorably, I remember him talking about preparing for the heat by training in layers.

Oh, yeah, I remember that! He and a buddy did a long run, in layers, in the summer and were so parched that they licked the dew off a parked car.

If you are serious about training and the marathon it is a great book. I read it for the first time about 5 years ago and found it exceptionally inspiring.

TDF:

What would you take for the Jack Foster book?

sugardaddy wrote:

If I remember correctly, Ron Daws didn't break 5 in high school and never even broke 4:40 in college. His marathon pr was about 2:30, which isn't going to get you to the Olympics today.

You're way off. In college, Daws ran 4:30 in the mile, 9:43 in the two-mile, and 15:22 in the three-mile. I once boasted to him that my college times were even slower than his, although it's probably safe to say that he trained a lot more than I did in college. I don't know what his high-school times were, but I don't think that they were horrible by the standards of most high school runners.

If you include aided courses, his marathon PR was 2:20+ at Boston. I'm not sure what his fastest time on a record-quality course was, but the alternatives to Boston were pretty limited back then, and some of his best performances (including the '68 Olympic Trials at high altitude in Alamosa) were under pretty extreme conditions.

Daws is a good example for today's runners, because he took it upon himself to learn what works and what doesn't, instead of relying only on a coach and some cookbook training formulas. ("A lot of these guys," he told me, referring to the runners of a later generation, "don't even know who Arthur Lydiard is!") There wasn't a lot of readily-available information about how to train back then, but he learned what he could from others, learned what he could from his own body, and tried to squeeze as much out of his talent as he could.

5:19 mile in high school.

Ron\'s journey to the Olympics was legendary. As stated by several here, his mile, 3 mile, etc. times were very mediocre (even by 1950s high school standards). He was considered a good, but not great runner in HS and college. He ran varsity CC at the University of Minnesota, but the Gopher coach in those days, Jim Kelly, actually ordered Ron to NOT run with Buddy Edelen in the track workouts. Edelen was the star of the team and Kelly actually was afraid Ron\'s ungainly form could possibly injure Edelen on the tight indoor track turns! He made the 1967 Pan Am team in the Marathon but suffered a sciatic nerve injury that caused him to DNF.Perhaps his darkest hour as a runner, but he overcame the sciatica and made the 1968 Olympic Team. He had one of the slowest qualifying times heading into the \'68 Olympic Marathon Trials and had to make some difficult financial decisions to make the trip to Alamosa, CO. He tried to solicit travel money, but no one would give him a cent. (Pillsbury did offer to give him free cookies he told us!) No one gave him a chance, but the altitude and warm weather played right into his hands. He ran a smart race, held back, and picked off faster runners that went out too hard. His is a story of remarkable persistence! His sudden death in 1992 was a real blow to all that knew him.

OrvilleAtkins wrote:

I read his book many years ago. It is worth reading. We can all learn from Ron Daws, a self made Olympian.

I remember getting his book when it first came out. Yes, it is well worth the price and reading!!!

I look at these guys as the "founding fathers" of American distance running. I read this book over twenty five years ago and it was an inspiration in working hard and planning. One of these days, someone with a lot more talent the Daws and his inspiration will become an american hero in distance running. Just desire and hard work, not all the high tech crap everyone has now.

While browsing through my books, discovered I own SMO, published in '77. It was one of those World Publications (RW) books going for $3.50, 157 pages. Traces his path from aspiring but frustrated high school and UMinn runner to forging his way toward the top in road racing, experimenting as he went w/all things running. All this, years before running became cool. By today's standards, RD still wouldn't make very many college traveling squads in track but his perseverance is timeless & inspiring stuff.

Seems his high school PR was 4:42 and others have noted his other bests.