Percy Cerutty books - 4 now republished

I recommend Athletics: how to become a champion and Middle distance running.

These books were $300+ a few years ago when I bought them.

Not only were his training philosophies relevant but so were his suggestions on diet. It's incredible how advanced he was.

otter wrote:

I recommend Athletics: how to become a champion and Middle distance running.

These books were $300+ a few years ago when I bought them.

Not only were his training philosophies relevant but so were his suggestions on diet. It's incredible how advanced he was.

Seconding the recommendation for "Athletics: How to Become a Champion." I sent in a request for it via my college's interlibrary loan...turns out they had to go all the way to the Library of Congress to find a copy! A great read on Percy Cerutty's athletics philosophy. And it really is that--a philosophy of life, and athletics--that makes it worth the read. Cerutty was very ahead of his time in many aspects of training.

Otter is right, the chapter that describes daily life at Portsea is a particular treat.

In other news, this book will become public domain on January 1st, 2026.

I started reading a book called "Training with Cerutty" once, and one thing it said was that his theories about running form were inspired by the way kids run on a playground. Never mind that their body morphology and muscles are very different from adults.

Another thing it said was he favored a "9 foot stride." I stopped reading after that nonsense. Even Juantorena's "9 foot stride" was a myth. I've carefully measured it myself by counting steps in his 400m races, and it's more like 2.33m which is barely 7 1/2 feet. 9 feet is 2.74m and would cover 100m in only 36 steps. At an average MD cadence of 3.1 steps per second, that would be 11.6 seconds per 100. An elite 800 runner might start that fast, but through faster cadence, not a longer stride.

It's possible I misremembered and he said "8 foot stride" but that's still silly. 8 feet is 2.44 m and is the average stride length of Usain Bolt's 41-stride 100m. It's 164 steps per 400m, which at Herb Elliott's best average pace of 58s/400m is 164/58 = 2.83 steps per second or 169 steps per minute. Even slow lopers like Ngugi had cadence above 170, and Elliott was no languid runner.

I don't know what else Cerutty said, but if he believed his runners had 9 or even 8 foot strides, I don't want to know. I already know how they really chopped nearly 10 seconds off the WR in as many years, anyhow - the fairy tales about clever training were as full of shit then as they are with today's elites.

wrote a book called "why die" and died shortly after

so I assume he was a moron

I just wanted to clarify a matter in relation to the book 'Training with Cerutty'. This book was published by Larry Myers in 1977, a couple of years after Percy Cerutty's death, not by Percy Cerutty.

As to the 9ft stride, my husband (who trained with Cerutty in the 1960s) says that it was an ideal that he said could be achieved after years of practice, but it was hardly the focus of his training methods. He believed in hard training, correct technique, the importance of diet, strength training, correct breathing and single minded dedication.

In republishing the books, my husband and I have discussed some of his more extreme ideas, but we think overall there is value in understanding his methods and thinking.

He was a larger than life character whose aim was to shake up the conservative athletics establishment in Australia at the time.

I met him once in 1972. He gave us an impromptu demonstration of correct technique on the small track near his house. He was a real showman of course and loved an audience.

Herb Elliott acknowledges freely that he would not have achieved what he did without Cerutty's help.

His ideas and personal style did not appeal to everyone, of course, and that would be true of someone reading his books today. Nevertheless I believe they stimulate debate and provide insight into how a champion athlete like Herb Elliott achieved what he did.

karpopper wrote:

wrote a book called "why die" and died shortly after

so I assume he was a moron

I doubt you have read the book and thus know his answer to the question.

So I assume you are a moron.

I'd like to set the record straight here.

Percy Cerutty did not write a book called 'Why Die?'. That book was written by Graem Sims and published in 2003. Sims says on the flyleaf that it was potentially the title of Percy's final book but he abandoned the project.

Percy, I imagine, likely chose the title to attract attention because he was an attention-seeker.

I challenge the notion that he was a moron though. People had described his behaviour as outrageous at times and he was certainly eccentric, and I can speak to this at first hand, because I met him once with my husband at his home at Portsea where he gave us an impromptu demonstration of good running style.

His ideas are not for everyone but his star pupil Herb Elliott credits Cerutty with pushing him to achieve what he did.

Percy Cerutty died in 1975, of motor neurone disease, many years before 'Why Die' was published. His second wife Nancy outlived him by many years, dying only a couple of years ago, well past the 100 years mark.

The first two books mentioned here are essential reading for anyone genuinely interested in high performance running. I purchased both here in the UK in the last year or so for £10-£15 (can't remember exactly how much). I first read them as a 14-16 year old in the early 1970s and was inspired then to become the greatest miler the world has ever seen (didn't quite work out!!!) and rereading them inspires me to try and maintain some degree of fitness now I am approaching my 60s.

For what it's worth, and I know that ranking coaches is a futile sort of activity, I reckon Percy must be up there with the very best and mst influential coaches that have graced our sport.

Are his methods relevant to the marathon? Is there a particular book that would be good for a marathoner?

I know/knew people who trained with Percy and the common theme seems to be his training would make you or break you, so not for everyone. Also of course the myth of Percy becomes greater as time goes on. But the books are an inspirational read and his basic concepts are solid and still relevant today.

If I remember correctly, it's been a while since I read it, but didn't the book Four Minutes Mile make Cerutty out to be a bit of a quack? I recall admiring what little I knew about the guy but then he lost a lot of integrity after those accounts.

Cerutty was a bully and a liar.

Somewhere in the middle of all the crap he spewed were some very good insights. That's about it.

Big Boy Distance wrote:

Are his methods relevant to the marathon? Is there a particular book that would be good for a marathoner?

I just wanted to say in response that he does cover all distances, including the marathon, in his book "Athletics: How to become a champion".

I asked Peter, my husband, who has vast knowledge of Australian athletics and he said Percy trained Australian athlete Dave Power, who won the 1958 Commonwealth Games 6 miles and marathon and finished 3rd at the Rome Olympics in the 10K.

Another little known fact is that Herb Elliott, having won the gold medal in the 1500m at Rome in 1960, wanted to run the marathon, but Australian athletic officials denied him the chance. That proves, I think, that Percy's conditioning of his athletes was of such a standard that a 1500m runner would have the confidence to tackle the marathon.

Percy stresses too that becoming a 'champion' is not necessarily being a world record holder or gold medal winner; to him it was about achieving your absolute personal best. Percy did feel that some marathoners trained too much i.e. ran too many miles. He could foresee faster marathons and that what would be important was the strength to maintain the speed over the distance.

Not Percy wrote:

Cerutty was a bully and a liar.

Somewhere in the middle of all the crap he spewed were some very good insights. That's about it.

My husband Peter does not share this view of Percy Cerutty. He met him, trained with him in a schoolboy camp at Portsea and continued to admire the man, while acknowledging his eccentricities.

Echion wrote:

If I remember correctly, it's been a while since I read it, but didn't the book Four Minutes Mile make Cerutty out to be a bit of a quack? I recall admiring what little I knew about the guy but then he lost a lot of integrity after those accounts.

Sorry, I don't have time just now to check our copy of Roger Bannister's book - but certainly as I have said in other posts, Percy was eccentric. I defer though to Herb Elliott who credits Percy Cerutty with much of his success as an athlete. I doubt that Herb Elliott would have been involved with a quack.

Judy Hinz wrote:

Not Percy wrote:

Cerutty was a bully and a liar.

Somewhere in the middle of all the crap he spewed were some very good insights. That's about it.

My husband Peter does not share this view of Percy Cerutty. He met him, trained with him in a schoolboy camp at Portsea and continued to admire the man, while acknowledging his eccentricities.

What does your husband have to say about what Landy and other "Stotans" shared with the world concerning Cerutty?

About the way Cerutty treated Landy and his (Landy's) parents? And how he lied to the press.

About the way Cerutty took credit for Landy's results when Landy was a self-taught athlete who took guidance from the likes of Zátopek?

Not Percy wrote:

Judy Hinz wrote:

My husband Peter does not share this view of Percy Cerutty. He met him, trained with him in a schoolboy camp at Portsea and continued to admire the man, while acknowledging his eccentricities.

What does your husband have to say about what Landy and other "Stotans" shared with the world concerning Cerutty?

About the way Cerutty treated Landy and his (Landy's) parents? And how he lied to the press.

About the way Cerutty took credit for Landy's results when Landy was a self-taught athlete who took guidance from the likes of Zátopek?

I asked my husband to respond to your assertions here and while he acknowledged that Cerutty was a difficult and irrational man at times, it was the more sensitive athlete who did not respond to his philosophies. Landy trained with Cerutty early on in his career but found Percy's approach and 'win at all costs' mentality not to his liking. Peter has no knowledge of any mistreatment of Landy's parents but Percy could be very blunt in his dealings with people. He was no diplomat.

From Peter's own experience he remembers Percy's wife Nancy was the one who often acted as a moderating influence, particularly with young athletes who had only recently been exposed to Percy.

Percy was always good at making claims about his role in an athlete's success but this in no way, in Peter's opinion, diminishes the value of his training philosophies. He was a man ahead of his time.

Judy Hinz wrote:

Not Percy wrote:

Cerutty was a bully and a liar.

Somewhere in the middle of all the crap he spewed were some very good insights. That's about it.

My husband Peter does not share this view of Percy Cerutty. He met him, trained with him in a schoolboy camp at Portsea and continued to admire the man, while acknowledging his eccentricities.

Fred Lester, who himself "was an inspirational coach and mentor to athletes"

described Percy as a bit of a "nutter", but then again Fred had his own "nutter" qualities.

Can you imagine what kind of other works legend he would have become had he won the 1500, and then beat the shoeless bikila on the cobbled streets of Rome?!