Australian Olympian coached runners in Houston for decades and was the author of the "Self Coached Runner"
Australian Olympian coached runners in Houston for decades and was the author of the "Self Coached Runner"
Would have turned 87 in July...RIP
Did he coach the great Len Hilton at UH?
Gramps wrote:
Did he coach the great Len Hilton at UH?
Yes he did. The "Self Coached Runner" books...especially the first one...was fantastic and effective for those who were not elite but pretty good in local events.
more nonsense wrote:
The "Self Coached Runner" books...especially the first one...was fantastic and effective for those who were not elite but pretty good in local events.
Yes. I moved my copies to the top shelf of the bookcase on Tuesday when I heard the news. Thanks coach for sharing your Olympic knowledge with us mortals.
He died on Monday and Runner's World has a great tribute to his impact on the Houston runnign community (even though he won a medal for Australia, he moved to Houston and ran for Houston in college and stayed).
http://www.runnersworld.com/obituary/beloved-houston-running-coach-dies-at-86
Nice photo here:
I was fortunate enough to have him coach my HS cross country team 11th and 12 grade. He didn't care how good or bad of a runner you were, as long as you were trying and progressing. A great runner, great coach, and even better man.
whatsupchuck wrote:
I was fortunate enough to have him coach my HS cross country team 11th and 12 grade. He didn't care how good or bad of a runner you were, as long as you were trying and progressing. A great runner, great coach, and even better man.
He also did not care whether you were old or young, tall or short, fat or skinny. He loved coaching and was there for anyone who wanted to learn from him. He would be out at Memorial Park at 5 am with his stop watch to coach his runners and would hang around and talk up a storm with anyone who was out that morning. Once before a local race organized by his running club, the race announcer gave a nice speech about Al's accomplishments and tried to get him to step out of the crowd to take a bow. Al just waived him off and would have any of it.
black singlet wrote:
more nonsense wrote:The "Self Coached Runner" books...especially the first one...was fantastic and effective for those who were not elite but pretty good in local events.
Yes. I moved my copies to the top shelf of the bookcase on Tuesday when I heard the news. Thanks coach for sharing your Olympic knowledge with us mortals.
I was including myself in the mortals ya fuggin' moron.
Wow, more nonsense, you most certainly chose to see something in black singlet's post that nobody else in the universe saw. There was absolutely nothing negative about his post. No slight towards you whatsoever. He was paying his deep respects to a great man, as were you. Very, very straightforward expression of respect.
Al Lawrence -- RIP!
UH has an article out now as well:
http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/051917aab.html
I was obsessed with those books as a kid. RIP.
Gramps wrote:
Did he coach the great Len Hilton at UH?
Yes.
Self Coached Runner II is a great book for developing mid distance runners. The section on the mile is both entertaining and truly informative. Its been out of print for ages but you can still find it on ebay-amazon. The inclusion of speed requisites for each time goal is a helpful reality check for overeager and inexperienced inexperienced. The training programs are also extremely detailed and have good seasonal progression.
The original SCR gives plans for 10k, 10 Mile and Marathon for various goal times and it looks like Amazon has multiple used copies.https://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Runner-Vol-1/dp/0316516716
MVC Champ wrote:
Self Coached Runner II is a great book for developing mid distance runners. The section on the mile is both entertaining and truly informative. Its been out of print for ages but you can still find it on ebay-amazon. The inclusion of speed requisites for each time goal is a helpful reality check for overeager and inexperienced inexperienced. The training programs are also extremely detailed and have good seasonal progression.
Not only a great coach, but an accomplished competitor, Olympic medalist:
2-time Olympian: 5,000m, bronze 10,000m (1956); 5,000m, marathon (1960); NCAA champion 5000m (1960);
AAU champion 10,000m (1960);
2-time NCAA Cross-Country Champion (1959, 1960);
IWR 2-mile (1960), IWR 3 mile (1960)
whatsupchuck wrote:
I was fortunate enough to have him coach my HS cross country team 11th and 12 grade. He didn't care how good or bad of a runner you were, as long as you were trying and progressing. A great runner, great coach, and even better man.
wish I had the ability to make this the quote of the day .Its champion all round people like him that make sport and life so much more enjoyable .RIP
Al was third in Vlad Kuts, Gordon Pirie classic Melbourne Olympic 10 Km.
He had another book that I read when I started running - "Running and racing after 35". As a beginning runner at 35, I found his book really useful. Still relevant today if you can find a copy.
