RIP: Dr. Dave Martin - marathon physiology expert - has died at 78. Post your tributes here.

A lesser known book that is a great read is his (and Roger Gynn) book about the Olympic Marathon. He was writing it when I was there and had one of the PhD students (who is Greek) translate some of the newspapers from the 1896 Games to get the history.

http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/the-olympic-marathon

Parkinson’s- a terrible mistreatment of a wonderful mind.

GOD Speaks wrote:

Dr. Dave Marin passed away yesterday. A great guy.

http://www.usatf.org/News/Dr--David-Martin,-78,-dies-after-long-illness.aspx

I am unable to attend Dave Martin's funeral in Atlanta today but this is what I wrote to have someone read for me during the public comment part of the memorial service. Thank you for the unusual step of allowing me to share it with the LRC readership. It is a humble attempt to try to explain what Dr. David Martin contributed to our sport.

"I have given much thought to my memories of my good friend Dr. David Martin since the news of his passing reached me on the road Thursday. I first met Dave in February of 1978 when he hosted the US Men's World Cross Country Team Trials. It was the only cross country race in my long career that I did not finish the race due to rolling my ankle coming off a tee on that golf course! Fortunately, I had already secured a berth on the team earlier with my high finish at the AAU Champs back in November. Regardless, Dave bestowed great compassion on me and took this fellow midwesterner on my first tour of historic Atlanta in his infamous VW Microbus later in that day. I learned then of his great capacity for kindness and empathy for serious and committed runners... no matter what their pedigree.

Dave gave me great support and friendship over the next 12 years as my national and world class running career evolved and then finished. He was so generous and gracious with his knowledge and resources to me... but did the same for just about any runner who seriously sought him out for advice or counsel.... on training, racing, training or racing at altitude, iron deficiencies, or whatever.... he was one of the world's premier exercise physiologists and highly respected in our sport....around the world.....but never wore that vita on his sleeve... as he was consistently modest and unassuming. Finally, he had a great sense of humor as well as a laugh that was both singular and very contagious. Almost a cackle.....I have replayed it so many times in my mind... since hearing the sad news on Thursday. I can truthfully say that Dave was always fun to be around.

I found it almost incredulous that he was considered an expert ... in two such diverse track & field events.... as both the marathon and the high jump! But, it was true and people around the world would ask me about Dave Martin whenever I told them he was a friend and colleague. These diverse athletic specialties just goes to show us the scope of his great intellect, his love of research in pursuit of knowledge, and his passion for our sport and athletes. Most importantly, he had the gift to explain his knowledge of our sport and the physiology of athletic exercise... in a way that was easily understandable by athletes and lay persons alike. I would have loved to have audited one of his classes at his beloved Georgia State! I heard he was popular as a professor and that there was a waiting list to get into his classes there!

I had the honor and pleasure of being one of his subjects in a USOC sponsored research project that Dave conducted on a few of the best distance runners in America during the early 80's. This 2-3 years of exhaustive quarterly treadmill and lab testing on the physiological aspects and challenges faced by world class distance runners led to his presentation at an international sports medicine symposium held in conjunction with the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It was widely praised and just furthered the respect for Dave world wide. It was a privilege to be a guinea pig in Dave's private dungeon at Georgia State University where some of the finest runners in America and the world came to be tested and physically evaluated on his tortuous treadmill and apparatus. I quickly learned that I could never beat the treadmill testing protocal that Dave put me through... I could only hope to prolong the ride as the "mad professor" upped both the speed and grade of that damned treadmill.....and I tried to resist hitting the "red stop button" for as long as my mind and body could hold out! My only consolation was that the same treadmill, breathing mask, and running poster on the wall.... had defeated and been cursed by some of the best distance runners in the country...and the world. It was an privilege to be one of Dave's testing subjects and he tried to use the research to help each of us in our own training program's design and execution. It was not all about him or his project! He tried his best to make it worth our while and apply it toward the pursuit of our own full potential. I will always be grateful for that.

Roger Robinson wrote a nice tribute to Dave for Runner's World online. But, it failed to mention one other aspect of his career. Dave was a "team leader" for maybe 5 US Men's and Women's Teams that competed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. The most of anyone I am aware of. As I said earlier, I met him because he had organized and hosted the cross country trials at Atlanta in 1978. I believe that Dave was team leader for 4 of my 10 World Cross Country Teams. But, the most special memory will always be at Paris in 1980 when we shared a nice cordon bleu chef's dinner together on the night before the race....and then he was with me when I won the first American men's world title the next day. It was an honor and pleasure to share that individual title and the men's team 2nd place finish with Dave that day. He did everything within his power to make that possible for us...and he serves as an example and role model for that position even now. It was a shared experience and bond that cemented our friendship for the rest of our lives. But, he treated everyone of my team members with the same respect and assistance.

I shared many a dinner with Dave and his good friend, former Lassiter H.S. track and cross country coach, Murray Sanford. I wish all of you in the audience could have heard the meal conversations between those two students and fans of the sport. It was sometimes hilarious. They were two best friends and life long bachelors who were "married to the sport" and treated all their athletes as almost "their own children" with the same unselfish and caring devotion of a loving parent. Unfortunately, Murray passed away a couple years ago but it gives me consolation to know that those two good friends are reunited today in track & field heaven! They were both very active in Georgia AAU/TAC/USATF and I'm sure their contributions there will be missed.

Finally, I cannot help but note that Dr. David Martin's death preceded the death of Dr. Roger Bannister by only a few days. Ironically, both men died from the effects of Parkinson's Disease. Both men will be remembered as true leaders and pioneers in our sport. both men will be remembered as demonstrating a life "well lived" and in service to others as well as themselves. I will be thankful every day for the friendship and life contributions that Dave gave me. I am sure that everyone in the audience today must feel the same way. ."

Sincerely, Craig Virgin

Thanks Rojo.

such people are an asset in our sport, especially with such bigger Doping (I just read the Guardian article about Jebet).

let me do some quick search about him and get to know the late DR.

Well said, Benji, Craig, everyone. Dr. Dave's distinctive and ungainly running form was a familiar sight on streets near his home in Decatur. Despite his intellect, renown and stature, he was always approachable, open, and ready with an equally distinctive (and big) smile. Dave possessed, in the best way, an almost childlike enthusiasm and curiosity, a key to creative thinking. In recent years I looked forward to seeing him in the Boston Marathon press room -- he'd usually just flown in from the London Marathon. Dave himself wasn't large physically, but he was certainly a towering figure in the sport.