Percy Cerutty, does anyone have more info on his training methods/principles?

Training Advice/Discussion General

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5 years ago 03/29/2019 6:23pm EDT

re: HRE

Read as much of Cerutty as you can! Swallow what you can use and spit out what you can't. I've had the good fortune of either being at clinics or having long conversations and personal friendships with many of the greatest coaches. Canova, Daniels, Lydiard, Jelley, Vigil, Clohessy, Wilt and Cerutty. Nobody taught me more about training and coaching philosophy than Percy.

I wrote Fred Wilt, when I was just a 20 year old college student, to ask a Cerutty related question. Fred answered it and then said "but get it from the horses mouth" and gave me Perc's address. We proceeded to correspond for about 18 months or until shortly before he died. He could have easily told me to "get stuffed"! Which he kind of did on several occasions. Was he rough? Absolutely. Would he change his mind or try to see your point of view? Rarely...if ever. Was he years ahead of his time? No question. And his observations on the human race were pure gold.

Currently, the only coach I've met who comes close is Joe Vigil. Biggest difference? Joe has a heart of gold and a smile that could melt a glacier.

3 years ago 11/08/2020 10:56am EST

re: fartleks and bagels

Not enough is said about Percy's mental powers how he had the statues of famous thinkers on his trail, or how he prepared his runners with notions of being an artists more than just a runner. There is a tale of putting Elliott in a semi trance before his world record! and how he gave tribute to his runners by emulating their efforts before races. He lived with me for some time in 1974 and I have, what I thin, is the last diploma (#20) he ever gave one of his adjuncts. mike spino, phd.

3 years ago 11/08/2020 4:21pm EST

re: Rag Doll on a fence

Rag Doll on a fence wrote:
Whenever I tried hanging limp on a horizontal bar it felt like my intestines were going to rupture. Not sure why that would be recommended.

Good way to stretch out spine and shoulders after a session of heavy lifting....

3 years ago 11/08/2020 5:42pm EST

re: eurodonkey

Has anyone explained what is “running in place” stuff is about or what the supposed benefit is?

3 years ago 11/09/2020 4:39pm EST

re: Legolas

Legolas wrote:
Has anyone explained what is “running in place” stuff is about or what the supposed benefit is?

I guess if you were in jail, the benefit would not be smacking into the bars on your second stride.

There was an early miler about 100 years ago who worked long hours behind a pharmacy counter. He would run on the spot for chunks of each day. It's in John Bryant's history of the distance.

3 years ago 11/09/2020 4:45pm EST

re: eurodonkey

That would be Walter George and the "100 Up."

https://birthdayshoes.com/walter-w-g-george-learning-to-run-100-up

3 years ago 11/09/2020 4:52pm EST

re: HRE

3 years ago 11/09/2020 4:52pm EST

re: HRE

HRE wrote:
how about Delilah? wrote:
I recently read The Perfect Mile, by Neal Bascomb, and Cerutty comes across as as absolute tool in his training of John Landy. Landy got fed up with him in pretty short order and then trained on his own, but Cerutty was quick to take credit when Landy had success. It made me wonder if Cerutty modified his methods later and/or became less tyrannical.
From talking with people who knew him or knew others who did, I'd say this is one of the episodes that underscores the "self promoter" comments about him. Unlike Lydiard, who never pursued any athlete, Cerutty pursued runners that he thought would help make his reputation and tried to claim credit for successes of runners he'd had some contact with but who he coached only briefly. He did advise Landy early in his career but Landy went his own way. But Cerutty claimed, with some technical accuracy, to have coached Landy and been responsible for his success. Evidently he did the same thing with Bill Baillie once he became world class and tried to get him to say that he, Cerutty, was his coach rather than Lydiard. He badly wanted to coach Ron Clarke at the start of his career and seems never to have forgiven Clarke for going with Stampfl.
People were never neutral about Cerutty. Elliot has always credited Cerutty for the success he had and has never, as far as anyone seems able to tell, had a bad thing to say about him. The same seems true for guys like Dave Stephens and Les Perry. On the other hand, Ron Clarke had nothing good to say about him and late in Cerutty's life Runner's World brought him to the US for a series of talks. Joe Henderson described to me what it was like to meet Cerutty and it was definitely not the highlight of Joe's career.

One of Ron's great character traits was he never had bad things to say about anyone. And he never was a person to swear.

I knew Ron.

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