Other Views Of The Lydiard Way

At the invitation of Sports Illustrated, star milers, coaches and a director of fitness research comment on the New Zealand coach's unique system of marathon training

Herb Elliott, Australia, former world mile record holder: "This supposed extension of endurance implies a barrier which is as mythical as the four-minute mile. If a man has reached the final point of his endurance, he collapses. That's what the term means. If someone claims to have gone beyond it, he hasn't reached it yet. You've just got to have the potential and to train yourself so you get the very most out of what you've got. Obviously, Snell has done that. But there is no secret. Lydiard can't drive him beyond the limits of endurance because only the man himself really knows his limits. And he's no runner unless he pushes himself to the limits."

Percy Cerutty, Australia, coach of Herb Elliott: "Lydiard is using the same theory as my own. I call it breaking through the pain barrier. If a man runs beyond himself in the first quarter of a mile race, say, a new release of energy will come later. Afterwards, of course, he will pay a terrible price for it. He will be in a state of complete collapse. But even that isn't dangerous. I do it, I'm 67 and it's never harmed me. Lydiard and I do have differences in our methods. I'm a much less agreeable bloke with my runners. Lydiard kids his along and gets tremendous loyalty from them."

Mihalyigloi, U.S., Hungarian-born coach of Jim Beatty and Jim Grelle: "Is better to run on the track. I look at Peter Snell run in Los Angeles. I am sure I know how he train and is not all marathon running. Is needed other kinds of training to make great runner. Some have speed, some stamina, but very few have both. Is needed to know which a runner has to build up. You find out by watching each runner, by taking his times and deciding which is best course of training."

Thomas Cureton, U.S., director of the physical fitness research laboratory, University of Illinois: "All-out work never hurt anybody. I've done it even with middle-aged men. When a man does an all-out exercise he simply rests before doing it again. Many are afraid to go real hard. When a man feels aches and pains he is apt to think he's going all-out. He isn't. Snell has probably trained his tissues to stand high-lactic acid in critical moments. His tolerance of mind makes this possible. He didn't do this quickly. I've never known any serious injuries from all-out training, but the coaches are scared of it."

Jim Beatty, U.S., World indoor mile record holder: "Many times in my own training, I felt I couldn't do more, but the human spirit can always do more. There's no magic formula. You can't say, 'Wow, all of a sudden Snell is great.' Look what happened a year and a half ago. He won the Olympics. He was almost in world-record shape then. He's been building ever since. You have to be able to train straight through for two years or more. If you're injured or have to lay off for some reason, you have to go back and start from scratch."

Franz Stampfl, Australia, Austrian-born coach of Roger Bannister: "You push the athlete to the point where he thinks he's done enough. If you, the coach, think he can do more then you try to make him do it. But there is a limit to what you can do with tired, exhausted athletes. What I do is measure and time everything an athlete does. I set a work limit for him, and as soon as he achieves it I move it up a notch. Lydiard's method might take four or five hours daily. My training is more intense, less in volume. In either case, the answer to middle and distance runners is more and more hard work."

Dr. Roger Bannister, England, first four-minute miler: " Lydiard's methods are not an absolute departure. Let's remember he was fortunate enough to strike upon a most accomplished athlete in Snell. Also, whether he appreciates it or not, Lydiard understands the psychological barriers which must be approached and overcome in a venture of this sort."

Jim Elliott, U.S., track coach at Villanova: "A college coach has to take a different approach to conditioning. Scholastic progress comes first, track second. But if I were doing the same type of coaching as Lydiard, I'd have no quarrel with his methods. If all a boy has to do is concentrate on his running, he can be worked like Snell. Ron Delany would be Snell's match with similar training."

Bill Bowerman, U.S., track coach at the University of Oregon: "Lydiard is reasonable, and he plans his workouts carefully. He studies his man and arrives at the volume of work he can do according to this knowledge. The man might not think he can do this kind of work, but Lydiard knows better."