"On the Run" Short Film about Lydiard and Running in New Zealand 1979

Click on this image to view the movie

This film showcases legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard's training methods through the example of his acolytes, including reigning Olympic 1,500m champ John Walker. 'Arthur's boys' (Snell, Halberg, Magee) scored attention by winning unheralded medals (two golds and a bronze) at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Lydiard later led the 'flying Finns' to similar success. His method revolves around building stamina to complement speed, and was influential in popularising jogging globally. Beautifully filmed, a doco highlight is Jack Foster's exhilarating scree slope descent.

Gary:

• If my memory serves me right, the "Cave Man" runner in the opening scene is my team mate of the time, Gary Wilby, of the Victoria University Harrier Club.  Another "Gary", of course!  He was, and still is, very, very hairy.
• What you see in the movie is a succession of incredibly well-conditioned male and female athletes.  Look closely at their wonderful muscle development.  There are no over-trained and under-nourished athletes to be seen.  They trained to a system and ate well.  And watch them run with great efficiency!  
• This is back in the days when New Zealand really did inspire a sense of awe and disbelief in the running world.  I am getting overwhelmed with nostalgia.
• Great to see a few shots of my sister, Lorraine, although a wee bit off the pace in the race sequences.
• Look at the strength these athletes have in their legs.  There is not a hint of a flat-footed runner among them.  Look at the terrain they are training on - no manicured trails to be seen.  Agile!
• Take special note at about the 6 minute mark.  There is demonstrated a largely forgotten pair of running drills - Hill-springing and hill-bounding.  And look at the muscles on the female runner demonstrating the drills.  Every runner, serious and recreational, should be practicing these drills as part of their weekly training.  I am in the process of getting back into running and several minutes of hill-springing are part and parcel of just about every run around the block.

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Videos of Great Running Races

Begin your journey to running fitness by watching this inspirational compilation of great middle distance track races. If you ever lack motivation to get out and train, then watch this again!



Here is an exciting encounter between Jim Ryun and Peter Snell. Hold onto your seats!



Lasse Viren one of the greatest athletes ever with 4 olympic golds in the 5000 and 10,000 his coach was trained by lydiard. Also, in this race, Kiwis Dick Quax and Rod Dixon. Races finishes do not get any more exciting than this one!



I've included this clip to show one of the greatest athletes and races of all time. Lasse Viren in the 1972 Olympic 10,000 metre final. Viren lead for nearly half the race in what was an aggressive pace in a strong field and still finished with a long sprint finish, he fended off his rivals in the last few hundred metres by stepping up yet another gear and finding an even faster sprint. VIren's coach was trained by Arthur Lydiard, and employed Arthur's training principles of years of long slow distance running topped off with strength and speed training to perfect Viren's talents. He makes it look so easy the way he holds off the
other athletes, he was accused of taking drugs due to his lack
lustre performance in the years btween his Olympc golds in the
72 and 76 Olympics, but his training was focused on peaking
primarily for the Olympics better than his opponents had
prepared.

Labels: john walker, running

Nick Willis ran a great race, made sure he was positioned well up the front and out of the trouble that ensued further back, didnt run too wide and dominated the end, showing his experience to confidently sprint the last lap and hold the lead.

Labels: john walker, running

A Magic moment in NZ sport. John Walker showed how a professional can show the best in the world how it's done. He had the courage and skill to start his finish sprint a long way out and dominate all the way to the finish and fend off strong finishes from the best in the world. Few athletes in recent times can pull off such a long finishing sprint, with such a strong field.
For all those budding young athletes out there, this is whatcan be done with years of long slow distance training, finished off with a few weeks every year of strength and speed work.
JOhn's talent was very well honed by his coach Arch Jelley, who practiced a modified form of Arthur Lydiards training principals

Labels: john walker, running

Here's a video for those who can remember as far back as, the late seventies and the eighties.
FOr those who can't remember Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, were the greatest middle distance runners of their time, in seventeen years of racing they met only seven times. COe was the stronger in the 800 metres, yet missed out on Olympic Gold in that event, but took the Gold in the 1500 twice first against a more favoured Ovett and then against Steve Cram, they took turns at repeatedly lowering several world records from 800m to 2000 metres.

Labels: running, video

Question: Will speed training improve her 800m time?

Ponder this:A talented sprinter turned 800m runner, her PB for 200m is just over 26 seconds.
Her PB for 800m is 2m 9s.
When in an 800m race, she has no "kick", being left behind by the winners over the last 150 or so metres of a race. Her usual finishing position is 3rd or 4th place.
Seeking a solution, her fahter and coach consulted a sprint expert so that they could learn more about speed drills and anaerobic work to improve her kick. Will this work for this talented 18 year old?

The answer is "No!" of course. Her problem is a stamina one - not a lack of speed or anaerobic capacity. In theory, she has more than enough speed to run way under 2 minutes for an 800m. Training to sprint 200m faster will do nothing to lower her 800m time. Concentrating too much on speed and anerobic training might even cause her to run slower.

Athletes like Peter Snell and John Walker were never the fastest sprinters in the fields, yet they both posessed the most stunning kicks over the last 200m of a race, be it 800m or 1500m. They had aerobic stamina, the oxygen uptakes honed from years of distance training and racing events like road and cross-country - as well as a good measure of speed training, of course. This stamina meant they were able to conserve their anaerobic reserves more than their speed-trained opponents. When it came to the winning sprint, they had more gas in reserve for firing their after-burners than anybody else. They consistently won.

Stamina is what wins races that are longer than about 4oom.