98. More on Percy Cerutty

Here is why I love Percy Cerutty:

And, this, from an interview with Cerutty’s most famous runner, Herb Elliot (Olympic champion & undefeated world record holder in the 1,500m and mile):

Herb Elliott: Well I’ve got to start before Rome … on every occasion where I was running in a major race, Percy, the day before, would just absolutely beat hell out of himself running around four laps of a track somewhere, and he’d finish, and he’d stick his face that far from mine with froth-flecked lips, and exhausted. And he’d just sort of eyeball me, and he’d say, ‘You might be able to run faster Elliott, but you’ll never be able to run harder!’ and then he’d go and collapse somewhere. So I mean, that was the way he dealt with the tensions of my race the next day, it was a genuine sharing of that tension. But it was also a challenge to me, you know, just run, ‘Try and run as hard as me mate, you’ve got no hope. I can run harder than you can.’

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http://www.coolrunning.com.au/general/2001e003.shtml

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