Herb Elliott comet in first again in the mile run,
leaving behind those with lest "staying
power." It there a lesson for Americans in this?
Herb Elliott Says:
"Americans are too soft!"
Are Americans too soft?
Have they lost that spirit that leads to greatness
the Spartan spirit of sacrifice?
They have at least according to Herb Elliott,
the slender Australian youth who's become the
world's greatest miler. His diagnosis of our ills in
track may foreshadow the problem we face in main
taining "staying power" in the race for survival.
"A lot of chaps can run the first half in two min
utes," says Elliott in analyzing the demands of the
mile run. "But running the second half constitutes
the real test." America has not turned out a world
champion miler in recent years because, he says,
our runners haven't made sacrifices to meet the test
of "the second half."
The ominous question is whether our failure in
the mile reflects our possible decline in history.
Elliott comes from a young country that is vigor
ous and virile as America was in its youth. When
Elliott and his coach, bright-eyed bantam Percy
Cerutty, visited Los Angeles last Summer, they
were shocked at the difference between the spirit
of their young country and the frenetic, nerve
jangling atmosphere of ours. They were amazed
at the "hurrying, scurrying"; at the "pasty look
of pampered children"; at "six-month-old babies
propped in front of television sets."
To Elliott and Cerutty. this seemed symptomatic
of America's flabbiness. For Elliott's own path to
greatness was a model of sacrifice, a resolute tri
umph over indifference and self-indulgence.
Such discipline has made Elliott, at 21, tops in
his field. Last year in Dublin, he set an astonishing
world record of 3: 54.4 for the mile and became the
first non-American to be named "Male Athlete of
the Year" by the Associated Press.
None of this came easily to Elliott, who admits
to laziness. As a teen-ager he had a taste for long
nights and short beers. Shortly after graduating
from high school, he broke his right foot and aban
doned a career in track though he'd been a bril
liant high-school miler. Instead he went to work as
a door-to-door salesman.
In November, 1956, the Elliott family flew from
by William Barry Furlong
their home in Perth to see the Olympics in Mel
bourne. The inspiring wins of Ireland's Ron Delany
in the "Olympic mile" (1.500 meters) and Russia's
Vladimir Kuts in the 5.000-meter and 10,000-meter
races determined Elliott to overcome his indolence.
He went to a wind-swept, desolate tongue of
land south of Melbourne where iron-willed Percy
Cerutty had his training camp which has produced
most of Australia's great runners.
Cerutty set out a devastating regimen for Elliott
Day after day, young Herb ran sometimes 12 miles,
sometimes 20 or 25 miles daily across the desolate
beaches, ankle-deep sand, and frigid surf. Hour
after hour, he lifted weights or churned up and
down a steep 80-foot sand dune sometimes as
often as 42 times in succession.
He went on a diet For breakfast he'd have oats or
dried figs, bananas, raisins, and walnuts. He learned
to sacrifice, defy pain, drive beyond previous goals.
'The pain is something real, especially when
you're not fit," Herb says. "Three or four times a
week it hurts so much that you're dying to stop.
Your muscles are screaming but you keep going.
It's a matter of will power."
This was not the whole of his life. He had a job as
clerk for an oil company. He had a girl he planned
to marry this Spring (and did). He had a program
for learning and appreciating the larger values in
life; ambitious to take advantage of a scholarship to
Cambridge University, he undertook a special study
program to bolster his academic rating.
What did all this gain him? A measure of great
ness but, even more important, the private pleasure
of accomplishment He had triumphed over the
mind's constant plea for ease, mediocrity, self-:
indulgence. He had, through will power, made the
most of the gifts God gave him.
It also made him sensitive to softness and to a
people who value pleasure more than life itself.
He sees such softness in America. He offers this
remedy: "If Americans want to run, they'll have to
deny themselves of what the body wants."
His lesson, offered in terms of track, may be one
on which our survival depends.
.iVfirtt1!
Be Dewison'a cover painting might spell il
lustrate tioo special feature in this issue
"Why Parent Should Encourage Young
Marriages" by Philip Wylie ( page 6) and the
short ftory. The Sight Beor the Wedding"
(page K).
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