Rob Neylon on Percy Cerutty

Former Australian Cross Country Representative, Rob Neylon knew Percy Cerutty from his training days at Portsea as a teenager. He shares his recollections of what it was like.

[@raymooney1295]

Excellent take on a great coach.

[@Hitsystem]

Thank you Ray. It was great to hear a bit about what the legendary Percy Cerutty was really like from someone who knew him quite well as a youngster.

[@markbateman9222]

Good to hear a conversation about Cerutty. When I began serious running as a 14 year old in the early 1970s his first two books - How To Be A Champion and Middle Distance Running - were among the first books I read on running. I am now 64 (still trying to run!) and have read scores of running books. None of them come close to Percy's works. I still regard him as the greatest, most innovative coach of all time. Looking back on my own career I am certain I would have run much faster if I had stuck with his basic ideas. I went more to the Lydiard school of lots of steady running which didn't suit me as much as the hills, fartleks, grass repeats etc. that Percy favoured.

[@Shevock]

Great interview. I'm not a pro or anything. Just a local jogger, but so many coaches recommend runners do lots of reps, low weight, many times a week. The truth is I make strength gains as a 46 year old lifting one time a week doing 5 different machines at the Y, 3 sets close to max. To failure. But not only do I not have time for multiple weight training sessions a week, but I don't need to exhaust myself lifting weights so much. It's great that the old coach recommended pretty much the same thing as I do, and close to the HIT (not the same as HIIT at all) stuff I learned in college in the 90s. It works. It keeps the body structure strong and as Cerruty said, so much of running is arms.

[@musik102]

It's a shame that Merv couldn't have maintained - or improved - his 1958 form.