Masters Track News and Muse

Gerry Lindgren speaks: The Hawaii interview

USATF last year honored Gerry Lindgren for his legendary distance-running of the 1960s, electing him to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. But fame doesn't equate to familiarity. For many years, he was simply missing. Gone to Hawaii and purposeful obscurity. Debates raged over his mythical mileage (350 a week for six weeks? Single runs of 88 miles?) But the man kept his peace. Now 59, he's come out with an autobiography, and this month at the USATF national masters meet in Honolulu he told me some incredible stories.

I taped him -- and fellow interrogator Louise Tricard -- for close to an hour.

I sliced the tape up into 29 digital movies, all in QuickTime (.mov) format, and provide the links here (since I haven't created a formal We page yet.)

Check these clips out:

Gerry says he wanted to run at national masters but entered late.

Gerry says he's starting to get back into track.

Gerry says his favorite distance of old was the 3-mile/5K.

Gerry says he has a "four-minute (mile) mind with nine-minute legs."

Gerry says that when he's injured, he race-walks now for training.

Gerry says he'd love to focus on the mile in masters competition; "it's so mean."

Gerry says he was the source of much of Prefontaine's running ethic.

Gerry takes some credit for getting Pre to become a runner.

Gerry says movies about Pre were really about Gerry's own philosophies.

Gerry explains why he decamped to Hawaii and left the sport's spotlight.

Gerry says he "ran to start a revolution."

Gerry's advice to runners: "Don't even think about winning."

Gerry still has hankering to run under 5 minutes for the mile.

Gerry still says: "I have a weaker body than most people."

Gerry says "runners create a wake" that improves the world.

Gerry says he wasn't into the fame game when he was a world-beating youngster.

Gerry says: "Billy Mills showed me courage" and potential to be Olympic champ.

Gerry says he went on to a career as a business "turnaround specialist."

Gerry put his Russian language training to use, getting stuff for Red track athletes.

Gerry says he trains sometimes by running up Diamond Head.

Gerry says the masters nationals has inspired him to do speed work.

Gerry says he hates taking days off because "rest is bad for me."

Gerry says, tongue-in-cheek, "When you run, you rattle your brain" and do crazy things.

Gerry says he twice was under 2-hour marathon pace late in 26-mile races.

Gerry recalls running 88 miles at a stretch in his younger days of monster mileage.

Gerry recalls an "out-of-body experience" when he nearly died in an avalanche during a winter training run.

Gerry says he escaped a Russian prison after being caught running at a Moscow airport on the eve of a USA-Russia track meet in 1965.

Gerry says he had to sneak and run past guards to compete in the 1964 indoor USA nationals at Madison Square Garden, where security scoffed at his claim to being an athlete.

Gerry says he hopes to find a good agent to help him crack the motivational speaker market.

Me again:

Gerry may suffer a little from the "older-I-get-the-faster-I-was" syndrome, but nobody can doubt his ability to tell a story. If Pre got two biopics, Lindgren deserves three. Ron Howard, are you listening?

Posted by kenstone at August 22, 2005 7:46 PM