| Lon Myers | |
| Birth Name: | Laurence Eugene Myers |
| Nationality: | American |
| Birth Date: | February 16, 1858 |
| Birth Place: | Richmond, Virginia, USA |
| Sport: | Running |
| Event: | 50 yards to one mile |
| Club: | Manhattan Athletic Club |
| Turnedpro: | 1886 |
| Nationals: | 15 United States, 10 Canadian, and 3 British national championships |
| Highestranking: | World records at:
|
Laurence Eugene "Lon" Myers (February 16, 1858 – February 16, 1899) was an American sprinter and middle distance runner.[1] [2]
Myers won 28 national championships. He also set world records at 11 different distances, and held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile Myers set a world quarter-mile record while running the final 120 yards without his right shoe, and finished another race that he won running sideways (in conversation with a runner who had boasted that he would defeat Myers).
Myers was Jewish, and was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Solomon H. Myers, a clerk.[1] [2] [3] He was in the first graduating class of Richmond High School.[2] His father moved the family to Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1875 after he graduated high school, and then to New York City, where he became a bookkeeper.[2] [4]
During his 21-year career, Myers held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile.[2] [3] He won 15 United States national championships, 10 Canadian national championships, and 3 British national championships.[2] [3] [4] From 1880 to 1888, he held the world records in the 100-yard, 440-yard, and 880-yard races.[3]
Myers began running competitively in 1878, for the Knickerbocker Yacht Club. He then ran for the bulk of his career for the Manhattan Athletic Club.[2] [5] [6]
Myers was the first runner to run the quarter-mile in under 50 seconds (49.2), doing so in 1879.[3] [7] On September 20, 1879, he ran the quarter-mile in 49.5 seconds despite running the final 120 yards without his right shoe, setting a world record.[8] At the 1879 U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championships, Myers won the 220 (22.75), 440 (49.2), and 880, setting records in each event.[2] [3]
In 1880, he won the AAU national championship 220, 440, and 880 races and the 100-yard dash, all in the same day.[2] [3] He won the same four races three days later at the Canadian Nationals.[2] [3] [6] That year, he set an American record in the 100-yard dash (10.0 seconds; tying two others), and world records in the 250 (26.25 seconds), 300, 320 (35.125 seconds), 500 (58 seconds), 600 (1:11.4), 660 (1:22.0), 880 (1:56.125), 1,000 (2:18.25), and mile (4:29.50).[2] [8] Unusual distances in some of the races were a product of the fact that tracks at the time varied in length.[2]
In 1881, after a runner in England boasted as to how he would fare against Myers in a 440 race, Myers finished the race running sideways and asking the fellow whether he might not be able to run faster—before beating him by five yards, in 48.6 seconds.[2] That year he also lowered the world record in the 880 to 1:55.5 (beating his nearest competitor by 100 yards), and the world record in the 1,000 to 2:13.[2] In 1881 he also set the world record in the half mile (1:56); he lowered it to 1:55.4 in 1884.[7] He also set the world record in the 350, at 36.8 seconds, and 1,000 yards, at 2:13.0.[2]
Walter George, the top British miler, faced Myers over a series of three races in November 1882. A total of 130,000 attended these races at the Polo Grounds in New York City. In the first, Myers beat George 1:56 3⁄5 to 1:57 in the 880 yards. The next week, George led all the way in defeating his rival 4:21 2⁄5 to 4:27 3⁄5 in the mile. In the final 3/4 mile showdown, 60,000 watched George and Myers battle on a cold day on a bad track. George led narrowly with a 61 2⁄5 and 2:02¾ before Myers took the lead. But Myers staggered at the end and collapsed after crossing in 3:13 – behind George who won in 3:10½. Both fell unconscious after the race and George described it as "the most gruelling race I ever ran."
Myers subsequently was with greater frequency not allowed to participate in some races, as few runners wanted to compete against him.[2] In 1882, he set world records at 250 yards (26.0), 400 yards (43.625), and 800 yards (1:44.4), and American records in a sixth-of-a-mile hurdle race (37.125) and at 700 yards (1:31).[2] In 1884, he set the American record in the 50-yard dash, at 5.5 seconds, and the 880, at 1:55.4.[2] In 1885, after setting world records in the 440 on grass (49.4), the 840 on grass (1:48.6), and the 880 on grass (1:56.5), he announced that he intended to retire.[2]
In his career he set world records in 11 different distances: the 250 (26.0 seconds; 1882), 350 (36.8; 1881), 400 (43.675; 1882), 440 on grass (49.4; 1885), 500 (58.0; 1880), 600 (1:11.4; 1882), 660 (1:22.0; 1880), 800 (1:44.4; 1882), 840 on grass (1:48.6; 1885), 880 on grass (1:56.5; 1885), and 1,000 (2:13.0; 1881).[2] He also set American records in the 50-yard dash (5.5 seconds, amateur record; 1884), 100-yard dash (10.0; tying two others; 1880), 200 (20.3; 1881), 300 (31.375; 1881), 440 (48.6; 1881), 700 (1:31; 1882), 880 (1:55.4; 1884), 1,320 (3:13, 1882), and the mile (4:22.6; 1882).[1] [2]
The press in England had cast doubt on Myers' performances, asserting that Americans were deficient in the ability to time races properly, and questioning the accuracy of American watches.[2] Myers came out of retirement and became a professional in 1886 to run against English champion Walter George, the world record holder in the mile. George had become a professional two years earlier, and had challenged Myers. They competed in the "Middle Distance Championship of the World", before thousands of fans at Madison Square Garden.[2] [7]
Myers beat George at 1,000 yards, 1,320 yards, and 1 mile, and received the $3,000 ($ in current dollar terms) prize.[7]
The following year Myers faced George in the same contest in Australia at the half, 3/4 and full mile. Myers won the first event, and George won the other two.[9]
Myers died of pneumonia on his 41st birthday, in New York City.[2] [4] [7]
He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.[1] [3]