Running News Daily

One of the Greatest American Distance Runners of all times has to be Gerry Lindgren

DID YOU KNOW: Here are some reasons why Gerry Lindgren is still one of American's greatest distance runners ever.

In 1964, as a high school senior, Lindgren ran 5000 meters in 13:44, on a clay track in Compton, CA setting a U.S. high school record that would remain unbroken for 40 years.

On July 25, 1964, Lindgren outran two seasoned Russian runners to win the 10,000m event in the US-USSR Track Meet in Los Angeles.

Lindgren ran 200 miles a week for 6 weeks in preparation for the US-USSR meet. After that victory, he also set a new teenage record of 13:17.0 for 3 miles while competing in Jamaica.

Lindgren and Billy Mills battled each other in the 6-mile at the 1965 AAU Nationals meet. Mills won with a diving lean, while both were timed in 27:11.6, a new world record.

Maybe Lindgren's greatest race came during a May 1966 NCAA Regional meet at age 20, in the 3-mile run on a dirt track during a cold, windy day in Seattle. He raced to 12:53.0, just missing the world record of 12:52.4 held by Ron Clarke.

"Gerry did some amazing things in his short career," says Bob Anderson. "It was very exciting meeting Gerry and featuring him in our movie A Long Run." Gerry has been living in Hawaii since 1980 and still runs regularly.