Les Perry

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Les Perry ( Leslie John Perry; born January 29, 1923 in Stawell , Victoria , † September 17, 2005 ) was an Australian long-distance runner .

In 1950 he finished seventh over three miles at the British Empire Games in Auckland .

At the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952 he was sixth over 5000 m ; over 10,000 m he did not reach the goal. He made friends with Emil Zátopek , whose training methods he brought to Australia. With his temporary trainer Percy Cerutty , he got involved in the Victorian Marathon Club (VMC) for better competition conditions in long-distance competitions.

In 1956 he was Victoria Marathon Champion and third at the Australian Championships. He gave up in the marathon of the Olympic Games in Melbourne .

From 1950 to 1953 he was four times in a row Australian champion over three miles. He was also national champion in cross-country running in 1950 and Victoria champion in marathon for the second time in 1959.

In 1961 he founded the Zatopek: 10 , the most important track race in Australia with the VCM secretary Fred Lester , in which his protégé Ron Clarke set a world record over 10,000 m in 1963.

Personal bests

  • 5000 m: 14: 23.6 min, July 24, 1952, Helsinki (former Australian record)
  • 10,000 m: 30: 23.0 min, October 17, 1953, Melbourne (former Australian record)
  • Marathon: 2:29:09 h, September 8, 1956, Melbourne

Web links

  • Les Perry in the database of Athletics Australia (English)
  • Les Perry in the database of trackfield.brinkster.net (English)
  • Obituary by Len Johnson in CoolRunning Australia, September 21, 2005
  • Les Perry in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

  1. ↑ IAAF : Melbourne's Zatopek 10 turns 50 . December 8, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Perry, Les
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Perry, Leslie John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian long distance runner
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Stawell , Victoria
DATE OF DEATH September 17, 2005