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Harley
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[Music]
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[Music]
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Runners only with dom Harvey and I'm
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sitting in the Ryman Murray Helberg
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Retirement Village with one of Murray
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halberg's good mates an absolute Legend
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of New Zealand running from a golden era
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Barry McGee hello hello can I get in
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nice and close hi there
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all right what an honor to be in your
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presence sir 1960 Olympic Games in Rome
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the Arthur Lydia coached athletes
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yourself Murray hubby and Peter Snell
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all one it's uh just an incredible
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chapter in New Zealand history there's
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so much I want to chat about with you
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today we'll get to you um the amazing
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relationship with the amazing coach
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Arthur Lydia later but first of all
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um take us back to 1960 the Rome
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Olympics first of all how do you get
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there you fly there you go on the boat
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how do you you fly there right well the
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thing thank God we yeah we flew there
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because when when guys like us at the
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time we read all the stories the
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previous Olympics of a helical Olympics
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everything often are in in for five or
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six week boat cruise and you know the
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runners lost talented Fitness and this
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was it was a lucky dip virtually whether
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they could compete well or do when they
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got there now we we did flu
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um yeah we get flu and we had boeings or
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super constellations and things at the
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time it's and it's so hot and right that
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the um the marathon started when it was
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like late in the day wasn't it well the
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marathon yes it's an interesting story
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of the marathon
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um every if we were in Rome four weeks
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for the great Olympics of Rome and um
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when snail and halberg within one hour
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um did something the world has never
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seen before of turning two gold medals
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from a little country of two million
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people but every day the temperature was
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something like 28 degrees every day but
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it was what was beautiful Mediterranean
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heat that was the difference it wasn't
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humid heat like Auckland has we have
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humid heat in Auckland but it was
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beautiful here but it was hot hot and um
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the thing was of course
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um it was hot uh now the week before the
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marathon was the 150 mile cycle race
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uh one Rider
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dropped in during the race probably with
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the heat
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uh the suspicions around the village was
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that he'd probably also on drugs right
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were they were performance enhancing
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drugs the thing even back then in the
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1960s really absolutely yes they were
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yeah I mean some of those Russian women
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they had more here than you have
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I mean yes male steroids and yes I don't
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know if ebo was around in those days but
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yeah oh no this this was part of it yeah
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drugs drugs were ripe and um in Eastern
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Europe particularly I have never seen a
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drug in my life Thomas I competed for 54
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years as a runner and I've never seen
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one but they were everywhere but because
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of that cyclist all the marathon
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managers or the athletic managers have
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probably 50 countries in the world went
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and protested and said we will have a
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run or die if you're going to race them
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at two o'clock in the afternoon
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in in Rome In the Heat of the day yeah
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heat yeah two o'clock it was it was 28
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degrees and um hot hot so they shifted
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the time till five o'clock
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now at five o'clock and at that time of
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the year September in in Italy it got
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dark about 6 30. so um we knew we're
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going to rain now running half the race
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in the dark
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and I can tell you it's very hard to see
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Africans in the dark
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it's an honest statement but um but
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anyway they they convinced the officials
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the Olympic officials yes no we will
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change it we'll change it to him
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five o'clock and make it cooler because
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it it was more like 18 degrees only or
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20 degrees or 22 degrees often at that
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time of the day or whatever it might be
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and um yeah and so but every day we had
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about 30 days in Rome and 29 of them uh
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was 28 degrees
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the interesting thing was the day of the
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marathon it was 23. oh
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what are the chances so what are the
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chances there right so so the so the Run
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starts um starts 5 p.m what um it gets
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dark at 6 30. so yeah how long did it
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take you what was your time to 2017
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2017. so the last 45 minutes and
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the last 10K is down called via apia
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which in QE language is the Appian Way
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Epping lead goes right down and from way
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out 10K out
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um down into into the city of Rome
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and um it's very very spectacular
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because you ran past the Coliseum you're
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in you know oh and and all the famous
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things that we've found all the famous
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parts of Rome it's a very historical
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city
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um but yeah but the thing was there's no
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street lights in the airbn way not not
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to ever and everybody every every every
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kilometer
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there would be a hundred meters of
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cobblestones cobblestones are terrible
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to run on they're raised about they go
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curves about three inches high or
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whatever you know five six centimeters
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high and uh but the thing is what they
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had done to try and counter this
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um they had Roman soldiers
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posted for 10K
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about every 100 meters down on each side
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of the road with a flaming torch so it
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was quite spectacular right so that's
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not going to give you much um light to
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see where you're going but you can just
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see you know the root virtually it was
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virtually no very little light yeah very
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yeah it was like running just a bit
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nearly pitch dark but it was dark you
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could just see the road in front of you
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but the thing is on the cobblestones you
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couldn't see the cobblestones on the
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razor
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um I think I prayed all the way every
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time
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did you feel like um like change your
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gate or anything to yeah oh yes oh yes
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yes no I I shortened us I have the
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stride every time we hit the Cobblestone
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but I was chasing um radi and and
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killer the um who entered
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golden silver medalists you see the
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Barefoot Runner yeah the winner was a
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Barefoot Runner so it was a historic
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historical marathon in in the fact that
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Tim was the first African to ever win a
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gold medal in athletics
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um and the first athlete to ever win
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America a win a race in bare feet in in
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Olympics yeah that kind of been nice on
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the cobbles and yeah that Rome Olympic
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marathon is rated about the second or
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third greatest marathon of the century
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and um so I feel encased in history
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really
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so what place were you in when it got
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when it got dark when you finally lost
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light
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um well I started I started the race
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very conservatively
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um generally speaking you know a
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distance runner in his early days he
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goes out and the gun goes and he goes
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but along the way you learned some very
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hard lessons
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um it's not how you start with count
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that's how you finish so I started very
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conservatively
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um I don't know the 60 or 70 in the race
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and it's probably at halfway I was
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probably about 20th right
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um wow about 20th
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and that but the thing was I was moving
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through you know and and then I was up
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to about 10th
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and then by the time we hit
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um
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30k 30k Mark
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um so it's still light then
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it was dark enough it was dark by the
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end of the 30 Kmart
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um yeah the Russian champion who had run
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the fastest marathon in the world pop
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off
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um yeah he caught he caught you know
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Julian and packet and McGee up out about
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that I don't know about the 15K or 12K
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Mark perhaps the 12 came out I said to I
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said to I couldn't Julia I said we've
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got to go with the sponge out and um I
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didn't have a clue who they were but
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there's about six guys that just went
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straight past us so we jumped on the
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back of them and that made about a bunch
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of about nine
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but that nine became eight seven six
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five four three two and the time we got
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to about thirty thirty two k there was
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only only one guy with me and I looked
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at his singing that I could see who was
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a Russian and found her after his
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pop-off he was one of the race favorites
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and uh fastest marathon runner in the
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world or something that year and um
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yeah and it was just him and I and then
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there was a string station came up just
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as we turned Ethiopian way
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and he veered to grab a drink off the
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drink stable because there was water in
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his Coke or something you know the Civil
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drinks that you could have a selection
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of and um yeah so he could he beard and
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I sprinted
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10K to go I took off and um I just did
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it you feel good yes I was feeling good
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yeah what I'd done
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um up to that stage I was in control
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because I call you know the secret of
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success really is control control if you
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lose it too early your food fast too
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early uh you blow up and and once you're
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blowing up you're gone and it's history
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so um so I started my run at 10 at 10K I
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had to go and that was so that was the
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best thing I could have done
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what I didn't know was what place I was
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in see they every 5K all the officials
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were out there calling times an Italian
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you know we had no such thing as a
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digital watch
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I looked at my watch you know and I
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could see it was 20 past six or
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something
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because there's no no other swatches in
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the world in those days but I didn't
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know where I was
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um
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and so I just I just put my head down
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and I went for it every now and again
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I'd say flash bulbs going up ahead I
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thought that's a good sign because that
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could be the leaders that were up there
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yeah and so that's that's and that's the
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way and I just kept going and kept going
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and um
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managed to get up there but see so when
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you finished you you you weren't aware
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that you'd won bronze but you must have
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thought you were there or thereabouts
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yeah I had no idea what place I was in
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because you know the thing is because it
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was dark that band all Spectators from
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the course so there was no one you could
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yell out to on the longer of course and
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all these officials are so they called
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your times every 5K in in Italian that
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didn't help yes and so you couldn't talk
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to them and say what where are what
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place am I in you know as you went past
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those the ring stations so no I never
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never had a clue
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um so I had no idea when I crossed the
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Finishing Line where I was
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and all of a sudden you know there's a
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big about two meter guy and beside me
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um who'd jumped over a barrier raced out
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and you must have been I don't know if
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he's a hockey player or a New Zealand
00:12:02
thrower and he slapped me on the back he
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said well done very well done you've
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done great that's good that's good I
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said where am I
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and he looked at me if I was a bit
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stupid and said Barry you finished
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you're finished it's okay oh he thought
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you were Delirious or a philosopher
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right right where am I you know you're
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at the finish of the Olympic Marathon
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Barry was his thinking my thinking of
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yours we were am I welcome to this place
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yeah
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and there's a Silence about 20 seconds
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he looked at me
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but he's give me a hug and Barry
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you've just got the bronze
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congratulations
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I probably had a tea happen in my eye at
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that time it was
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because it was thank goodness it's like
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you would know
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the relief that you feel when you've
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achieved or done something or as
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compared to failure you know we've all
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been through failure were you a metal
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hopeful do you think at the start line
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when leading up to it what was your
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expectation I probably wasn't rated in
00:13:10
the first Twitty yeah really wow world's
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rankings and world class here will
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standing the year before was in 1959 I
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think that's when you made your Marathon
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day burn it was like two hours 30 or 2
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hours 31 about 2 36 yeah how yeah how
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did you lose 20 minutes in a year
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training just training yeah I mean Lydia
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do everything that was the difference we
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had the greatest coach in the world
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that's brewed by Snell and halberg and
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um two you know two absolute champions
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they're incomparable still today you
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have no idea how great yeah
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um look about four years ago when Snell
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was in New Zealand and he gave some
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medals to te Papa
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um you publicly thanked me
00:13:58
in front of a hundred people I think I
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had tears that day and he put his arm
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around me standing there with a
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microphone and said this is the man that
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made my gold medals possible because he
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did the 100 miles a week with me when I
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had to do the work and I went to the
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same every night and that was a very
00:14:16
nice compliment but Snell as you know
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with the athlete of the century for New
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Zealand I mean you know I wasn't worthy
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to tie up their shoes oh come on come on
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honestly now there's no comparison no
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other athlete in the history
00:14:37
the great people of history and you know
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three Olympic gold medals two
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Commonwealth gold medals some seven
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world records for Snell
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and I mean halberg halberg today would
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be running in the disabled games with
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his crippled arm he only had one arm
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that worked properly and that was it
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because of a football accident when he
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was 15. you know that was with the dam
00:15:00
in our first trip away in New Zealand in
00:15:03
the Auckland rep team for cross-country
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we cut a bit we cut up his meat
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for him and tied his running shoes on
00:15:11
and so we had that was Annette halberg
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is that being an overcomer you can see
00:15:17
you know to me he is just about the
00:15:20
greatest athlete ever yes he writes with
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me so it's incredible honor and I'm
00:15:25
right that I'm even living in in a
00:15:27
village named after him because when we
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came here into this Village it had no
00:15:32
name it had no name what the um the
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funny thing for me is um there's a
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there's a block here in this Retirement
00:15:39
Village the Murray public Village um
00:15:41
that's named after you but you're not
00:15:42
even you're not living in your own block
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[Laughter]
00:15:46
um I had to do some fast talking
00:15:48
because they said Barry
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um
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you're going to be one of the first
00:15:53
tenants in the village
00:15:56
um
00:15:57
yeah so yeah but see the thing is it
00:16:01
wasn't called by any name when it came
00:16:03
in it was a street name uh when we came
00:16:06
we we bought it off a plan and it had no
00:16:08
no real name whatsoever
00:16:11
um but then they came to see me after
00:16:13
I'd been here about six months and said
00:16:15
we're naming your village
00:16:17
and we're calling the Murray halberg
00:16:19
Village and um
00:16:21
we think and you are one of the people
00:16:24
that have been
00:16:26
they've told us about
00:16:28
um where we're going to have them named
00:16:30
the blocks of the apartment blocks are
00:16:32
going to be named after athletes to tie
00:16:34
in with idiot and halberg Etc now um
00:16:38
it it would be fine with you wouldn't it
00:16:40
if we named your block the McGee block
00:16:42
and I said no why why why did I said
00:16:47
there's 40 apartments in this block and
00:16:49
I don't want 39 people complaining and
00:16:52
moaning to me every time I see them I'm
00:16:54
living in live lock and so I said no you
00:16:57
know another [ __ ] if you want to after
00:16:59
me and I said thank you but no thank you
00:17:02
and so I turned down that offer wow I've
00:17:05
got a I've got a far bigger ego than you
00:17:07
I would have been okay with it
00:17:09
you have a Harvey Block oh absolutely
00:17:11
100 100 okay so now I know um this is
00:17:16
this is this is your podcast and your
00:17:18
story but um
00:17:19
um I feel like um yeah we need like a
00:17:21
hat tub to um Arthur Lydia I I feel like
00:17:24
he um in running circles everyone knows
00:17:25
about the lady it is but outside of that
00:17:27
I think if you ask most new zealanders
00:17:28
they probably wouldn't know the name I
00:17:30
mean the man's an absolutely it is
00:17:32
Criminal
00:17:33
um yeah no it's a very sad story you
00:17:36
know with Lydia that he never got the
00:17:37
recognition really in New Zealand
00:17:40
um well he got some recognition that the
00:17:42
time he was about 60. yeah about 60. but
00:17:45
when he's going to the Highlight years
00:17:46
or the great years
00:17:48
um he had problems with the
00:17:50
administration of New Zealand and um
00:17:53
they more or less said um
00:17:55
no upstart coach is going to tell us
00:17:57
what to do so that was Wellington and
00:17:59
the administration right they weren't
00:18:01
happy with Lydia because he called a
00:18:03
spade a spade he called the fool a fool
00:18:05
and he could he organized the egg for
00:18:08
two of the rothman's tours of New
00:18:09
Zealand he he did the whole lot himself
00:18:11
he could do anything how was it was
00:18:13
their Talk of the rothmans to it well
00:18:15
the first the first tour was the
00:18:16
rothman's tour that's when the Olympic
00:18:18
Champions came world record holders came
00:18:21
and Lydia had arranged at all did
00:18:23
everyone get some of the sponsors
00:18:24
product
00:18:26
that was at the time I'm working for
00:18:29
announcements we had Bert Sutcliffe
00:18:31
right we had gone we had the great
00:18:33
footballers the great they employed
00:18:34
everyone not that they have to work for
00:18:37
rothmans they were just Goodwill agents
00:18:40
going around the country helping the
00:18:42
schools and helping with support all
00:18:44
over the country in the erathman cars
00:18:46
that's hilarious so that was the
00:18:48
advertising because they're amazing they
00:18:50
had the money at the tobacco companies
00:18:51
yes so so how old were you when you met
00:18:55
Arthur Lydia how did that come about I
00:18:56
was 17 17 okay I was 17. I had a coach I
00:18:59
joined the Wesley area Club when I was
00:19:01
15 in Auckland uh which was the
00:19:04
Methodist Club of Auckland connected
00:19:05
with Bible classes and that and I went
00:19:07
to this Methodist security Methodist
00:19:09
Bible class and one of the guys said um
00:19:11
because well I was playing rugby at the
00:19:13
time and I hurt my finger had Evan
00:19:16
splint for six weeks so it was purely
00:19:18
sort of like by an accident
00:19:21
um this Bible class manager mine said
00:19:23
Barry
00:19:24
come along and have a run for the
00:19:26
harriers on Saturday
00:19:28
because we're going to have a run from
00:19:29
our church
00:19:30
and he said what's more the Bible class
00:19:32
girls are going to put on afternoon tea
00:19:34
and some of them are pretty neat so are
00:19:37
that cure for us to run that or the
00:19:39
afternoon tea
00:19:41
probably most probably the girls yeah
00:19:43
yeah yeah yeah because at 15 I was just
00:19:45
starting to take an interest that they
00:19:47
weren't as bad as sometimes their
00:19:49
reputation to find out it's on the boys
00:19:51
so I went and had my first run never
00:19:53
played another game of rugby in my life
00:19:56
again it's how it was and so that began
00:19:58
and so that was 15 17 the club Captain
00:20:02
was also my coach he said
00:20:04
Barry I think I should pass you on to
00:20:07
another man to help you I think you have
00:20:10
some potential
00:20:12
I would like to introduce you to a man
00:20:14
called athletid who runs for awaraka and
00:20:17
um if he will take you on that would be
00:20:20
good
00:20:21
and the rest is history so 17. so what
00:20:24
year was that it was 19.
00:20:27
51 right 1951.
00:20:30
so I'm 87 now yeah and it's 51 I'll be
00:20:34
88 in two weeks time but um yeah so he
00:20:38
said come and see me tomorrow I mean the
00:20:40
first when I was introduced to him it
00:20:42
was in Hamilton we just raced Around The
00:20:44
Ridges road race and he'd run in the
00:20:46
seniors tonight running the Juniors and
00:20:49
I was introduced to him and um he looked
00:20:51
at me as if I
00:20:54
because he's only about five foot seven
00:20:55
I suppose and I was gigantic five foot
00:20:58
eight and a half but he looked at me and
00:20:59
said son he prepared to run 100 miles a
00:21:02
week
00:21:03
at 17. yeah 17. if not tell me now
00:21:06
because you're wasting your time and
00:21:08
mine
00:21:09
if you're not
00:21:10
well I kind of remember answering him
00:21:12
but what I know is the next day if
00:21:14
Sunday afternoon I was sitting at his
00:21:17
kitchen table well he he was writing out
00:21:20
my first training schedule which was a
00:21:23
hundred miles a week of 160k a week 160
00:21:26
k a week at 17 and that's what we all
00:21:30
did what did your um what did your
00:21:32
parents have to say about that
00:21:34
um well the internet well
00:21:37
um yeah
00:21:39
and I got to be careful here okay
00:21:44
um at the time when I met Lydia
00:21:47
my dad was lying in hospital dying from
00:21:50
a work accident
00:21:51
I lost my dad at 17.
00:21:54
and um
00:21:56
still I can still feel it
00:21:59
um it was painful and the fact that he
00:22:02
never saw me have one race in my
00:22:04
lifetime yeah he was in the Heartland
00:22:07
Hospital about two months
00:22:09
um I accidentally paralyzed his back and
00:22:12
he laid there for two months in the
00:22:14
Auckland hospital and then passed away
00:22:15
when I was 17.
00:22:17
um and at that time was the very time
00:22:20
that I met Lydia
00:22:22
it was the very time I changed my job
00:22:24
also right and the interesting thing was
00:22:27
that Lydia
00:22:29
and my new boss I was a fourth I was a
00:22:33
grocer at the time a grocery boy or
00:22:35
working in grocery shops
00:22:38
they both told my mum we will help you
00:22:41
look after Barry oh
00:22:43
I mean and that carried on with our
00:22:46
lifetimes or their lifetimes in a sense
00:22:48
do you think um Arthur to you is like um
00:22:51
not just a coach but like a I suppose
00:22:53
like a father figure yeah yeah oh yeah
00:22:55
see what he wasn't until all of us in a
00:22:57
way yeah his home was open we could call
00:23:01
him day or night yes married man with
00:23:03
four children
00:23:04
and he worked a full-time job he's
00:23:06
Foreman in a shoe factory and yet he had
00:23:09
always had time for the runners
00:23:11
sometimes you if he was sowing potatoes
00:23:14
in his garden on a Saturday afternoon
00:23:16
when you called in
00:23:17
yep that's fine come and talk to me
00:23:19
Barry yeah and he wouldn't stop he'd
00:23:22
just keep digging his potatoes but he
00:23:25
always gave you what you wanted or
00:23:27
needed yeah and he was a master of
00:23:29
Psychology was he how do you mean well
00:23:32
in fact he knew like a good school
00:23:35
teacher should how to handle every type
00:23:38
of Runner that he was looking after so
00:23:42
right I mean Helberg would tell tell me
00:23:45
20 years later after he'd all retired he
00:23:48
said I'd go around to the coach's house
00:23:49
he said and the coach said look at me
00:23:52
Lily the answer would look at me and
00:23:54
he'd say
00:23:55
I'm married
00:23:56
did you see what Barry did in his
00:23:59
training last week he did a three-mile
00:24:01
time trial and this this this
00:24:03
and Mary said did he
00:24:05
yeah now they would say yes Mary you've
00:24:07
got to watch your back this guy is
00:24:09
coming he he's improving all the time
00:24:11
Marion said I'd go home put my shoes on
00:24:14
and go for an extra all that day such
00:24:16
was the psychology Lydia does a master
00:24:19
how come on how good so um I mean
00:24:22
obviously like an incredible coach
00:24:24
um yeah if this one like in terms of
00:24:27
natural Talent how naturally talented
00:24:28
were you three boys they must have been
00:24:30
like a fair bit of natural Talent there
00:24:31
was there well no was it just hard work
00:24:33
it's hard to write this potential of
00:24:36
natural Talent
00:24:37
um yes snail Snell had outstanding
00:24:41
natural Talent yeah
00:24:43
um
00:24:44
it's only going to get you so far though
00:24:45
isn't it yeah only so that's right but
00:24:48
um but the thing is by 23 years with
00:24:51
Lydia at age 20 and he wins an Olympic
00:24:54
championship this was the potential he
00:24:56
had but the thing is for you know it
00:24:58
depends what you're natural
00:25:01
um it's hard to compare Nick Willis when
00:25:03
he was 18 could run a 4-1 mile smell of
00:25:06
18 could run a four 21 Mile
00:25:09
so the bulk of what Snell ended up being
00:25:13
and doing was made by a lydian right
00:25:15
like the people like Willis are what I
00:25:18
call Naturals Helberg was a sort of
00:25:22
partly natural
00:25:23
and partly just about supernatural yeah
00:25:26
when he had that accident with the arm
00:25:29
he was
00:25:31
when he came back because he if they
00:25:34
hadn't have operated and they took out
00:25:36
two liters of quart blood
00:25:40
um clot of blood out of his shoulder he
00:25:42
would have been dead
00:25:43
but he came back with a fighting spirit
00:25:46
that is beyond human nobody he was
00:25:49
invincible in the spirit in the mind
00:25:51
right right nobody yeah and it was even
00:25:54
greater than Snell's yeah so the spirit
00:25:58
oh goodness Endeavor it was it was it
00:26:01
was beyond human and if you read a lot
00:26:03
of history of Champions somehow they've
00:26:05
overcome I think difficulties that most
00:26:08
of us have never faced an ally but they
00:26:10
have a spirit that's unbeatable
00:26:12
it's over their dead body and they they
00:26:16
you know we we give sort of 100 in the
00:26:18
race they give about 110. but hell but
00:26:22
that's but salberg and Snell were just
00:26:25
um
00:26:25
they deserve everything they have got in
00:26:28
and accolades or yeah yeah it was that
00:26:31
halberg has got had the mental capacity
00:26:34
that
00:26:35
wow
00:26:36
I was like unbelievable but the thing is
00:26:38
like anyone anyone um first of all
00:26:40
that's good enough to get to Olympic
00:26:41
level let alone you know become a
00:26:43
medalist I think you all must have
00:26:45
um like a certain level of mental
00:26:47
toughness or mental tenacity and the
00:26:48
fact that you sitting here talking about
00:26:50
how big that way all of Arthur's boys
00:26:53
got it everyone he coached yeah they
00:26:57
they got mental because that's what he
00:26:59
taught that's what he taught
00:27:01
um if someone pulled out of a race they
00:27:03
didn't contact Lydia for three weeks not
00:27:06
too scared too oh is that right
00:27:09
well that was failure right that was
00:27:11
failure and what um what would he would
00:27:14
he tell you off or like why were we
00:27:17
while we skipped talking I think you'd
00:27:19
get a lecture right okay you get a
00:27:21
lecture because um and you know one of
00:27:24
my quotes to all my Runners I coached
00:27:26
about 30 runners in New Zealand and all
00:27:28
around the world and um I'll quote yeah
00:27:32
every winner
00:27:34
is a finish up and every finisher is a
00:27:37
winner right if you finish the race even
00:27:39
if it's last place I'll tell my Runners
00:27:41
I'll be the first to bet you Pat you on
00:27:43
the back and congratulate you for
00:27:45
finishing the race because to give in
00:27:47
and give up that and Lydia's ways was
00:27:50
failure right that's what he taught us
00:27:52
yeah and um often you know races we got
00:27:54
first second and third his voice in fact
00:27:57
Lydia was I mean how good he was
00:27:59
is you're only going to look at the
00:28:02
results uh right through the 1950s
00:28:06
or 10-year period of Athletics in New
00:28:09
Zealand in the 50s 60s 10-year period
00:28:12
where every New Zealand Championship
00:28:14
there was five gold medals up for grabs
00:28:18
Well we'd call these days the 800 1500 5
00:28:21
000 10 000 Marathon Arthur's boys won 45
00:28:24
of the 50 in 10 years remarkable we
00:28:28
absolutely dominant yeah do you think as
00:28:30
well as the um coaching of um Arthur
00:28:32
Lydia that was um the competitiveness of
00:28:34
you know you three guys in particular
00:28:36
like pushing each other did that that
00:28:39
must have played a part to the success
00:28:40
as well
00:28:41
um yeah I raised halberg I suppose from
00:28:44
the age of 17 to 30. probably about 100
00:28:47
times right the score was 92 to eight
00:28:50
and I'll guess you guess who who won the
00:28:53
90. the 92.
00:28:57
so he had eight off days
00:29:01
I'm sorry
00:29:04
we had the cold or something I never had
00:29:07
the satisfaction and
00:29:09
um I did some great races overseas in
00:29:12
Internationals and um first
00:29:16
New Zealander to win an International
00:29:17
Marathon or putting their football
00:29:19
worker in Japan
00:29:21
um
00:29:21
no hellberg no no
00:29:24
bailing no still no [ __ ] it don't you no
00:29:27
no
00:29:29
yeah so you'd go out and it was it was
00:29:32
so wonderful to get away from them I
00:29:35
could I could start at an Auckland
00:29:37
Championship would get 50. yeah I could
00:29:39
go to Japan and win that's incredible
00:29:42
and um yes speaking of that so it's um
00:29:44
it was a very different era so you
00:29:45
mentioned before that you were working
00:29:47
at Foursquare so when you went to the
00:29:49
Olympics into Japan
00:29:51
um you you that was on your own money
00:29:53
right you you take time off work get
00:29:55
bank loans
00:29:56
well
00:29:58
um you'll make me cry
00:30:00
I never earned one dollar in my 54 years
00:30:04
of running not one dollar every time
00:30:06
every Games Team I'll be in I had to go
00:30:08
to the bank manager cap in hand and
00:30:11
borrow money that I could pay bills
00:30:14
while I was away I think because I'd
00:30:16
been times for me happening so I tried
00:30:19
for the Commonwealth Games in Canada and
00:30:21
I failed I tried the Olympic Games and
00:30:23
in Melbourne and I failed it's my third
00:30:27
third games I got there with Cardiff
00:30:29
with the Commonwealth Games and then two
00:30:31
years after that the Olympic Games so it
00:30:33
wasn't
00:30:34
um like halberg he you know he was in
00:30:36
both of them yeah so um here he is about
00:30:38
four months older than me but he'd done
00:30:40
two games before I'd even started
00:30:43
um such what he had that much more
00:30:45
ability and he had that much more speed
00:30:47
I never had speed yeah Lydia said
00:30:50
Barry's gift was a beautiful relaxed
00:30:52
style he um you didn't he call you I was
00:30:54
gonna ask you about this he called you
00:30:55
like the ballet dance of the road or
00:30:57
something that's right what did that
00:30:58
mean
00:30:59
well he said Barry is effortless Barry
00:31:03
is tireless he'd run all day and he's
00:31:05
and he said that's a gift that Barry has
00:31:08
he has this effortless style and that's
00:31:11
his natural he said because sometimes
00:31:13
you've got to try and change this style
00:31:15
a bit because they're all hunched up in
00:31:16
the shoulders or they're not relaxed you
00:31:19
know but um now Barry he said that was
00:31:21
my gifting was my naturalness because I
00:31:24
couldn't you know they could thrash me
00:31:26
in speed work and stuff snail and Hal
00:31:28
Works
00:31:29
um well come on you're being you're
00:31:30
being you're being very modest here I
00:31:32
mean they were exactly a taught us they
00:31:34
could oh no no there was no different no
00:31:37
comparison that with it see um
00:31:40
yeah Snell could run 200 meters in in
00:31:43
two in about 22 seconds
00:31:45
uh how about could run 23 seconds
00:31:49
Barry was 25 seconds so you said yeah
00:31:53
200 meters and any race was helbu
00:31:56
halberg would put three or four or four
00:31:59
seconds on me every time because it was
00:32:02
down to Natural speed so yeah so that
00:32:04
was what was so hopelessly because he
00:32:07
got as strong as I was see I got strong
00:32:09
because of my marathon training and
00:32:11
everything that's what made Barry it's
00:32:13
interesting the more marathons I ran the
00:32:17
faster I got over 1500 meters three
00:32:19
thousand meters and five thousand meters
00:32:21
and ten thousand meters so your speed
00:32:22
comes from stamina training that's
00:32:25
that's one of the Dead principles you
00:32:27
say it works so those um those hundred
00:32:29
miles a week like what sort of what sort
00:32:30
of pace was that done at how was it just
00:32:32
like running as you feel or are you guys
00:32:35
pushing the paper specific now Lydia was
00:32:37
very specific you around you ran
00:32:39
different days like Monday was 10 miles
00:32:41
Tuesday 15 miles
00:32:45
um yeah yeah today you'd rather like
00:32:47
that 16k yeah 30k and yeah and 20K and
00:32:53
30k and was 40 here with
00:32:56
yeah weekend long wairaru over the white
00:32:58
tax 30 about 35k which is 22 miles in
00:33:03
those days all 100 aerobic running which
00:33:07
means running within yourself right that
00:33:09
was the key you did eight weeks of
00:33:11
running of getting strong nothing else
00:33:13
you didn't train for Speed whatsoever
00:33:16
but there was no jogging in that
00:33:18
virtually no jogging it was all specific
00:33:22
efforts and training quarter effort RPF
00:33:24
at three-quarter effort and um I suppose
00:33:27
you I suppose you had to sort of do it
00:33:29
that way because um yeah I've got
00:33:31
probably more technology on my Garmin
00:33:33
watch now than what you and Olympic
00:33:35
bronze medalist had back then it's very
00:33:37
specific so you just ran it ran from
00:33:39
your gut how you feel how you felt well
00:33:42
the interesting thing Lydia trained us
00:33:44
all for about 13 years uh and uh we were
00:33:48
at a time a meeting one night where
00:33:51
Lydia was giving us coaches a coaching
00:33:53
speech you know 100 people listening
00:33:55
there in Auckland and halberg and I were
00:33:59
there now we'd been trained for 30 years
00:34:01
as both the year that we were retiring
00:34:03
but he used people like Barry to speak
00:34:06
for five minutes and Albert to speak for
00:34:08
five minutes as part of the
00:34:10
entertainment of the night and bringing
00:34:12
his Champions along and um
00:34:15
after after the meeting Murray went up
00:34:17
to help after Lydia and said what's this
00:34:21
new language you're talking about
00:34:22
you're talking about aerobic and
00:34:24
anaerobic training
00:34:26
I've never heard of it Murray said
00:34:28
and Lydia looked a bit mystified and uh
00:34:31
a bit a little bit sort of concerned and
00:34:34
Mary said do you mean fast and slow
00:34:35
running
00:34:36
and Lydia said yes
00:34:40
so so there was no racing in training we
00:34:44
did eight eight weeks of just Foundation
00:34:46
strength but with that strengthening
00:34:49
work your confidence goes up about 500
00:34:52
yeah right it builds confidence you go
00:34:54
out there and run run the stuff and do
00:34:56
the stuff the Lydia way if we'd raced it
00:35:00
or you know or smashed ourselves in
00:35:02
training you wouldn't have it at the end
00:35:04
of the eight weeks you might be in worse
00:35:06
condition yeah but Lydia had he
00:35:08
experimented Five Years on himself Five
00:35:11
Years on himself to find out what worked
00:35:14
he ran 100 miles a week you ran 200
00:35:16
miles a week he ran 300 miles a week in
00:35:18
training himself and did this all this
00:35:21
is the wife so sorry I'm just going to
00:35:23
back up there did you say he did a 300
00:35:25
mile way yes yeah yeah yeah that's 500ks
00:35:28
500ks in a week yeah how do you put that
00:35:30
in well we'll never know
00:35:33
we'll we'll live it we will live now
00:35:36
because he's gone we can't ask but you
00:35:39
know no he did that's right if you read
00:35:41
his story Gareth Gilmore left us 13
00:35:44
books of Libyan Garth Gilmore the author
00:35:46
lifters all the book so it's all in the
00:35:49
books yeah actually you can still buy
00:35:51
these online tour it's available as um
00:35:52
like Kindle Kindle books so you can um
00:35:54
the original sure that's that's the
00:35:57
greatest of all you know and that's
00:35:59
where Lydia outlines the theories of
00:36:01
success forever yeah and I I have to
00:36:04
come at the Olympic Games in um Los
00:36:07
Angeles in 84. I had four days with
00:36:11
Frank Shorter and these other other
00:36:13
Olympic medalists of history now Frank
00:36:16
should have won Olympic marathon gold
00:36:18
Olympic Marathon silver and two Olympics
00:36:21
he was a hero for America I said to
00:36:24
Frank Shorter what training did you do
00:36:26
Frank to get that success and he smiled
00:36:29
him and said just Lydia training Mary
00:36:31
justly did training yeah and I think but
00:36:36
all the world were following Lydia
00:36:39
and they were using his principles not
00:36:41
only in I mean Ferguson McDonald in
00:36:44
their canoes I've heard them speaking uh
00:36:47
you know that won about seven Olympic
00:36:49
gold medals in the canoe they credit
00:36:52
most of it to lydian they used his
00:36:54
principles
00:36:55
all our cycling world-class cyclists
00:36:57
they used yeah they became world-class
00:37:01
because the coach in New Zealand was
00:37:03
using Lydia principle
00:37:05
Rusty Robertson the rowing coach he took
00:37:08
the rowing coach to Olympic goals and
00:37:10
knights and Munich or whatever and all
00:37:12
the stuff what training did you do he
00:37:15
said lydian
00:37:16
amazing left us a foundation of secrets
00:37:19
that coaches are still using all over
00:37:22
the world in all sorts the year before
00:37:25
Lydia died I was at his place having
00:37:27
lunch with him
00:37:29
he said to me Barry
00:37:31
do you know that today half the world
00:37:33
uses our training principles
00:37:37
he didn't say my training principle he
00:37:39
said our training principal is that a
00:37:42
humble man oh that's so humble yeah he's
00:37:45
so honest he would be you know to me he
00:37:47
ranked like with Einstein and physique
00:37:49
he's a he was a genius of running and
00:37:52
nobody knows how he knew what he knew
00:37:54
also I feel like he doesn't get the
00:37:56
credit he deserves and that um I'm
00:37:58
guessing like an uh you know when you
00:38:00
were running in the 1950s no no one
00:38:01
really ran as in jogging I mean it was
00:38:03
competitive Runners and harriers and
00:38:05
whatever but there's no such thing as
00:38:07
like a fun run like there is now and I
00:38:09
feel like I'm Lillian so I got a lot to
00:38:10
do with that like the birth of jogging
00:38:12
in New Zealand yeah well he bursts
00:38:14
jogging in the world right he was
00:38:16
talking in the world
00:38:17
um he introduced it to New Zealand as a
00:38:19
health thing for everybody at every age
00:38:23
um yeah I had a good friend at about the
00:38:25
1950s now the 1960s he went he could
00:38:30
have a heart attack he went to his
00:38:32
doctor he was age 54. he had a heart
00:38:35
attack his doctor told him never to walk
00:38:37
upstairs again and never to mow Alone
00:38:40
Again
00:38:41
Lydia said absolutely wrong
00:38:43
of the 1960s he he had what he called
00:38:46
the heart foundation running at the YMCA
00:38:49
twice a week and he all the people with
00:38:52
heart attacks came and and he coached
00:38:56
them and three years later they all ran
00:39:00
the Hawaiian Marathon the hotel Marathon
00:39:03
because he said no the heart's a muscle
00:39:05
yeah so the medical world we're doing
00:39:07
the opposite they were saying no you
00:39:09
just be careful rest of your life and
00:39:11
you might live umpteen years Lydia said
00:39:14
no you just conditioned the heart again
00:39:16
and restore the heart and if I've talked
00:39:19
to numerous people I mean one of those
00:39:21
Honolulu tours yeah Lydia deny and
00:39:24
Richard Taylor were two leaders yeah and
00:39:27
I talked you know there's about 70
00:39:28
people lined signed up and we went to
00:39:31
Honolulu I talked to lost them yeah they
00:39:33
said yeah when they started exercising A
00:39:36
Whole New World opened up their whole
00:39:38
world came back to life again yeah and
00:39:40
to be running a marathon after you'd had
00:39:43
a heart attack three or four years
00:39:44
before phenomenal phenomenal yeah yeah
00:39:48
but Lydia and a room you're a doctor put
00:39:51
put a whole package together to
00:39:53
restorecus's room this room you're a
00:39:55
doctor I can't even remember his name
00:39:57
now he decided that um now people didn't
00:40:00
have to sit around and die like the
00:40:02
medical world advised at the time so
00:40:05
Lydia founded jogging
00:40:08
um it was a man came out from
00:40:11
America
00:40:12
and he took it back oh yeah I was going
00:40:15
to ask you about this so this is um Bill
00:40:16
Bowerman who was one of the co-founders
00:40:18
of Nike uh so he came here at 63. you
00:40:21
were you were yeah you were you were
00:40:22
still around then well I met bill belman
00:40:24
when he came to New Zealand Arthur
00:40:26
invited two or three of us as Olympians
00:40:28
to go and meet Bill Bowman on the Sunday
00:40:30
run with the Auckland joggers that him
00:40:33
and Colin K had founded had founded the
00:40:36
Auckland joggers and so there was 50 50
00:40:38
joggers turned out Sunday morning and we
00:40:40
all went up and had a run with Bellman
00:40:42
who thought he was pretty fit and his
00:40:44
joggers yeah age 50 60 and 70. just left
00:40:47
him for dead he's got the shock of his
00:40:50
life and he said America is America is
00:40:54
we need this too United States He said
00:40:58
you know every week in the United States
00:41:01
he said there'll be a crowd of 80 000
00:41:03
people watching a football game
00:41:05
they all desperately need exercise is it
00:41:09
down on the field there's 30 players
00:41:10
playing who definitely who desperately
00:41:13
need a rest
00:41:15
he said we've got to change things in
00:41:16
America yeah it's
00:41:18
so it's a Bill Bowman yeah the
00:41:20
co-founder of um of Nike and uh I think
00:41:22
he's famous for making um making like
00:41:24
Souls of shoes in his waffle machine
00:41:25
waffle yeah after waffle machine yeah so
00:41:28
what so what if he come to New Zealand
00:41:29
for just to basically pick other Lydia's
00:41:31
brains is that that yeah to meet Lydia
00:41:33
yes he was somehow impressed with Lydia
00:41:35
and he wanted to meet lydian and at the
00:41:39
airport when he was going Lydia had said
00:41:41
built get into running shoes there's a
00:41:44
great future in running shoes
00:41:47
and now a friend one of the boys I
00:41:50
coached um four years ago I remember he
00:41:53
um he became marathon runner distance
00:41:55
Runner he and he worked for Nike I said
00:41:58
what what did Nike earn last year
00:42:01
he said 12 billion
00:42:04
you can see why they've got the Tiger
00:42:06
Woods of this world yeah yeah they just
00:42:09
pay people Millions it's nothing it's
00:42:11
nothing it's all just advertising the
00:42:14
bill Ballard yeah I mean he's dead now
00:42:16
but he would have left him yeah but he
00:42:18
he and and then it it went all over
00:42:21
Europe and um it had been all over
00:42:24
Europe with the jogging yeah so jogging
00:42:27
restores health and mental health and
00:42:29
spiritual health and physical health and
00:42:32
everything it helps everybody
00:42:36
um yeah while we're on Nike um like what
00:42:38
do you think of the um current state of
00:42:39
shoes first of all like what were you
00:42:41
what were you running in the 1960s what
00:42:42
were your shoes like
00:42:44
can you describe them
00:42:46
well do you want a good laugh yeah go on
00:42:49
the shoes are around the Olympic
00:42:50
marathon in in the Roman Olympics
00:42:54
were bowling shoes we had no running
00:42:56
shoes in New Zealand and with all of us
00:42:59
like hellberg and of my era and age same
00:43:02
age group we probably did five six seven
00:43:05
years in what was called Sanchez or
00:43:08
tennis shoes right tennis shoes they're
00:43:10
canvas uppers and a rubbery sole
00:43:13
underneath yeah I remember I had them as
00:43:15
a kid you see them from like power or
00:43:17
rather and places like that yeah yeah
00:43:19
made made them Tyra para made them or
00:43:23
Robert Factory and yeah but so yeah so
00:43:26
yeah so it's the Olympic Marathon
00:43:29
Lydia made at his shoe factory
00:43:32
the spikes for Snell
00:43:34
and and he raid the marathon runners we
00:43:38
ran in his Marathon shoes uh he made
00:43:41
them for us which is a bowling shoe last
00:43:43
was he said that was the nearest thing
00:43:45
ever I had for runners and and I just
00:43:48
glued a heel on because they were dead
00:43:50
flat because bowling shoes on the
00:43:52
Bowling Green weren't allowed to have
00:43:54
heels so he glued a rubber heel on the
00:43:57
back so that Olympic gear so these days
00:44:00
the shoes because I've I've got some um
00:44:03
I've got some Nike shoes that I say for
00:44:05
races and they are they are remarkable
00:44:07
yeah yeah they are incredible like yeah
00:44:10
yeah if I'm doing a 5K time 12 or 10K
00:44:12
time trial they'll they they're
00:44:13
definitely worth yeah I don't know 30
00:44:15
seconds on
00:44:16
well they they um on a track race like
00:44:19
credited a second lap uh you know 25
00:44:24
seconds that would be in a 10K just yeah
00:44:26
to choose uh some say more
00:44:29
um now the differences here they got
00:44:31
carbon fiber and salts and the springs
00:44:34
that you you put your foot down and it
00:44:36
helps your foot to Spring Forward yeah
00:44:38
there's so much energy you try and um
00:44:40
every on my Runners now in New Zealand I
00:44:43
know that are using them uh they do
00:44:45
personal bests every every time they put
00:44:47
them on
00:44:49
how do you feel about that do you feel
00:44:51
like it's some sort of uh there's a
00:44:53
phrase that's been used called like um
00:44:54
shoe doping do you feel like it's um
00:44:56
because I feel it's one of those ones
00:44:58
that say everyone can have access to it
00:45:00
yeah well technology yeah has now
00:45:02
overcome training it's it's greater than
00:45:04
training right
00:45:06
um a top New Zealand coach um I was
00:45:08
talking to two years ago said Barry
00:45:10
you're 217 in Rome would be 210 today
00:45:14
just with the technology of shoes and
00:45:18
also nutrition nutrition yeah you have
00:45:21
carbo squeezies and things on the way
00:45:23
that would make seven minutes difference
00:45:26
to any marathon runner today so um so
00:45:29
someone that's right like Paul Bellinger
00:45:31
around 210 in
00:45:34
um way back in 1980
00:45:37
um yeah that would be 203 so you know
00:45:40
you're up there in any world-class
00:45:41
Marathon yeah technology is it's the big
00:45:44
winners of Technologies what a dumb what
00:45:47
did you used to eat just out of
00:45:48
curiosity like the morning of the uh
00:45:50
let's say for lunch on the day of the
00:45:51
Olympic Marathon what did you eat
00:45:55
um
00:45:56
haven't got a clue now
00:45:59
what did you have on the wrong was it
00:46:01
okay honey did you have like honey and
00:46:03
water or nothing no absolutely nothing
00:46:05
in fact the nutritionist nearly paint
00:46:08
we're not I've done hundreds and
00:46:10
hundreds of
00:46:12
stories and you know
00:46:14
um
00:46:15
testimonies whatever going around
00:46:16
schools yeah clubs I've done hundreds
00:46:19
and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
00:46:20
of medals there was speeches speeches
00:46:23
and speeches and that and um
00:46:26
um
00:46:27
we had nothing
00:46:28
[Laughter]
00:46:31
was just so simple then no technology
00:46:35
um
00:46:36
just about the seafood diet
00:46:38
seafood and you ate it your Seafood
00:46:40
that's right yeah I mean Snell would
00:46:44
help yeah touring Europe you know you'd
00:46:46
see snow and how big and I was standing
00:46:47
outside a bakery you know at 10 30 in
00:46:50
the morning having a pie
00:46:52
amazing anywhere in the world you know
00:46:54
so yeah no um but yeah today yeah the
00:46:58
technology of every shoes and
00:47:02
yeah I get the I get the sense that
00:47:05
you're almost a little bit annoyed by it
00:47:06
like you you feel like it's an
00:47:08
unnecessary distraction for the athletes
00:47:09
you coach now
00:47:10
um well the thing is they can be
00:47:12
dominated by a watch and not by feelings
00:47:15
in the heart and the spirit and their
00:47:17
mind and their brain oh 100 yeah and and
00:47:20
the watch tells me that my yeah my pulse
00:47:24
rate is is 15 above what it's supposed
00:47:26
to be for this they Panic or something
00:47:29
Lydia taught us all to go by feeding
00:47:33
all my feelings and how you are and it
00:47:37
taught us with everything with no
00:47:39
technology but today yeah it takes me on
00:47:43
for one to two years to unwind people
00:47:45
from their technology and their watches
00:47:48
Lydia wouldn't even wear a watch in
00:47:49
training it or a race he wouldn't wear a
00:47:52
watch no he said that he said you'll
00:47:55
start running with a watch he said
00:47:57
you've got to run by the conditions you
00:47:59
run with the competition you run with
00:48:01
the race you run with everything that's
00:48:03
in you but not the technology doesn't
00:48:05
really count so I would listen to times
00:48:08
on the way in races because a lot of
00:48:11
them
00:48:12
you did that one lap two lamps three lab
00:48:14
on the track races
00:48:16
um or your five mile ten mile time in a
00:48:18
marathon
00:48:19
um but it didn't make any difference to
00:48:22
how I was running
00:48:23
so the thing was your your challenge was
00:48:26
to get the best place on the day that
00:48:28
you could get under the conditions
00:48:29
prevailing and no technology whatsoever
00:48:32
but say it takes me off in two years to
00:48:35
unwind Subway yeah because these are a
00:48:38
lot of these academic Runners too that I
00:48:40
coach some of them are doctors and
00:48:42
accountants and lawyers and goodness
00:48:43
knows what as well and they're the
00:48:45
hardest ones to unwind from their
00:48:47
technology they love their technology
00:48:50
um but the technology runs their life
00:48:53
and they they don't enjoy half the fun
00:48:56
of running that we always had you know
00:48:59
we just ran we just run and you wouldn't
00:49:02
have had music either no oh no yeah
00:49:04
nobody ran with music in those days
00:49:08
good old-fashioned though yeah
00:49:10
absolutely but Finance was was perhaps a
00:49:13
huge problem so I never earned one
00:49:15
dollar the four games I went in I had to
00:49:17
get I had to get loans to support the
00:49:20
family the wife and the children to pay
00:49:22
the mortgage and everything was away for
00:49:24
six eight weeks eight weeks at a time
00:49:26
um yeah that was it was it was a
00:49:29
different time it would take me six to
00:49:31
12 months usually to pay the bank back
00:49:33
uh for representing New Zealand but we
00:49:36
did we did get paid you know when we
00:49:38
were away we got 10 Shillings a day
00:49:41
that's a dollar a dollar a dollar a day
00:49:43
wow that's a joke today one dollar a day
00:49:47
out of pocket expenses and
00:49:50
um there's another thing I wanted to
00:49:52
acknowledge you for and you've you are
00:49:55
the first man in history to run uh sub
00:49:57
three uh marathons in five decades 1950s
00:50:00
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s how old was the
00:50:03
how old were you with the Last Supper
00:50:05
how did you find that out I throw it
00:50:07
online somewhere yeah first man in
00:50:09
history to do that no no trying to give
00:50:10
a ring from the mayoral institution of
00:50:13
the world in 2001. uh to say I just
00:50:17
thought I'd note it for you is an
00:50:18
Englishman and he said he was a
00:50:20
statistician for the world marathoning
00:50:21
and he said I just thought it was an
00:50:24
interest to you to know you are the
00:50:25
first man in history to run sub three
00:50:27
hour marathons in five decades five the
00:50:30
fifties the 60s 70s 80s yeah because
00:50:32
when I was 64 around 248 Marathon at 64.
00:50:36
no way four minute k-pace yeah yeah
00:50:39
unbelievable that is mind-blowing you've
00:50:42
you've read my book um it took me years
00:50:44
to to get under three
00:50:46
um and that was my mid-40s yeah 64.
00:50:50
yeah that City in training early
00:50:53
training you how to get fit how to keep
00:50:55
fit how to add a peak you went you went
00:50:57
doing 100 mile weeks in your in your 60s
00:50:59
they were you no no no when you're older
00:51:02
you you change it to a time yeah and so
00:51:06
if I did 10 hours a week you know when I
00:51:08
was um 25
00:51:11
um and I still did 10 hours a week when
00:51:13
I was 60.
00:51:15
um yeah it would be 30 or 40K a week yes
00:51:18
yeah but it's still the time yeah so you
00:51:22
run it slower and everything was slower
00:51:24
but yeah I mean you were running in age
00:51:26
groups and things like that as you get
00:51:27
older and so all the fun was there all
00:51:30
the competitiveness is there but your
00:51:32
time told you that um just because you
00:51:35
could run 10K in 28 minutes when you're
00:51:37
30.
00:51:38
um he had 50 you know I was down to 33
00:51:41
minutes at 50. at 53 I think
00:51:46
53 of the
00:51:48
well the New Zealand 5000 M50 when I was
00:51:51
53 and 15 37. wow at 53 and in the 10K
00:51:57
the next day at 3307 or 33. geez that's
00:52:02
good yeah so yeah because yeah I I just
00:52:06
knew how how to do it all and it was
00:52:08
like a muscle memory from just a
00:52:10
lifetime of case to a degree yeah yeah
00:52:13
unbelievable when did you stop when did
00:52:15
you stop running why did you stop
00:52:17
running
00:52:18
um
00:52:19
you know 64. I just won my last National
00:52:22
Title
00:52:24
um in invercargill the National ten
00:52:26
thousand and got a gold there the silver
00:52:27
and the 5 000 and the Masters the
00:52:30
Masters national championships uh it was
00:52:33
about a month after and I was running
00:52:35
with the um City Athletics Club at the
00:52:38
time as one of the coaches and we're
00:52:40
running down Mount Eden on on a Gravelly
00:52:42
path that was quite Steep and yeah and I
00:52:46
slipped and fell and I wrecked my knee
00:52:50
yeah I did I did a goodness yeah and um
00:52:54
that was the end of the running of the
00:52:56
end of the running because
00:52:58
you know I had a cartilage out when I
00:53:00
was 42 of the knee and then I'd had a
00:53:03
trim when I was about 62. now at 69 at
00:53:07
69 it all happened 69. I had to call it
00:53:10
a day because that knee didn't like
00:53:12
running yeah so um she said it's a shame
00:53:15
it would have been um would have been
00:53:16
interesting to see what you could have
00:53:17
achieved in your 70s oh yeah
00:53:19
well
00:53:21
I've never had any ifs or buts yeah
00:53:26
um just one day I was running the next
00:53:27
door wasn't so be it I just took it and
00:53:30
um and just went because I was I was
00:53:33
sort of like 50 coach and 50 runner for
00:53:36
all those years in 1968 my man made the
00:53:39
Olympic Games and the ten thousand way
00:53:42
back
00:53:43
um so the success of lydian training was
00:53:45
always there
00:53:46
um I just put on my coach's hat at 69
00:53:50
and just being full-time coaching from
00:53:52
the until now yeah and um it's so
00:53:55
wonderful to get an email that says
00:53:57
Barry I don't know how to thank you I
00:54:00
don't know how to thank you the running
00:54:02
and training and coaching has changed my
00:54:04
life yeah and that's awesome
00:54:06
that's awesome you get that that's the
00:54:08
nicest thing I can get actually a friend
00:54:10
of mine um yeah she she got personal
00:54:13
best through you as well and she speaks
00:54:14
very highly of you Leslie Turner Hall
00:54:16
she loves you yeah yeah you you got you
00:54:19
got her down to a really sharp time it's
00:54:21
um yeah such an impact that you've had
00:54:23
on um on people's lives yeah yeah
00:54:29
yeah nobody ever used Lydia and had
00:54:33
forgot that he had yeah he changed it
00:54:36
changes people's lives to have someone
00:54:39
um I think backward in my school days is
00:54:41
a good school teacher yeah and I think
00:54:43
in my all my years at school I might
00:54:44
have had three good school teachers that
00:54:46
had been on the back and encouraged me
00:54:48
because you know the second or second
00:54:50
world war kid and um at school all these
00:54:54
old grumpy retired teachers came out of
00:54:57
retirement to teach you
00:54:59
um with with one principle in mind of
00:55:02
discipline they had a ruler behind their
00:55:05
back
00:55:06
you've got you've got Knuckles behind
00:55:08
your ear
00:55:10
um you've got a strap you know if you
00:55:13
know we said one word in the classroom
00:55:14
and yeah and um
00:55:17
a girl would get petted on the head and
00:55:19
said oh Rosemary you could do better
00:55:21
than that oh that's not good Rosemary
00:55:24
what you did or whatever and the boy
00:55:27
would be out the front getting six of
00:55:29
the best out of the same
00:55:33
this was teaching in those guys was
00:55:36
violent and um disciplined and it was
00:55:38
awful and um lots lots of kids I think
00:55:41
they were ruined for life
00:55:44
um but the coach is the same you can
00:55:46
make or break the person okay just input
00:55:49
into them you are important you are
00:55:53
special are you and your ability
00:55:57
No Limits yeah whatever you can dream
00:55:59
you can do and that if you're following
00:56:01
the principles or the rules that I'll
00:56:03
give you and that there's no limits
00:56:05
being big think big you're going to be
00:56:08
doing this until the day you die
00:56:12
yeah he was he was doing a lecture tour
00:56:15
aged 87 in America
00:56:18
um 87 and um he did a lecture one night
00:56:22
went back to the hotel sat down and he
00:56:25
turned on the TV sat down three minutes
00:56:27
later was gone
00:56:28
yeah that was just like that see on the
00:56:31
job yeah
00:56:32
um but the man one of the men that was
00:56:35
on that last tour of Lydia with him
00:56:37
doing a lecture tour around America as
00:56:39
this famous coach because they Americans
00:56:42
loved him more than new zealanders do
00:56:43
they worshiped Lydia in America and um
00:56:47
he took the dead from one city to
00:56:49
another city
00:56:50
and uh he said Lizzy was just amazing a
00:56:54
thousand people attended every lecture
00:56:56
he gave
00:56:58
and every city he went to wow a thousand
00:57:01
people
00:57:02
and Lydia the funny thing the year
00:57:04
before Lydia died the great coach the
00:57:06
greatest yeah I didn't understand yeah
00:57:10
middle and distance coach of the century
00:57:11
in the world
00:57:12
a year before he died he said
00:57:16
I think I will probably
00:57:19
pass on next year
00:57:21
I'd love to die in America
00:57:24
I don't know how is that he's a
00:57:27
predicted his idea
00:57:29
why did he think that I have no idea no
00:57:32
idea but yeah Gareth Gilmore told me
00:57:35
that right who was his author yeah they
00:57:37
were very close yeah and that was an
00:57:39
Arthur yeah Gilmore told me that I think
00:57:42
at the funeral yeah um Arthur predicted
00:57:44
really that um yeah he would go so so it
00:57:48
was 87 on the job still going and yeah
00:57:53
perhaps I might be the same because I
00:57:55
will go I'll go for training anywhere
00:57:57
for one Runner yeah I was at the club
00:58:00
last night and I had three running four
00:58:03
runners running and they went they were
00:58:05
in the 800 meters at the club and they
00:58:08
got one two three and four oh wow yeah
00:58:12
how do you how do you feel about your
00:58:14
immortality I mean you've you've it's
00:58:16
been such an incredible life and you've
00:58:17
still got so much to so much to live for
00:58:19
how do you feel about that
00:58:21
um
00:58:22
now I'm a Christian and Christians never
00:58:25
died all right we just passed through
00:58:27
and go away and Heaven is the promise
00:58:31
promise is the prophecy I've got no fear
00:58:33
in dying I've got no fear of covert I've
00:58:35
got no fear whatsoever no um yeah I know
00:58:39
I'm contented and happy with us now or
00:58:42
10 years time or whatever
00:58:44
oh please not now I don't know how to do
00:58:45
CPR no someone someone said to me
00:58:49
yesterday
00:58:50
um Barry you'll live to about 107. they
00:58:53
told me this is on the phone call I was
00:58:54
doing 107. I said no I don't think so
00:58:58
and
00:58:59
um
00:59:00
no I said no it won't be ahead and said
00:59:03
I'm going to live forever I said how
00:59:05
come
00:59:06
I said well I've always been told that
00:59:08
Only the Good Die Young
00:59:10
I should be living older forever because
00:59:13
I've always been a rascal I've always
00:59:15
been a joker yeah I'd always laughed at
00:59:16
life and it just taken the ups and downs
00:59:20
that they can yeah and that's that's you
00:59:22
know that's their life is a gift yeah
00:59:24
life is a gift yeah and what we do with
00:59:27
it it's up to us we can waste it or use
00:59:30
it and um I just want to be oh
00:59:34
to think that I have used my life to the
00:59:36
best possible way I feel like we should
00:59:38
leave it here it's been um hey it's been
00:59:41
so good to meet you
00:59:43
um what a life what a story and um I
00:59:46
feel like um
00:59:47
you still say mentally sharp and
00:59:50
physically I feel like I feel like
00:59:51
you're gonna be around for a while yet
00:59:52
God willing yeah hey Barry McGee you're
00:59:54
a great New Zealander thank you so much
00:59:55
for your time really appreciate it all
00:59:58
right
