Lorraine Moller Extols Lydiard Technique in Canada

Four-time Olympian and multi-marathon champion Lorraine Moller visits the Canadian city of Saanich for three days in November to teach the famed Arthur Lydiard method of run training.

The philosophy is widely used among elite distance runners and will draw a field of elite coaches and athletes during the session.

Lydiard presided over New Zealand’s golden era in world track and field during the 1960s with Murray Halberg, Peter Snell and Barry Magee making podium finishes at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Moller is the co-founder of the Lydiard Foundation. She was a pupil and used it to success, as she won big marathons in her time, including bronze during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic marathon (at age 37), as well as Boston, three Commonwealth Games medals and bronze in the World Cross Country Championships.

Two-time Olympian Bruce Deacon of Saanich uses the Lydiard method coaching at a local athletic club.

“Most runners have no idea the debt that they owe to the training theories of Arthur Lydiard. His views laid the foundations upon which most modern distance running training theory now sits,” Deacon said.

“Few athletes have had the success, let alone the range, of Lorraine Moller,” Deacon added. “She proved that with grit, determination and the proper training methods you can run well at everything from 800m to the marathon.”

Original article by Chris Kelsall, Saanich News, October 23, 2014.