Percy Wells Cerutty (10 January 189514 August 1975) was an Australian

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

coach in the 1950s and 1960s. The eccentric Australian pioneered a home-spun system of "Stotan" training, embracing a holistic regime of natural diets, hard training in natural surroundings, and mental stimulation. Cerutty coached

Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the re ...

to a series of

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

performances, culminating in an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal in the 1960 Rome Games.

Early life

Percy Cerutty was born in

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

, a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in 1895, the seventh child of Harry Richard Cerutty, accountant, and his wife Emily, née Neilson, both Victorians. He was four years old when his mother left her alcoholic husband to raise her six surviving children alone. In 1907, aged 12, he left school to help support the family but was considered unfit to serve in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He competed in athletics without distinction, suffering from illness after racing. Despite this fact, Cerutty was still determined to reach his highest potential. In 1939, at the age of 43 Cerutty was faced with a formative challenge in his life; a nervous breakdown that necessitated taking leave from work at the

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

and which prompted a reassessment of his life. After this, he began educating himself in healthy living. He focused on a vegetarian root-based diet, weight lifting, and of course, running. His tactics evidently worked because his health radically improved, sustaining him into an energetic old age, and they informed his coaching and running philosophy.

Athlete

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Cerutty began competing in

distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

events. At the start of his career he failed to do much more than a jog. However, over the years he started making good strides towards being competitive in the running world. Right before he turned 51 he completed his first marathon in a time of 3 hours and 1 minute. In 1950, he retired from running after becoming the state marathon champion, setting Australian records for 30, 50 and 60 miles (48, 80 and 97 km), having begun the coaching for which he is renowned.Australian Dictionary of Biography online - Percy Cerutty
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Stotan philosophy

Cerutty's unique "Stotan" philosophies were a blend of

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy * STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain * ...

and

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n principles, a combination that provided Cerutty a base for training his athletes.Kelly, Graeme (1964). ''Mr Controversial : the story of Percy Wells Cerutty''. Stanley Paul, London In 1946, Cerutty acquired 3/4 acres of land in Portsea with Dorothy Clara Barwell whom he had married in 1921, so that they could start a training camp there. In order to bring this new camp some attention, he ran 80 miles from Portsea to Melbourne. This act is reflective of his overall approach to the sport of distance running. He introduced this approach to the athletes he trained at his Portsea headquarters. Training would involve running amongst idyllic environments, along beaches and over dunes, and it mixed

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and philosophy with athletics training. His athletes would undertake a routine of challenging runs up sand dunes, on bark or wood chip paths, barefoot runningRichie Jr, D. H. What's New in Running Shoe Technology? Computers, hi-tech materials, and design changes have led to improved footwear. prevention, 2, 3. and lifting weights frequently. Athletes training under Cerutty said "You came here with the object of running more quickly, and achievement in running, but really it was an education in life" and "You got a whole philosophy of life and attitudes" The new philosophy of life included the following tenets: * Only consumption of

whole wheat bread Whole wheat bread or wholemeal bread is a type of bread made using flour that is partly or entirely milled from whole or almost-whole wheat grains, see whole-wheat flour and whole grain. It is one kind of brown bread. Synonyms or near-synonym ...

, as white flour was a poison. * Reduced consumption of alcohol * No consumption of cigarettes * No consumption of water or drink with meals or following for a few hours * No socialising after midnight His philosophies were considered very strict in his time, and inevitably led to rivalries between Cerutty and other coaches who used different approaches to training. Cerutty maintained a rivalry with fellow-coach Franz Stampfl whose

Interval Training Interval training is a type of training exercise that involves a series of high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or relief periods. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods inv ...

techniques were disliked by Cerutty. Cerutty's training techniques will always remain controversial among those who study the sport of running. However, Cerutty believed that what he was doing created the most physically and mentally tough athletes. Between 1959 and 1967, Cerutty published six books on his training philosophies.

Professional Trainer

Cerutty coached

John Landy John Michael Landy OLY (12 April 1930 – 24 February 2022) was an Australian middle-distance runner and state governor. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run and held the world records for the 1500-metre ...

, Don Macmillan and

Les Perry Leslie John "Les" Perry (29 January 1923 – 17 September 2005) was an Australian long-distance runner. Perry finished sixth in the 5000 m event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He also ran the marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 S ...

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for the 1952

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, but in 1953 announced that "All my enthusiasm for the amateur cause has had its day," and registered as a professional trainer with the

Victorian Athletic League The Victorian Athletic League organises professional footrunning events ranging from 70 to 3200 metres. The most famous of these events is the Stawell Gift which has been run since 1878 and hosts the richest footrace in Australia. Many other gifts a ...

Herb Elliott

Cerutty's greatest successes came through Herb Elliott. Elliott won two gold medals at the 1958 Empire Games, and set world records at Mile (3:54.5) and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

(3:36.0) during the year. Cerutty began coaching Elliott when the runner was eighteen. Elliott was a 4:20 miler when he came to run for Cerutty, and within a few months, he had run 4:06 (a world record at the junior level). Soon enough, Elliott topped Merv Lincoln to be the top miler in Australia. Lincoln was coached by Cerutty's rival Franz Stampfl. Lincoln and Elliott raced many times, but as Cerutty says of Lincoln "Never did he once beat my Herb Elliott." This quote demonstrates Cerutty's pride in coaching the great Herb Elliott, who continued to be a huge success for Cerutty. At

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1960, the 22-year-old Elliott set a

to win the

gold medal in the 1500 metres setting another

of 3:35.6. Percy Cerutty along with coaches

Forbes Carlile Forbes Carlile MBE (3 June 19212 August 2016) was Australia's first post-World War II Olympics swimming coach and later Australia's first competitor in the modern pentathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He remains the only person to ...

and Harry Gallagher provided the expertise for swimmers and athletes during Australia's "Golden Era" but they were disallowed official presence at Commonwealth and Olympic Games because of their "amateur" status. Elliott broke the 4 minute barrier on 17 separate occasions; an extraordinary feat for athletes during his time period. Elliott was never bettered at the distance of a mile or the 1500. At one point during his career, Elliott and Cerutty got in an argument. To solve the argument, Cerutty challenged Elliott to a mile race. Whoever won this race would also win the argument. Sure enough they raced and Cerutty was clearly beaten on time; he was racing the top miler in the world who didn't even have to try to win the race between the two of them. However, when Cerutty crossed the line, he told Elliott that he had won because he had put in more effort than Elliott. His point being that regardless of the circumstances, 100% effort should always be put forth. This story reflects accurately upon his "Stotan" training philosophy.

Other athletes

Further athletes trained or assisted by Cerutty included: *John Landy - 1956 Olympic Bronze Medal

- World Mile Record * Betty Cuthbert - 1964 Olympic Gold Medal 400 metres - World 440 yards Record * Middle-distance runners Dave Stephens and

* David (Dave) William Power - marathon runner - Olympic bronze medallist; dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Cerutty also helped

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

Russell Mockridge Edward Russell Mockridge (18 July 1928 – 13 September 1958) was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He died during a race, in collision with a bus. Family The son of Robert Glover Mockridge and Aileen Claire Mockridge, né ...

and boxer

Jimmy Carruthers James William Carruthers (5 July 1929 – 15 August 1990) was an Australian boxer, who became world champion in the bantamweight division. Jimmy was the 2009 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Veterans category. Amateur c ...

during their sporting careers. His strict training philosophy was not exclusive to distance running and could be transferred effectively to other sports because it taught competitors how to be tough; Cerutty saw his approach as a way of life and a way to train.

Retirement

Cerutty gave up coaching athletes in 1969 and continued to live at his beloved Portsea home - CERES. Cerutty was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 1972 Birthday Honours for services to sport and physical fitness,Australia list: and described as "Australia's most enigmatic, pioneering and controversial athletics coach". Posthumously Cerutty was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

for his athletics coaching on 5 December 1989.

Personal life

Cerutty and Dorothy Clara Barwell married at the East Malvern Baptist Church on 7 November 1921. They divorced in 1955, then on 3 March 1958 he married divorcee Ellen Ann ('Nancy'), née Keene, late Armstrong, at the Unitarian manse, East Melbourne. He died of

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

on 14 August 1975 at his home in Portsea and is buried at Sorrento cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerutty, Percy 1895 births 1975 deaths Australian athletics coaches Australian Olympic coaches Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportsmen from Victoria (Australia) People from Prahran, Victoria