The "Mystery Man" Of Athletics!

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 232, 30 September 1944, Page 5 (Supplement)

The "Mystery Man" Of Athletics!

AUCKLAND'S GREAT TRACK COACH

Creating Record-Breakers Is The Speciality Of Tom Mclntyre

(By NALA)

This article is a tribute to one of the finest sportsmen in New Zealand. It is a tribute to a man of whom most of you sports enthusiasts have never heard. That is because he has always kept [ well behind the scenes and been content to let the honour and glory : go to others.

You have heard of such champion runners as V. R. Walker, \V. S. Bainbridge, A. J. Sayers and D. M. Harris. All followers of track athletics have at some time or another been thrilled by the performances of one or more of these stars.

But how many of you have heard of track coach Tom Mclntyre, without whose tuition and care none of these speed merchants might ever have achieved their outstanding per-

formances?

HE knows more about running than any man I have ever met. He understands the mechanical science of running. He understands the coordination necessary between a man's muscles and a man's mind before he can become a real champion. In his hey-day, nearly 40 years ago, Tom Mclntyre was a champion, too. He could better even time over any sprint distance.

Says Coach Mclntyre: "A man has to be taught to run just as he has to be taught to swim. No novice could get straight into the water and dash along with the latest American crawl method. "He has to be painstakingly taught. Similarly, a runner must be taught the pei> feet style, the scientific style, the style that will carry him over the ground with the maximum speed possible."

Of course, says Mclntyre, it would be better to have a fine natural athlete to start with, because the fundamentals of such a man would be good. That is to say, his sense of balance and rhythm", his sense of co-ordination and his all-round bodily health would be good. But Mclntyre maintains that it is possible to take any man who is not physically handicapped in any way and make him quite a speedy, if not a first-class, runner. This would be achieved simply by teaching the man how to run correctly. Naturally it would take many months of hard training to do this, but the final result might be a champion. It has been in the past. Shortcomings of Bainbridge And here I come to per'naps the strangest story in the whole history of New Zealand athletics. If I had not witnessed it with my own eyes I would have been loath to have believed it. It bears out all the points which I have mentioned in this story. It is a wonderful object lesson for the upcoming young athletes of this country. I refer to the story of W. S. Bainbridge, one of the most remarkable runners New Zealand has ever produced. I will relate it just as Tom Mclntyre told it to.me. The first time Mclntyre took "Sticky" Bainbridge up to the Auck-i land Domain for his first running lesson he nearly died with disappointment. When "Sticky," who hardly lifted his feet off the ground tried to jog in spiked shoes he caught his spikes on the ground and threw himself headlong on the turf, winding himself completely. He simply could not lift his feet at •all.

Sometimes the human material Mclntyre has had to work with has not been first-class. But he has never trained a man who has not achieved tremendous results. Among Auckland athletes he is regarded as somewhat of a "mystery man." He says little, but. when he does speak he is worth listening to.

With him athletic training is a business. It has been his life-time hobby. When he trains a man he puts into that 'man's body the most careful and regular attention possible. • Not one man in a thousand has the patience which he possesses. He does it for the love of sport. He finds his greatest thrill in creating a champion. Tom Mclntyre insists upon his : athletes being always punctual. He insists upon them being neat and tidy with their clothing. He insists upon them concentrating hard upon athletics while they are at the track, hut striving 'just as hard at their regular work when they are away from the track. He loves a clean and an alert mind. And above all he loves radiant physical health.. This great coach, knows just how to give his charges that fifth-of-a-second which makes all the difference. He makes them cut their hair short in order that he can extend massage even to their scalps. He has even made some of them wear long underwear during the winter months to protect their legs from the cold. He pays attention to every minutest detail. When his- athletes strip off their sweat-suits on championship day they are as well trained as it is possible to be. "The stop watch is the barometer of the athlete's condition," says Mclntyre. One is never out of his hand while he is at the track. He is a great believer in massage, but never uses oil. He is an expert masseur with a massage -system all his own.

But Tom Mclntyre has always remained behind the scenes. His face and figure are familiar to Auckland athletes and to many spectators, but few know who he is or what he does. Pew know that the breathtaking, deeds being performed by those champions down there in the arena have been made possible by his.wonderful knowledge of running. Lesson In Technique If Tom Mclntyre started to train you he would show you that running was an art, an art which few understand, and certainly no one in New Zealand as thoroughly as himself. He would teach you how to run correctly, that is, how to move your arms, body and legs in order to cover the ground at the greatest possible speed with the least possible effort. His credentials as a coach are these. He has never trained a man who has not won a major championship. He has trained the men who hold the New Zealand 220 yards record (curved track) and the New Zealand 440 yards record. He has trained men who have won Auckland provincial titles over 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards and 880 yards, as well as men who have won New Zealand 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards titles. Only four New Zealanders have ever run 49 l-5s for 440 yards in this country. Mclntyre has trained three of them! He has also trained three 220 vards runners who have done 22s or better. One of these athletes ran 220 yards in 21 2-5s to equal Alan Elliot's" national record for a straight track, but the record was never applied for as certain record-breaking conditions had not been fulfilled. Four watches caught this time and one was a fifth better.

Bainbridge was not first-class material. Mclntyre made him run up and down the steps of the Domain grandstand time after time to teach him to pick up his knees. The pair spent hours a day together and much is to be ' said for "Sticky s tenacity of purpose that he stuck to his task, which must have been terribly strenuous and monotonous. Jogging and striding, exercises by the score, hours and hours of massage— this went on for months, but. slowly a great athlete was being made. Manv an athlete had a laugh at Bainbridge as he jogged about the Domain with his arms fl a PP in P loosely at his sides. They laughed, but what they didn't realise was that in a race "Sticky" would run completely relaxed at the shoulders, with no strains on the muscles, and consequently ho fatigue settmg in. Many a spectator had a chuckle at "Sticky" warming up, with his peaked cap on his head and his blue sweater on inside out. He looked an odd figure, he was so loose. inn they didn't laugh when the pistol cracked and he was off. What a grand sight he was when in full stride! From the waist down he was the most stylish runner I have ever seen. His leg action was perfect. His height off the ground was tiemendous and his stride enormous. But above all the beautiful rhythm with which his knees rose and fell was a delighf to behold. I have seen the incomparable Jesse Owens run, and from &e waist down Bainbridge was. Owens all over again. And this was the ungainly athlete who two years before had taken a nosedive when he put on running shoes. In 1936 Mclntyre trained Bainbridge at Blandford Park and what a great year it was for them. Cambridge carried everying before mm at Wanganui, and he came close, to performing .an unparalleled «*£- winningtfie national 100 yards, 220 yardsand 440 yards championships all on the one day.

This' same runner twice represented New Zealand at Empire Games and in 1937 ran no fewer than 10 consecutive quarter-miles, some of them from scratch in handicap races, at an average time of oo 1-Ss. What other coach, in the Dominion has such an amazing record!

The finish of the 100 yards was so close that, although the Aucklander was announced the winner with McFarlane (Canterbury) second, the judges' decision was later reversed and McFarlane was placed first with Bainbridge second. The time was 10s. This robbed Bainbridge of an unprecedanted triple victory, for later in the day he won the 220 yards in 21 3-5s (which still stands as a New Zealand re-cord for a curved track), and then astonished everyone by defeating Stuart Black, title and record-holder, in the 440 yards in 49 l-ss.

When it is remembered that he had previously won his heat, of the 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards the real merit of these performances is recognised. Has there ever been another New Zealander who could run 100 yards in 10s, 220 yards in 21 3-5s and 440 yards in 49 l-5s all on the, same afternoon on a 360 yards track? I have related the story of "Sticky" Bainbridge to show you he was a "made" athlete, made by a man with an intense knowledge of the requirements of a runner. Yes, Mclntyre made him the wonder runner which he undoubtedly was. Five Years to Reach Peak I have just mentioned the name of Jesse Owens, the great negro sprinter. Most people first heard of Owens when at the Berlin Olympics he won the 100 metres in 10.35, the 200 metres in 20.75, the running broad jump with 26ft 5 5-16 in, and was a member of the victorious 400 metres relay team. But what most people do not know is that it took Owens five long years of arduous training to reach this peak. I have in front of me a photograph of the finish of the United States national college championships of 1930. It. is being won in world record time by Frank Wykoff, but finishing in fourth position is another freat little negro runner, Eddie blan, who was in Auckland several years ago. Tolan wasn't even in a place in this event, but four years ! later at the Los Angeles Olympic Games he won the 100 metres in world record time and also took the 200 metres in new Olympic record time. Like Owens he had gradually improved during the intervening years with scientific coaching. So these two examples amply illustrate Mclntyre's theory that runners are made. It is an impossibility for any man who has never competed in running races, no matter how fast he thinks he can travel, to step out onto a track and defeat a trained champion. But the fact that we should all bemoan is that New Zealanders know very little about high-speed running. Mclntyre is one man who understands its in-

tricacies.. His results speak for themselves. Record His Ambition When this great coach first took an interest in Doug-. Harris, who has won many championships these last few years, Harris told his mentor that his greatest ambition was to set a new Dominion 440 yards record. With the war on there were no national championships, so McIntyre set out after, not the winning of a race, but the lowering of a record. Once again the story of the training of Harris is a long s, and interesting one to those inik terested in the sport. The climax M came at Hinemoa Park, Hamilton, W last summer, when Harris sped If over 440 yards in 48 2-ss, to W erase from the books the 12-year-r old record of Olympian Stuart Black. Above all that Tom Mclntyre has done, however, he has earned the undying respect and admiration, not only of the men who have been fortunate enough to be trained by him, but also of the athletes who know him and are privileged to call him "Mas." Crowds may not have applauded'him, because they do not know him, but they have certainly strenuously applauded the champions and record-breakers he has created.