Lon Myers

Laurence Eugene "Lon" Myers (February 16, 1858 – February 16, 1899) was an American sprinter and middle-distance runner.

Myers won 28 national championships. He also set world records at 11 different distances, and held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile Myers set a world quarter-mile record while running the final 120 yards without his right shoe, and finished another race that he won running sideways (in conversation with a runner who had boasted that he would defeat Myers).

Early life Myers was Jewish, and was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Solomon H. Myers, a clerk. He was in the first graduating class of Richmond High School.

Track career

Amateur During his 21-year career, Myers held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile.

Myers was the first runner to run the quarter-mile in under 50 seconds (49.2), doing so in 1879. On September 20, 1879, he ran the quarter-mile in 49.5 seconds despite running the final 120 yards without his right shoe, setting a world record. At the 1879 U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championships, Myers won the 220 (22.75), 440 (49.2), and 880, setting records in each event.

Myers died of pneumonia on February 16, 1899, in New York City.

Halls of fame He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.