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 the world quarter-mile record while running the final 120 yards without his right shoe. He 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. His father moved the family to Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1875 after he graduated high school, and then to New York City, where he became a bookkeeper.

Track career

Amateur

During his 21-year career, Myers held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile. He won 15 United States national championships, 10 Canadian national championships, and 3 British national championships. From 1880 to 1888, he held the world records in the 100-yard, 440-yard, and 880-yard races.