Donald Ray Lash (August 15, 1912 – September 19, 1994) was an American long-distance runner who won 12 national titles from 1934 to 1940, including seven consecutive men's national cross-country championships, and who set a world's record for the two-mile run in 1936.
Born in Bluffton, Indiana, Lash grew up in Auburn, Indiana, where he graduated from high school in 1933 after setting a new Indiana state record of 4:30.5 for the indoor mile and 4:23.7 for the outdoor mile. As a student at Indiana University Bloomington, Lash set an American record of 31:06.9 for 10,000 meters. In June 1936, he broke Paavo Nurmi's world record for the two mile, running 8:58.4, besting Nurmi's record by 1.2 seconds. Competing in the 1936 Summer Olympics, he placed 13th in the 5,000-meter run and eighth in the 10,000-meter.
In 1938, Lash set a meet record of 14 min., 39 sec., for 5,000 meters at the Amateur Athletic Union indoor national championships. That same year he won the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete.
Lash attributed his endurance to his unusual ability to store oxygen in his system. Speaking to a meeting in Auburn in 1937, Lash said that he knew when he would win a race by having a blood count before running.[1] Research done at the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory published in Science in 1937 found when running Lash had an oxygen intake of 5.35 L/min and commented, "This far exceeds previous records".[2]
World War II precluded any further chance for Lash to compete in the Olympics. Having married Margaret Mendenhall in 1938, Lash began a law-enforcement career with the Indiana State Police, then became an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1941. He retired from the FBI in 1962 to become a regional director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and appeared frequently as a motivational speaker.
Lash died of spinal cancer at a hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana, and is buried in Rush Creek Cemetery near Tangier in Parke County. Don and Margaret Lash had two sons and a daughter.
Don Lash Park in Auburn is named for him. Lash was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1995.
Lash's autobiography, The Iron Man from Indiana: the Don Lash Story, was published in 1999.[5]
Notes and references
^"Lash Tells Secret of Track Success," The Evening Star, Auburn, IN, August 10, 1937, page 6, column 1.
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Distance: Until 1924 the event was 5 miles; from 1925–27 and from 1929–31 it was over 6 miles.
* Events before 1906 are considered unofficial. Distances have varied as follows: 2 Miles (1899–1931) and odd numbered years since 2015, 5000 meters (1933–1939), 3 Miles 1932, (1940–1986), and 3000 meters (1987–2014) and even numbered years since 2014
