Don Lash, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Don Lash

American athlete and politician

Date of Birth: 15-Aug-1912

Place of Birth: Bluffton, Indiana, United States

Date of Death: 19-Sep-1994

Profession: politician, athletics competitor

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Leo


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About Don Lash

  • 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.
  • As a student at Indiana University, 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.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. In 1973, he opened a real estate business in Rockville, Indiana.
  • He also was elected to five terms (1973–1982) as a Republican member of the Indiana State House of Representatives, serving Fountain, Montgomery and Parke counties. 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.

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