View source for Don Lash

{{short description|American long-distance runner}}
{{use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Don Lash
| image =
| imagesize = 
| caption = 
| nationality ={{USA}}
| sport = Running
| event  = World record 2 mi. - 8:58<br /> American record: 10,000 m - 31:06.90                
| club = 
| collegeteam = [[Indiana University Bloomington]] 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|08|15}}
| birth_place = [[Bluffton, Indiana]]
| residence = [[Auburn, Indiana]] and [[Rockville, Indiana]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|09|19|1912|08|15}}
| death_place = [[Terre Haute, Indiana]]
| height = 5 ft 10 in
| weight = 154 lbs
| medaltemplates =
<!-- don't include medal templates unless there is a medal 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Track and field athletics|Track and Field]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[1936 Summer Olympics]]<br /> 5,000 m (13th)<br /> 10,000 m (8th)}}
-->
}}
{{externalimage |image1 = [http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/images/Lash_Donald_01.jpg Don Lash from USA Track & Field Hall of Fame.]|image2 = [http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/ind/graphics/hof/lash.gif Don Lash from IU Hoosiers Hall of Fame, 1982 inductees.] |image3 = [http://frankwykoff.com/images/Chronology/1936/Lash-Mullin%20300%20px.jpg Don Lash cartoon] Cartoonist Frank Wykoff predicts an American long-distance win in the 1936 Olympics "if Lash sticks to one race." |image4 = [http://museumcollections.in.gov/browser.php?m=objects&kv=92528&i=115641 Don Lash at Indiana University, 1934, Indiana State Museum Collection.]}}

'''Donald Ray Lash''' (August 15, 1912 &ndash; 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 running|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 miles|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.<ref>"Lash Tells Secret of Track Success," ''The Evening Star,'' Auburn, IN, August 10, 1937, page 6, column 1.</ref> Research done at the [[Harvard Fatigue Laboratory]] published in [[Science (journal)|Science]] in 1937 found when running Lash had an oxygen intake of 5.35 L/min and commented, "This far exceeds previous records".<ref name="Robinson Edwards Dill 1937 pp. 409–410">{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=S. |last2=Edwards |first2=H. T. |last3=Dill |first3=D. B. |date=1937-04-23 |title=New Records in Human Power |journal=Science |volume=85 |issue=2208 |pages=409–410 |doi=10.1126/science.85.2208.409 |pmid=17770274 |bibcode=1937Sci....85..409R |issn=0036-8075}}</ref>

[[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 Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the Indiana State House of Representatives, serving [[Fountain County, Indiana|Fountain]], [[Montgomery County, Indiana|Montgomery]] and [[Parke County, Indiana|Parke]] counties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.capitolandwashington.com/politicians/pol/8714/|title = Indiana Politicians by Letter|date = 6 March 2015}}</ref><ref>http://legdb.iga.in.gov/#!/legislator/4665/Donald-Lash {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203134733/http://legdb.iga.in.gov/#!/legislator/4665/Donald-Lash |date=December 3, 2019}} {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2022}}</ref>

Lash died of [[spinal cancer]] at a hospital in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]], and is buried in Rush Creek Cemetery near [[Tangier, Indiana|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.<ref>Don Lash, ''The Iron Man from Indiana: the Don Lash Story'', Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Co., 72 pages, 1999. {{ISBN|1-56311-493-3}}</ref>

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.donlash.com Official Memorial Website of Don Lash]
*{{Find a Grave|13100086|Donald Ray Lash}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716190256/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/usxcountry.shtml#menl |title=Men's Long-Course Champions}}
*{{USATF Hall of Fame|93|Don Lash}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218170238/http://iuhoosiers.collegesports.com/trads/ind-trads-hof-1982.html#Don%20Lash |title=Indiana University Hall of Fame: 1982 Inductees}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209003530/http://jordan.fortwayne.com/ns/sports/top50/lash.php |title=Fort Wayne, Indiana ''News-Sentinel'': ''Lash Runs into History''}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030801082504/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/features/si50/states/indiana/greatest/ ''Sports Illustrated'': 50 Greatest Indiana Sports Figures of the 20th Century]
*{{Olympics.com profile|donald-ray-lash|Donald Ray Lash}}
*{{Olympedia|78681|Don Lash}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-in-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=Gary Lee Butler<br />Edward Earl Goble}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[Indiana House of Representatives]]<br />from the 32nd district|years=1972–1982}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jeff Espich]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer US NC 5000m Men}}
{{Footer US NC 10000m Men}}
{{Footer US NC Indoor 3000 meters Men}}
{{Footer US NC Cross Country Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1936 Summer Olympics}}
{{Sullivan Award winners}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lash, Don}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Methodists from Indiana]]
[[Category:American male long-distance runners]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation agents]]
[[Category:Indiana Hoosiers men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients]]
[[Category:Law enforcement officials from Indiana]]
[[Category:Members of the Indiana House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:People from Wells County, Indiana]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Indiana]]
[[Category:People from Auburn, Indiana]]
[[Category:American athlete-politicians]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Indiana]]
[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Indiana]]
[[Category:Deaths from spinal cancer]]
[[Category:People from Rockville, Indiana]]
[[Category:Delta Chi members]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly]]