Overview

Edward ""Ted"" Haydon was born in Saskatchewan Canada in 1912 and moved to Chicago in 1917 where he lived the rest of his life. He was renowned for creating the University of Chicago Track Club in 1950, a unique blend of college and club that changed the way track and field organizations were seen. Over the years seventeen club members qualified for the Olympic Games in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1976, 1980, and 1984 Jan Johnson finishing third in the pole vault in 1972 and Rick Wohlhuter also third at the 1976 Games in the 800 meters. A 1933 graduate of the University of Chicago, Ted spent the first sixteen years of his career as a social worker during the height of the Great Depression and WWII, one of the neighborhoods he was responsible for the site of the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre frequented by the likes of Al Capone and Bugsy Moran. Ted had a wit matched by few, his ""Being a member of the UCTC is a state of mind. If you think you are, then you are"" one of the classic lines. The club coach and U of C varsity coach at the same time, he opened the organization to people of all levels, espousing a Run For Fun motto to his charges, the eight minute milers just as welcome as those who could break four minutes. He was known to counsel athletes after a bad race with the quip ""Don't worry about the race today, I know you are capable of much worse"" or ""If you want to run faster times you'll need to run shorter races."" Ted's alibi list was legendary, complete with boxes to check the excuse, handed out to all his new athletes and comprised of these examples ""I wanted to see what they gave 3rd place"" or ""I felt great and that's always a bad sign."" He was an assistant coach for the 1968 and 1972 US Olympic teams; also coaching at the '63 and '79 Pan American Games, the 1961 Maccabi Games, leading US teams on European and Russian tours in 1958 and 1975, inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1975. It would take a thesaurus to list all Ted's great qualities. He will always be remembered for his sense of humor, a fedora on his head, and the two stopwatches around his neck.

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Reviews

""I owe so much of my success to Ted's guidance and support"" - Rick Wohlhuter, 1976 Olympic Bronze medalist in 800m ""Ted gave such good advice...and was always delightful to be with"" - Jim Ryun, World Record holder & 3-time Olympian ""He was such an important part of my development as a high school athlete. He helped me achieve what I did.""- Jan Johnson, 1972 Olympic Bronze medalist in the Pole Vault

Author Information

For thirty-five years Jim Knoedel was a college coach with stops at Iowa State, Drake, Loyola, Northwestern, and the University of Illinois at Chicago where he spent the last twenty-one years of his career. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and currently resides in Chicago with his wife Denise.

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