Born February 16, 1858, Richmond, Va. Died February 15, 1899.

Laurence "Lon" Myers was the greatest 440 and 880 runner of the 19th century but he also held national records in events from 50 yards to the one mile. He won 15 national titles, including six straight in the 440-yard dash, and was the first man to break 50 seconds for the quarter mile.

A true measure of his versatility came at the 1880 National AAU meet when he won all four races from 100 to 880 yards. Only 5-8 and 112 pounds, his bests of 10.0 for 100 yards, 22.6 for the 200, 48.6 for the 440, 1:55.4 for the 880 and 4:22.6 for the one mile are still impressive marks for versatility of running. In 1885, he became a professional runner and later moved into bookmaking, which was legal at that time. He died of pneumonia 13 years later.