Max Truex
{{Short description|American Olympic long-distance runner (1935–1991)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name = Max Truex
|image = Maxtruex.png
|country = United States
|event = 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, marathon
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|11|04|mf=yes}}
|birth_place = Warsaw, Indiana, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1991|03|24|1935|11|04|mf=yes}}
|death_place = Milton, Massachusetts, U.S.
|collegeteam = USC Trojans
|height = {{convert|5|ft|5|in|m}}
|medaltemplates =
|show-medals =
}}
Max Edwin Truex ({{IPAc-en|tʃ|ɹ|u|ɛ|k|s}}; November 4, 1935, in Warsaw, Indiana – March 24, 1991, in Milton, Massachusetts) was an American long-distance runner. He was a two-time Olympian, running the 10,000 metres at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418060945/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/tr/max-truex-1.html Max Truex at Sports Reference] He also was a two-time United States champion in the 6 mile run, the imperial equivalent{{cite web|url=http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/men/m10000m.asp |title=USATF - Statistics - USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions |access-date=2011-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610231907/http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/men/m10000m.asp |archive-date=June 10, 2011}} and added a 3-mile championship in 1962 (though he actually finished second to New Zealander Murray Halberg).{{cite web|url=http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/men/m5000m.asp |title=USATF - Statistics - USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions |access-date=2008-09-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004172340/http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/men/m5000m.asp |archive-date=October 4, 2008}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-14-sp-217-story.html|title = Archives| website=Los Angeles Times | date=March 14, 1990}}
Prep
While running for Warsaw High School (class of 1954), Truex came to fame by setting the national high school record in the mile at 4:20.4, the record that had been held by Louis Zamperini for close to 20 years. He went to the University of Southern California where he joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps.
NCAA
He won the 1957 NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship and on the track set the NCAA 2 mile record. While at USC, he won his first Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Championship and the 1956 Olympic Trials. But the college sophomore went to the Olympics injured and was unable to finish his race.{{cite web|url=http://www.sbrunning.org/Stories/DonTruex_05.htm |title=Don T on Max |access-date=2012-08-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027063008/http://www.sbrunning.org/Stories/DonTruex_05.htm |archive-date=October 27, 2012}} At the Fresno Relays, he added the American record in the 5,000 meters at 14:14.5, setting the 3 mile record at 13:47.6 along the way.{{cite news
| last = Barnes
| first = Dick
| date = 1957-05-13
| title = Herrmann Broad Jumps 25-3 in Fresno Relays; One World, Two American Records Smashed
| url = https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19570513-01.2.33
| work = The Stanford Daily
| access-date = 2017-09-29
}} Three weeks later in Compton, California he knocked ten seconds off the mark. That mark still ranks him #2 time on the USC all-time list.{{Cite web | url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/men-top-10.pdf | title=USC Men's Top 10 Performers | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920150735/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/usc/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/men-top-10.pdf | archive-date=2018-09-20}} By the time he graduated, he was already in the Air Force as a lieutenant at the Oxnard Air Force Base, where Olympian Bob Schul and world record holder Eddie Southern were also training.
Olympian
He became part of the Southern California Striders, a dominant track team of this period. His second national championship in 1959 qualified him to run in the 1959 Pan American Games.
In 1960, he won the Olympic trials, then finished 6th in the Olympics. In the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Max Truex set the American record in the 10,000 meters, 28:50:2, in finishing sixth in an event long dominated by Europeans.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/26/obituaries/max-truex-55-dies-star-runner-of-50-s.html|title = Max Truex, 55, Dies; Star Runner of 50's|newspaper = The New York Times|date = March 26, 1991}}
In 1962, Truex won the national championships in the 3 mile run. This qualified him to run in the USA-USSR dual meet, the biggest meet of the year. During that race, he developed a 2-inch blood blister. He tried to heal it for a year with no success. He finally retired and returned to USC to get his law degree.
Personal
At the age of 40, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The disease deteriorated his quality of life rapidly. He had to retire early, eventually seeking unconventional fetal brain transplant surgery in China. He died at the age of 55.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Footer US NC 5000m Men}}
{{Footer US NC 10000m Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1956 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1960 Summer Olympics}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Truex, Max}}
Category:American male long-distance runners
Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games
Category:People from Warsaw, Indiana
Category:Track and field athletes from Indiana
Category:USC Trojans men's track and field athletes
Category:USC Trojans men's cross country runners
Category:Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States
Category:United States Air Force officers