About Us

Nobuya "Nobby" Hashizume

Nobby first read the Japanese translation of Arthur Lydiard's "Run to the Top" in junior high school. While in Australia as an exchange student in 1978, he came across "Run--the Lydiard Way" that impressed him so much. While attending college in Washington State, he contacted Arthur Lydiard and started correspondence with him.

In 1984, Nobby took some time off from college and flew to New Zealand, stayed near Lydiard to study the Lydiard training method directly from Arthur Lydiard himself as well as other "Arthur's Boys" as Ray Puckett, Barry Magee and Bill Baillie.

Upon returning to Japan after graduating from Eastern Washington University, he was recruited to become a professional corporate running team coach for Hitachi, Ltd. He managed the team and coached 8 nationally ranked female athletes for 3 years before returning back to the USA, this time in Minneapolis. He worked as an R&D specialist for Breathe Right Nasal Strip for awhile until, with the financial support of the inventor of Breathe Right, Bruce Johnson, he founded Five Circles, a non-profit organization to promote running in 2001 which DBA Lydiard Foundation originally in 2006 until 2013.

Nobby now manages Lydiard® Training & Academy and conducts Lydiard® clinics and manages on-line Lydiard® training, Running Wizard, continuing to share what he learnt as the Spirit of Arthur Lydiard.