Lonnie Vernon "Lon" Spurrier (May 27, 1932 – June 23, 2015) was an American former middle-distance runner who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics and set the world's record in the half-mile in 1955. Spurrier was born on May 27, 1932 in the rural farming community of Douglas County, Missouri. He was one of six children of John and Golda Spurrier, who migrated to the Central Valley of California during the Dust Bowl, eventually settling in the agricultural town of Delano, about a half-hour north of Bakersfield. Following in the footsteps of his two older brothers, he loved playing sports, and by the time he graduated from Delano High School in 1950 he had established himself as an all-around athlete playing varsity football as halfback, basketball (named outstanding defensive player of the