 Chuck Smead (left) at 2012 Mount Washington Road Race | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | August 4, 1951 (age 74) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Charles Smead (born August 4, 1951) [1] is an American long-distance runner, who made his mark on the sport by taking second in the Marathon at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. [2]
Originally from Santa Paula High School in Santa Paula, California, where he was an outstanding two-miler, taking second place at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in 1968. [3]
He continued to excel in long distance at Humboldt State University, [4] where he won the NCAA Division II 6 mile/10000 metre Championship twice. [5] In 1972 he began a string of three straight wins in the famous Pikes Peak Marathon, he added a fourth victory in 1976. [6] [7] He has completed the race six times, the most recent as a 57-year-old. [8] He also won the Avenue of the Giants Marathon in 1974 [9] In 1980, he was runner up at the Chicago Marathon. [10]
In the 1970s he was one of the early luminaries of ultramarathoning, [11] [12] yet as a Senior athlete he is not above sprinting 100 metres. [13] He was twice ranked in the United States top ten in the marathon. [14] He continues to be active, winning the M60 division of the 2012 USA Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships in October 2012. [15]
Smead has been credited with spreading an interest in European mountain races among American runners. [16] [17] [18]
