Frank Richardson (runner)

Last updated

Frank Richardson (born February 26, 1955) is an American retired marathon runner who competed during the 1970s and 1980s. Before entering his first races in the late 1970s, Richardson was 4th at the 1976 NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship and 1st at the 1977 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters. In World Marathon Majors, Richardson was 20th at the 1979 Boston Marathon and did not complete the 1980 Boston event. That year, Richardson won the 1980 Chicago Marathon with a course record time of 2:15:15 and was 10th at the 1980 New York City Marathon. In other events, Richardson won the 1980 USA Marathon Championships and was 9th in the marathon at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials. After ending his marathon career in 1985, Richardson worked at a pharmacy before resuming road racing in 2001.

Contents

Early life and education

On February 26, 1955, Richardson was born in Sac City, Iowa. [1] [2] Growing up, Richardson played multiple sports before becoming a runner in his teens. [3] In 1973, Richardson was injured in a car accident and sustained a vertebral compression fracture months before he was to start an athletic scholarship at Drake University. [4] Following his injury, Richardson was advised not to do any running for half a year. [3]

For his post-secondary education, Richardson initially studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before switching to life sciences. [3] [5] After completing his MIT program, Richardson went to Iowa State University in the late 1970s for veterinary medicine. [6] While at Iowa State, Richardson went to San Francisco for his veterinary training. [3] For additional education, Richardson completed a degree specializing in experimental pathology. [7]

Career

While at MIT in 1976, Richardson was 4th at the NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship and won the IC4A college cross country championship. [8] [9] At the 1977 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Richardson won the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:50:92. [10] [11] That same year, Richardson began his road running career in mid 1977. [3] Between 1978 and 1985, Richardson primarily competed in American races ranging from the 10 kilometers and marathon. [1]

During this time period, Richardson was 20th at the 1979 Boston Marathon and won the 1980 USA Marathon Championships. [12] [13] After the championship, it was determined that Richardson and the other competitors had not run the entire race after they were accidentally directed to a road not part of the marathon. With a time of 2:13:54, Richardson qualified for the Boston Marathon and United States Olympic Trials to be held in 1980. [14] That year, Richardson did not complete the Boston Marathon and was 9th in the marathon during the 1980 United States Olympic Trials. [5] [15]

In June 1980, Richardson won the Manitoba Marathon with a time of 2:15:15. At Manitoba, Richardson and two other competitors were temporally delayed from finishing the race due to a railway train. [16] Months later, Richardson won the 1980 Chicago Marathon with a new course record time of 2:14:04. [17] Later that year, Richardson finished in 10th at the 1980 New York City Marathon. [18] After competing in the 1981 Nike OTC Marathon, Richardson received a three-month suspension from The Athletics Congress for running in a professional event as an amateur athlete. [19] Throughout the 1980s, Richardson continued to run in marathons until 1985. [1]

Post-career

After ending his marathon career, Richardson worked at a pharmacy before he reappeared at road racing events in 2001. Richardson is married and has three kids. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Benoit</span> American distance runner

Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman in that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rodgers (runner)</span> American distance runner

William Henry Rodgers is an American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and 4 straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.

Craig Steven Virgin is an American distance runner. He was born in Belleville, Illinois, and grew up near Lebanon, Illinois. While in high school, Virgin won 5 state championships as well as setting the national outdoor high school 2-mile record of 8:40.9. Additionally, Virgin held the Illinois Boys Cross Country all-time state championship record for 47 years, running a 13:50.6 in 1972, a record that stood until November 9, 2019, when Josh Methner of John Hersey High School ran a 13:49.86. Virgin was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Hall (runner)</span> American long-distance runner

Ryan Hall is a retired American long-distance runner who holds the U.S. record in the half marathon. With his half marathon record time (59:43), he became the first U.S. runner to break the one-hour barrier in the event. He is also the only American to run a sub-2:05 marathon. However, this time is not eligible to be a record due to the course being point-to-point and a net-downhill course. Hall won the marathon at the 2008 United States Olympic trials and placed tenth in the Olympic marathon in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galen Rupp</span> American long-distance runner

Galen Rupp is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and the bronze medal in the men's marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Rupp competed for the University of Oregon and trained under Alberto Salazar as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon, becoming the first American to do so since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. Rupp won the marathon at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20, and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished eighth.

Jon Peter Anderson, is a lifelong Eugene, Oregon resident. He was a publisher and runner best known for winning the 1973 Boston Marathon. Anderson was a competitive long-distance runner from 1966 to 1984. He represented the United States as a member of the 1972 US Olympic track and field team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriana Nelson</span> Romanian distance runner

Adriana Nelson, née Pirtea is a Romanian American long-distance runner who competes in distances up to the marathon. She competed at the 2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships for Romania, then at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships for the United States. At national level, she won six long-distance track titles at the Romanian Athletics Championships and was the 2013 winner at the USA Half Marathon Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Cragg</span> American long-distance runner

Amy Cragg is an American track and field athlete, specializing in long distance running events. She is the 2015 American champion in the Marathon, the 2012 American champion in the 10,000 meters, and a qualifier for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Lisa Uhl is an American runner. She is a four-time NCAA Division One champion, former NCAA record holder in the 10,000 meters, and the sixth fastest American woman to ever cover that distance. She competed in the 10,000 meters in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She competed for Iowa State University.

Garry Brian Bjorklund is an American middle- and long-distance runner. He represented the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 meters. As a high schooler, he set a Minnesota state record for the mile run which lasted 39 years. At the University of Minnesota, he won the 1971 national championship in the six-mile run, and won numerous conference championships in various disciplines. Following his 1976 Summer Olympics appearance, Bjorklund became a marathon runner, and set a national age group record in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Hartmann</span> American long-distance runner

Jason Hartmann is an NCAA coach and a former American long-distance runner who specializes in marathon races. He won the Twin Cities Marathon in 2009. He was the top American finisher at the 2010 Chicago Marathon and was fourth at the Boston Marathon in both 2012 and 2013. His personal record for the event is 2:11:06.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leighton Dye</span> American hurdler

Leighton William Charles Dye was an American hurdler. He placed fourth in the 110 m hurdles at the 1928 Summer Olympics and was United States champion in 1926.

John T. McGrail is an American retired long-distance runner who participated in cross country running, track, and in the marathon from the 1970s to the early 1990s. In 1977 he was the sixth fastest American in the 10,000 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Bates</span> American long-distance runner (born 1992)

Emma Bates is an American long-distance runner, who competes in the marathon. Her achievements include winning the USA Marathon Championships in 2018, placing second in the 2021 Chicago Marathon, and finishing fifth in the 2023 Boston Marathon. Bates also represented the United States in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, where she set a personal best of 2:23.18 and finished seventh. Her highest position on the World Athletics Rankings was No. 14 in the marathon in July 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly Seidel</span> American long-distance runner

Molly Seidel is an American long distance runner. Seidel represented the United States at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country in 2012, 2013, and 2018. In her first-ever marathon, Seidel placed second at the 2020 U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials. Later, she went on to win the bronze medal in her third career marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At the University of Notre Dame, Seidel was a 4-time NCAA champion, 6-time NCAA All-American, 6-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion and 2016 female ACC Athlete of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens</span> Joint athletics program of Pomona College and Pitzer College

The Pomona–Pitzer Sagehens are the joint varsity intercollegiate athletic programs for Pomona College and Pitzer College, two of the Claremont Colleges. It competes with 11 women's and 10 men's teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) of the NCAA Division III.

Tina Gandy Kingery is a former American marathoner. Gandy was a daycare teacher before she decided to start racing in January 1977. During her athletic career, Gandy won the 1981 Chicago Marathon and was seventh at the 1982 Chicago Marathon. Gandy's final race was at the 1984 United States Olympic Trials before she ended her career due to prior injuries. After leaving running in 1984, Gandy went to Boulder, Colorado to work in healthcare.

Ray Treacy is a former competitive distance runner and coach of collegiate and professional runners. He began coaching track and field and cross country at Providence College in the U.S. state of Rhode Island in 1984, and became the head coach in 1986.

Debbie Mueller is an American middle and long-distance runner who won many major road races in the 1980s and 1990s, including the Dublin Marathon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Fulton</span> American marathon race athlete

Naomi Fulton is an American athlete and the winner of the 2021 Twin Cities Marathon.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Runner: Frank Richardson". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  2. ↑ White, Maury (June 26, 1980). "A Little Bit About a Lot of Things". Des Moines Register Peach. p. 1S.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 White, Maury (February 8, 1980). "Untitled". Des Moines Register Peach. p. 1S.
  4. ↑ Hanson, Dave (September 9, 1980). "Richardson the runner: He overcame". Des Moines Tribune. p. 13.
  5. 1 2 Hanson 1980, p. 15
  6. ↑ Kadel, Steve (October 9, 1978). "Richardson tops field in Governor's Cup run". Des Moines Register. p. 4S.
  7. 1 2 Hersh, Philip (September 22, 2002). "The fourth marathon: Sept. 28, 1980". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  8. ↑ "Fourth Annual Cross-Country NCAA Div. III National Championships" (PDF). Pomona Pitzer. November 13, 1976. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "Lehigh nips FDU for IC4A crown". The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. November 16, 1976. p. B-15.
  10. ↑ "York College Nine Toppled. 10-1". York Daily Record. May 28, 1977. p. 21.
  11. ↑ "1977 Championships" (PDF). Pomona Pitzer. May 1977. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Top 50 Finishers In Boston Marathon". Hartford Courant. April 17, 1979. p. 46.
  13. ↑ "USA Marathon Champions". USA Track & Field. Archived from the original on October 5, 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "Wrong turn cuts AAU marathon short". Tallahassee Democrat (Main ed.). January 30, 1980. p. 7B.
  15. ↑ "U.S. Marathon Trials". Florida Today. May 28, 1980. p. 2C.
  16. ↑ "Train fails to derail the winner". Vancouver Sun. June 16, 1980. p. B2.
  17. ↑ "Ames' Richardson tops Chicago marathon field". Waterloo Courier. September 29, 1980. p. 25.
  18. ↑ "N.Y. Marathon". The Tennessean (First ed.). October 28, 1980. p. 23.
  19. ↑ "TAC suspends 'amateur' runners". Petaluma Argus-Courier. November 25, 1981. p. 7.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.