The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 km, usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. More than 800 marathons are held worldwide each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.
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 at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
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.
Dathan James Ritzenhein is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of the On Athletics Club (OAC). He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009 to 2010, until it was broken by Bernard Lagat. He is a three-time national cross country champion with wins at the USA Cross Country Championships in 2005, 2008 and 2010. Formerly a Nike athlete for the majority of his professional career, Dathan joined the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project team in 2017. In early May 2020, he announced his retirement from competition. He signed with the Swiss shoe brand On shortly thereafter in June 2020 and currently acts as the coach for the OAC in Boulder, Colorado.
Peter Dickson Pfitzinger is an American former distance runner, who later became an author, exercise physiologist and sports administrator.
Jon Willis ("Jack") Fultz is a retired American long-distance runner, who came to prominence in the 1970s after winning the 1976 Boston Marathon, the world's oldest and most established marathon race.
West Catholic High School is a private Catholic college preparatory secondary school in Grand Rapids, Michigan (U.S.). It is located within the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.
Benji Durden is a Boulder, Colorado based runner and former running coach who came to prominence as a distance runner in the early 1980s, at the height of the American running boom. Durden was a member of the 1980 Summer Olympics United States marathon team, placing second against what to that point was perhaps the deepest field of American marathoners ever assembled. With a personal record of 2:09:57, Durden recorded 25 sub-2:20 marathons in less than a decade. He ranked among the top ten US marathoners six straight years, reaching seventh in the world in 1982.
Paul Richard Cummings was a world-class middle and long distance runner who ran competitively from the 1,500 meters to the marathon, breaking several American records and one world record. His ability to have a middle distance runner's kick and also have the stamina to compete in distances up to the marathon place him as one of the most versatile American track and road racers of his era.
Thomas J. Fleming was an American distance runner who won the 1973 and 1975 New York City Marathon. He was also a two time runner-up in the Boston Marathon in 1973 and 1974 and finished six times in the top ten in the BAA marathon. Fleming was the winner of the Cleveland, Toronto, Los Angeles, Jersey Shore and Washington DC marathons in the 1970s. He set a personal best of 2:12:05 in the Boston Marathon 1975, and was renowned for running 110 to 150 miles per week to train for road racing. He was awarded the United Nations Peace Medal in 1977.
Kim Merritt is a former American long-distance runner who competed in the marathon. Her career coincided with the development of women's running in the United States and she was at the forefront of distance running in the mid-1970s.
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.
The Philadelphia Distance Run (PDR) is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States on the third Sunday of September.
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.
Herb Lindsay is an American former long-distance runner. He competed in track, road and cross country running disciplines. He was the silver medalist in the 5000-meter run at the 1979 Pan American Games, finishing behind compatriot Matt Centrowitz. He also represented his country at the 1982 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, coming 69th overall and sixth in the team rankings.
Sara Mae Berman is an American marathon runner. Berman won the Boston Marathon as an unofficial winner from 1969 to 1971 as women were not allowed to compete until 1972. At subsequent Boston Marathons, Berman had a fifth-place finish in both 1972 and 1973. Berman's wins were made official by the Boston Athletic Association in 1996. Outside of Boston, Berman finished third at the 1971 New York City Marathon. In 2015, she was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame. Berman is the daughter of Saul O Sidore and May Blum Sidore Gruber.
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.
Doug Kurtis is a retired American long-distance runner who holds the world record for number of marathon victories (40) and the number of marathons run under the time of 2:20:00 (76).
Dan Schlesinger is an American lawyer and artist who was a former long-distance running athlete. He was the third-place finisher at the 1982 New York City Marathon and was in the top 10 finishers at the 1983 and 1986 Boston Marathons.
Jane Welzel was a pioneering long-distance runner who advocated for women to be added to the sport.
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