| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | December 24, 1949 | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best | 2:17:14 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mark Stanforth is an American former marathon runner and coach, who won the 1978 Chicago Marathon. He failed to qualify for the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics.
Stanforth studied at South Dakota State University, before transferring to the University of South Dakota–Springfield, graduating in 1972. [1] At USD-Springfield, he participated in cross country running and basketball, and was twice the college's athlete of the year. [1] After graduating, he joined the United States Army and became a finance specialist with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. [1] [2] He later worked in a bank in Phoenix. [3] From January 1976 to August 1977, he attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota and received a masters degree in physical education.[ citation needed ]
Stanforth ran his first marathon in 1973. While in the Army, he ran the 1974 Boston Marathon, finishing 75th. [1] He competed in the 1975 Honolulu Marathon, where he missed the 1976 Summer Olympics qualification time by 31 seconds. [1] The same year, he won a King Kamehameha I Day 4.5 miles (7.2 km) kukini race in Hawaii, [4] and set a course record in a 6 miles (9.7 km) race at Cooke Field, the stadium of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. [5]
In 1978, Stanforth moved to Phoenix, Arizona to attempt to qualify for the 1980 Summer Olympics. [1] He won the 1978 Chicago Marathon (also known as the Mayor Daley Marathon) in a time of 2:19:20. [6] [7] The race was run in a peak temperature of over 80 °F (27 °C), [8] and Stanforth caught the leaders around 20 miles (32 km) into the race as they were struggling with the heat more than him. [8] [9] He then passed 1977 winner Dan Cloeter, [7] and won the race by over five minutes. He ran the last few miles with blisters on his feet. [9] It was Stanforth's sixth competitive marathon event, and his third victory. [9] Later in the year, he came second at the Phoenix Marathon in a personal best time of 2:17:14. [8] Stanforth was in the leading group of three runners, before Arizonan Walter Johnson broke away 20 miles (32 km) into the race. Stanforth finished over a minute behind Johnson. [10]
Stanforth was invited to the 1979 Chicago Marathon, but did not compete due to an injury. [11] He competed in the US Marathon Trial Event for selected for the 1980 Summer Olympics. During the race, he became dehydrated, and eventually finished 124th out of 125 competitors. [8] In 1981, he won a 10,000 metres race in Burke, South Dakota. [12]
In 1977, Stanforth became a coach at USD-Springfield; [13] he quit the role when he moved to Phoenix. [1] He later worked as a coach at Glendale Community College in Arizona. [14] As of 2002, he was a coach of the United States Air Force Academy athletics team. [8] He was the head coach of cross country and the assistant coach of track & field (responsible for Distance Runners) at the United States Air Force Academy. He was a four-time winner of the Conference Coach of the Year in Cross Country Award for the Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West Conference. [15]
The Honolulu Marathon is a marathon in Honolulu, Hawaii, first held on December 16, 1973. It is one of the world's largest marathons, taking place annually on the second Sunday in December. The marathon is popular for its location in Hawaii, and is also popular among first-time marathoners, many of whom are visitors from Japan.
The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of finishers worldwide. The race was awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in 2024, for "outstanding contribution to the history and development of road running."
Robert Kay Ball was an American racecar driver.
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.
The women's marathon was one of the road events at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland. It took place on 7 August 1983, starting and finishing at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. The race was won by Norway's Grete Waitz in 2:28:09, ahead of Marianne Dickerson of the United States in second and the Soviet Union's Raisa Smekhnova in third.
Rudolph H. Lavik was an American football, basketball, baseball, and track and field coach, college athletics administrator, and educator. He served as the head football coach at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota from 1920 to 1921, at Arizona State Teacher's College of Flagstaff—now known as Northern Arizona University—from 1927 to 1932, and at Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe—now known as Arizona State University—from 1933 to 1937, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 43–43–9. Lavik was also the head basketball coach at Arizona State Flagstaff (1927–1931), Colorado Agricultural College—now known as Colorado State University (1925–1927), and Arizona State Tempe, tallying a career college basketball head coaching mark of 152–156. In addition, he served as the athletic director at Northern Arizona from 1927 to 1933 and Arizona State from 1933 to 1949. He remained a full-time member of Arizona State's faculty until 1962.
Andrew Sockalexis was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Michael J. Ryan was an American track and field athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club. He was a distance runner and competed in the marathon for the U.S. Olympic team in the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics, but did not finish either race.
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.
Joseildo Rocha da Silva is a Brazilian long-distance runner. He won the 1991 Chicago Marathon, the marathon event at the 1991 South American Championships in Athletics, and the 1993 Los Angeles Marathon. Da Silva competed in the men's marathon at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Don Janicki is an American long-distance runner.
Lynae Larson is an American former marathon runner, who won the 1978 Chicago Marathon, and finished second in the 1979 Chicago Marathon. She failed to qualify for the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Dorothy Doolittle is an American former marathon runner and athletics coach, who won the inaugural Chicago Marathon in 1977. She was an assistant coach of the US Women's team at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The 1991 Chicago Marathon was the 14th running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on October 27. The elite men's race was won by Brazil's Joseildo da Silva in a time of 2:14:33 hours and the women's race was won by Sweden's Midde Hamrin in 2:36:21.
The 1978 Chicago Marathon was the second running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on September 24. The elite men's and women's races were won by Americans Mark Stanforth (2:19:20) and Lynae Larson (2:59:25). The race was run in temperatures at times above 80 °F (27 °C), which caused hundreds of competitors to need medical attention.
The 1926 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota State College in the North Central Conference (NCC) during the 1926 college football season. In its eighth season under head coach Charles A. West, the team compiled an 8–0–3 record, won the NCC championship, shut out seven of eleven opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 157 to 24.
Erick Kimaiyo Kimase is a Kenyan former marathon runner who came second at the 1997 Berlin Marathon, and won the Honolulu and Baltimore Marathons on multiple occasions. Kimaiyo now works as a marathon coach, and trains current women's world record holder Brigid Kosgei.
Roy Dooney is an Irish former runner, who came second at the 1991 Chicago Marathon. He won the 1992 Grandma's Marathon, and was a member of the Irish team that won the 1988 New York City road relay race.
Sally Brent is an American long-distance running athlete who broke barriers for female runners in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Brent was the winner of the inaugural Twin Cities Marathon in 1982, running the race in 2:43:50. Only a few other American women had breached the 2:45:00 mark in 1982, and just seven years earlier, it had been the woman's world record.
James Ashworth is a British former marathon runner, who won the 1985 Berlin Marathon, and came second at the 1983 Berlin Marathon. He also won the 1985 Miami Marathon.
