Pete Pfitzinger

Last updated

Peter Dickson Pfitzinger (born August 29, 1957, in Camden, New Jersey) is an American former distance runner, who later became an author, exercise physiologist and sports administrator.

Contents

He is best known for his accomplishments in the marathon, an event in which he represented the United States in two Summer Olympic Games: the Los Angeles Olympics (where Pfitzinger finished 11th) [1] and the 1988 Seoul Olympics (where he placed 14th). [2]

Marathon career

In the 1984 Olympic Marathon Team Trials in Buffalo, New York, Pfitzinger became immediately known among American marathoners by taking the lead halfway through the race, relinquishing it in the final mile, then storming past the heavily favored Alberto Salazar in the final fifty yards to win the race, in a time of 2:11:43. [3] In the 1988 Olympic Marathon Team Trials, held in Jersey City, New Jersey, Pfitzinger finished 3rd in a time of 2:13:09, to qualify for his second Olympic Games. [4]

In other marathons apart from the Olympic Trials and Olympic Games, Pfitzinger won the National Sports Festival (Syracuse, New York) marathon in 1981, [5] the Winstones (New Zealand) marathon in 1983, and the San Francisco Marathon in 1983 [6] and 1986. [7] He was 2nd at the Montreal (Canada) marathon in 1983. [8] He was 3rd at the Nike OTC Marathon in 1981 [9] and at the New York City Marathon in 1987. [10]

He was a consistent performer: All but his first 3 career marathons were run in times between 2:11:43 - 2:15:21 (2 in 2:11, 4 in 2:12, 3 in 2:13, 3 in 2:14, and 1 in 2:15). [11] He won 8 of his 16 marathons, and finished 2nd or 3rd in 4 others. Apart from the Olympic Games marathons, his only other finishes outside the top 3 were at the New York City Marathon in 1986 (9th) and at the 1985 Marathon World Cup (Hiroshima, Japan), where he finished 18th. [12]

Pfitzinger was awarded the DeCelle Award in 1984 by USA Track & Field as America's best male long distance runner. In 1984, he was ranked #1 U.S. Marathoner by Track & Field News and was named the Road Runners’ Club of America Male Runner of the Year. Pfitzinger was also inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame and Cornell University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Here is a record of Pfitzinger's many road racing achievements. [13]

Personal life

Growing up, Pfitzinger lived in Haddonfield, NJ, Glenmont, NY, Westport, CT and Pittsford, NY. His running career started in high school in Pittsford, running 9:18.4 for two miles. Pfitzinger is a 1979 graduate of Cornell University. During college, he was the Heptagonal 10,000m Champion in 1977 and the Heptagonal Indoor 3 Mile Champion in 1978 and set the course record for the Cornell cross country course.

He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master of Science in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. [14]

Pfitzinger is the co-author of two highly popular training books for distance runners - Advanced Marathoning (with Scott Douglas) [15] and Faster Road Racing (with Philip Latter). He was formerly also a senior writer for Running Times Magazine. [16]

Pfitzinger's wife, Christine Pfitzinger, is also a former world-class runner. The Pfitzingers have lived in New Zealand [17] - Chrissey's country of origin [18] - since 1997.

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
July 1981 U.S. National Sports Festival Syracuse, New York1stMarathon2:15:20
Sept 1981Nike Oregon MarathonEugene, Oregon3rdMarathon2:12:41
July 1983 San Francisco Marathon San Francisco, California 1stMarathon2:14:45
Sept 1983Montreal MarathonQuebec, Canada2ndMarathon2:12:33
Nov 1983Winstones MarathonAuckland, New Zealand1stMarathon2:12:19
May 1984U.S. Olympic TrialsBuffalo, New York1stMarathon2:11:43
Aug 1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, California 11thMarathon2:13.53
April 1985 World Cup Marathon Hiroshima, Japan18thMarathon2:12:28
July 1986 San Francisco Marathon San Francisco, California 1stMarathon2:13:29
Nov 1986New York City MarathonNew, York, NY9thMarathon2:14:09
Nov 1987New York City MarathonNew, York, NY3rdMarathon2:11:54
April 1988U.S. Olympic TrialsJersey City, NJ3rdMarathon2:13:09
Oct 1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 14thMarathon2:14.44

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamo Wolde</span> Ethiopian marathon runner (1932–2002)

Degaga "Mamo" Wolde was an Ethiopian long distance runner who competed in track, cross-country, and road running events. He was the winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grete Waitz</span> Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder

Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons, women's division, between 1978 and 1988, the highest number of victories in a single big city marathon in history. She won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. She was also a five-time winner of the World Cross Country Championships.

<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 at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsford Sutherland High School</span> High school in Pittsford, Monroe Country, New York, United States

Pittsford Sutherland High School is a public high school in suburban Rochester, Monroe County in upstate New York. In 2021, the school was ranked in the top 2 percent in U.S. News & World Report's annual evaluation of nearly 18,000 public high schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Road Runners</span>

New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more than 60,000. As of 2012, it was considered to be the premier running organization in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliud Kipchoge</span> Marathon world record holder from 2018 to 2023

Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. He has run five of the 10 fastest marathons in history.

The Trenton Highlanders were an American soccer club based in Trenton, New Jersey that was a member of the professional American Soccer League. The Highlanders had been previously an amateur club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">69th Regiment Armory</span> United States historic place

The 69th Regiment Armory is a historic National Guard armory building located at 68 Lexington Avenue between East 25th and 26th Streets in the Rose Hill section of Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1906, the armory was designed by the firm of Hunt & Hunt in the Beaux-Arts style. The building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.

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.

Craig Alford Masback is a retired American middle-distance runner who specialized in the mile and 1500 meters, recording 30 sub-four-minute miles, including a best of 3:52.02, winning the U.S. Indoor Championships at the mile distance in 1980, establishing an American record at 2000 meters in 1982, and representing the United States 10 times in international competition between 1976 and 1985.

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">Philadelphia Distance Run</span> Running event

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.

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

Frederick William Faller was an American long-distance runner who competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics. He finished eighth in the 10,000 m, 15th in the individual cross-country and fourth in the team cross-country event. Faller won the AAU 10 mile and cross-country titles in 1919–20, and finished second in the 10 mile race at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games. Faller's AAU record held for 25 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Sisson</span> American long-distance runner (born 1991)

Emily Sisson is an American long-distance runner. She set the North American record in the marathon on 9 October 2022, when she ran 2:18:29 to finish second at the Chicago Marathon. Sisson also held the American record in the half marathon from May 2022 until July 2023. She represented the United States in the 10000 metres at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing 9th and 10th. In June 2021, she won the 10000m at the 2020 US Olympic Trials and placed 10th in the 10000m final at the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2024, she placed second in the marathon at the US Olympic Trials, qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Allen (runner)</span> American long-distance runner, race director and entrepreneur

Gary Allen is an American long-distance runner, race director and entrepreneur. He is the founder and director of the Mount Desert Island Marathon, the Millinocket Marathon & Half and the co-founder of the Downeast Sunrise Trail Relay and the Great Cranberry Island 50K Ultra Marathon.

<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.

Jenny Spangler is an American long-distance runner. She competed in Atlanta, GA in the women's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, but dropped out, along with 20 other women. By virtue of winning the Olympic Trials in 2:29:54, she was also the 1996 United States National Champion in the Marathon. She had run the best time of any U.S. Junior in 1983, clocking 2:33:52 at the Duluth, Minnesota point-to-point Grandma's Marathon. In 1984, she finished the Trials in 2:40:18, in 1988, 2:44.59, and in 2000, in 2:36:30, for 9th place. In 2003 Spangler set a Masters American Record at the Chicago Marathon.

Christine Joy Pfitzinger is a New Zealand former middle-distance runner. She represented New Zealand at the 1988 Summer Olympics, where she competed in the 3000 metres. She represented New Zealand in the 1987 and 1991 IAAF World Championships and in the 1982, 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games. Christine won nine New Zealand national athletic championship titles: the 800 metres in 1982 and 1987; the 1500 metres in 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1999; and the 3000 metres in 1984, 1988 and 1990.

Fred Torneden is an American mid- and long-distance runner who won several road racing victories in the 1980s and set the American record for the 20-mile distance in 1984. He competed for the United States at the first IAAF World Marathon Cup in 1985. He later became a coach and a pastor. He served as a children's pastor at Rock Hills Church in Manhattan, Kansas while continuing to run competitively at the masters level.

LetsRun.com is a Fort Worth-based news website and internet forum for information and discussion related to track and field, especially long-distance running. The website provides pre-race previews, covers races, and interviews athletes.

References

  1. https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/los-angeles-1984/results/athletics/marathon-men
  2. https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/seoul-1988/results/athletics/marathon-men
  3. "PFITZINGER WINS MARATHON TRIAL". The New York Times. 1984-05-27. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  4. "Conover Is Winner of U.S. Trial". The New York Times. 1988-04-25. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  5. "PFITZINGER CAPTURES MARATHON AT NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL". The New York Times. 1981-07-27. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  6. "Pfitzinger Wins Coast Marathon". The New York Times. 1983-07-25. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  7. "San Francisco Marathon". Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  8. "Balcha of Ethiopia Takes Marathon". The New York Times. 1983-09-26. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  9. "Durden Accepts $20,000 for Run". The New York Times. 1981-09-14. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  10. Alfano, Peter (1987-11-02). "KENYAN AND BRITON WIN THE MARATHON". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  11. "ARRS - Peter Pfitzinger".
  12. "Marathon Results of Peter Pfitzinger". marathonview.net. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  13. "ARRS - Peter Pfitzinger".
  14. "Peter Dickson PFITZINGER". olympics.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  15. "Advanced Marathoning". abebooks.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  16. "Pete Pfitzinger". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  17. "Peter Pfitzinger". LinkedIn . Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  18. "Christine PFITZINGER". olympics.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.