Published October 28, 2009 12:00AM
America's Next Top Runner
It's been 26 years since an American has won a major U.S. marathon— and 37 since we did it in the Olympics. Will this be the year American distance running gets back on track? Ryan Hall thinks so.
Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall
1908: John Joseph Hayes wins the Olympic marathon, the first American to do so
1964: Billy Mills shocks the world at the Tokyo Olympics, winning the 10,000-meter run by three meters
1972: Frank Shorter wins the Olympic marathon, the last American to do so
1975: Steve “Pre” Prefontaine, who had set American records in every event between 2,000 and 10,000 meters, dies in a car crash
197580: Bill Rodgers wins the Boston and New York marathons four times each, takes 40th at the ’76 Games
198082: Alberto Salazar wins three consecutive New York City Marathons, plus Boston, in 1982
1983: Greg Meyer wins the Boston Marathon, which no American has done since
2009: After finishing third in the Boston Marathon, Ryan Hall has his sights set on New York (November 1). “I’m going to be relentless until I get one of these U.S. marathons,” he says.
