Bill Rodgers (athlete)
Bill Rodgers (actually William Henry Rodgers ; * December 23, 1947 in Hartford , Connecticut ) is a former American long-distance runner who achieved extraordinary success in the marathon from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s .
He won the Boston Marathon in 1975 and was the first US runner to run a time below 2:10. In 1978, 1979 and 1980 he was able to repeat this victory, in 1979 with a new US best time and his personal record of 2:09:27. From 1976 to 1979 he won the New York City Marathon four times in a row , and in 1977 the Fukuoka Marathon .
At the marathon of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal he was handicapped by an injury and came in 40th. For the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 he was a huge favorite until the boycott of these games by the United States prevented his participation.
In 28 marathons it stayed below 2:15 - only the Ethiopian Abebe Mekonnen was able to undercut this mark more often.
Best times
- Hours run : 20,568 m, current US record
- 30,000 m: 1: 31: 48.9, current US record
- 10 km road run : 28:16 min.
- 15 km road run: 43:25 min.
- 25 km road run: 1:17:23 hours
- Marathon: 2:09:27 hours
Rodgers also holds the US records in the M 45 age group over 10 km, half marathon and 30 km.
Publications
- with Joe Concannon: marathoning. 1980, ISBN 0-671-25087-6
- with Joe Henderson and Priscilla Welch: Masters Running and Racing. Rodale Books, 1995, ISBN 0-87596-330-7
- Bill Rodgers' Lifetime Running Plan. Definitive Programs for Runners of all Ages and Levels. 1996, ISBN 0-06-273386-9
- with Scott Douglas: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running. 2nd Edition. 2003, ISBN 0-02-864466-2
Web links
- Bill Rodgers website
- The Bill Rodgers You Don't Know , article by Scott Douglas in Running Times, April 1996
- Interview with Scott Douglas on mensracing.com, April 2001 (English)
- Chat: Bill Rodgers with Toby Tanser for Runner's World , October 27, 2006 (English)
- Bill Rodgers in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Rodgers, Bill |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rodgers, William Henry |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American long distance runner |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 23, 1947 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Hartford, Connecticut |