Leonard Graves EDELEN

Just prior to the American running boom of the 1970s, Buddy Edelen was America's greatest marathoner. He ran at the University of Minnesota but moved to England after college where he ran cross-country and trained in the English club system. In 1963, Edelen became the first American to hold the world marathon record, when he ran 2-14:28 to win the Polytechnic Marathon. Perhaps his greatest race, though, came in the 1964 AAU Marathon, which was the Olympic Trial that year. On a brutally hot day with temperatures in the 90°s (ca¬ 35° C.), Edelen ran 2-24:25.6 and won the race by almost 20 minutes. He was considered to have a chance at an Olympic marathon medal in 1964, but hampered by sciatica, he finished sixth. He has been remembered by Frank Murphy's excellent biography, A Cold Clear Day.

Personal Bests: 2 miles – 8:57.4i (1960); 5000 – 13:54.4 (1961); 6 miles – 28:00.8 (1963); 10000 – 29:53.0 (1963); Mar – 2-14:28 (1963).