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April 17 Birthdays
1948Pekka Antero Vasala, Finland, middle-distance runner. Pekka Vasala won the gold medal for 1,500m at the 1972 (Munich) Olympic Games, running 3:36.33, the world's fastest time for the year.
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April 26 Birthdays
1930Roger Moens, Belgium, middle-distance runner. In 1955 Roger Moens set a world record of 1:45.7 in the 800m which was eventually broken in 1962 by Peter Snell. Moens won a silver medal at the 1960...
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April 27 Birthdays
1940Dyrol Burleson, United States, middle-distance runner. Burleson won the 1959 (Chicago) Pan-American Games 1,500m, running 3:49.1. The following year he became an Olympian for the first time,...
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April 29 Birthdays
1947James Ronald "Jim" Ryun, United States, middle-distance runner. Historians looking for the roots of the American "running boom" of the 1970s and 1980s would do well to look at the inspirational...
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May 8 Birthdays
1986Galen Rupp, United States, distance runner. In 2004 Rupp set U.S. high school records in the 2,000m (5:18.5), the 3,000m (8:03.67), and the 5,000m (13:37.91). Moving on to the University of Oregon,...
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May 12 Birthdays
1960Lisa Martin, Australia, distance runner. After a college running career at the University of Oregon where she specialized in the 400-meter hurdles, Lisa Martin moved up to the marathon. Her first...
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May 13 Birthdays
1940Kokichi Tsuburaya, Japan, long-distance runner. Tsuburaya ran his first marathon (2:23:31) in 1964 and his second (2:18:20.2) a month later. He finished sixth in the 1960 (Tokyo) Olympic...
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May 16 Birthdays
1957Joan Benoit, American long-distance runner. Joan Benoit-Samuelson was the winner of the first Olympic marathon for women at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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May 19 Birthdays
1952Charles "Charlie" Spedding, Great Britain, long-distance running. Charlie Spedding ran 2:09:57 at the 1984 London Marathon, which earned him a berth on the British Olympic Team. In the 1984 (Los...
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May 25 Birthdays
1938John Davies, New Zealand, middle-distance runner. Born in Wales, when John Llewellyn Davies was 15 his family moved to New Zealand, where he began his athletic career. He was the silver medalist in...
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May 26 Birthdays
1966Zola Budd, South African distance runner. Zola Budd was a two-time world champion in cross country (1985 and 1986) and set world records in the 5,000 meter run in 1984 (15:01.83) and 1985 (14:48.07).
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June 1 Birthdays
1955Lorraine Moller, New Zealand, distance runner. Moller won a bronze medals in the 1,500m (4:12:67) and 3,000m (8:55:76) at the 1982 (Brisbane) Commonwealth Games, but it was already clear from her...
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June 4 Birthdays
1957John Treacy, Ireland, distance runner. Treacy had his greatest international success in cross country, winning the World Cross Country Championships in 1978 (Glasgow) and 1979 (Limerick). He was...
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June 7 Birthdays
1888Clarence DeMar, American long-distance runner. "Mr. DeMarathon" won seven Boston marathon titles, 1911, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1928, and 1930. DeMar was on the United States Olympic marathon team...
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June 12 Birthdays
1932Mamo Wolde, Ethiopia, distance runner. It's true that Wolde ran the 800m, 1,500m, and 4 x 400m relay for Ethiopia at the 1956 (Melbourne) Olympic games, but it is also true that the Ethiopian...
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June 13 Birthdays
1936Michael Jazy, France, middle-distance runner. Jazy won the silver medal in the 1,500m at the 19600 (Rome) Olympic Games, finishing behind the great Herb Elliott. Jazy set world records in the...
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June 17 Birthdays
1932George Derek Ibbotson, Great Britain, middle-distance runner. Running for the United Kingdom, Derek Ibbotson won a bronze medal in the 5,000m at the 1956 (Melbourne) Olympic Games, running 13:54.4...
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June 18 Birthdays
1918Reinaldo Gorno, Argentine long-distance runner. Gorno was the silver medalist in the marathon at the inaugural Pan American Games in 1951, and the silver medalist in the 1952 (Helsinki) Olympic...
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June 28 Birthdays
1962Anişoara Cuşmir-Stanciu, Romania, long jumper. Anişoara Cuşmir-Stanciu won the silver medal in the women's long jump at the 1983 (Helsinki) World Championships in athletics, finishing behind Heike...
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June 29 Birthdays
1958Rosa Mota, Portuguese long-distance runner. Rosa Mota was the Olympic marathon champion at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, becoming the first Portuguese woman to medal at the Olympics.
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June 30 Birthdays
1938Billy Mills, United States, long-distance runner. Mills won the 1964 (Tokyo) Olympic Games 10,000m in an Olympic-record time of 28:24.4. He was the first American to ever win an Olympic gold medal...
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July 7 Birthdays
1933Murray Halberg, New Zealand, middle-distance runner. Halberg represented his native New Zealand in the mile at the 1954 (Vancouver) Commonwealth Games and in the 1,500m at the 1956 (Melbourne)...
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August 2 Birthdays
1955Craig Steven Virgin, United States, distance runner. As a high school runner in Illinois, Craig Virgin broke Steve Prefontaine's national record for the high school two mile, setting a new record...
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August 3 Birthdays
1950Waldemar Cierpinski, East Germany, long-distance runner. Cierpinski moved up from the 3,000m steeplechase to the marathon in 1974, and in the 1976 (Montreal) Olympic marathon he took the gold...
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May 4 Birthdays
1949Pekka Johannes Päivärinta, Finland, distance runner. Päivärinta was the first world cross-country champion, taking the title at the first IAAF championship in that sport in Waregem, Belgium in...
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