Pål Benum

Following a very successful career as a long-distance runner Pål Benum later became a professor of medicine and specialised in orthopedics. Benum was born in Verdal but later moved to Oslo where he joined the IL i BUL athletics club. From the late 1950s to the mid-1960s he won ten Norwegian titles with victory in the 5,000 metres (1962, 1964), 10,000 metres (1963), 3 km cross-country race (1959, 1962–64), and 8 km cross-country race (1962–64). He was selected to run in the 10,000 metres at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where he finished 19th. After his athletics career Benum studied medicine in Oslo and Bergen, obtaining his medical doctorate in 1974. By 1982 he was a professor of medicine at the St. Olav Hospital in Trondheim where he headed the orthopedics department. Benum retired in 2005 and was awarded with the Order of St. Olav the following year.

Personal Best: 10000 – 29:13.6 (1964).