Pete Pfitzinger

Pete Pfitzinger was TAC marathon champion in 1983. He also won TAC championships on the road at 15 km. in 1980 and at 30 km. in 1981. He won five of his career 13 marathons, including the 1984 US Olympic Trials and the Syracuse marathon in 1981, the Wiri (New Zealand) marathon in 1983, and the San Francisco Marathon in 1983 and 1986. Pfitzinger competed for Cornell and Team New Balance.

After graduating from Cornell, Pfitzinger obtained an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a master’s degree in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts. He married the former Christine Joy Hughes, who ran the 3,000 metres for New Zealand at the 1988 Olympics. In addition to work as an exercise physiologist, Pete Pfitzinger wrote two popular books for distance runners, Advanced Marathoning and Road Racing for Serious Runners, and also served as a senior writer for Running Times magazine. He also served as chief executive of Athletics New Zealand.

Personal Bests: 2 miles – 8:47.2i (1980); 5K – 14:04.0i (1980); 10K – 28:41.50 (1986); Marathon – 2-11:43 (1984).