Top Club Marathoners

This list is of the best times run by WRC men and women marathoners since 1972. The following criteria must be met in order to make it on the list:

  • Men: Under 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Women: Under 3 hours
  • A WRC member in good standing at the time of the performance

We feel this is a fair comparison as it means that men have nearly 27 minutes above the men’s world record time and women have nearly 45 minutes. Plus, these times are lofty goals to shoot for.

We respectfully submit that many other WRC members have run excellent times for marathons and have PR’s to be highly proud of as well, just not within these criteria. Unfortunately, we have to limit this list in some way, or readers would find themselves scrolling down for hours, their eyes growing heavy, their minds full of numbers, and their training suffering beyond comprehension for they wouldn’t be able to stop their perusal. Now we wouldn’t want that, would we? No, we didn’t think so.

A historical context to note: You will see that the WRC had members of very top marathoning caliber in the past. Of course, things have changed a bit over time. The best athletes these days run for the likes of shoe companies and top-notch training groups and do not often belong to local clubs. Nonetheless, WRC was a club with members that had taken running to high levels, beyond much of what we see today in U.S. marathoning. These glory days are worth noting and nothing to sneeze at, so read on.

That historical context should not be construed to take anything away from some of the very noteworthy recent marathon performances in this list. We will update this page when a WRC member strikes under the marathon time criteria.

Note: Members who met the criteria are only listed once and their best time is posted (given the data made available to WRC).

Top WRC Men Marathoners

Rank Name When Where Time Comments
1 Jack Fultz 1978 Boston Marathon 2:11:17 4th place, one minute behind Bill Rogers
2 George Malley 1985 Sacramento Marathon 2:12:23 George has run the 4th best American 1/2 marathon time (1:01:43, 1982 in Philadelphia)
3 Henry O’Connell 1984 Chicago Marathon 2:12:32  
4 Matt Wilson 1983 Grandma’s Marathon 2:12:57  
5 Jeff Scuffins 1987 Marine Corps Marathon 2:14:01 New Course Record
6 Bruce Coldsmith 1980 Mardi Gras Marathon 2:14:07
7 Jim Hage 1992 Columbus Marathon 2:15:51 8th in 1992 Olympic trials
8 Steve Spence 1988 Boston Marathon 2:16:10 Steve went on to win Olympic Trials in 1992
9 Terry Baker 1982 Boston Marathon 2:16:32 7th Place
10 Bernie Allen 1974 Boston Marathon 2:17:02 9th Place
11 Bruce Robinson 1980 Olympic Marathon Trials 2:17:30 28th Place
12 Will Albers 1980 Olympic Marathon Trials 2:17:50 32nd Place
13 Walter Sargent 1990 Columbus Marathon (U.S. National Championship) 2:18:55
14 Jeff Peterson 1983 Phoenix Marathon 2:19:00
15 Gordon Minty 1984 Boston Marathon 2:19:03 18th Place
16 Mike Greehan 1980 Marine Corps Marathon 2:19:22
17 Jim Berka 1980 Mardi Gras Marathon 2:19:26
18 Al Naylor 1983 Boston Marathon 2:19:39
19 Tom Stevens 1992 Olympic Marathon Trials 2:19:41 17th place
20 Phil Stewart 1975 Boston Marathon 2:19:58
21 Dan Rincon 1975 Maryland Marathon 2:20:07
22 Tim Tays 1984 Philadephia Marathon 2:20:39
23 Max White 1975 Boston Marathon 2:20:40
24 Jeryl Turner 1980 Marine Corps Marathon 2:22:09
25 Bob Scharf 1966 Boston Marathon 2:22:15 8th Place
26 Lou Castagnola 1967 GW Birthday Marathon 2:22:45 Best time on Old DC Course
27 Chuck Burrows 1980 Olympic Marathon Trials 2:22:52 78th Place
28 Tem Washington 1983 Mardi Gras Marathon 2:23:12
29 Robert Thurston 1972 Boston Marathon 2:23:23 Three minutes behind Jeff Galloway
30 Peter Nye 1980 Carolina Marathon 2:23:41
31 John Dalb 1983 Chicago Marathon 2:24:12
32 Jack Coffey 1982 Boston Marathon 2:24:54
33 Bob Stack 1980 Connecticut Marathon 2:25:18 A really tough hilly marathon in Central CT, now defunct
34 Ray Morrison 1975 Yonkers Marathon 2:25:30
35 Roberto Rodriguez 1979 Penn Relays Marathon 2:25:34
36 Kirk Baird 1995 Dallas White Rock Marathon 2:26:09 13th place
37 Joe Sullivan 1988 Philadelphia Marathon 2:26:54
38 Jay Wind 1980 Boston Marathon 2:27:25 68th Place. Proceeded to win the Delaware Marathon four weeks later
39 Sheldon Karlin 1972 NYC Marathon 2:27:52 Winner of this third NYC Marathon

Top WRC Women Marathoners

Rank Name When Where Time Comments
1 Laura DeWald 1982 Osaka Marathon 2:34:59 First place
2 Patty McGovern 1988 Stamford Marathon 2:39:54 First Place; Patty ran Olympic trials both in 1984 and 1988
3 Casey Smith 2004 Philadelphia Marathon 2:45:23 Third Place
4 Genevieve Kiley 2005 Twin Cities Marathon 2:48:13
5 Karen Ouderkerk 1999 Chicago Marathon 2:48:25
6 Patty Duester 1983 Boston Marathon 2:49:00
7 Donna Moore 1994 Seattle Marathon 2:49:12 Winner of the 1997 and 1999 Marine Corps Marathons
8 Patty Fulton 1999 Kiawah Island (SC) Marathon 2:51:02 1st Place
9 Amy Durham 1995 Marine Corps Marathon 2:52:10
10 Mary Ellen Williams 1984 Olympic Trials Marathon (Olympia, WA) 2:53:47
11 Nikki Underwood 2003 Chicago Marathon 2:53:08 22nd overall; 3rd in age division (20-25)
12 Colleen Troy 1984 Savannah Marathon 2:54:00
13 Lisa Thomas 2003 Chicago Marathon 2:54:36 55th overall
14 Lindsay Goulet 2006 Chicago Marathon 2:55:44 86th overall
15 Maria Kozloski 2003 Chicago Marathon 2:56:45 73d overall
16 Rachel Clattenburg 2014 New Jersey Marathon 2:57:58 1st Place
16 Sharon Donovan 2003 Chicago Marathon 2:57:58 78th overall
18 Teren Block 1998 Rio de Janeiro Marathon 2:58:00