Fast Marathon Times
This list is of the best times run by WRC men and women marathoners since 1972-early 2000s. The time criteria for making the list: under 2 hours 30 minutes for men, under 3 hours for women while a current member of the WRC. We feel this is a fair comparison as it means that men have almost 25 minutes above the men's world record time and women have almost 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 the 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, the WRC was a club with members that had taken running to high levels, beyond much of what we see today in U.S. marathoning. From the Boss: "Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, but time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days...Glory days well they'll pass you by, Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye, Glory days, glory days." 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. Now you have something to shoot for! Most recent additions are in blue (done in 2006 or 2007). As of February 10, 2007, the best times listing includes 43 men and 17 women.
Note: Members who meet the criteria are only listed once, with their best time (given the data we have) provided.
WRC Men Marathoners:
RankNameWhen
Where
TimeComments
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 also ran the 4th best American 1/2 marathon time in 1982 (1:01:43 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 the 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
2:18:55
U.S. Nat'l Championship
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
Michael Wardian*
2003
Detroit Marathon
2:21:48
Qualified for 2004 Olympic Trials! (In 2004 he also set the treadmill world record of 2:23:58)
25
Jeryl Turner
1980
Marine Corps Marathon
2:22:09
26
Bob Scharf
1966
Boston Marathon
2:22:15
8th Place
27
Lou Castagnola
1967
GW Birthday Marathon
2:22:45
Best time on Old DC Course
28
Chuck Burrows
1980
Olympic Marathon Trials
2:22:52
78th Place
29
Tem Washington
1983
Mardi Gras Marathon
2:23:12
30
Robert Thurston
1972
Boston Marathon
2:23:23
Three minutes behind Jeff Galloway
31
Peter Nye
1980
Carolina Marathon
2:23:41
32
John Dalb
1983
Chicago Marathon
2:24:12
33
Jack Coffey*
1982
Boston Marathon
2:24:54
34
Bob Stack
1980
Connecticut Marathon
2:25:18
A really tough hilly marathon in Central CT, now defunct
35
Ray Morrison
1975
Yonkers Marathon
2:25:30
36
Roberto Rodriguez
1979
Penn Relays Marathon
2:25:34
37
Kirk Baird
1995
Dallas White Rock Marathon
2:26:09
13th place
38
Philippe Rolly*
2005
Twin Cities Marathon
2:26:47
39
Kurt Kroemer
1986
Boston Marathon
2:27:00
40
John Walsh
1983
Boston Marathon
2:27:07
41
Jay Jacob Wind*
1980
Boston Marathon
2:27:25
42
Sheldon Karlin
1972
NYC Marathon
2:27:52
Winner of this third NYC Marathon
43
Russ Crandall
2001
Chicago Marathon
2:29:18
46th place
WRC Women Marathoners:
RankNameWhenWhereTimeComments
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
Gen was a vice-president of the club (part of 2005)
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 1997, 1999 Marine Corps Marathon
8
Patty Fulton
2000
Steamtown Marathon
2:50:34
1st place
9
Amy Durham
1995
Marine Corps Marathon
2:52:10
10
Mary Ellen Williams
1984
Olympic Marathon Trials
2:53:47
11
Nikki Underwood
2003
Chicago Marathon
2:53:08
22nd overall; 3d 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
Sharon Donovan
2003
Chicago Marathon
2:57:58
78th overall
17
Teren Block
1998
Rio de Janeiro Marathon
2:58:00
*Names in bold indicate that the person is a current member of the WRC.
Many thanks to Jack Coffey, Phil Stewart, Gerry Ives, George Cushmac, Alan Roth, Dan Rincon and Tem Washington for their assistance in compiling the historical information in the list.
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