Ambrose Burfoot

Ambrose (Amby) Joel Burfoot (born August 19, 1946) is an American marathoner, whose peak competitive years came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon. After retiring from competition, he became a journalist, eventually becoming the Executive Editor of "Runner's World" magazine.

Life and work

Competition

Ambrose "Amby" Burfoot grew up in Groton, Connecticut, where he started running at Fitch Senior High School. His high school coach, John J. Kelley (The "Younger") was the 1957 Boston Marathon winner and two-time U.S. Olympic marathoner (1956 and 1960 Olympics,) and his influence led Burfoot to take up the marathon while still a collegian. In his senior year at Wesleyan University, where Burfoot was the roommate and teammate of Bill Rodgers, Burfoot won the Boston Marathon, but an injury caused by running a steeplechase race in a collegiate track meet later that spring prevented him from being fully prepared for that year's Olympic Trials marathon.

Burfoot's influence on Rodgers, who later went on to win the Boston Marathon four times, provided a link in a four-athlete Boston tradition starting with John A. Kelley (The "Elder") and continuing through John J. Kelley and Burfoot to Rodgers. [Yelenak, Andy. [http://www.runningpast.com/legacy.htm "A Boston Legacy"] ]

In the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan in December 1968, Burfoot ran a personal best time of 2:14:28.8, which was only one second from the American marathon record at the time.

At his peak, Burfoot's training often included high mileage weeks of 100-140 miles done at a relatively slow pace. This training method is known as "LSD" or "Long Slow Distance", which was popularized by Joe Henderson in his book of the same name. Burfoot was a vegetarian during his peak training years although this lifestyle had less to do with training than with what he felt was an ethical course of action.

As of 2006, Burfoot had run the Manchester Road Race 44 times in a row, winning it nine times. Burfoot also continues to run the Boston Marathon at five-year intervals, marking his 1968 win.

Journalism

In 1978, Burfoot joined Bob Anderson as East Coast editor for Anderson's publication, "Runner's World" magazine.

In 1985, when "Runner's World" was bought by Rodale Press and moved from Mountain View, California to Emmaus, Pennsylvania, he was named the executive editor.

In 1992, "Runner's World" published Burfoot's article, "White Men Can't Run," about the dominance of African athletes and athletes of African descent in professional athletics. The article was later republished in "The Best American Sports Writing".

Trivia

Burfoot is featured in the marathon documentary "Spirit of the Marathon". [ [http://www.marathonmovie.com/athletes.html Spirit of the Marathon] ]

Books

*Burfoot, Amby, "Runner's World Complete Book of Running" (1999) Rodale, ISBN 1-57954-186-0
*Burfoot, Amby, "The Principles of Running: Practical Lessons from My First 100,000 Miles" (1999) Rodale Press; 1ST edition ISBN 1-57954-038-4; New Ed edition (2003) ISBN 1-57954-741-9
*Burfoot, Amby, "The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life: What 35 Years of Running Has Taught Me About Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart" (2000) Rodale Press; 1ST edition ISBN 1-57954-263-8
*Burfoot, Amby, "Runner's World Complete Book of Beginning Running" (2005) Rodale Press, ISBN 1-59486-022-X

ee also

List of winners of the Boston Marathon

References

External links

* [http://www.ambyburfoot.com Amby Burfoot]
* [http://www.runningpast.com/amby.htm Running Past profile]
* [http://footloose.runnersworld.com Amby's Blog on Runnersworld.com]