Steve Spence

Steve Spence (born May 9, 1962 in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania) is a retired long-distance runner from the United States, whose best performance was winning the bronze medal at the 1991 World Championships in the men's marathon.

A 1985 graduate of Shippensburg University with a bachelor of science degree in business administration, Spence made a name for himself as a member of the cross country and track and field teams, where he was a seven-time NCAA Division II All-American. He spent ten years as a volunteer coach at the University while he was running competitively and was one of the top American road racers. Prior to the 1997 spring season, Spence was promoted to full-time assistant before officially being named as the head coach of both cross country and track and field on October 15, 1997, succeeding Robert Walker.

Following graduation in 1985, Spence pursued a career as a distance runner where he began by making his mark on the international scene. He made his first top-10 listing in the Runner's World Road Race rankings in 1988 when he finished third at the end of the season behind Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Hall of Fame members Mark Curp and Jon Sinclair. For the next four years, Runner's World ranked Spence first in 1989 and 1990, second in 1991 and third in 1992.

He won the 1990 Columbus Marathon in his personal record of 2:12.17, qualifying him for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. The third-place finish was the first distance medal for the United States in international competition since Frank Shorter in 1976. Earlier in 1991, Spence captured the Olympic Development 10,000 meters at the Penn Relays and in 1992, he won the Olympic Trials Marathon and was a member of the 1992 USA Olympic Team. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, he finished 12th in the men's marathon despite battling the flu, marking yet again, the best US Olympic marathon finish place since Shorter's 1976 run.

Between college and 1993, Spence was a member of four international teams, including the 1991 World Championships, 1992 Summer Olympics, 1989 NYC Ekiden Relay and 1991 Berlin, Germnay Ekiden Relay. Spence was the recipient of the Robert DeCelle Award, given by USA Track & Field (USATF) to the "Outstanding Long Distance Runner" in the nation, three consecutive years from 1989-91. He received the USATF Glenn Cunningham Award in 1991 as the Outstanding Runner in the US, 800 meters and up and was the Road Racing Club of America's Road Runner of the Year from 1989-92. At the end of 1997, Spence officially retired.

References

* [http://webspace.ship.edu/sid/m_track/profiles/SteveSpence.html Profile]