On The Run With Bill Rodgers

Bill Rodgers

American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and four straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.

 

A Decade of Dominance

Rodgers won both the New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon four times each between 1975 and 1980, twice breaking the American record at Boston with a time of 2:09:55 in 1975 and 2:09:27 in 1979.

In 1977, he won the Fukuoka Marathon, making him the only runner ever to hold the championship of all three major marathons at the same time.

He made the 1976 U.S. Olympic team and raced the marathon at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, finishing 40th in 2:25:14. He did not participate in the Olympics in 1980 due to the U.S. boycott over the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR.

Rodgers' most remarkable year on the road racing circuit came in 1978 when he won 27 of the 30 races he entered, including

the Pepsi 10 km nationals (with a new world road 10 km best time of 28:36.3)
the Falmouth Road Race
the Boston Marathon
New York City marathon

Rodgers is also the former world record holder for 25 kilometers as he broke Pekka Päivärinta's world record with a time of 1:14.11.8 on a track at West Valley College in Saratoga, California, in 1979.

Track & Field News ranked Rodgers number one in the world in the marathon in 1975, 1977 and 1979. Of the 59 marathons Rodgers ran, 28 were run under 2:15. In all, he won 22 marathons in his career. He came to be referred to by sportswriters and others as "Boston Billy".