Robert ("Bob") Owen Kennedy Jr. (born 28 August 1970 in Westerville, Ohio) is an American distance runner. Now retired, he once held the American record in the 3000 meters (7:30.84), 2 miles (8:11.59) and the 5000 metres (12:58.21).
He was the first ever non-African to run the 5000 metres in less than thirteen minutes, and he is still one of only six non-Africans to do so.
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Kennedy started running while attending Westerville North High School. Kennedy chose track after having dabbled in baseball, basketball, and soccer. Kennedy was a three time state champion in cross country in high school. Kennedy finished fifth in the 1987 National Junior Championships as a 16-year-old junior. Kennedy graduated from Indiana University in 1992.
Kennedy attended Indiana University after a high school career at Westerville North HS near Columbus, Ohio and while at IU was the NCAA 1,500 meter national champion in track in 1990 and indoor NCAA mile champion in 1991. He also won the NCAA cross country championships during his freshman and senior years (1988 & 1992).
His senior year he also won the USATF National Cross Country Championships, becoming only the second person in history to win both the NCAA cross country nationals and U.S. national cross country championships in the same year. (Al Lawrence of Houston was the first, performing the feat in 1959 and 1960.) Kennedy's second USATF National Cross Country title came in 2004, the twelve-year gap between titles (1992 & 2004) being the longest in history of the USATF. Kennedy participated in several World Cross Country championships, his highest finish being 14th place in the 1995 race.
Kennedy participated in workouts with Kenyan athletes also coached by McDonald at the group's training bases in the U.S., Australia and England. McDonald rarely gave his athletes goal times for workouts, and they regularly ran sub-4 minute miles in practice.
The highlight of Kennedy's career came in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. In the 5000 meter finals, Kennedy surged to the front at the beginning of the penultimate lap and forced the pace. He held the lead for almost a lap and was ultimately passed just before the closing lap, eventually placing 6th. He had also made it to the finals of the 1992 Olympic 5000m race and placed 12th. He also ran the 5000m in the World Championships in Athletics for the US in 1991 (12th), 1993, 1995 (12th), 1997 (6th), and 1999 (9th).
Kennedy suffered a back injury in an auto accident before the 2000 Olympic Trials and missed seven weeks of training so that he was not able to make the Olympic team that year. In 2001, he was hindered by thyroid problems. He returned to win the USA Track & Field (USATF) Championships 5000 meter race against Colorado grad Adam Goucher, who by then was largely seen to be Kennedy's successor. He was able to beat the younger and faster Goucher by alternating the pace between each lap, surging then slowing, forcing Goucher to come to him after each surge and blunting Goucher's finishing kick. In all, Kennedy was four time USATF National Champion in the 5,000 - 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2001.
After running a personal best of 27:37 in the spring of 2004, Kennedy competed in the 2004 US Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meter race, but had to drop out of the race due to aggravation of an Achilles tendon injury he had suffered in the weeks leading up to the Olympic trials. After recovering from the injury he briefly tried his hand at the marathon, dropping out of the New York City marathon that autumn and since then has retired from competitive distance running.
Nike has created two racing spikes in honor of him, the Nike Kennedy XC and Nike Zoom Kennedy. Both are popular and sought-after racing spikes; however the Nike Zoom Kennedy has been discontinued and the Kennedy XC has been renamed the GHAC XC, due to the expiration of Bob Kennedy's endorsement contract with Nike. In May 2006 Kennedy signed a three-year contract with Puma.[1]