Buddy Edelen

Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen (September 22, 1937 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky – February 19, 1997 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) was an American marathoner. Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minutes when he set a world record of 2:14:28. Edelen also won the 1964 U.S. Olympic marathon trials and represented the U.S. in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Marathons

Edelen's promise in the marathon was evident early in his career. In 1962, he finished 4th at the Fukuoka Marathon in an American Record time of 2:18:57, making him the first American to run under 2:20 for the marathon. He was also the first American under 30:00 for the 10,000 m run.

On June 15, 1963 Edelen ran 2:14:28 at the Polytechnic Marathon (run from Windsor to Chiswick, England) to establish a new World Record. That record stood just two days short of a year, as England's Basil Heatley ran 2:13:55 at the 1964 Polytechnic Marathon (which was held on June 13). Edelen was the first American to hold the world record since 1925, and (excepting Alberto Salazar's 2:08:13 at the 1981 New York City Marathon, which later proved to be short) the last until naturalized American Khalid Khannouchi (originally from Morocco) broke his own World Record at the London Marathon in 2002.

After his record run 1963, Edelen also won the Košice Peace Marathon in Slovakia in a course-record time of 2:15:09; that record would stand for fifteen years.

The following year, Edelen won the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon by nearly twenty minutes, and went on to finish 6th in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympic games.

While born in Kentucky, Edelen attended high school in St. Louis Park, MN before graduating from Washington High School in Sioux Falls, SD in 1955. He then attended the University of Minnesota.

In 2016, he was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.^[2]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the  United States
1962	Fukuoka Marathon	Fukuoka, Japan	4th	Marathon	2:18:57 (AR)
1963	Polytechnic Marathon	Windsor, England	1st	Marathon	2:14:28 (WR)
1963	Košice Peace Marathon	Košice, Czechoslovakia	1st	Marathon	2:15:09
1964	Tokyo Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	6th	Marathon	2:18:12

References

• Sporting Heroes
• Buddy Who? by Don Sikorski

Further reading

• Murphy, Frank. A Cold Clear Day. ISBN 0-7351-0399-2.  (An "athletic biography" of Edelen.)

Records
Preceded by Toru Terasawa	Men's Marathon World Record Holder June 15, 1963 – June 13, 1964	Succeeded by Basil Heatley

1964 USA Olympic Track & Field Team
Men's track & road athletes	Gerry Ashworth Mike Brodie Dyrol Burleson Henry Carr Ollan Cassell Rex Cawley Willie Davenport Bill Dellinger Paul Drayton Buddy Edelen Tom Farrell Jeff Fishback Morgan Groth Billy Hardin Bob Hayes Trent Jackson Hayes Jones Ron Laird Mike Larrabee Ron Larrieu Gerry Lindgren Jay Luck Bruce MacDonald Pete McArdle Chris McCarthy Billy Mills Oscar Moore Jack Mortland Tom O'Hara Mel Pender Jim Ryun Bob Schul Jerry Siebert Dick Stebbins Ulis Williams George Young Ron Zinn Vic Zwolak
Men's field athletes	Ralph Boston Ed Burke Ed Caruthers Hal Connolly Frank Covelli Ira Davis Dick Emberger Kent Floerke Al Hall Fred Hansen Paul Herman Russ Hodge Gayle Hopkins Dallas Long Randy Matson Parry O'Brien Al Oerter Billy Pemelton John Pennel John Rambo Ed Red Bill Sharpe Phil Shinnick Jay Silvester John Thomas Les Tipton Dave Weill
Women's track athletes	Rosie Bonds Vivian Brown Sandy Knott Edith McGuire Lacey O'Neal Cherrie Sherrard Janell Smith Debbie Thompson Wyomia Tyus Marilyn White Willye White
Women's field athletes	RaNae Bair Estelle Baskerville Earlene Brown Terri Brown Olga Connolly Jo Ann Grissom Eleanor Montgomery Martha Watson Willye White Pat Winslow
Coaches	Bob Giegengack (men's head coach) Edward P. Hurt (men's assistant coach) Payton Jordan (men's assistant coach) Charles Walter (men's assistant coach) Ed Temple (women's head coach) Jack Griffin (women's assistant coach)