Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
William Mervin Mills, also known by his Oglala Lakota name Tamakhóčhe Theȟíla, is an American Oglala Lakota former track and field athlete who won a gold medal in the 10,000 metre run (6.2 mi) at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His 1964 victory is considered one of the greatest Olympic upsets because he was a virtual unknown going into the event. He was the first non-European to win the Olympic event and remains the only winner from the Americas. A United States Marine, Mills is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is an annual marathon held in Washington, D.C., and Arlington County, Virginia. The mission of the MCM is to promote physical fitness, generate community goodwill, and showcase the organizational skills of the United States Marine Corps.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. He has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.
Ryan Hall is a retired American long-distance runner who holds the U.S. record in the half marathon. With his half marathon record time (59:43), he became the first U.S. runner to break the one-hour barrier in the event. He is also the only American to run a sub-2:05 marathon. However, this time is not eligible to be a record due to the course being point-to-point and a net-downhill course. Hall won the marathon at the 2008 United States Olympic trials and placed tenth in the Olympic marathon in Beijing.
Galen Rupp is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000 meters in London and the bronze medal in the men's marathon in Rio de Janeiro. Rupp competed for the University of Oregon and trained under Alberto Salazar as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. He won the 2017 Chicago Marathon, becoming the first American to do so since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. Rupp won the marathon at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20, and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished eighth.
Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen 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.
U.S. Route 11 (US 11) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Rouses Point, New York. In Maryland, the federal highway runs 12.83 miles (20.65 km) from the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River in Williamsport north to the Pennsylvania state line near Maugansville. US 11 is the primary north–south surface highway in central Washington County, connecting Hagerstown with Williamsport to the south and Hagerstown Regional Airport to the north. The federal highway was once a major long-distance highway, but that role has been assumed by Interstate 81 (I-81), which parallels US 11 not only in Maryland but for most of its course from Tennessee to Upstate New York. US 11 is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration except for the municipally-maintained portions within the corporate limits of Williamsport and Hagerstown.
The JFK 50 Mile or the JFK 50 Mile Memorial is an ultramarathon that takes place annually in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The first race was held on 30 March 1963, one of numerous 50-mile (80 km) races that year. After the Kennedy assassination, many of these events were never held again. It is the oldest continuously held ultramarathon in the US.
Hagerstown is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's sixth-most populous incorporated city and is the most populous city in the Maryland Panhandle.
Samuel Chelanga is a Kenyan-born American track and field athlete who competed for Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, from 2008 to 2011. He holds the NCAA record for the 10,000 meters run with a time of 27:08.49 set at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Palo Alto, California, on May 1, 2010. His brother, Joshua Chelanga, is a professional marathon runner.
Gary Tuttle is an American long distance runner and local politician from Ventura, California. Over a lengthy career, he won two NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, set three American records, ran for the USA team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, won the Bay to Breakers race in 1974 and placed second in the Boston Marathon in 1985.
Patrick Tiernan is an Australian long-distance runner. While competing for Vilanova University, he won the 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. He has represented Australia in several global competitions, including the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. He held the Australian record in the 10000 m from 2020 to 2022. Tiernan competes professionally for PUMA.
George Buckheit is a former distance runner. After an illustrious collegiate career running for Bucknell, during which he received All-American honors, he went on to compete for the United States in international competition and subsequently began coaching runners in the northern Virginia area. He is the founder and head coach of Capital Area Runners.
John T. McGrail is an American retired long-distance runner who participated in cross country running, track, and in the marathon from the 1970s to the early 1990s. In 1977 he was the sixth fastest American in the 10,000 meters.
Betty Jo Geiger is an American former long-distance runner who competed in events ranging from 3000-meter run to the marathon.
Peter Sherry is a former distance runner. He represented the United States at two consecutive Universiades, in 1991 and 1993. He won the 2003 Marine Corps Marathon.
Frank Richardson is a retired marathon runner who competed during the 1970s and 1980s. Before entering his first races in the late 1970s, Richardson was 4th at the 1976 NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship and 1st at the 1977 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters. In World Marathon Majors, Richardson was 20th at the 1979 Boston Marathon and did not complete the 1980 Boston event. That year, Richardson won the 1980 Chicago Marathon with a course record time of 2:15:15 and was 10th at the 1980 New York City Marathon. In other events, Richardson won the 1980 USA Marathon Championships and was 9th in the marathon at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials. After ending his marathon career in 1985, Richardson worked at a pharmacy before resuming road racing in 2001.
Aaron Marquel Brooks is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 86 kilograms. In freestyle, he is qualified to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics, is a U23 World champion and US National champion, and was a U20 World silver medalist and U17 World champion.
Terry Lee Baker is an American politician. He is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 1C in Allegany and Washington counties. He was previously the vice president of the Washington County Board of Commissioners from 2006 to 2010 and from 2018 to 2022, and the board's president from 2010 to 2018.
