Molly Huddle (born August 31, 1984) A native of Elmira, NY, Huddle was a 10-time All-American at Notre Dame and was the runner-up in the 5,000 at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also was named all-BIG EAST 15 times and won seven BIG EAST track and field titles. Huddle won a silver medal in the 5,000 at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She also finished sixth in the 5,000 at the 2013 World Championships. On June 28, 2012, Huddle finished 2nd in the 5000 at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. At the London Games (2012), Huddle placed 11th in the 5,000. She set the American record in the 5,000 in 2014 (14:42.64). Also in 2014, her win at the NYRR New York Mini 10K made her the first American to win the title in a decade, and her time of 31:37 set an American record for a women-only race. In 2015, Huddle won her first United Airlines NYC Half, set the American road 5K record (14:50) at the B.A.A. 5K, won the USATF Outdoor Championships 10,000 meters, and placed fourth at the IAAF World Championships 10,000. She swept the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter events at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, becoming the first woman in history to win both races in the same year. On August 12, 2016, Huddle achieved an American record of 30:13.17 in the 10,000 at the 2016 Olympic Games while placing sixth, breaking Shalane Flanagan’s 2008 Olympic time of 30:22.22. In November 2016, Huddle ran the New York City Marathon as her marathon debut where she finished in 3rd place in 2:28:13. On January 14, 2018 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, Huddle broke Deena Kastor’s 67:34 American record in the half marathon set in 2006 by running 67:25. This record has subsequently been broken twice by Emily Sisson, most recently in 2023. Huddle has won 28 national titles in her career as a professional runner.
Galen Rupp (born May 8, 1986) Rupp was one of the greatest distance runners in University of Oregon history. He became the first person ever to win six NCAA distance races in the same calendar year when he captured the 2008 NCAA Cross Country crown, the 2009 NCAA Indoor 3,000 meter, 5,000 meter and distance medley titles and the 2009 NCAA Outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He went on to win the 10,000 meters at the USA Championships in his final race in an Oregon uniform. Rupp redshirted the 2008 college track season to focus on the 10,000 at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, where he finished second (27:43.11), earning a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. He went on to finish 13th at the 2008 Olympics with an U.S. Olympic–record time of 27:36.99. In 2009, Rupp announced that he was turning pro. In 2011, Rupp ran the New York City Half Marathon, his debut half, and finished third with a time of 1:00:30. On June 28, 2012, Rupp broke Steve Prefontaine’s last remaining record – his Olympic Trials 5000-meter record from 1972 – winning the race in 13:22.67. On August 4, 2012, at the London Olympic Games, Rupp took the silver medal in the 10,000-meter with a time of 27:30:90. This was the first time a U.S. man had earned a medal in the Olympic 10,000-meter run in 48 years, the last being Billy Mills’s gold in the 1964 Olympics. Rupp placed seventh with a time of 13:45.04 in the 5000 m Olympic final. At the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon on a hot day in Los Angeles, Rupp won his debut marathon with a time of 2:11:13. A few months later, on July 1, Rupp won the 10,000-meter run at the United States Olympic Trials with a time of 27:55.04, qualifying for the Olympics in a second event. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Rupp placed fifth in the 10,000-meter run. Eight days later, Rupp finished third and earned a bronze medal in the Olympic Marathon with a time of 2:10:05. On October 8, 2017, Rupp won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:09:20, becoming the first American male to win the race since Khalid Khannouchi in 2002. On February 29, 2020, Rupp won the 2020 United States Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta with a time of 2:09:20. On August 8, 2021, Rupp finished eighth in the Olympic Marathon held in Sapporo, Japan with a time of 2:11:41.
Camille Herron (born December 25, 1981) Herron is a three-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, 21-time marathon winner, and Guinness World Records holder for the fastest marathon in a Superhero costume, running 2:48:51 dressed as Spiderwoman. She represented Team USA in the marathon at the 2011 Pan American Games, finishing 9th. She came back 13 days later to finish as the 3rd American and 18th overall at the New York City Marathon. She was the first 3-time winner of the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. As an ultrarunner, she’s won five USATF titles (50K Road, 50 Mi Road, 100K Road, 100K Trail, 100 Mi Road). In 2015, she became the first ultrarunner to win two World titles in the same year, winning the IAU 100 km World Championships and the IAU 50 km World Championships. In June 2017, she became only the 3rd American to win the Comrades Marathon, leading from start-to-finish. In October 2015, she set the 50-mile World/American Road Best of 5:38:41 at the Fall 50, surpassing RRCA Hall of Fame Member Ann Trason’s 5:40:18 performance from 1991. Her first 100 Mile World Record of 12:42:40 at the 2017 Tunnel Hill 100 is also the fastest women’s time on trail, averaging 7:37 per mile. For her 100 Mile and 24Hr World Records, she won the races outright beating all of the men. She was the top ranked American 24Hr runner, including both men and women, going into the 2019 IAU 24 Hour World Championship, where she won her third World title and bettered her 24-hour World Record by running 270.116 kilometres (167.842 mi). In 2020, she won the Black Canyon 100K, USATF 50K Road National Championship, and the JFK 50 Mile. In 2021, she won the Javelina Jundred in 14:03:23 and finished 4th overall, breaking the previous course record by 49 minutes. She came back six weeks later to break her American and track World Records for 100 miles in 13:21:51 at the Desert Solstice Track Invitational. In 2022 as a newly minted 40-year-old Master’s runner, she won the Jackpot 100/US Championship outright beating all of the men by almost 30 minutes.
Blake Russell (born July 24, 1975) is an American long-distance runner who represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After finishing third in the marathon at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, she went on to finish 27th in the Olympic marathon in Beijing. She was the only American woman to finish the Beijing Olympic Marathon. She is a many time USA National Champion in Cross Country and the USA Road Racing Circuit over various distances. A high-school standout in North Carolina, Russell won 11 Independent School State Titles in the 800, mile, and 2 mile. She walked onto the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill team in 1993 and eventually earned All-American Honors and ACC Championship titles in the 1500m and 5000m her senior year. She set the school record in the 1500 meters went on to place 13th in the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Russell decided to run her first marathon on a whim and was the surprise winner of the Twin Cities Marathon in 2003. Her time of 2:30:41 was the 3rd fastest debut by an American at the time and qualified her for the 2004 Olympic Trials in St. Louis, MO. After leading much of the race, she faded to 4th place, just missing a spot on the Olympic Team. She participated at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, running in the 10,000 meters and finished in 22nd place. She was on the Bronze Medal 4k 2005 IAAF Cross Country Team in St. Etienne, France. She was 7th at the Chicago Marathon in 2005, setting her personal best of 2:29:10. She won the 8k National Cross Country Title in 2006. She went on to be the top American finisher at the IAAF Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan placing 11th in the 8k and 18th in the 4k. She was also National 15k and 20k Champion. After the 2008 Olympics, Russell had a son and made a successful return to the track placing 4th in the 10,000 meters at the USA Track and Field Championships.
Daniel (Dan) J. Browne (born June 24, 1975) is an American distance runner. He attended the United States Military Academy as a member of the class of 1997. While at West Point, he became the only cadet to ever run a mile under four minutes (3:59.37), and set school records in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Upon graduating from West Point, he underwent basic officer training before being invited to join the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. In 1998, he won the short course USA Cross Country Championships. In 2004, he made the US Olympic team for the 10,000m and the Marathon, finishing 3rd in both distances at the trials. Browne won numerous road races during his career including the Army Ten-Miler, Twin Cities Marathon, and multiple USA Road Championship events for the 5K (2007), 20K (2007), and 25K (2009). Browne’s coaching career began in 2013 when he ran the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), which works to train top-ranked soldier athletes for the Olympic and Paralympic games.
Key Influencer
Cary Pinkowski came to the helm of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon nearly three decades ago, serving as its executive race director since 1990. During his tenure, the Chicago Marathon has experienced astronomical growth, expanding from 6000 registered runners in 1990 to a record 45,786 finishers in 2019, including runners from all 50 states and more than 130 countries. For 30 years, Pinkowski has been a key player in building the marathon’s dynamic relationships with the city, the corporate community and the local neighborhoods along the course. Under Pinkowski’s leadership, the event generates an economic impact on the City of Chicago of $378 million, and, since 2002, charity runners have helped the Chicago Marathon charity program raise more than $234 million for local, national and global causes. In 2006, Pinkowski helped found the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM). Pinkowski, along with the race directors at the Boston, London, Berlin and New York City marathons, created a series – which now includes the Tokyo Marathon – to award the world’s top male and female marathon runners. Pinkowski’s legacy with the Chicago Marathon includes designing its record setting and spectator friendly course that traverses 29 diverse Chicago neighborhoods, starting and finishing in Chicago’s “front yard,” Grant Park. Pinkowski’s course design allows for more than 1.7 million spectators to watch the race. Four of the Chicago Marathon’s five world records have been set during Pinkowski’s time: Morocco’s Khalid Khannouchi (1999), Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba (2001), Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe (2002) and Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei (2019). To commemorate his 20th anniversary as Executive Race Director, the City of Chicago and Bank of America bestowed Pinkowski with an honorary street naming – “Carey Pinkowski Drive” – at the intersection of Monroe Street and Columbus Drive, the site of the race’s start line.