Episode 59 - Don Kardong

Oh boy, do we have a good episode for you this week on The Just Athletics podcast.

Our guest, Don Kardong, has his fingerprints all over the American distance running scene the last 50 years. Don had a remarkable career at Stanford University, where he held school records in the 2 mile, 3 mile, and the 6 mile, graduating in 1971. Some of the big achievements of Don's running career after Stanford include finishing fourth place the 1976 Olympics in the marathon, just three seconds from the bronze medal, in a sensational 2:11:16, running 12:57.6 in the three-mile race behind these guys named Prefontaine and Shorter at Hayward Field in 1974, and winning both the 1976 Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta and the 1978 Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii.

Don's impact goes far beyond his athletic achievements. He has been a prominent journalist in the sport of running since the early 1980s, he served as a contributing editor at Running magazine from 1980 to 1983, and a contributing editor (1983–1985) and senior writer (1985–1987) for The Runner magazine as well. Since 1987, he has been a contributing writer for Runner's World magazine also. He has also been one of the top road race directors in the country and served in a leadership role as the President of the Road Runners Club of America from 1996-2000. He founded one of the best road races in the country in 1977 when he started the Bloomsday Run in Spokane, WA, and has served as the race director at times and been heavily involved in that amazing event.

This man also has a bridge named after him and an ice cream flavor. Who else can say that?

We can't thank Don enough, this was an amazing episode, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thanks Don!

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