I had also been a participant in Bill Adcocks’s 2:10:48 at Fukuoka in 1968, and at that time I considered the Brits the gold standard. He seemed as good a runner as any in the world at that point, and his Boston time was just amazing to me. The lifetime runner and advocate of healthy living, maintains a rather prolific calendar when considering his blogs, articles, books and his efforts to maintain good physical condition, which you can read about here, in our interview.Ĭhristopher Kelsall: During 1968 when you were at the top of your game as a runner, with your Boston win and Fukuoka performance, were you entertaining thoughts then of where you believed the limit of human performance was? At that time could you conceive a 2:04?Īmby Burfoot: Through the early 70s I couldn't imagine anything faster than Ron Hill's 1970 Boston win in 2:10:30. During this time he has been the author of several books including, Runner's World Complete Book of Running, The Principles of Running: Practical Lessons from My First 100,000 Miles, The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life: What 35 Years of Running Has Taught Me About Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart and Runner's World Complete Book of Beginning Running. He also maintains, in his own words, “two irregular blogs”, footloose and peakperformance.Īmby has been with Runner's World since 1978, holding a variety of positions including East Coast Editor, Executive Editor and, now, Editor at Large. The apparent, self-effacing Burfoot is currently the Editor at Large with Runner's World Magazine, North America's and possibly the World's most read running publicaton. Amby added: “Fifth in 2:14:29, one second off Buddy Edelen's American marathon record and, at the time, the fastest-ever fifth-place performance in a marathon. Therefore Amby’s win at Boston held personal significance on several levels.ĭecember of that same year Amby ran the prestigious Fukuoka Marathon in Fukuoka, Japan and finished 1 second off the American marathon record with his 2:14:29.
Fitch High School in Groton, Connecticut. Kelley, who at that time, was the most recent American to win Boston, 11 years prior, happened to be his coach at Robert E.
In 1968 at the age of 21, Amby Burfoot won the historic, B.A.A Boston Marathon.