Pat Petersen

Running career High school Petersen attended Islip High School until he graduated in 1977. He competed in cross country and track in high school, and was described as a competitive runner but had no extraordinary results as a high-schooler. From his earliest years of running he was identified as having an unusual running form.

Collegiate Petersen first attended Farmingdale State College for two years, and then transferred to Manhattan College, where he graduated in 1981. At the time, Manhattan College had one of the most competitive collegiate distance running programs in the United States, and when Petersen transferred, the team had Bill Krohn.

Post-collegiate Petersen initially intended on quitting running after college, but was offered a part-time position at Super Runners shop in Long Island, which was owned by the winner of the 1970 New York City Marathon, Gary Muhrcke. He ran for Warren Street Social and for a time was sponsored by Adidas.

He died as a result of pancreatic cancer in May 2015, at the age of 55.

Achievements Source: Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) profile: Pat Petersen.