Tom Fleming (athlete)
Tom Fleming (born July 23, 1951) is an American runner who won the 1973 and 1975 New York City Marathon.[1] He was also a two time runner-up in the Boston Marathon in 1973 and 1974 and finished six times in the top ten in the BAA marathon. Fleming was the winner of the Cleveland, Toronto, Los Angeles, Jersey Shore (3 times) and Washington DC marathons in the 1970s. Gained personal best of 2:12:05 in Boston Marathon 1975. Renowned for running 110 to 150 miles per week to train for road racing.[2] Awarded the United Nations Peace Medal in 1977. In May 2013, Fleming was inducted into the American RRCA Distance Running Hall of Fame. In July 2014, Fleming was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in Utica, NY.
He was quoted as saying "Somewhere, someone in the world is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."[1]
A longtime resident of Bloomfield, New Jersey,[3] he is the coach and founder of the three-time USA National Cross Country Champions Nike Running Room in Bloomfield (1990, 1991, 1992).
Fleming is a teacher and head coach of the varsity cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field teams at the Montclair Kimberley Academy,
For twelve years Tom was the meet director for the famous Sunset Classic 5 mile road race in his hometown of Bloomfield. This race raises money for special needs children in the Bloomfield Public Schools.[4]
Achievements
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the  United States | |||||
| 1973 | Boston Marathon | Boston, United States | 2nd | Marathon | 2:17:46 |
| New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:21:54 | |
| 1974 | Boston Marathon | Boston, United States | 2nd | Marathon | 2:14:26 [5] |
| 1975 | New York City Marathon | New York, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:19:27 |
| 1978 | Cleveland Marathon | Cleveland, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:15:02 [6] |
| 1981 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, United States | 1st | Marathon | 2:13:14 |
References
- 1 2 "10K Truth". 10K Truth. 2005-10-28. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- ↑ http://www.runblogrun.com/2013/07/bill-rodgers-and-tom-fleming-comment-on-rolling-stone-cover-controversy-by-jeff-benjamin-note-by-lar.html
- ↑ Stewart, Phil. "Running Times' 1979 Boston Marathon Coverage", Running Times, July 1979. Accessed December 22, 2014. "The frontrunner this year (as last year) was twice-runnerup Tom Fleming of Bloomfield, NJ, whose race strategy was simple: "I just figured to run as fast as I could for as long as I could, and see if they could catch me." For the first half of the race, nobody even tried."
- ↑ Sunset Classic Archived June 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "World Marathon Rankings for 1974". Arrs.net. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
- ↑ "Cleveland Marathon - Cleveland OH/USA website". Arrs.net. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2012-08-31.