Rest in Peace: Mark Conover 1988 Olympic Marathon Trials Champ

Sadly, Mark passed away last night. Donate to help his family and get some socks to remember him and his infamous shuffle stride by.

https://supportconoverfamily.itemorder.com/shop/sale/

I started running in 1988 after running only a couple of seasons in HS in early 80s. I watched the trials with non-runners and we were all mesmerized watching the underdog take the win! His pic was taped to one of my early running logs. Prayers to him and his family.

I personally think with how influential he has been as an athlete and coach he deserves a back page for the day. This is sad news. Prayers to his family and RIP.

Correction Letsrun "Black Page" for the day not back page. Sorry about that.

He was 11th in D3 in '79, Humboldt moved to D2 and he was 2nd in the '80 meet. In those days, the first two at D2 and D3 qualified for the D1 meet two days later. He finished 23rd in '80 at the D1 meet. In '81 he won D2 and finished 40th at D1.

In response to the above.

RIP champ.

Here is the video of the 1988 US Men's Olympic Trials Marathon. The last mile starts at the 2:17:00 mark. It was his day for sure.

What I enjoyed the best is Marty Liquori is doing commentary and he says something about how when Pfitzinger finishes he asks Eyestone “Who won?”
What a day that was for Mark Conover. RIP.

This is very sad news. I went to a summer running camp at Humboldt State every year in high school where Mark was a counselor/speaker. He was always extremely kind and gracious and took time to talk with all of the campers about their running, regardless of ability.

My senior year of HS I went on a recruiting trip to Cal Poly and had an opportunity to spend some time with Mark during which he told me a great story about his high school running days. He went to Miramonte HS (as someone else in this thread mentioned). My high school was one town over and used to host a relay meet that was in its infancy when Mark was at Miramonte. The 3200 was the only individual event in the meet and was towards the end of the day. Mark had anchored his 4x1600 meter team to a win at the start of the meet and got really hungry waiting to run the 3200. At the time the only restaurant anywhere near the school was a Taco Bell. Mark ran to the Taco Bell as part of his warm up, ate 6 tacos, ran back to the track and then won the 3200 in 9:25 which stood as a meet record for nearly 30 years. He was one of the original "blue collar runner" success stories and an all around great guy who will be missed. RIP Coach.

The Olympic Marathon Trials XC Trials.

It was actually top 4 from D 2 and 3 that would get the opportunity to run at D 1 on Monday after the Saturday races in those divisions.

A goddamn shame. He will be missed.

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Did he have a beer or a coke with his tacos?

One clarification...Mark graduated high school in 1978. The 1600 and 3200 weren't "invented" until 1980. The references to 1600 and 3200 should be replaced by 1 Mile and 2 Mile.

At Taco Bell in high school??? Not so sure your memory of the "invention" of 1600m and 3200m is rock solid, bud.

You are correct that the events were actually the 4x1 mile and the 2 mile, not the 4x1600 and 3200. My brain has been hardwired with the current distances. That would mean he ran 9:25 for two miles that day, about a 9:21 3200 conversion. Which also means that the old meet records for our very low key HS invite we’re wrong and Mark had meet record for closer to 35 years.

Oh no. That's very sad. I still remember watching that trials race as a kid and enjoying him as the surprise winner. RIP Mark and best to his family.

I remember watching the 88 marathon trials on TV. When it came down to Mark Conover and Ed Eyestone, I was sure Eyestone was going to win but Mark pulled away. Epic win on a beast of a course. RIP Mark.