What ever happened to Pat Peterson?

His last name, I believe, is spelled "Petersen." I came across this article several years ago:

http://www.ejautismfoundation.org/news/art1029.html

It's funny (but understandable) how one is perceived as dropping off the face of the earth when one leaves the public eye. Life continues unabated, sometimes more intensely than before.

Thanks for posting the article. Dropping off the face of the earth, I meant running wise. Seems like he is doing quite well. Very good story about his wife and kids.

Dogman79 wrote:

Thanks for posting the article. Dropping off the face of the earth, I meant running wise.

I understand. I didn't mean to criticize your comment. It just made me think about life after the cheering stops. It's worth noting, however, that Pat set the U.S. record for a record-quality marathon (2:10:04) a year after the 1988 Olympic trials, at the 1989 London marathon. In those pre-Internet days, his performance in London didn't get a lot of attention; the televised image of him pulling off to the side of the road during the '88 trials was probably the last image that many of us had of him.

It's hard to let a thread about Pat go by without a comment about his strange running style -- rocking side to side, as if he were stomping on ants that he spotted on the road. Various pseudo-scientific claims were published about his purportedly uneconomical running form, suggesting that he was doing 15% more work than his competitors or something, but I think that it's much more likely that his mechanics were just different, not necessarily disadvantageous.

Here's an old article from the NYT about him:

Avocados Number wrote:Various pseudo-scientific claims were published about his purportedly uneconomical running form, suggesting that he was doing 15% more work than his competitors or something,

When and where were these articles published?

Here be one.

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/16/sports/on-your-own-runner-s-shortest-path-straight-line.html?pagewanted=1?pagewanted=1

Avocados Number wrote:Various pseudo-scientific claims were published about his purportedly uneconomical running form, suggesting that he was doing 15% more work than his competitors or something,

phantom article collector wrote:

When and where were these articles published?

I have to say, watching him run was a sight to behold.

I saw him in the IC4A indoor 5k in 1982. The high bounding side to side motion was amazing.

But...he was always in it. Tough MF.

Off the Grid wrote:

But...he was always in it. Tough MF.

You sound soooo tough.

If he ran barefoot he would have developed perfect form and ran 2:05. Too bad no one knew about barefoot running back then.

5/27 24/194 PATRICK PETERSEN 54 M EAST ISLIP NY 35:52 7:11

http://www.flrrt.com/results/lab14.txt

If I remember correctly, it was speculated that one of the reasons that Pat seemed to lunge more to one side is that he is blind in one eye.

Pat Petersen died May 31, 2015 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a gentle man who had two sons with autism. He was a great runner but an even better father.

Jerry wrote:

Pat Petersen died May 31, 2015 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a gentle man who had two sons with autism. He was a great runner but an even better father.

AMEN!