Doug Kurtis 76 sub 2:20s and 199 sub 3:00 hour Marathons

Impressive. And he's an complete unknown (relative to Sub 2:10 athletes like Ryan Hall or Ritz)

Amazing stats, very durable body to be able to do that many fast marathons.

Best of luck to him this weekend.

Was in a half-marathon this past May and he was in the race. He blew by me around mile two and I busted my tail to catch him around mile eight. Ran together for about a half mile and then the dude just stood on the gas and smoked me...he was gone. For that brief moment, I thought I had him!!

Ben L Wrong wrote:

Impressive. And he's an complete unknown (relative to Sub 2:10 athletes like Ryan Hall or Ritz)

Beg your pardon? The ignorance of Youth - anyone who knows anything about American marathoning history knows about Doug Kurtis. Those who don't are merely pretenders.

fly a kite wrote:

Ben L Wrong wrote:

Impressive. And he's an complete unknown (relative to Sub 2:10 athletes like Ryan Hall or Ritz)

Beg your pardon? The ignorance of Youth - anyone who knows anything about American marathoning history knows about Doug Kurtis. Those who don't are merely pretenders.

This^^^

Doug Kurtis – holds the World Record for the most career sub 2:20 marathons with a total of 76 and twelve were in one year. He also holds the record for the most marathon victories with 39. Kurtis is a five-time Olympic Marathon Qualifier (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996). Road Runners Club of America has named him has named him Masters Runner of the Year three times (1992, 1993 and 1994). Also in 1994 USA Track and Field named Kurtis Master Runner of the Year. He was the Michigan Runner of the Year in 1985 and 1990. Kurtis was the first master in 41 of 60 marathons with 11 overall wins as a master. He has completed 184 marathons and one ultra marathon.

December 11th, 1989 – Doug Kurtis of Northville, Michigan did 12 times what most runners would give almost anything to do even once; run a marathon in under 2 hours and 20 minutes. What made Kurtis’ accomplishment even more impressive is the fact that he became the first man to run 12 sub 2:20 marathons in a single calendar year. At the San Diego Marathon, Kurtis broke the 2:20 barrier for the 12th time in 1989 to break the record of Sweden’s Kjell-Erik Stahl, who had run 11 sub 2:20 marathons in 1982 at the age of 43. Kurtis, 37, missed number 12 at the Bangkok Marathon two weeks earlier by a mere 15 seconds over the 26.2 mile distance before finally claiming the record in San Diego.

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-12-11/sports/sp-79_1_doug-kurtis

Super Marathon Man Runs Down Record : Runner: Doug Kurtis set a world record, finishing his 12th marathon of year under 2 hours, 20 minutes.

December 11, 1989|JOHN GEIS

SAN DIEGO — Doug Kurtis is Clark Kent--metaphorically speaking, of course.

Disguised as a mild-mannered computer purchaser for Ford Motor Co., Kurtis became somewhat of a Superman after completing Sunday's San Diego International Marathon in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 15 seconds.

His fourth-place finish was no big deal in itself, but combined with his previous 11 marathons finished under 2 hours, 20 minutes this year, Kurtis becomes a world-record holder.

His finish in the San Diego marathon effectively erased Kjell-Erik Stahl's record of 11 sub-2:20s. The Swede ran those in 1983 at age 36.

Kurtis is 37.

After he set the mark, Kurtis maintained his mild-mannered demeanor. No jumping for joy. No high-fives from other runners. No special ceremony.

Kurtis just wore a broad smile and spoke in a quiet, no-big-deal tone of voice--even when he had to inform two radio reporters of what he just accomplished.

When asked if the realization of what he had done hit, Kurtis just shrugged, then answered:

"It'll take a long time before somebody does this again," he said. "Stahl made it a tough record to achieve. It's kind of nice when you have something different--and something that's tough to go out and get."

Tough? Kurtis made it sound almost easy.

His body usually recuperates in a day. "The longest it'll take is three days," he said.

After his recovery, Kurtis, who lives in Detroit, begins his regimen of running 105 to 110 miles per week.

It takes most marathoners one to two weeks to rid themselves of the aches and pains of running 26 miles.

Not Kurtis.

"Hey, just run confidently, run easy and relaxed, and you'll do it," he said. "I go into every race and I don't have to think about winning. I have that other goal, that second challenge."

Kurtis has found a comfort zone. It was his 12th success in 13 attempts this year. He just missed on Nov. 26 in the Bangkok Marathon, finishing in 2:20.15.

"If you're running just under 2:20 (Kurtis' 12 times range from 2:16:19 to 2:19:51), you can achieve the record pretty quickly," said Mark Plaatjes, Sunday's second-place finisher at 2:16:51. "But it's a different story if your going all out and doing 2:10 or 2:11--you can't recover from that in a week."

Kurtis even admitted to having trouble recovering from his first marathon, the 1974 Boston Marathon. He was 22 then.

He finished in 2 hours, 47 minutes.

"And the same thing went through my mind that probably goes through the minds of every first-time marathon runner," Kurtis said. "I thought, 'Well this is stupid. I'll never do this again.' Then a few days later you think, 'Well, it was kind of exciting.' And about a week later you think 'Well, maybe I will do it again.' "

Bests ..26.2m- 2:13:34 | 25km- 1:17:58 | 13.1m- 1:04:5 | 10m- 48:33 | 15km- 46:01 | 10km- 29:44 | 8km- 23:25

impressive to keep at it that long both mentally and physically.

Good luck. Impressive how someone can hang on to it for so long. Running 40min slower than his PB takes some pride to swallow but I guess it helps if you always win your age group.

Record 39 wins? Ummm, Chuck Engle has like 200 and is better.

Congrats to Doug Kurtis on running his 200th sub-3:00 marathon today at the Detroit FP race. Your longevity is indeed impressive.

What a total stud...congrats to Doug K!!!

Agree, Doug Kurtis one tough a** sob!

I think he has the record for longest span between his first and last sub 3 hour marathon.