Oct 21, 2007 Greg Meyer - Course and Greenie Record Holder By Doug Kurtis

Greg Meyer had been running fairly well on the roads prior to winning the 1980 Free Press Marathon. His finish time 2:13:07 was the fastest ever for a first time marathoner and it’s still the best male winning time.



Prior to Detroit it was hard for him to think of himself as a great runner without running the marathon. His coach Bob Severny said “Let’s pick a race where you can go in at least with an opportunity to win. So you not only have a feel for the distance but you race it without worrying too much about your time.” Meyer said Detroit certainly fit the bill.

Charlie Blanchard, former owner of Total Runner helped bring Meyer in. What his competitors didn’t know was the Meyer was getting married a few weeks later and his buddies in Boston threw a bachelor party for him the Friday night before the marathon. He said it was a good excuse to leave early.

Meyer had moved to Boston just to train and work for Bill Rodgers with the Greater Boston Track Club. After living there a year he got tired of hearing that someday you might be as good as so and so. Even though he was beating them in shorter races he hadn’t established marathon credentials.

He felt Detroit was the perfect race for him. “It served me well in getting to know the distance and I didn’t have to worry about racing against an experienced sub 2:10 competitor.”

While preparing for Detroit he was training consistently over 110 miles a week. He would train at higher mileage later in his career. He came into the race feeling strong and running well. “For me it was time to tackle the marathon.”

“I was training and keeping up with Rodgers, who was the best in the world at the time, so I’m thinking I must be pretty good. I gained a lot of confidence running with him. Plus our afternoon runs were like the Hanson’s Distance Project of today, a social run with some of the most talented runners in the country.”

Detroit was an opportunity to get his feet wet. At the starting line he was nervous about the distance. Through 21 miles he was confident and comfortable until he began to tire into the headwinds along Kercheval heading back from the Grosse Pointes. He tried to duck in behind the press truck who didn’t understand what he was trying to do.

Previous winner Gordon Minty was at the finish line handing Meyer his first place wooden toque depressor when he crossed the tape.
He only ran another dozen marathons after the Free Press but some were significant. One was a month later. He used the Rio Marathon to go on his honeymoon but also won the race in the process. The following year he took the Boston challenge and finished with exact same time in winning Detroit.

He won Chicago’s Marathon in 1982 before becoming the last American male to win the Boston Marathon. He won the 1983 version in 2:09 flat. According to Meyer, “Boston was the greatest thing in terms of my career opportunities but on the other hand it ruined me as a runner because it made me think and act like a marathoner. I was a 10/20 km runner that could beat people up. The marathon generally doesn’t develop talent it destroys it, if you do it too much.”

Although his position as the director of major gifts for the University of Michigan keeps him very busy, Meyer is now preparing to run Chicago and New York marathons as a way to celebrate his 25th anniversary at each.