September 20, 2022
For the 100th episode, we had to go out and bring you all a legend. Please welcome Bill Rodgers to D3 Glory Days. The 4x Boston and NYC Marathon winner, Olympian and Wesleyan graduate walks us through his career.
From the early days, Rodgers enjoyed running with his friend and brother as it was a fun activity to do with a group. As he progressed through his high school days, he saw his potential to get better. The idea of going to a big state school was overwhelming and he went 15 miles down the road to Wesleyan College. His teammate and mentor Amby Burfoot played a big role in Bill’s motivation to move to the marathon after college. Amby won the Boston Marathon in 1968 while he was a student at Wesleyan.
Rodgers took time away from running after college as the Vietnam War made things feel insignificant. After living on the Boston Marathon course and seeing the race, Bill got the spark he needed to get back to training.
In 1973, he ran his first Boston Marathon but dropped out at mile 20 and walked home. By 1975, Rodgers figured out it out and won the Boston Marathon in 2:09:55 – which was an American Record at the time. Rodgers would go on to win Boston and New York 4 times each, competed in the 1976 Olympic games and competed in 60 marathons.
Rodgers also played a vital role in brining professionalism to the sport of running. He worked with other athletes to fight for the pay they deserved.
Learn more about Bill or buy his book on his website.
100 Episodes
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Stu Newstat