John was a 3 time all American and the first University of Colorado athlete to achieve the honor in one school year. He was an integral part of the CU Track and Field team from 1971-1973. He holds the world record in Distance Medley for Type D track with team mates, Mike Peterson, Brown Windell and Ted Castenada. John was a member of the 1973 US Pan Pacific Team. Two time (74’ & 75’) Colorado Track Club USA Cross Country Champion and placed second in the 1975 National Cross Country Championships. In 1975 he was a member of the Pan American Team for the USA and in 1976 he was an Olympic Trials Qualifier in the10K and 5K. His most proud accomplishment is setting up a Nike bonus structures for athletes competing nationally. Locally, from 1986-2013 John was the head coach for the cross country and track and field teams at George Washington and South High Schools. John won two State Championships in track and placed third in state cross country. Currently, John is working at The Colorado Rockies and Frontier Airlines in the Sports Charter Division.
All-American
Joe Vigil
(photo: nmotsc.com)
Joe Vigil was head coach at Adams State College for nearly 30 years. Vigil led teams to 12 NAIA National Cross Country Championships and the 1995 NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championship, the last with a perfect score of 15 points. In cross-country and track & field, Vigil’s teams won a total of 19 national championships. His overall record at Adams State stands at 94.2 percent with 3,014 wins and 176 losses. Vigil was named National Coach of the Year on 14 different occasions. He also produced 425 All Americans and 87 individual national champions during his tenure at Adams State. Vigil has also had success in coaching post-collegiate athletes, including 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist in the marathon, Deena Drossin Kastor. He has served on 17 international coaching staffs including the World Cross Country Championships, the Pan American Games, the World Championships, and the Olympic Games.
Coach Doris Brown-Heritage, Deena Drossin, Coach Joe Vigil, 2003 World XC, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Jon Sinclair
photo: anaerobic.net
Jon Sinclair’s career has been marked by consistency and longevity as a road racer with more wins and placings than any other male runner in modern road racing history. While at Colorado State University, Jon Sinclair set several long distance records, competed on two NCAA Cross Country teams along with the NCAA indoor nationals, and in 1979 he won two All-American awards. From 1981 to 1993, Jon Sinclair won 25 long distance road races. In 1984 he was the USA National 10,000 meter track champion and a finalist for the 5,000 meters in the 1984 Olympics along with being a finalist in the marathon in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. He is the current U.S. record holder for the 12km on the roads and former U.S. record holder for the 5km on the roads. Among numerous international team-racing achievements, Jon Sinclair is the all time cumulative men’s point leader in the Runner’s World Road Race Rankings. In 1995, he co-founded Anaerobic Management, an internet based coaching business.
photo: anaerobic.net
Ted Castaneda
Photo: pikespeaksports.us
Ted Castaneda’s career as a distance runner started during his prep years at Colorado Springs’ Palmer High School. From there he went on to the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he earned All-America honors four times in track and once in cross-country. His best times include a 3:58.5 mile, an 8:29 two-mile, a 28:30 in the 10k, and a 2-hour, 15-minute marathon. He also competed in two U.S. Olympic Trials (5,000m and 10,000m in 1976, marathon in 1980). Castaneda has served as head coach of the men’s cross country team at Colorado College since 1980, when he also started as a volunteer assistant with the track and field program. He took over as head coach for women’s cross-country in 1993 and for track and field in 1994. During his coaching tenure, 22 cross-country and track athletes have earned All-America honors.
10,000m race at the 1976 Olympic trials (#39). Photo: juanjosemartinez.com
Alan Culpepper
photo: Lisa Coniglio, http://www.usatf.org
Alan Culpepper is a track and field and cross-country athlete, qualifying twice in the Olympics: in 2000 in the 10,000m and in 2004 in the marathon. Culpepper finished 17th in the 10,000-meter run in Sydney and 12th in the marathon in Athens. He was also a seven-time All-American, earning three of the honors in cross-country and four in track. When he began running the marathon in 2002, his time of 2:09.41 in Chicago tied him for the fastest American debut in U.S. history. In 2005, his fourth place finish in the Boston Marathon was the highest finish for an American in 20 years. The next year, he finished fifth in the Boston Marathon and won the Denver Half-Marathon. Now retired, Alan and his wife Shayne Culpepper (neè Willie), fellow Olympian and CU alum, spend their time enjoying life with their four children and leading an after-school running program at Boulder’s Douglass Elementary School.
photo: marathonguide.com
Dan Reese
photo: Readytalk.com
Dan Reese is the middle of three brothers who ran for the University of Colorado at Boulder. As a Buff, the 1987 graduate was a two-time All-American in cross-country and a longtime record-holder in the 3,000m steeplechase. Afterward, he was a bronze medalist at the 1995 Pan Am Games. Dan comes from a huge family of Colorado runners. Dan’s older brother, Sam Reese, was a cross country All-American, his younger brother, Tom Reese, was a three-time All-American (while coached by Dan), and older brother Dave, is a former Denver Marathon champ, a former Northern Colorado athlete and a former running coach at Mullen High School. Adding to that list is Dan’s son, Michael Reese, who is running for the Buffs now. When not working or running, Dan enjoys spending time with his family and coaching his kids.
photo: coloradanmagazine.org
Garry Bjorklund
(www.usatfmn.org)
• Held the MN state high school mile record (4:05.1) for 39 years
• Five-time All-American
• Broke Big Ten records in seven categories
• 13th place in 10,000m at the 1976 Olympics
• Won 10 major road races in 1978
• Inducted into the Road Runners Club of America’s Hall of Fame in 1988
• The Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth named the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon after him
Garry Bjorklund started his running career in high school, setting a Minnesota state record mile that lasted for 39 years with a time of 4:05.1. He represented the U.S. at the 1971 and 1975 Pan American Games as well as the 1976 Olympics, managing to make the 10,000m team in spite of losing a shoe during trials. Following his Olympic appearance, Garry became a marathon runner, earning fifth-place finishes in both the 1977 New York City Marathon and the 1979 Boston Marathon. By 1980, he had set a national age group record and personal best time of 2:10.20 at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth Minnesota. His strong road running during this time earned him a place in the Road Runners Club of America’s Hall of Fame in 1988. Garry has lived in Colorado since the late 1970s, training with the Colorado Track Club and running partner Frank Shorter.
Garry Bjorklund, right, battles with Dick Beardsley in the 5th edition of Grandma’s Marathon. Photo: Dulluth
Colorado Running Hall of Fame 