Benji Durden

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

: photo: http://lifeskillsconsultingllc.com

photo: lifeskillsconsultingllc.com

Benji Durden is a Boulder, Colorado based coach of elite runners who came to prominence as a distance runner in the early 1980s. Benji was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic marathon team, placing second. Benji recorded 25 sub-2:20 marathons in less than a decade and ranked among the top ten U.S. marathoners for six straight years, reaching seventh in the world in 1982. His lifetime best of 2:09:57 came with his 3rd place finish in the 1983 Boston Marathon. Benji continues to run as a Grand Masters (50 and older) in marathons around the country.

1983 Boston Marathon (Durden is on right). Photo: Bob Howard for the Chicago Sun Times

Alan Culpepper

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

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

PattiSue Plumer

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

PattiSue Plumer is a retired American long-distance runner who ran twice in the Olympics. She ran first in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea where she finished 13th in the 3,000m. In 1992 in Barcelona, Spain she ran in the 1,500m, finishing 10th, and the 3,000m, finishing 5th. On July 3, 1989 she set the American record in the 5,000m at 14:59.99, and was the first woman to beat one of Mary Decker’s sweep of all distance running American records during the 1980s. She won the 1990 Fifth Avenue Mile, setting a course record which remains unbeaten. Patti Sue attended Stanford University, where she won the 1984 NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship at 5000m and the NCAA Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships at two-m,iles in 1983. She won multiple national titles at 3,000m and 5,000m and was a three-time runner-up in the 1,500 meters. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Stanford Law School and worked as a lawyer for several years. She now coaches cross-country and track at Stanford University in Northern California.

Leading in the 1988 Olympics

Herb Lindsay

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

photo: Flint Journal

Herb Lindsay is an American long distance runner. After graduating from Michigan State in 1977, Lindsay taught elementary school physical education in Okemos, Michigan. He kept running, hoping to make the 1980 Olympics, but it seemed unlikely. Eventually, against the advice of family and friends, he moved to Boulder, took a part-time job and began to concentrate on his training. He finished ninth in the Olympic Trials 10000m and did not make the team. In the 1979 Pan American Games, Herb won a silver medal in the 5,000m. In 1980, he won the Cascade Runoff 15K, setting the American record. Herb was also one of the founding members of the Association of Road Racing Athletes‎ and was inducted into the RRCA Hall of Fame in 2002.

herb_lindsay_rr

Adam Goucher

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

photo: usatf.org

Adam Goucher is an American Olympic track and field athlete. While attending the University of Colorado, Adam won two NCAA indoor track titles in the 3,000m and an outdoor NCAA track title in the 5,000m. After three top ten finishes, he finally won the NCAA Division I cross-country title. In 2000, he made his first Olympic team, placing first in the Olympic trials in the 5000m. He was 13th in the 5000m at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, despite serious battles with back troubles. In 2008, he attended the US Olympic Trials in hopes of qualifying in the 5k and 10k. His time of 13:56.25 in the semifinal of the 5k was enough to advance to the finals, but after holding the lead for several laps, he dropped out of the race with two laps remaining. He finished seventh in the 10k final, failing to qualify for the Olympics, but besting his previous 10k personal record. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Kara Goucher, also a professional runner, and their son, Colton Mirko.

photo: trackfocus.com

Elva Dryer

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

photo: usatf.org

Elva Dryer (neè Martinez) is a three-time qualifying track and field Olympian: placing 3rd in the 5,000m at the 2000 Olympic trials; second in the 10,000m at the 2004 Olympic trials, finishing 19th in the event; and 15th in the 10,000m at the 2008 Olympic trials. During her college career at Western State, Elva won two NCAA D-II cross country titles, and was national champ in the 3,000m four times, the only person to achieve that feat. Dryer was the top American finisher at the 2007 ING New York City Marathon, placing 6th (2:35:15). She married Russ Dryer, a former All-American cross-country runner and fellow Western State alum, and he has coached her ever since. Elva’s hobbies include crocheting and reading.

Photo: Victah Sailer@Photo Run

Shayne Culpepper

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

photo: usatf.org

Shayne Culpepper (neè Willie) is a middle distance track and field athlete who has won multiple national titles and qualified twice for the Olympics: in 2000 in the 1,500m and in 2004 in the 5,000m. After winning the 2004 5,000m Olympic trials, she competed again at the 2004 Summer Olympics and placed 13th in the 5k at the first round, not allowing her to go on to the finals. Now retired, Shayne and her husband Alan Culpepper, 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: coloradanmagazine.org

Bette Poppers

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

photo: blacktiecolorado.com

Bette Poppers was one of the first formidable female long distance athletes. She got a late start in the game, starting her running career at 34 years old (and seven months pregnant), but she quickly made a name for herself. Representing Colorado, she became one of the nation’s top Masters runners in the 1980s as well as went on to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials twice (1984 & 1988) after turning 40. Bette is now retired in Littleton.

photo: stgeorgemarathon.com

Libby Hickman

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado

photo: uastf.org

Libby Hickman was named top female road racer in 1991, 1998, and 2000 by Runner’s World Magazine. She was All-American at Colorado State University and ran the 10,000m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was also the first American woman to win the Bolder Boulder in 14 years in 1997. From Fort Collins, Libby has largely retired from the sport in favor of chasing her two young children.

Libbie Hickman runs a race in Albany, N.Y., in June 2000, the same year she ran the Olympic 10,000 meters. ( AP file photo )

Pablo Vigil

January 31, 2013January 27, 2026 / runningincolorado / 1 Comment

photo: examiner.com

Pablo Vigil may be called the greatest mountain runner in the world. He is the only man to have won four straight 32-kilometer Sierre-Zinal Mountain race titles (1979-82), setting a race record that lasted for a decade. He also won the Cleveland Marathon three times and competed in three U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (1980, 1984 & 1988) and was a member of the United States World Cross Country Championship Team in 1978 and the World Mountain Running Championship Team in 1980. He boasts a 1989 win in the Super Marathon de Hoggar, a 100-mile stage race in Tamanrasset, Algeria and was a National 25k Masters Champion in the Old Kent River Run in 1995. Pablo continues to run cross country and mountain races around the world. He lives in Loveland and teaches literacy in both English and Spanish at Harris Bilingual Elementary School. 13329936444f73de6c8b832