ALBERTO SALAZAR - DISTANCE RUNNER (Inducted 2001)

Born Aug. 7, 1958, Havana, Cuba.

Elected to the National Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2000, Alberto Salazar was born in Cuba but at the age of 2, his family moved from Cuba to Manchester, Conn. Nine years later they moved again, this time to Wayland, Mass. It was there that Salazar became an outstanding high school runner before enrolling at Oregon in 1976. While running for the Ducks, Salazar helped Oregon win the 1977 NCAA cross country title. It was after college, however, that he had his greatest success, winning six national distance titles and being selected to two Olympic teams (1980 and 1984). In 1984, he placed 15th in the marathon but some of his greatest moments came at the New York City Marathon. He won there in 1980 and repeated in 198l and 1982. In the 1981 race, he broke the 12-year-old world record with a 2:08:13 time but the race was found to be short. He also won the 1982 Boston Marathon and set several American distance records from 5,000 meters to the marathon. Salazar later worked for Nike and owned a restaurant in Eugene, Oregon.