Mark Curp (born January 5, 1959, in
Chillicothe, Missouri
Chillicothe is a city in the state of Missouri and the county seat of Livingston County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,107 at the 2020 census. The name "Chillicothe" is Shawnee for "big town", and was named after their ''Chillico ...
) held the world record for the
half marathon
A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...
from 1985 until 1990. He continued holding the American record in the half marathon until a new record was set by
Ryan Hall in 2007.
Curp attended
Central Missouri State University, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1981 and a master's degree in 1982.
Curp broke the men's world record in the half marathon on September 15, 1985, clocking 1:00:55 at the Philadelphia Distance Run in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at an overall pace just under 4:39 per mile for the official 13.1094-mile distance. According to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, "in 1987 and 1988, Runner’s World magazine ranked him the number one road racer in the world."
(Curp's best time in a marathon came at the 1987
Twin Cities Marathon
The Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) is an annual marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to a course that win ...
, when he finished third with a time of 2:11:45.
)
Curp's world record in the half marathon stood for five years, until September 16, 1990, when
Dionicio Ceron broke Curp's time by nine seconds on the same Philadelphia course.
Curp's time of 1:00:55 stood as the American record until January 14, 2007, when Ryan Hall broke the record at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon in Houston, Texas.
Achievements
*
All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise
References
Interview
1959 births
Living people
People from Lee's Summit, Missouri
American male long-distance runners
University of Central Missouri alumni
20th-century American people
{{US-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub