Alan Lawrence Culpepper (born September 15, 1972) is an American distance runner and two-time United States Olympian (2000 & 2004). Along with competing on four World Championship teams, his accomplishments include finishing fourth in the
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...
in 2005, winning the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and finishing 12th at the
2004 Olympic
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. His 2:09:41 at the 2002
Chicago Marathon
The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...
tied him with
Alberto Salazar
Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958) is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where ...
for the fastest ever debut marathon by an
American, and remains his fastest marathon. Culpepper has won three
U.S. Cross Country titles and three track titles (two at 10,000 m and one at 5,000 m). His personal bests include 3:55.1 for the mile, 13:25 for 5k and 27:33 in the 10k.
Running career
High school and collegiate
Culpepper graduated in 1991 from
Coronado HS in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
. In 1989 and 1990 he won five Texas state titles in cross country and track, but did not compete in his final season (1991).
He went on to attend the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...
, where he developed into a national-class runner. In 1996 he won the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
outdoor 5,000 m title and placed 10th at the Olympic Trials in that event; the following year he improved to 2nd at the USATF Nationals (behind
Bob Kennedy) and represented the USA at the 1997 World Championships.
[
]
Professional
Following graduation from Colorado, Culpepper continued to live and train near Boulder. In 1999 he won his first open national title, the USA Cross Country Championships. That spring he also won the 10,000 m at the USATF Outdoor Championships and ran that event at the 1999 World Championships. In 2000, he took second in the 10,000 m at the U.S. Olympic Trials, overtaking champion Mebrahtom Keflezighi
Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (; , ''Mebrāhtōm Kifl'izgī''; born May 5, 1975) is a retired American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and finished in fourth place in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won ...
in the final lap but not quite managing to pass him by the finish line.[
Culpepper represented the U.S. at 10,000 m at the 2001 World Championships as well. He won another U.S. track championship in 2002 when he took the 5,000 m title. That fall, in his debut marathon in Chicago, he ran 2:09:41. In 2003, he won the U.S. 10,000 m title.][
After taking 2003 off from marathons, Culpepper ran his second at the U.S. Olympic Trials in ]Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
. Renewing his long-time rivalry with Keflezighi, Culpepper bested "Meb" in 2:11:42, with the lead changing several times in the final miles. Culpepper then placed 12th at the Athens Olympic Marathon, which would have been the best performance by an American marathoner in several Olympics had Keflezighi not won the silver medal.[
In 2005, Culpepper ran a 13:25.75 personal best in the 5,000 meter run at the 2005 Norwich Union British Grand Prix in ]London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. He ran 2:11:02 to take fifth in the 2006 Boston Marathon.
At the 2007 US Cross-Country Championships, Culpepper won his third cross country title, finishing first in the 12,000 m with a time of 37:09. (This race is featured in the documentary, SHOWDOWN – Five Elite Distance Runners, One Dream.)[
]
Personal life
Culpepper married American distance runner Shayne Culpepper
Shayne Culpepper (née Wille; born December 3, 1973, in Atlanta U.S.) is a middle distance runner. She is a two-time Olympian in track and field; in 2004 in the 5,000m and in 2000 in the 1,500m.
She is married to long-distance track and road run ...
(formerly Shayne Wille), also a University of Colorado graduate, in 1997. They have four sons, Cruz (b. April 2002), Levi (b. June 2006), Rocco (b. May 2008), and Chase (b. Feb 2012). Shayne also represented the United States in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Recent news
On February 10, 2007, Alan won the Open Men's 12K at the 2007 USA Cross Country Championships in Boulder, Colorado. He finished the race, held at Flatirons Golf Course, in a time of 37:09. It was Culpepper's third USA Cross Country victory; he also won in 1999 and 2003.
On June 8, 2008 Culpepper won the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon in Denver, Colorado. He crossed the finish line with a time of 1:07:57.
Achievements
References
External links
Alan Culpepper
at USATF
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...
*
archive February 11, 2008
*
*
ShowdownRace.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culpepper, Alan
1972 births
Living people
American male marathon runners
Colorado Buffaloes men's track and field athletes
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
21st-century American sportsmen
20th-century American sportsmen