User:Comm260 ncu/Phil Coppess

Phil Coppess (born ) is an American long-distance runner from Iowa best known for winning the 1981 Chicago Marathon crossing the tape at 2:16:13, and beating second-place finisher Frank Shorter.

Coppess also set one of the fastest marathon times for any American when he won the 1985 Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Coppess left the start line with several elite runners, but launched into a fast pace at mile six, growing a gap between the rest of the pack. He ran by himself for most of the other 20 miles before crossing the finish. His winning time of 2:10:05 set a course record that stood for nearly 30 years, and still remains one of the fastest marathons ever run by an American man.

In 1982, he ran the London Marathon and placed 6th among the best in the world.

Coppess returned to the Twin Cities Marathon in 1986, but did not finish on the podium. He came in 17th, with a time of 2:17:04.

Coppess won the 1985 [Lincoln Marathon|] in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2:16:30, setting a course record. The record still stands. That year he also won an Illinois 10-mile race, setting another course record in a time of 48:01.

Personal life
When Coppess was training in the '80s, he was working full-time at a corn-processing factory in Clinton, Iowa while being a single parent to three children.