Needs help finding old marathon results

Paul Riefberg needs your help finding some old race results, especially the Waynesboro (VA) Marathon of Oct. 8, 1977. Paul, a former Alabamian who lives in Texas, is seeking complete results of every marathon in which he participated – and there wasn’t much publicity given back in those early days of marathoning.

He recently tracked down the results of the 1974 Andrew Jackson Marathon in Jackson, Tennessee, where he finished sixth out of 35 finishers. He did that by obtaining age group results from the Jackson Sun daily newspaper, contacted runners on that list and found one who had the list of all finishers.

He also needs results of the Boston Marathon from April 1974. He placed 347th in 2:51:02 out of, perhaps, an estimated 1700 runners. He found a list of all sub-3-hour finishers but wants the complete finish list.

He also needs results from the Yonkers (NY) Marathon of June 1974.

Riefberg ran 16 marathons, his first being Washington’s Birthday Marathon in Beltsville, Maryland in February 1972. His PR for a certified course was 2:47:43 at Rocket City in Huntsville, AL.

He found it wasn’t easy getting early results – two of the races had been discontinued and some current race directors simply did not know where old results were kept.

Riefberg was vice president of MTRC, which was then the Montgomery, AL, running club – now the River Region Runners.

Now 62, he clearly remembers that first marathon in Beltsville, Maryland as there was snow on the ground, 27 degrees, 40 mph winds, and the windchill was minus-eight degrees. He ran 3:15:39 and qualified for Boston. He also remembers there was a national campaign for people to wear seatbelts and there was a sign along the course that said:
“Caskets are more confining than seatbelts.”

Ten of his marathons were under three hours, his fastest, he said, on a certified course was 2:47:43 at the Rocket City Marathon at Huntsville, AL, in December 1977.

Paul can be reached via email at priefberg@gmail.com.