HAL HIGDON participated in his first Boston Athletic Association Marathon in 1959, running with the leaders through Wellesley, but dropping out at 22 miles. Five years later, Higdon led through 19 miles before being passed by eventual winner Aurele Vandendriessche. Higdon held on for fifth (first American), clocking a personal best 2:21:55.
Higdon once dreamed of winning the Boston Marathon. That never happened but he has continued to return to Boston both as a competitor and reporter since 1959. Former race director Will Cloney credits Higdon for his suggestion in 1967 that the BAA provide certificates for those finishing under four hours. In 1963 Higdon's Sports Illustrated article ("On the Run from Dogs and People," later expanded into a 1971 book by the same name) sparked the upturn in numbers at Boston the following year and helped inspire the running boom that followed.
He ran eight times in the Olympic Trials between 1952 and 1968, his best a nonqualifying fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase in 1960. He won that same event at the 1975 World Veterans Championships, setting an American masters record of 9:18.6 that remains unbroken two decades later. He also won world masters titles in 1977, 1981 and 1991.
Although runners know Higdon best for his insightful articles on training and racing as senior writer for Runner's World, he has worked full time as a freelance writer since 1959, covering subjects as varied as politics for the New York Times Magazine, science for National Geographic, business for Playboy and aviation for Air & Space Smithsonian. His most recent running books include "Run Fast" and "Marathon: The Ultimate Training and Racing Guide." In addition to running titles, his 28 previously published books have included "The Crime of the Century" (about the Leopold and Loeb case) and "The Horse That Played Center Field" (a children's book made into an animated TV special by ABC)
One of the founders in 1958 of the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), Higdon received that organization's Journalism Award in 1980 and also was named to the RRCA Hall of Fame. In 1986 Higdon was a finalist in NASA's Journalist-in-Space program to ride the space shuttle. Most recently, in 1995 the North American Ski Journalists Association presented him with its Harold Hirsch Award for his ski columns in the South Bend Tribune. Higdon also writes a running club for that newspaper, syndicating it to regional publications and on the Internet.
He lives on the lakefront outside Michigan City, Indiana, and coached four years at the local high school, directing his girls cross-country team to fifth at the state championships in 1992. They won the title the two following years.
His wife, Rose, hikes, bikes, skis and supports him in his running and writing. She co-authored one book with him about her Italo-Albanian heritage: "Falconara: A Family Odyssey." They have three children and six grandchildren.
At the centennial 1996 Boston Marathon, Higdon ran his 100th marathon--his 18th at Boston.