Pete is best known for being an Olympic marathon runner, having competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 1988 Seoul Olympics, finishing as the top American on both occasions. He qualified for the 1984 Olympics by beating then world record holder Alberto Salazar in a sprint finish in the U.S. Olympic Trials, which was made into the film “No Tomorrows.”

At Cornell, Pete set the Moakley cross country course record, won two Heps Championships titles, earned All Ivy five times, All East twice and qualified for the NCAA Championships four times in cross country and track. A member of the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame and Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame, Pete’s successful post-collegiate running career included seven marathon victories, a national 15K title, an American Record for 20 miles and a 3rd place finish in the 1987 NYC Marathon.

Pete graduated from Cornell with a BS from the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and earned his MBA in 1982 from Cornell’s Johnson School. After 12 years in product management with New Balance and Timberland, Pete returned to college to earn an MSc in Exercise Science from UMASS Amherst.

Pete’s wife Christine also competed in the Seoul Olympics and in 1997 they moved to her native New Zealand. Pete served for 11 years as Performance Services Manager and then CEO of the New Zealand Academy of Sport North Island. Pete is currently GM of Capacity and Expertise for High Performance Sport New Zealand, an organization funded by the New Zealand government to ensure more kiwis win medals in the Olympics and World Championships.

Pete is an authority on training for distance runners and has had four books published by Human Kinetics. Advanced Marathoning has been published in five languages. Pete and Christine live with their daughters Annika (21) and Katrina (16) in Auckland.

At the time of our 40th reunion, Pete had recently been appointed Chief Executive of Athletics New Zealand, the national body for track & field. After 21 years working in high performance sport in New Zealand and a lifetime involvement in track & field, Pete is delighted to have this new leadership opportunity.