Bruce Bickford is without question Maine's greatest male distance runner. He was ranked #1 in the world at 10,000m in 1985, and was an Olympian in the 1988 Seoul Games.
Born March 12, 1957 in East Benton. Lawrence High School '75 Northeastern '80
Bruce Bickford won seven Maine State Titles while at Lawrence High School. His best performance was the 9:09.5 for two miles he ran for a close second to Alberto Salazar at the Dartmouth Relays.
In his freshman year at Northeastern in 1976 he ran an 8:38 Steeple which still ranks as the third fastest American Junior (under 20) time in history. He owns three Northeastern Huskies’ records, including the steeplechase (8:33.6 – 4/29/77 - outdoor), the 2-mile (8:40.56 – 3/4/79 - indoor) and part of the record-setting distance medley relay (9:53.31 – 3/3/79 - indoor). He also is part of the second-fastest 4 x 800-meter relay (7:30.88 – 2/77 – indoor) and distance medley relay (9:42.9 – 4/29/78 – outdoor) teams in school history. His steeplechase of 8:38.5 ran in 1979 also stands as a New England Outdoor Championship record. Along with five IC4A Championships, including a pair of 2-mile indoor crowns (8:45.3 – 1978 • 8:40.6 – 1979) and three steeplechase titles (8:48.6 – 1976 • 8:34.76 – 1977 • 8:38.0 – 1978), Bickford captured four New England championships. He won the mile in 4:04.2 (1977 – indoor) and three more steeplechase titles in 8:50.4, 8:41.9 and 8:38.5, respectively in 1976, 1978 and 1979. In cross country, Bickford placed 14th at the 1976 NCAA Cross Country Championship (28:58.62) and followed it up with a 29th-place performance at the 1978 Championship (30:15.8).
Bickford made his first attempt at an Olympic Team in the '84 Trials 10,000. First off, Bruce had to run a 28:19 just to get past the heats! Three days later he lined up for the final. Coming through 5k in 14:06, he took turns leading the race with Pat Porter and Mark Curp, and was in contention right until the last 600 meters. He faded to 6th in 28:18. Two days later he moved on the the semi-finals of the 5k with a 13:50. The very next day he made it into the 5k final with a 13:43. After just one day of rest, he lined up for his 5th race in 8 days. It was a decent early pace, and at 4k Bruce took the lead and started to turn up the heat on the field. With 600 to go again, the faster kickers in the field started to move past, and Bruce ended up 4th in 13:33, 5 seconds out of a spot on the Olympic Team.
1985 was Bick's best season. Bickford competed in the 5,000 meters in Oslo, running 13:13 and finishing within two seconds of Salazar's American record. “The meet director at Oslo told me that he thought I would win Stockholm,” said Bickford. The previous year, Portuguese distance runner Fernando Malmede shattered the 10k world record by nine seconds at Stockholm, setting the stage for a repeat performance. “The meet directors generally continued to draw in sponsors for the next year. The stronger your meet is, of course, the more sponsors you are going to get, and the world record was set there the year before, so they wanted to bring in as many good athletes as they could to try to go for the record again.” The field included Malmede, the world record holder, and Alberto Cova, coming off an Olympic gold medal performance the previous year.
The race itself brought more challenges, as the elite runners lagged behind their world record pace. “The rabbits did not really do their job,” said Bickford. The pack ran through the first 5,000 meters ten to twelve seconds behind the world record pace of 13:36. Cova assumed the lead until Bickford received a clear message from a teammate. “For two or three laps nobody really wanted to lead. One of my teammates actually, Mark Nenow, who did hold the American record a few years after that, came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Come on let’s go, let’s go get it going again,’ and we did.” Bickford and Nenow exchanged the pole position from lap to lap for about the final ten, pulling away from the superlative pack.
With five laps remaining, Bickford regained the lead, finished his lap and pulled into lane two for Nenow to recapture the top position. “Part-way around the turn he didn’t come, so I looked back and he was fifteen or twenty yards behind me, so then I was by myself, which is not a good place to be when you have four or five laps to go.” Bickford then turned on his legendary drive to create more separation for the final push to the finish. As the finish drew near, Bickford’s limbs began to numb, telltale signs of oxygen deficiency. “I went into the last lap with probably a forty-or fifty-yard lead, but still wasn’t confident because we had some big kickers like Malmede and Cova.” With a capacity crowd of over 14,000 cheering his every step, Bickford finished in a time of 27 minutes, 37.7 seconds, a time unsurpassed that year. “I finished strong, still won by a few seconds. It was just an amazing feeling. Americans don’t expect to go and win many races in Europe.” Fourteen runners finished under 28:00 that day, unheard of in a single field of 10,000 meter runners. Bickford ended 1985 ranked #1 in the World for 10,000.
He also claimed the 10K at the Pan Am Games in 1985 and 1987.
Bickford's second attempt at making the Olympic Team was a completely different story than 1984. On a hot Indianapolis track he qualified easily for the final with a 29:36. It was still 80 degrees and humid the night of the final, and the first 5000m was covered in a pedestrian 14:56. Pat Porter then took over at the same pace until Bickford kicked in a blazing 28 second 200m stretch at 7500m. Only 3 men were able to react after that burst, and even then Porter, Nenow and Plasencia decided to let Bickford go and just run for the remaining two places. At the bell they were 40m behind Bickford, and the 3 began running hard; Porter and Plasencia went clear of US record-holder Nenow 200m from home, and Plasencia took second 10m behind Bickford. With a phenomenal mid-race surge, Bickford had won the Trials and made the Olympic team!
Bickford has been ranked in the top ten Americans an astounding eleven times by Track & Field News over the Steeplechase, 5000, and 10,000. He is the only Maine athlete to have been World Ranked; 10th in the 10,000 in 1984, 10th in the 5000 in 1985, and #1 in the 10,000 in 1985. He was a two-time NCAA All-American at Northeastern.
1976 8:38.67
1977 Ranked 4th in the US at Steeplechase 5th at NATLS Steeple 8:33.6
1978 Ranked 7th in the US at Steeplechase 6th at NATLS Steeple
1982 Ranked 2nd in the US at Steeplechase 4th at NATLS Steeple 8:25.76
1983 Ranked 9th in the US at Steeplechase
1984 Ranked 4th in the US at 5000 4th at TRIALS 5000
Ranked 2nd in the US and 10th World at 10,000 6th at TRIALS 10,000
1985 Ranked 3rd in the US at 5000 and 10th World at 5000 13:13
Ranked #1 in the US and #1 World at 10,000 1st NATLS 10,000 27:37
1987 Ranked 6th in the US at 5000
Ranked 4th in the US at 10,000 5th NATLS 10,000
1988 Ranked #1 in the US at 10,000 1st TRIALS 10,000
Bickford has gone on to coach track at Northeastern University, Brandeis University, University of Southern Maine, and St. Joseph's College of Maine.
Born March 12, 1957 in East Benton. Lawrence High School '75 Northeastern '80
Bruce Bickford won seven Maine State Titles while at Lawrence High School. His best performance was the 9:09.5 for two miles he ran for a close second to Alberto Salazar at the Dartmouth Relays.
In his freshman year at Northeastern in 1976 he ran an 8:38 Steeple which still ranks as the third fastest American Junior (under 20) time in history. He owns three Northeastern Huskies’ records, including the steeplechase (8:33.6 – 4/29/77 - outdoor), the 2-mile (8:40.56 – 3/4/79 - indoor) and part of the record-setting distance medley relay (9:53.31 – 3/3/79 - indoor). He also is part of the second-fastest 4 x 800-meter relay (7:30.88 – 2/77 – indoor) and distance medley relay (9:42.9 – 4/29/78 – outdoor) teams in school history. His steeplechase of 8:38.5 ran in 1979 also stands as a New England Outdoor Championship record. Along with five IC4A Championships, including a pair of 2-mile indoor crowns (8:45.3 – 1978 • 8:40.6 – 1979) and three steeplechase titles (8:48.6 – 1976 • 8:34.76 – 1977 • 8:38.0 – 1978), Bickford captured four New England championships. He won the mile in 4:04.2 (1977 – indoor) and three more steeplechase titles in 8:50.4, 8:41.9 and 8:38.5, respectively in 1976, 1978 and 1979. In cross country, Bickford placed 14th at the 1976 NCAA Cross Country Championship (28:58.62) and followed it up with a 29th-place performance at the 1978 Championship (30:15.8).
Bickford made his first attempt at an Olympic Team in the '84 Trials 10,000. First off, Bruce had to run a 28:19 just to get past the heats! Three days later he lined up for the final. Coming through 5k in 14:06, he took turns leading the race with Pat Porter and Mark Curp, and was in contention right until the last 600 meters. He faded to 6th in 28:18. Two days later he moved on the the semi-finals of the 5k with a 13:50. The very next day he made it into the 5k final with a 13:43. After just one day of rest, he lined up for his 5th race in 8 days. It was a decent early pace, and at 4k Bruce took the lead and started to turn up the heat on the field. With 600 to go again, the faster kickers in the field started to move past, and Bruce ended up 4th in 13:33, 5 seconds out of a spot on the Olympic Team.
1985 was Bick's best season. Bickford competed in the 5,000 meters in Oslo, running 13:13 and finishing within two seconds of Salazar's American record. “The meet director at Oslo told me that he thought I would win Stockholm,” said Bickford. The previous year, Portuguese distance runner Fernando Malmede shattered the 10k world record by nine seconds at Stockholm, setting the stage for a repeat performance. “The meet directors generally continued to draw in sponsors for the next year. The stronger your meet is, of course, the more sponsors you are going to get, and the world record was set there the year before, so they wanted to bring in as many good athletes as they could to try to go for the record again.” The field included Malmede, the world record holder, and Alberto Cova, coming off an Olympic gold medal performance the previous year.
The race itself brought more challenges, as the elite runners lagged behind their world record pace. “The rabbits did not really do their job,” said Bickford. The pack ran through the first 5,000 meters ten to twelve seconds behind the world record pace of 13:36. Cova assumed the lead until Bickford received a clear message from a teammate. “For two or three laps nobody really wanted to lead. One of my teammates actually, Mark Nenow, who did hold the American record a few years after that, came up and tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Come on let’s go, let’s go get it going again,’ and we did.” Bickford and Nenow exchanged the pole position from lap to lap for about the final ten, pulling away from the superlative pack.
With five laps remaining, Bickford regained the lead, finished his lap and pulled into lane two for Nenow to recapture the top position. “Part-way around the turn he didn’t come, so I looked back and he was fifteen or twenty yards behind me, so then I was by myself, which is not a good place to be when you have four or five laps to go.” Bickford then turned on his legendary drive to create more separation for the final push to the finish. As the finish drew near, Bickford’s limbs began to numb, telltale signs of oxygen deficiency. “I went into the last lap with probably a forty-or fifty-yard lead, but still wasn’t confident because we had some big kickers like Malmede and Cova.” With a capacity crowd of over 14,000 cheering his every step, Bickford finished in a time of 27 minutes, 37.7 seconds, a time unsurpassed that year. “I finished strong, still won by a few seconds. It was just an amazing feeling. Americans don’t expect to go and win many races in Europe.” Fourteen runners finished under 28:00 that day, unheard of in a single field of 10,000 meter runners. Bickford ended 1985 ranked #1 in the World for 10,000.
He also claimed the 10K at the Pan Am Games in 1985 and 1987.
Bickford's second attempt at making the Olympic Team was a completely different story than 1984. On a hot Indianapolis track he qualified easily for the final with a 29:36. It was still 80 degrees and humid the night of the final, and the first 5000m was covered in a pedestrian 14:56. Pat Porter then took over at the same pace until Bickford kicked in a blazing 28 second 200m stretch at 7500m. Only 3 men were able to react after that burst, and even then Porter, Nenow and Plasencia decided to let Bickford go and just run for the remaining two places. At the bell they were 40m behind Bickford, and the 3 began running hard; Porter and Plasencia went clear of US record-holder Nenow 200m from home, and Plasencia took second 10m behind Bickford. With a phenomenal mid-race surge, Bickford had won the Trials and made the Olympic team!
Bickford has been ranked in the top ten Americans an astounding eleven times by Track & Field News over the Steeplechase, 5000, and 10,000. He is the only Maine athlete to have been World Ranked; 10th in the 10,000 in 1984, 10th in the 5000 in 1985, and #1 in the 10,000 in 1985. He was a two-time NCAA All-American at Northeastern.
1976 8:38.67
1977 Ranked 4th in the US at Steeplechase 5th at NATLS Steeple 8:33.6
1978 Ranked 7th in the US at Steeplechase 6th at NATLS Steeple
1982 Ranked 2nd in the US at Steeplechase 4th at NATLS Steeple 8:25.76
1983 Ranked 9th in the US at Steeplechase
1984 Ranked 4th in the US at 5000 4th at TRIALS 5000
Ranked 2nd in the US and 10th World at 10,000 6th at TRIALS 10,000
1985 Ranked 3rd in the US at 5000 and 10th World at 5000 13:13
Ranked #1 in the US and #1 World at 10,000 1st NATLS 10,000 27:37
1987 Ranked 6th in the US at 5000
Ranked 4th in the US at 10,000 5th NATLS 10,000
1988 Ranked #1 in the US at 10,000 1st TRIALS 10,000
Bickford has gone on to coach track at Northeastern University, Brandeis University, University of Southern Maine, and St. Joseph's College of Maine.
10,000 SUB 30:30 *Kinetic assisted shoes
27:14.95* Ben True, North Yarmouth, Dartmouth 2012 -12th - OLY TRIALS 12, 11th - OLY TRIALS 16, 4th OLY TRIALS 21
27:37.17 Bruce Bickford, Benton, Northeastern 1985 6th - OLY TRIALS 84, 18th SEOUL OLYMPICS 88
28:00.01 Matt Lane, Yarmouth, William & Mary 2004
28:13.69 Matt McClintock, Athens, Purdue 2021
28:26.61 Louie Luchini, Ellsworth, Stanford 2008 -23rd - OLY TRIALS 08
28:41.86 Ethan Shaw, Falmouth, Dartmouth 2014
28:47.18 Jeff Gaudette, Biddeford, Brown 2006
29:14.11 Henry Sterling, South Freeport, Dartmouth 2021
29:14.74 Sam Wilbur, Lincoln, Dartmouth 1995
29:22.0 Bob Winn, Wells, Central Connecticut State 1977
29:36.15 Dan Curts, Ellsworth, Iowa State 2019
29:43.11 Levi Miller, Belfast, Georgetown 2010
29:48* Ken Flanders, Deering, Northeastern 1973 (Ran 28:45 for 6 miles to win the New England's at Brown U)
29:54.17 Mike Lyons, Portland, U Pennsylvania 1992
29:59.64 Gerry Clapper, U Maine 1983
30:05.56 Rusty Snow, Auburn, Brandeis 1997
30:06.39 Matt Rand, Cape Elizabeth, Tufts 2020
30:07.27 Ben Decker Williams 2018
30:08.30 Greg Hale, Madawaska, Rhode Island 1984
30:19.95 Andy Spaulding, Searsport, U Maine 1997
30:21.26 Jesse Orach, Gorham, UMaine 2017
30:21.78 John Fitzgerald, Rangely, Bates 1987
30:23.3 Bob Hillgrove, Rockland 1977
30:23.46 Kirby Davis, Falmouth, U Maine 2010
30:24.00 Pat O’Malley, Guilford, U Maine 1989
30:27.?? Jamie LaChance, Berwick, U Maine 1997
30:28.78 Jonny Wilson, Falmouth, Richmond 2011
(in BOLD Maine Record at the time)