By Peter Gambaccini

Photo courtesy of Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival

John Crews is surely the only American runner of the 21st century who has run three marathons and still proudly remains undefeated. Crews, now a doctoral student in chemical engineering at North Carolina State in Raleigh, debuted at 26.2 miles with a 2:21:28 at the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh in 2008. This past May, he ran 2:19:31 at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington and on November 22, he improved to a 2:17:15 at the Philadelphia Marathon. Crews came in first each time. He was the first American male winner in Philadelphia in nine years and earned $3,500. He warmed up for Philadelphia by winning the half-marathon at the Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival in October in 1:07:24. Crews competed as a North Carolina State undergraduate and was the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference indoor 5000-meter champion. While in high school in Virginia, he was second in the 5000 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. Crews has run 3000 meters in 8:07 and 5000 meters in 14:01.

How soon after the end of your college eligibility did you do that first marathon, City of Oaks? Had you been thinking all along "when I get into the longer stuff, that's when I'm going to really start to shine?"
John Crews: I finished up my college eligibility that spring (of 2008), so basically, my next training cycle was geared toward City of Oaks (in the first week of November). And I always kind of wanted to run a marathon. I wasn't sure how serious I wanted to be. A former teammate of mine, Bobby Mack, was still running and working at a shoe store. And the owner, Mike Zimmerman at the Athlete's Foot in Raleigh, said "well, if you run in our jersey, we'll support you. Hop in some local races and see how you do." So I decided to get ready for City of Oaks and it ended up going surprisingly well.