Alberto Salazar
Alberto Salazar
Alberto Salazaris an American track coach and former world-class long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar emigrated to the United States as a child with his family. They moved to Wayland, Massachusetts, where Salazar competed in track and field in high school. Salazar is best known for his performances in the New York City Marathon in the early 1980s and his 1982 Boston Marathon victory known as the "Duel in the Sun." He held American track records of 13:11.93 for 5,000...
NationalityCuban
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth7 August 1958
CityHavana, Cuba
CountryCuba
I'm a traditional marathoner with a shuffling stride... I'm not the prettiest runner in the world, but I am efficient.
I'd rather run a gutsy race, pushing all the way and lose, than run a conservative race only for a win.
Early in my career I was accused of being overconfident and even cocky, but I really was confident that I had done the training and didn't see any other reason to say otherwise.
I can't tell you why a particular athlete would leave a certain coach, but I can tell you there could be many reasons. They could have personality conflicts. They could have misunderstandings. Lots of stuff can happen.
I like the marathon because it's one race where you can find out who's really the toughest. On the track, sometimes a guy can just pull away, and you want to stay with him but you don't have the leg speed. The marathon is slow enough that anyone can stay with you if he wants, if he has the will. The marathon is ultimately a test of will.
The marathon is like a bullfight.
Trust me, my runners aren't going to run one event while looking past it to the second event. When they get on the line for the 10K, that's a do-or-die situation for them.
You learn to run like a sprinter, you'll be a great distance runner
I've found that my athletes run their best races after about 10 weeks of intense training.
I run four miles most days, at about 8:00 to 8:15 pace. It's totally relaxed.