Made his solid pitch for running in Maine

Brian Gillespie of Portland is regarded by many as one of the cornerstones of organized 1960s-era road racing in Maine. He came on to the Maine running scene in the late 1960s, and first made his mark as one of Maine's greatest contributors to the sport of distance running in 1971, not long after race organizer Roland Dyer was killed in May of that year.

At a time when he was in the prime of his racing career, he put a great deal of his energy into keeping road racing going in Maine, organizing and directing races on a weekly basis, often out of the trunk of his car, using his own money. Thus, he earned the admiration of other runners who would not have been able to race in Maine.

In the years that have passed since this time, distance running has been a big part of his life. Since 1971, through the mid-1990s, Gillespie organized and directed over 200 road races. In 1993 alone, he directed five races.

Gillespie graduated from Cape Elizabeth High in 1965. In high school he ran cross country all four years, setting numerous course records. He graduated from the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham in 1974 where he ran varsity cross country and played baseball all four years. He earned his nickname "Ziggy" as a baseball pitcher. He was named cross country captain three years and was named MVP twice. He finished third in the NAIA New England Championships in his senior year, and he was Maine small college champion in 1974. While in the Navy's Special Services he was 5th Naval District cross country champion two years in a row.

During the years that he competed Gillespie, who was 5-foot-10 and 145 pounds, recorded the following personal bests: 4:29 for the mile; 15:47 for 5-K; 25:21 for 5 miles; and 1:10:17 for the half marathon. He estimates that he won between 20 and 25 races over his career. His best racing distance, he felt, was between 5-K and four miles. He considers his greatest race to be one in 1979, at the Maine State AAU Cross Country Championships at Castine, when he took second behind Bob Hillgrove, beating third place finisher Ken Flanders in the process. His other top races include: the Elks Midi Marathon in 1975, where he finished 5th in 1: 10: 17; and the 24 hour relay in 1973, when he ran on the Maine team which broke a New England record for the event and recorded a distance which ranked 9th in the world at the time.

In 1975, Gillespie organized and directed Southern Maine's first marathon, the Sebago Lake Marathon. He organized and directed the James Bailey cross country race at UMPG as well as the Cape Elizabeth 9 Miler. He is the founder of two running clubs: the Greater Portland Athletic Club, in 1976, and the Maine Track Club, in 1979.

Gillespie is credited with upgrading women's road racing in the state and began organizing "for women only" races. He also installed a new race scoring system to improve race organization and posting race results.

In 1976, Gillespie raised hundreds of dollars to enable Ralph Thomas to participate in the Olympic Marathon Trials in the state of Washington. Thomas never would have been able to afford the trip otherwise.

He was honored by the Maine Masters with the annual award "Outstanding Contributor to Maine Distance Running” in 1978. This was one of the two most prestigious awards handed out each year (the other, Maine Runner of the Year). Gillespie also received the "outstanding contributor" award two other times, in 1983 and 1989.

Gillespie served as cross country coach at St. Joseph's College from 1981 to 1987. His first three teams were NAIA New England Champions. In 1987, his nationally ranked team was NCAA Division III New England Champions, as well as Maine college champions. The NCAA New England title, he says, was his “greatest moment” as a coach. One year his team finished runner up in the National Catholic College Championships at Notre Dame. His teams compiled an overall regular season record of 145 and 11. This is a remarkable feat when you consider that Saint Joe's had only 145 male students and offered no athletic financial aid. It is understandable why he was named New England Coach of the Year in 1981, 1983, and 1987. He was also named NAIA Mayflower Conference Coach of the Year in 1994, as a result of his outstanding development of the women’s cross country program at Westbrook College.

St. Joe's athletic director, Rick Simonds, said in 1983, "I think the college community was incredibly impressed (with Gillespie and his team). He's an exceptional promoter of his program which lends itself to visibility. Here, cross country is a major sport."
After founding the Maine Track Club, the largest running club in Maine during his era, Gillespie served three years as its president. Over the years he contributed to the club's development enormously. In a MTC newsletter in 1985, president Bob Jolicoeur wrote, "With a guy like Brian on the team, how can we miss."

In 1990, Gillespie organized and developed the "Run to Win Ladies Team," a group of 15 novice runners who have become highly successful under his coaching supervision. He was also the personal coach of two-time Maine Runner of the Year, Bob Winn, and coached one of Maine's top women, Christine Snow-Reaser, for several years.

In 1993, Gillespie was honored with the prestigious RRCA National Merit Award in recognition of Outstanding Achievement in the Maine Running Community.

Rick Krause, founder and publisher of the Maine Runner Magazine, wrote: "If it were not for the late Roland Dyer and Brian Gillespie, road racing might have been 10 years behind the times."

Bob Booker, who published Maine Running Magazine, also had enormous admiration for Gillespie. He dedicated his last issue to the Portlander, "who has done more for long distance running in the past two years than anyone had ever done before." Booker wrote: "Not to shoot any sacred cows but, let’s face it, who else has ever put on forty races in a season for so many runners? By establishing the Maine Track Club, Brian has brought keen team competition to road racing throughout the state."

As busy as he was during the years he competed and organized races, Gillespie still found time for another of his great loves, baseball. For 15 years he played semi pro basebal1 in the Portland Twilight League. He pitched and played center field with, and against, top college players and ex-professionals.

No one has had any greater appreciation for the importance of Gillespie's contribution to Maine running than running veteran Dennis Morrill of Portland. “One can inspire, and Ziggy has. One can coach, and Ziggy has (and well). But, where would inspiration and coaching be without a race promoter extraordinaire? Thanks, Ziggy, for your many promotions over nearly thirty years."