Hank Pfeifle

Toughness, Talent and Range...

The best athletes in any sport – whether they choose to or not – develop a persona. They are seen by peers as having some defining attributes that serve to summarize intangibles. Runners can be "tough as nails," smart, consistent, a "big race guy." Hank Pfeifle has been all of those in the course of his illustrious running career.

For sheer speed and depth the period from the late 1970s until mid 1980s was a golden age of Maine road racing. In an era when winning times for local l0-Ks were routinely under 31:00, Pfeifle scored three Maine Runner of the Year awards in 1981, 1982 and 1983. His accomplishments, particularly when viewed in this era of racing – and when the award was based on points earned by performance ratings – make him a most notable addition to the Maine Running Hall of Fame.

His personal bests include: 3-K (indoors) – 8:03, BU Invitational 1983; 5-K (indoors) – 14:05, BU Invitational 1984; 8-K – 22:53, Sub 4 8-K Championship 1983; 10-K – 28:46 Natural Lite 10-K 1981; 15-K – 45:32, Tulsa 15-K 1985; 10 miles – 48:42 New Jersey 10 Mile 1982; 20-K – 1:00:41 New Haven 20-K 1982; Half Marathon – 1:04:37 Philadelphia Half Marathon 1982; 30-K – 1:35.34 Albany 30-K 1981; Marathon – 2:16.27 Houston-Tenneco 1985.

To many competitors Pfeifle appeared a little inscrutable – a tough read. Olympian and Maine Running Hall of Farner Bruce Bickford says: "He was always the same, always hard to read. I'm always thinking ‘When is he coming?’ or ‘What point is he going to move?’" Pfeifle in fact ran some brilliant races against the likes of Bickford, Bill Rodgers and Andy Palmer, beating each at various times in his career. The races were never widely appreciated in Maine as they took place in venues outside the state. Anyone who ever raced against Pfeifle would be in full agreement with Bickford's assessment that" It was never going to be an easy race when you saw Hank on the starting line."

He has been thought “an athletic work in progress” from his days as a skier and runner at the University of Vermont through his road racing career and finally as a bike racer. After graduation from UVM he and wife Beth eventually moved to Dallas where, in a strange twist, he ended up in Ken Cooper's 1975 legendary study on American distance runners featuring other subjects such as Frank Shorter and Steve Prefontaine.

Pfeifle was in the "good college runner" control group. He would have a later experience with exercise physiologists in the early 1980s being studied in Maine. Later, upon hearing that Pfeifle ran 60:41 for 20-K at New Haven, a then national record for a 31-year-old, the exercise physiologist exclaimed "That's impossible: he doesn't have the values!" It wasn't a surprise to either his training mates or Beth who says, "It's that push beyond, that step that seems impossible, that he always looks within himself to achieve and often does." In fact you won't find a runner who competed against Pfeifle who ever heard him make an excuse for any sub par performance.

His most respected runners were Greg Meyer and Bickford. Of Meyer he says: "I thought Greg was great because he was so intense and so dedicated. He set high goals for himself and he accomplished them." Pfeifle says that Bickford had "talent, focus, courage and the right touch of bravado. I admire guys who know what they want to do and then go after it. In Bruce's case it proved the right thing to do paying off in a world Number 1 ranking and the Olympic team."

As for his most memorable race he picks the 1980 Boston Marathon (21st in 2:20:34) for achieving some clear goals and in the way the race unfolded. The last four miles saw Hank move from 35th to 21st and to achieve an Olympic Trials qualifying time. The intangibles were just as important in retrospect: "I came back and proved to myself that I could run well in a big marathon after a poor run at New York in 1978 and of course, that crowd. I still get goose bumps remembering the yelling and closeness of the crowd over the last four miles and just the total excitement that the experience infused in me as it transpired. It was probably the most happy, satisfying moment you could have as a runner."

Though he demonstrated impressive range in his PRs Pfeifle thinks that from 8 miles to 30-K was his best range. He believes that those distances demanded the right blend of speed and endurance for his makeup. Pointing to the Stowe Distance Classic (8 miles) and the 1978 Maple Leaf Half Marathon, he was able to "summon the power and speed to catch and surge by the leaders" after having fallen off the pace earlier. The Maple Leaf time was the 3rd fastest in the U.S. for the year while Stowe was a course record in 38:39.

In his 40s Pfeifle de-emphasized his running racing career and began to race bicycles. He upgraded to a Category 1 racer at age 48. It was a predictable level of achievement for an athlete who is tough, talented and committed to be the best at whatever he tackles.

Balance has been a critical ingredient in Hank's life and it is encouraged by his wife Beth who jokingly says of the Maine running years that "I was lucky enough to own my own race horse." The racing was incorporated into family life with Beth taking her racing turns from time to time and the three kids (Mitch, Christy and Brook) always around the action.

Over the years Pfeifle has held management positions with Nike and now Cole Hahn. The Nike connection has been good for fostering his love of sport or as Beth puts it: "Nike planted Hank in a well-fertilized environment where sport was king. The balance of family, work and running has kept him rejuvenated.” Still for Beth and Hank – beyond the importance of exercise in their lives –there is an element of striving for excellence inherent in all of the hard work. Hank is fond of quoting Beth: "As long as you are good, you can keep playing," which means, he says," I am lucky to have a gift and as long as I can milk it I should race."

To know Hank Pfeifle is to marvel at his staying power, humor and devotion to his family. He is, as Bickford says, "One of the toughest, one of the nicest." Says Pfeifle, "I think I have been fortunate to have a sustained fire within me to fuel a high level of energy and enthusiasm for life."