Tracy is best known as one of the founders of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series in
1998, which grew to involve 29 events in 15 states, Washington DC, and 6 other
countries, in which over 500,000 people ran each year before he left the
organization in 2016. He has over 5 decades of involvement in virtually every
facet of the sports of track and field, long distance running, and race walking. His
experience includes college coaching at Georgetown, Colorado and USC and he
was the founder of the National High School Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field
Championships in addition to Rock ‘n’ Roll.
In 1973, Tracy organized one of the first suits to establish women’s college athletic
scholarships. In 1974, he was the original leader of the effort to introduce and
involve chiropractic in track & field and with the USOPC and the various U.S.
national sports governing bodies. And then later in 1980, he initiated the first test
case which lead to open running as we know it today with prize money and above-
the-table appearance money.
He was (and still is) the youngest track coach in Olympic history (at age 20 in
1972) and was the Head Manager of the United States Men’s Track & Field Team
for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
And now he is the CEO of the World Athletics Road Running Championships –
San Diego 25 … and everyone is invited to come run either the Road Mile, 5K or
Half Marathon!
Tracy Sundlun
