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| Bill Rodgers |
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2010 RRCA Convention Speakers
Keynote - Bill Rodgers
William ("Bill") Henry Rodgers (born December 23, 1947) is an American runner and former American record holder in the marathon who is best known for his victories in the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon in the late 1970s. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Rodgers won both races four times each between 1975 and 1980, twice breaking the American record at Boston with a time of 2:09:55 in 1975 and a 2:09:27 in 1979. In 1977 he won the Fukuoka Marathon, making him the only runner ever to hold the championship of all three major marathons at the same time. He made the 1976 U.S. Olympic team and raced the marathon at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, finishing 40th. He did not participate in the Olympics in 1980 due to the U.S. boycott over the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR.
In 1975 he won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, equaling Tracy Smith's 1966 bronze in the International Cross Country Championships as the highest an American had ever finished in international cross country competition. Rodgers' most remarkable year on the road racing circuit came in 1978 when he won 27 of the 30 races he entered, including the Pepsi 10,000 meter nationals (with a new world road 10K best time of 28:36.3), the Falmouth Road Race, and the Boston & New York marathons. Rodgers is also the former world record holder for 25 kilometers as he broke Pekka Paivarinta's world record with a time of 1:14.11.8 on a track in Saratoga, California in 1979.
Track & Field News ranked Rodgers #1 in the world in the marathon in 1975, 1977 and 1979. 28 of the 59 marathons Rodgers ran were run under 2:15. In all he won 22 marathons in his career.
Rodgers received his B.A. in sociology from Wesleyan University, where his teammate Amby Burfoot also won the Boston Marathon while still a student. Rodgers also has an MS in special education from Boston College.
Rodgers was inducted on December 3, 1999, in Los Angeles, California to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame located in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1998, Rodgers was inducted in the first round to the National Distance Running Hall Of Fame in Utica, New York.
The Bill Rodgers Running Center in Boston, Massachusetts is owned and operated by both Bill and his brother Charlie. The family run business has been going since 1977.
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| Pat Williams |
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| Friday Luncheon - Pat Williams
Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic. As one of America's top motivational, inspirational, and humorous speakers, he has addressed thousands of executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies and national associations to universities and nonprofits. Clients include AllState, American Express, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Disney, Honeywell, IBM, ING, Lockheed Martin, Nike, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Tyson Foods to name a few. Pat Williams is also the author of over 50 books, his most recent title being How to Be Like Women of Power. Pat served for seven years in the United States Army, spent seven years in the Philadelphia Phillies organization - two as a minor league catcher and five in the front office - and has also spent three years in the Minnesota Twins organization. Since 1968, he has been in the NBA as general manager for teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia - including the 1983 World Champion 76ers - and now the Orlando Magic, which he co-founded in 1987 and helped lead to the NBA finals in 1995.
Twenty-three of his teams have gone to the NBA playoffs and five have made the NBA finals. In 1996, Pat was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history by a national publication.
Pat has been an integral part of NBA history, including bringing the NBA to Orlando. He has traded Pete Maravich as well as traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Penny Hardaway, and he has won four NBA draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993.
He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Darryl Dawkins. He signed Billy Cunningham, Chuck Daly, and Matt Guokas to their first professional coaching contracts.
Nineteen of his former players have become NBA head coaches, nine have become college head coaches while seven have become assistant NBA coaches.
Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 23 to 36. For one year, 16 of his children were all teenagers at the same time. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, The Wall Street Journal, Focus on the Family, New Man Magazine, plus all of the major television networks, The Maury Povich Show and Dr. Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power.
In the last 13 years, he has completed 50 marathons - including the Boston Marathon 12 times - and also climbed Mt. Rainier. He is a weightlifter, Civil War buff and serious baseball fan. Every winter he plays in Major League Fantasy Camps and has caught Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Tom Seaver and Goose Gossage.
Pat was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, earned his bachelors degree at Wake Forest University, and his master's degree at Indiana University. He is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame after catching for the Deacon baseball team, including the 1962 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship team. He is also a member of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.
Pat and his wife Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 13 to 27.
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| Keith Brantly |
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| Saturday Luncheon - Keith Brantly
With a running career spanning three decades, many experts consider Keith Brantly to be one of the most successful runners in United States distance running history. Keith has enjoyed successes in national and international competitions at distances from the mile to the marathon. His accomplishments include:
• 1996 United States Olympic Team Member, Marathon.
• 2000,’96,’92,’88,’84 U.S. Olympic Trials participant for 5K,10K and marathon, competing in a total of seven trials events.
• 12 time member of United States National track, road racing and cross-country teams.
• 8 time United States National Roadracing Champion in the 10K, 20K, 25K and marathon.
• Lifetime personal bests include: Marathon 2:12:31, Fifteen kilometers 42:50, Ten kilometers 28:02, Five kilometers 13:36.
• Career prize money in excess of $300,000.
Keith conducts inspirational and entertaining motivational seminars for corporations and special interest groups on topics related to health and fitness and achieving success in sales. He especially enjoys speaking to children and young adults, encouraging them to start and stay involved with sports and recreational activities. Keith has also provided color commentary for the New York City Marathon and 2004 US Olympic Marathon Trials telecasts. Keith also contributes articles for several fitness magazines.
Keith’s volunteer service includes a term as President of Florida Track Club, volunteer coach for Best Buddies and motivational speaker for the American Heart Association. In 2001, Keith raised over $20,000 for the National Association for Attention Deficit Disorder and other charities in less than 12 weeks. He appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and is pictured in National Geographic Magazine’s September 2000 issue. He has appeared two times on the cover of Runner’s World magazine. He is also a member of United States Olympic Team Mentoring program.
In 2005, Keith was inducted in the Road Runners Club of America, Hall of Fame; in 2004 he was inducted in the University of Florida Athletics Hall of Fame.
Along with a successful career in medical equipment sales and management, Keith manages his online personal coaching program, BrantlyRunning.Com. He is a proud parent of his son, Thor and daughter, Ace
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