“I owe so much to Connie. She is the unsung hero of this story, always there to support me in my dreams, push me to do the right thing and pick me up when I was down. I couldn’t have achieved any of what I did without her, my rock.”
Peter Michael “Mike” Manley (February 14, 1942 – October 28, 2025) was a big deal when I first landed in Oregon in 1973. Understandably. He’d won the 1969 AAU steeplechase, while competing for the Southern California Striders. He won gold in the men’s 3.000 meters steeplechase event at the Pan American Games 1971 (and 1975.) Back when the Pan Am Games were much more, let’s say, prestigious. Highly regarded.
Manley represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics. And so when you lined up at a little road race in the Willamette Valley, Mike might show up. I was in awe until I saw his smile and I thought, that is a good guy.
The smile was backed up by a steely glint. Pre, Jon Anderson, |Kenny Moore, Mike Manley… They’re why I joined the Oregon Track Club, the first moment they would let me.
Manley’s other AAU finishes in the steeple included second in 1971, third in 1966 and 1974, fourth in 1968, and fifth in 1965. He competed for the University of Wisconsin, the Southern Cal Striders and the Oregon Track Club. Manley was ranked in the US top 10 eight times between 1964-75, ranking #1 in 1969 and 1972, #2 in 1971, and #3 in 1966, 1974, and 1975.
Manley continued to train and compete as he got older and was the first American master to break 30 minutes for 10-K and 2:20 for the marathon, both in 1982. Later a high school teacher, Mike coached runners on a free-lance basis.
About six months before Mike passed for no apparent reason , a post by someone calling themselves The Real Manley on LetsRun.com. May 2, 2025. No apparent reason except name similarity and respect.
1972 Olympian Mike Manley lived the best distance runner life in America
Came out of high school as a repeat City Conference Champion in the Mile in 1962. Humble times but good enough to walk on to the Wisconsin Badgers cross country and track teams. He finished out as a Big Ten Champion in the Mile.
He then ran for the Marines in Quantico. Did at least one tour in Vietnam.
Continues to move up in the Steeple Chase ranks.
Joins California Striders. Joins Oregon Track Club.
Can run a low 4-minute Mile or sub-14 three- mile in front of various spectators at classic Hayward Field.
Qualifies for the 1972 Munich Olympics. Wins Pan American Games. [Twice.]
Nonchalantly makes front cover of national track magazines. Runs 2:13 in the marathon.
I think he is a retired teacher in South Eugene.
I hope he is still among us in good health. This guy was awesome. He was a City Champ, Walk-on, Big Ten Champ, Military Veteran, based in Quantico at one point, ran with Pre, was part of the ’70s Oregon running scene and qualified for the Olympics. What a great life.
And he was married to Connie. Doubtlessly, Mike’s biggest win.
Q&A with Mike Manley
By Don McLean from Oregon Track Club Masters (2016)
Mike Manley may be the funniest runner/coach around, so says some that have known him for decades. He was also one of the best steeplers of his day, winning gold twice in the 3000 steeple at the Pan American Games in 1971 and 1975. He ran the steeple at the 1972 Olympics, but didn’t reach the finals. In 1982, he was the first American master to go sub 30 in the 10K, sub 2:20 in the marathon. He taught at North Eugene High school. On the side he coached, among others, Brad Hudson, Ken Martin, Marla Runyan and a heavenly host of Oregon Track Club notables. Now retired, he resides in Eugene.
1. Born a cheesehead, attending/competing at the University of Wisconsin, and, after a pit stop in Southern California, you moved to Eugene. Why?
I joined the Marine Corps in 1965 shortly after graduating from UW with the intention of running during my tour of duty. After going through OCS, I did compete for almost two years before getting orders to Vietnam. When I returned in April, 1968, I went to Wisconsin to pick up my wife, Connie, who was in Wisconsin living with her parents. We hopped in our car and went to Southern California so I could train for the 1968 Olympic Trials, with the intention of going to Eugene in hopes of being coached by Bill Bowerman, whether I made the team or not. I did not. We immediately drove to Eugene where I registered at the University to attain a teaching certificate.
I had been in Eugene for the 1964 NCAA Trials. Who wouldn’t want to move here? Wisconsin is nice, but have you ever tasted the beer they make there? I’m still a Cheesehead, though. Go Packers!
2. You were coached by Bill Bowerman. Compare and contrast his coaching style and regimen with what is done today. Weights? Core work? Cross training?
We did weights and core training, but it wasn’t as specific and regimented as it is now. It was pretty much left up to me. I really had little time to cross train though I did play some basketball under the Washington Bridge and at the YMCA at times. Bill was known for the hard/easy philosophy and in general undertrained his athletes. I definitely needed that. No more 32 to 40 times 400 workouts for me, which I did while in the Marine Corps. There remained however the 7 to 10 mile one-way runs a couple times a week with my students’ written work in my backpack.
3. Is it true you rode your bike to Hayward Field for the finals at Nationals? If so, why?
That was late summer of 1975 when the Pan Am qualifying meet was in Eugene. It was only 3 1/2 miles from our Ascot Street home. It was a nice day, and an easy and a pleasant way to get to Hayward Field. Connie and our boys; Mark (6), Jason (5), and Geoff (almost 4), all wanted to go for a bike ride. We were a convoy of four bikes with Geoff in a kid’s bike seat on the back of my bike. I think a couple of coaches saw us riding through Alton Baker Park on the way to the track. I was 33 at the time, and I guess I didn’t get too nervous, before races, any more.
4. What’s the story on coaching Salem’s Debbie Eide who made the inaugural (1983) World Championships team in the marathon?
I was coaching Debbie, as well as Cathie Bellamy (nee Twomey) at the time. They both became good friends and occasionally training and racing buddies. Both a joy to work with. Debbie was married and living in Salem and wanted to continue her training and racing. She contacted me, and I agreed to help. She came down to Eugene to train occasionally, but she was a teacher, so most of her training was in Salem, often in the early morning before heading to work. She was very talented and worked hard for what she wanted. It was a great pleasure to help her reach the very first IAAF World Championships.
5. Who by and why were you mooned at Hayward Field before the Olympic Trials?
Well. to be accurate, It wasn’t me who got mooned. It was Cathie Bellamy. Whether or not it was deserved, I plead the 5th.
We were (read: Cathie was) doing rhythm 200’s at Hayward Field on a sunny late morning session a week or so before she was to run the 1987 World Championships marathon in Rome (Cathie thinks it was before the 1988 Olympic Trials, but admits to having a memory quite blinded by the experience). On the fourth or fifth 200m rep, while running past the water jump pit, Cathie crumbled to the track. “Oh shit.” says I, as I begin running down the infield to see what happened. As I approach the point of her crumble, I noticed she was holding her gut and shaking. I also notice out of the corner of my very concerned eye that four shiny objects were throwing off a significant glare from where the Bowerman statue now stands. These objects apparently were the cause of Cathie plunging to the track in hysterical mirth. The shiny objects were the butts, as far as I can remember, of (Editor’s note: We are withholding the names of the alleged offenders in order to protect the innocent and maybe not-so-innocent), who had just finished their Sunday 18 mile run. Now, see if you can imagine such a spectacle!
6. Some old runners coached by you still talk about your infamous, torturous Hendricks Park workouts. Describe and explain the purpose.
It was a disciplinary measure. To keep the troops in line. Bill Dellinger and Harry Johnson did the same thing. It developed power in the legs, efficiency of the cardiovascular system, and mental toughness. And, most important, it got them to listen to the coach!
7. Marla Runyan called you a strength and stamina coach. An especially valuable workout for her was a 3-5 mile tempo run at an even pace, just shy of oxygen debt. (It hurts just typing that sentence.) How often was that done?
Yes, well, there are some athletes who need a coach with a great deal of strength and stamina. The tempo run is something I learned from well-renown sport physiologist Jack Daniels (the person, not the refreshment). Depending on the time of year, pretty much no more than once a week.
8, Funniest runner/coach ever?
Yeah, well, it never got me on the John Stewart or Stephen Colbert shows. I think, whoever said that, must have mistaken me for Don Kardong, though I’m not sure he made it either. He and I did go to China with a US team in 1975, but the jokes, we told, pretty much went bust with our Chinese hosts.
9. In Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, Kenny Moore quotes a UO professor that you/others “kept in touch more closely and been intertwined in each others’ lives more than any combat-bonded group I ever studied.” True? What was the bond?
I think it was beer, or wine for Kenny.
10. Why don’t more people steeple?
Seriously? I think it’s because most people can run faster without barriers. That being said, a half dozen “steeple people,” today, have run 3000 meters over the barriers faster then I ever ran without the barriers.
Personal Bests
- Mile – 4:01.4 (1974)
- 2 miles – 8:34.8 (1972)
- Steeplechase – 8:27.6 (1971)
- 5,000 metres – 13:42.4 (1976).
- 10,000 metres – 29:10.0 (1976).
- Marathon – 2:14:43 (1980)
Did you know Mike Manley wrote an autobiography?
“With nine growing kids my Dad realized that his wages were not going to adequately provide enough food for his children. He brought home a two week check, which would last for 12 days, if Mom hid the food to make it last! My Dad was a proud man, but not so much as to not feed the family. So he signed up for the Food Distribution Center. Food Like powdered milk, cheese, vegetables, spam and other surplus foods. Pat and I went with Dad the first time so we could go on the Street car and the bus every month to bring the food home. Powdered milk was rejected by all of us siblings even though Mom tried to make something like buttermilk mix or mashed potatoes and gravy. Vicky went the furthest. She hated it and stopped drinking milk the rest of her life. Mom probably disliked it herself. She was just pleased to get the food and close the gap.”
I remember Mike Manley as someone who asked great questions of our Chinese hosts, although I don’t remember any of the specific questions he asked.
I do remember a run he, Dick Buerkle and I did along the Pearl River. So there was Mike, with that Fu Manchu mustache of his, Buerkle with his flaming bald head, and me, tall and ridiculously skinny. All of us running shirtless, something the Chinese didn’t do. And there had been no Westerners in this part of Shanghai for ages. At one point we ran though a market area, lots of crowds, but we were able to squeeze through. When we got to the other side of the market, I looked back to register the impact our presence had caused. And I kid you not, ever single person in that market, hundreds of them, had stopped to stare, like in a Chinese EF Hutton ad.
All of them. – Don Kardong