The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. - A.E. Housman, To an Athlete Dying Young
When one OG nominates another OG, we must take notice. Got a letter from Hank Pfeifle. Yes, that is the correct spelling.
I was wondering if you have ever done a OG profile on Andy Palmer?
Andy was a true Mainer, good friend and training buddy, and just a very special person. He grew up in Madawaska, ME at the top of Maine on the Canadian border. At six-foot-three-inches, he initially gravitated toward basketball, playing for UMaine Presque Isle but transitioned into running after dropping out of b-ball. He was a big mileage guy usually in the 120 miles/week range and became very fast.
One of his best results was a 47:30 for 3rd at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in Washington DC. He also was a 2:16 marathoner, winning either Ottawa or Toronto …. Somewhere in Canada.
Andy finished fourth in Toronto in 1980, winning the Seattle marathon the next month.
He gravitated toward basketball playing Boston working at Bill Rodger’s shop and training with the crew down there. He loved the runners life. Bill gave Andy his VW Bug and Andy traveled and lived in the car for races. Andy probably lived on $5000 a year.
He was also a perpetual scholar and earned a graduate degree in physiology. He also a running Pied Piper of running kids and adults running summer camps out of the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Great fun and valuable training and learning.
When he was around 40 he finally settled down a bit, got married to a kindred soul (Zika Rea) and together started ZAP Endurance in North Carolina (ZAP = Zika Andy Palmer).
Tragically, he died a few months after starting ZAP while running in the woods and a hole tore open in his heart – the same condition that killed his father. It was tough to see such a happy, positive friend go down. He’s a guy worth keeping his memory alive.
Andy Palmer was an American distance runner and coach. He competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon in 1984 and 1988. Palmer was also the Founder of ZAP Endurance, a high-performance training center for endurance athletes.
Palmer grew up in Madawaska, Maine and attended Madawaska High School, where he played basketball. He continued his basketball career at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Palmer didn’t start running until after college at age 23.
He relocated to Boston in the late 1970s and began training with elite marathoners, Bill Rodgers and Charlie Spedding. Palmer ran 150 to 190 miles per week, far more than most runners can tolerate, and he routinely did hill workouts wearing a 40-pound vest.
His training led to world-class performances beginning in 1981. At the Cherry Blossom 10-mile in Washington, DC, Palmer placed fifth in a time of 47:52. In 1983, he recorded a 2:16:25 marathon, which qualified him for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. He also placed in the top 10 at the USA 20 km Championship in New Haven, CT. He repeated the feat in 1984.
Palmer made it to the 1988 Olympic Trials Marathon before stepping back from competitive racing to focus on teaching and coaching. He owned and operated the Maine Running Camp in Bar Harbor, Maine for over 20 years.
With his wife, Zika, Palmer founded ZAP Endurance in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, a high-performance training center for top-tier post-collegiate distance runners. Although Palmer died suddenly of a heart attack in 2002 shortly before ZAP opened, it ended its operation at the end of 2025.
Palmer was inducted into the Maine Running Hall of Fame in 2000.
In the summer of 2002, runners from throughout the state, including Joan Benoit Samuelson, joined forces for the Andy Palmer Memorial Run, in which runners carried a baton 532 miles from Kittery to Madawaska.
Source: Wikipedia: The Free Dictionary
Andy Palmer: A Tribute
The Bill Rodgers Running Center and the running community in general lost one of its stalwarts this weekend. Andy Palmer died on Saturday, February 2nd, 2002 while pursing his love of running in Moses Cone National Park near his home. Andy and his wife Zika were just getting underway at their new ZAP Fitness facility, a state of the art physical and psychological testing and training center. It was a dream come true for Andy and his enthusiasm for this new Project was evident when I saw him at the Boston Marathon Expo last spring. We had a great talk on the state of American distance running and upon finishing our conversation it occurred to me that Andy was a man who was going to make a difference. A lot of us give lip service to what needs to be done to improve American distance running. Andy was going to do something about it.
He first appeared on the Boston Running scene in the late 1970’s, a tall, lean redheaded kid with a quiet intensity. When you asked him where he was from he would say Northern Maine. There was a difference between Maine and Northern Maine.
He once told me he wanted to be one of the “heavies” in the Boston running Scene. Boston had a lot of “heavies” back then. Andy’s goal was to be one of them. So he threw himself into his training. He worked at the Bill Rodgers Running Center and soon became part of the family. Sister Jane soon came down and there was beginning to be a Palmer presence at the Bill Rodgers Running Center and Bill Rodgers & Company, Bill’s new clothing line.
Andy soon developed a reputation as a monster trainer, putting in weeks of up to 160 miles. He could dominate local road races and was becoming someone who could start competing with the big boys.
In the fall of “83” there was a one shot marathon that started and finished on Charles street between the Common and the Public Garden. It soon became apparent that almost everyone who wanted a local Fall Marathon was signed up for the Boston fest Marathon. Except for the world class guys like Rodgers, Thomas and Hodge, all the guys on the next level were there, the Kimball brothers Mark and Dean, Uinnie Fleming, Doug Sweazy, Paul Operowski and Andy Palmer. It was developing into a contest for bragging rights for New England Marathons. Well, on a tough course Andy ran a strong race crushing a good field, coming up on the leaders as the race developed, and ultimately running away from everyone in a time of 2:16. Later at the Eliot Lounge Andy danced the night away.
Some of Andy’s best accomplishments are: Two time Olympic trials qualifier in the Marathon He was 13th in the trials for the world Marathon in 1986 He held the American record for 30 K for 29 year olds in 1984 He had the tenth fastest American time (47:52) for ten miles in 1981
Andy Palmer was a great example of an old school mentality that was prevalent during the running boom years of the late “70’s” and early “80’s.” He was a man who actualized his potential to the max with a great work ethic and mental toughness that was second to none.
The following is an excerpt from an email I received from Andy last April..
“Jason, One Summer I did this workout every day”
Jump rope: 100 on right foot / 100 on left foot / 100 on both feet X 5
100 double Turns
100 cross the rope
100 power jumps to a beam nine foot six inches (I would go up and grab it)
50 rim touches
The first week I use on set of 2 and ╫ pound ankle weights
The second week two sets
The third week three sets
The fourth week I added a 10 pound belt.
The fifth week I added that 20 pound vest you talk of and kept it for the remainder of the summer. I did that workout with 45 extra pounds on my body. I would also run to work with ankle weights and the vest occasionally. I can understand your old workouts. And my vertical leap in College was 36 inches (13 inches my freshman year in high school.)
This is Andy in a nutshell.
It is with a profound sense of loss that the Bill Rodgers Running Center pays tribute to Andy Palmer. Andy’s life was full of enthusiastic intensity and represented what is possible with a vision and the drive to achieve that vision. This is like the passing of a family member for us and our heart felt sympathies go out to all of the people, family and friends, who Andy’s life touched. Andy Palmer will be missed by us all.
https://www.billrodgersrunningcenter.com/s/stories/andy-palmer-a-tribut3
Shoulder to shoulder, stride for stride, Andy Palmer, Hank Pfeifle and Pete Pfitzinger at the Spudland Half Marathon in Aroostook County.
The Olympic marathoner finished second. If you squint, you might be able to make out eventual fourth place finisher Jack Fultz. Same guy this month celebrating the Golden Anniversary of his Boston Marathon triumph.
Gives you some idea just how tough the competition was in Aroostook County when the Original Gangsters of Running roamed o’er the North American continent.
Personal bests
Performances
I believe Hank’s words about Andy Palmer are absolutely right on anyone who ever met Andy knew you were talking with someone who absolutely loved Athletics whether it was cross country road racing or marathoning he studied the sport and it’s physical influences on all of us and pass that message on through his Zap Fitness training center in North Carolina. He was a real leader unlike some of the posers we see today. We need more Andy Palmer like people in the world. – Bill Rodgers