Gary Fanelli

Quick Facts

Full Name	Gary Fanelli
Occupation	Marathon Runner
Date Of Birth	Oct 24, 1950(1950-10-24)
Age	74
Birthplace	Philadelphia
Country	United States
Birth City	Pennsylvania
Horoscope	Libra

Gary Fanelli Biography

Gary Fanelli is one of the most popular and richest Marathon Runner who was born on October 24, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Gary M. Fanelli (born on the 24th of October, 1950) is a long- distance athlete from the United States who represented American Samoa in the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Fanelli’s time of 2:25:35 during the 1988 Olympics was an American Samoan national record. He is known for his costumes Fanelli has been dubbed “the crown prince of road racing”, “the king of costume” as well as “road-racing’s longest- running joke”.

Fanelli completed his marathon race at the United States Olympic Trials in Buffalo, New York held on May 24 in 1980. In a shirt with the slogan “The Road to Moscow Ends Here” in an effort to defy his country’s American refusal to participate in the Summer Olympics, he jumped ahead at the beginning and after 11 miles had increased his lead over the rest of the field to 150 yards. Fanelli completed the half-way mark in 1:04,39 but slowed down after shouting, “a blister on my left foot!” The lead he held for 15 miles before slipping back to 22nd position (2:16:49). Fanelli said he ran a faster pace to ensure his three American athletes who qualified, Tony Sandoval, Benji Durden as well as Kyle Heffner who ran under 2:11 at the time, could all run faster that the final Olympic winner, Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany who ran a 2:01:03 in Moscow.

He has run the New York City Marathon as various characters: as Elwood Blues in 1983, as a Ghostbusters ghost in 1984, as a New York Mets player in 1986, and wearing a white tunic and toque as “Chef Ronzoni” in 1987.

In the 1984 Toronto Marathon, Fanelli ran a costumed best of 2:30:40 dressed as Michael Jackson with a red leather jacket, sequined glove, and curly black wig. He dressed as Abraham Lincoln in the 1987 Empire State Building Run-Up.

Two weeks after, Fanelli finished first ahead of Bill Rodgers and Rod Dixon at a Diet-Pepsi sponsored 10,000-meter road race in Philadelphia. At Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the 6th of September in 1980, he recorded a personal best for marathon time of 2:14:17. The next time, Fanelli led the 1981 Boston Marathon for 16 miles. He took part in the marathon in the 1984 Olympic trials, coming in 23rd position in 2:08:53. Fanelli was sixth in the 1987 Boston Marathon, and had completed 70 marathons before the fall of 1988.

Gary Fanelli Net Worth

Gary Fanelli is one of the richest Marathon Runner from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Gary Fanelli 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Fanelli is a native of and was raised throughout his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. He went to school in Ardsley, Pennsylvania where “he was just another class cut-up”. After 1969, Fanelli quit Montgomery County Community College and apparently joined a community on Maui, Hawaii, but then was able to return in Ardsley where he began his training. In 1980, he was an apiary salesperson and an advocate for natural foods at Oreland, Pennsylvania. He had reportedly taken 10 tablets of bee-pollen before races.

Fanelli is well-known for his participation in road races dressed in costume. He began racing dressed in costume in either 1979 or 1981 when he saw the suit that inspired him the character Elwood Blues, Dan Aykroyd’s character from the film The Blues Brothers, in a Souderton, Pennsylvania thrift shop. Sports Illustrated reported that Fanelli’s first race in the costume of Elwood Blues was a 10K event held in Southampton, Pennsylvania, where Fanelli performed a few bars in “I Can’t Turn You Loose” before crossing the finishing line first. Runner’s World later quoted him as saying that he had first donned the costume at the New York City Marathon where “the reaction was outrageous”. Fanelli often ran in road races in his Blues Brothers characters, which included those in the year 1984, such as the Boston Marathon, the 1985 Pittsburgh Marathon, and the 1987 Charleston Distance Run, and also races held in New York City, Stockholm as well as New Zealand. in 1987, Fanelli along with Scott Williams joined the costumed section in the Midnight Sun Run as the Blues Brothers; the pair placed second overall.

Among Fanelli’s victories are the 1981 Lewes Seashore marathon, a Sri Chinmoy marathon in 1982, the 1984 Last Train to Boston Marathon, the 1990 Maui Marathon, and the 1992 Run to the Sun 36.2 miler. In 1998 Gary Fanelli and USATF Olympic Development Official Stacey Chambers, Co-Founded the Puma USA Road Racing Track and Field Team.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

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Who is Gary Fanelli Dating?

According to our records, Gary Fanelli is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Gary Fanelli’s is not dating anyone.

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Facts & Trivia

Gary Ranked on the list of most popular Marathon Runner. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Gary Fanelli celebrates birthday on October 24 of every year.