Buddy Edelen

Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen (September 22, 1937 – February 19, 1997) was an American marathoner.

Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minutes when he set a world record of 2:14:28.

On June 15, 1963, Edelen ran 2:14:28 at the Polytechnic Marathon (run from Windsor to Chiswick, England) to establish a new World Record.

That record stood just two days short of a year, as England's Basil Heatley ran 2:13:55 at the 1964 Polytechnic Marathon (which was held on June 13).

Edelen was the first American to hold the world record since 1925, and (excepting Alberto Salazar's 2:08:13 at the 1981 New York City Marathon, which later proved to be short) the last until naturalized American Khalid Khannouchi (originally from Morocco) broke his own World Record at the London Marathon in 2002.