Education
In the 1988 Olympic Marathon Team Trials, held in Jersey City, New Jersey, Pfitzinger finished 3rd in a time of 2:13:09, to qualify for his second Olympic Games.
In the 1988 Olympic Marathon Team Trials, held in Jersey City, New Jersey, Pfitzinger finished 3rd in a time of 2:13:09, to qualify for his second Olympic Games.
He was 2nd at the Montreal (Canada) marathon in 1983. He was 3rd at the Nike Over-the-counter Marathon in 1981 and at the New York City Marathon in 1987. He was a consistent performer: All of his 13 career marathons were run in times between 2:11:43 - 2:15:21 (2 in 2:11, 4 in 2:12, 3 in 2:13, 3 in 2:14, and 1 in 2:15).
Apart from the Olympic Games marathons, his only other finishes outside the top 3 were at the New York City Marathon in 1986 (9th) and at the 1985 Marathon World Cup (Hiroshima, Japan), where he finished 18th.
Pfitzinger is the co-author (with Scott Douglas) of two highly popular training books for distance runners - Advanced Marathoning and Road Racing for Serious Runners. He is also a senior writer for Running Times Magazine.
Pfitzinger is a 1979 graduate of Cornell University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornell"s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a Master of Arts in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Pfitzinger"s wife Christine is also a former world-class runner.
The Pfitzingers have lived in New Zealand - Chrissey"s country of origin - since the mid-1990s.