Russell Wolf Brown was an American professional athlete who competed in the 1 mile and 1500 meter events.
Education
Brown entered in 2003 as a redshirt freshman. A political science major at Stanford, Brown later earned a Master"s degree in Sociology. Brown competed in the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Men"s 1500 metres in 2004, finishing fifth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:49.02.
He saw limited success in the 1,500 meter event in his first two years of competition with Stanford.
He reached the 1,500 meter final at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Championships in 2005 and in 2006 he finished second in the 1,500 meters at the 2006 Pacific-10 Championships.
He performed better indoors, placing third at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor mile event in 2005 before winning the event in 2006. In 2007 Brown finished third in the 1,500 meter event at the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Championships and won the 1,500 meter Pac–10 Championship.
That year he also placed second in the mile at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championships.
Career
Raised in Hanover, New Hampshire, Brown began running Track events at age ten. He anchored the 3200m Relay to wins at the USATF Junior Olympics in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Russell"s 800m split in the 2003 race was 1:49.
In his sophomore year he was recruited by the cross country team
He began to focus exclusively on running after being impressed with the mature attitudes toward competition that he saw on the track team He also set the New Hampshire State high school record for the 800 meter race.
In February 2008 Brown became a professional. He soon joined the Oregon Track Club.
Brown represented the United States at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men"s 1500 metres in Valencia, Spain where he finished seventh in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:47.19.
He competed in the 2008 United States. Olympic trials, but did not qualify for the Olympics. He trained to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, however. The next season proved to be Brown"s most successful as a professional.
Before the season, he dealt with his injuries by taking extra time off and doing strengthening drills.
In February 2011 Brown finished first in the mile race at the New Balance Boston Indoor Grand Prix, defeating favorites Willis and Alan Webb in a personal best time of three minutes and fifty-four seconds. He broke Steve Scott"s stadium record at the Mountain.
SAC Relays in April, running 3:35.70 minutes for the 1500 m in 2011.