Oxford Junction (Athlete) 2014
More often than not, when a track coach tells a young runner that he is “more fit for the marathon,” than a regular season track event, it is because the lad is a bit slow and the coach doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. This was not the case when Coach Bill Kackley conveyed his opinion to a gangly, young distance runner by the name of Phil Coppess.
Coppess did not go out for track until his sophomore year in high school. Despite the late start, he showed he had running and racing ability by winning 5 state titles, one coming in cross country and four in track, before graduating in 1972 from now defunct, Oxford Junction High School. But, it was the talent he showed after reaching the age of 27 that shocked everyone; everyone but Phil Coppess. Phil is a great story. He has a storyline that is better than many movies about distance running that have ever hit the big screen. He is a common ordinary factory worker now living in Clinton, Iowa who never gave up on his dream. Coppess took up running again in 1980, he trained hard while working in the factory and raising a family as a divorced father of three. While training with the likes of Gregg Newell and Jim Ijms, his times dropped like a rock and the medals, trophies and records began to multiply.
In 1981 he won the Drake Relays Marathon, the Huntsville, Alabama Marathon and the Chicago Marathon, in 2:16, beating two time Olympic Marathon medalist Frank Shorter along the way. After Chicago, Shorter had this to say about Coppess: “Phil may get mad at me for saying this, be he didn’t have a heck of a lot of talent, yet he ran nearly as fast as I did in the marathon. Our PR’s are very close. The reason is, he was willing to work, and that is what showed through in Phil”. 1985 was the magic year for the small town boy from northeast Iowa. He ran over 40 races that year. His times got better, at every distance, from the mile through the marathon. He won the Lincoln Marathon, and a marathon in Auckland, New Zealand. And 29 years later, Phil Coppess’ course records still stand. On Oct. 6, 1985, Coppess, was on his way to setting the course record at the Twin Cities Marathon with a winning time of 2 hours 10 minutes and 5 seconds. The second-place finisher was three minutes behind. Coppess’s time was the fastest by an American that year, and at the time, ranked him among the top 20 American marathoners ever, just ahead of Frank Shorter. Track and Field News named him the US Marathoner of the year. Twin Cities timed the 30K and 20 mile splits in route. Coppess’ 30K split was a world record time and his 20 mile mark set a new American record.
Coppess was an Iowa road racing legend. He became a fixture at the world renowned Bix 7, placing in the top 10 in 1981, 82, 83, 85 and 86. He took fourth behind Rob DeCastella, Bill Rogers and Frank Shorter in 1982 and was third behind Mark Curp and Rodgers in 1986. Coppess says his best road race in Iowa was the 1985 Dam to Dam 20K in Des Moines, where he set new PR’s for both the 10 mile and 20K. Both 10K splits were under 30 minutes in route to his winning time of 59:23. While he seemed unstoppable in races, by 1986 injuries did what competition couldn’t: Slow him down. Back problems came in 1987 and he was never the same after that, bringing his competitive running career to a complete halt in 1989.