Janice "Jan" Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956) is a retired American runner. She was the dominant

long distance runner Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...

of the middle 1970s, a notable front runner, her uniform with the large "M" on her chest would usually break away to an insurmountable lead in domestic meets. She was equally untouchable in self-promotion or dealing with the media, often deferring to her coach, Norm Higgins. At various points in time she held the American record in the 1500 meters (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men. She won the U.S. title at 1500 meters twice outdoors, 3000 meters 4 times, twice in the indoor mile, twice in the indoor 2 mile and twice in Cross Country.USA Track & Field – Women
Usatf.org. Retrieved on 2017-09-18. After retiring from competitions she became a high school and college track coach.

Achievements

References

1956 births Living people Sportspeople from New London, Connecticut Track and field athletes from Connecticut American female middle-distance runners American female long-distance runners American female cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games 20th-century American women {{US-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub