Steve Jones set a marathon world record at Chicago in 1984 with a 2:08:05. He followed that up in the spring of 1985 with a victory at London in 2:08:16, then topped that with a 2:07:13 back at Chicago, missing Carlos Lopes's new world record by 1 second. He also won New York in 1988 by 3 minutes with a tough 2:08:20.
What's amazing about Jonesy was his low mileage, high intensity training (80-90 miles per week). According to Running With the Legends, his long runs lasted only 90 minutes, with occasional 5 minute fartlek intervals in the middle. In a typical week, he ran hard (or should I say very hard) 3 days a week, with 3 easy 40 minute runs.
His hard days were run very hard and he was famous for hammering the pace in his marathons very early. Although he never won an Olympic medal, there was a stretch in the mid-80s when nobody in the world could touch Steve Jones in a marathon.
(Steve Jones currently works as an elite distance running coach in Boulder, Colorado)
Good article on Jones in Running Times
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