About

Richard Burgunder is a professional extreme athlete, sports marketing consultant, sports writer, USATF certified running coach, and owner of Burgunder Sports Management. Rich has over 15 years of experience competing on the national and international level as a consistent top finisher, age group winner, and featured athlete in world-class athletic events, gaining extensive media publicity. Most notably, Rich is a proud member of PowerBar Team Elite™, XTERRA Ambassadors, Team MGD 64, Team Compex, and the nationally ranked New Balance Central Park Track Club (CPTC), a USATF Elite Development Team based in New York City. Throughout Rich’s racing career, he has completed 22 marathons and ultramarathons, is a 14x Boston Marathon qualifier, the 2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion, won the 20-29 age group titles at the 2008 USATF 50 Mile and Marathon Trail National Championships, and is a 2x Top 10 medalist at USA Ultra/Trail Running National Championships. Recently, Rich was invited back, for the fourth consecutive year, to race as an Elite athlete against top international competition, in the very prestigious and highly publicized NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up, also known as the Olympics of stair climbing, held in NYC. After experiencing the rush and challenge, again, of competitive stair climbing, Rich set out to challenge himself by seeing how many times he could consecutively climb up the 36-story University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning, the 2nd tallest educational building in the world. After putting in an impressive effort, Rich climbed the building’s stairs 71 times over 15 hours and 34 minutes in February of 2009, an effort which is equivalent to going from sea level to the top of Mt. Everest! In 2008, Rich closed out his most successful race season by finishing 33rd overall, which equated to finishing in the top ten percentile, at the inaugural 2008 XTERRA Trail Running World Championship held in the majestic Kaaawa Valley at Kualoa Ranch, located on the northeastern side of Oahu, HI. Returning back to Hawaii again for the 2009 XTERRA Trail Running World Championship, Rich placed fourth out of 36 in the men’s 30-34 age group in a highly competitive and professional field. In addition, Rich was a member of Team USA and ran the opening leg of Standard Chartered Banks’ Greatest Race on Earth 2007/08 International Marathon Relay Series, starting in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to focusing solely on running, Rich was a two-time qualifier and member of the USA Triathlon Team for the International Triathlon Union (ITU) Long Course Duathlon 2005 and 2006 World Championships held in Barcis, Italy and Fredericia, Denmark, respectively.

Rich is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and has lived in Naples, FL, New York City, and the Washington, DC metro area since graduating from Penn State University, University Park in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. In addition to being a competitive elite athlete, Rich is a Certified Running Coach, Fitness Consultant, and an Endurance Training Specialist through USA Track and Field (USATF) Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO and also holds certification in First Aid for Coaches, a component of Sport Safety Training. Rich’s trip to Africa was a life changing experience and he’s now focusing on racing as a professional athlete, developing his own sports management business, and being an athlete ambassador. Rich enjoys competing frequently in extreme sports, outdoor adventure, traveling, culture, ethnic food, current events, skiing, hiking, fishing, spending time at his camp in the mountains of North Central Pennsylvania, R&B, Jazz, and Hip Hop concerts, everything Penn State, watching the Steelers, nightlife, driving fast, photography, coffee, and hanging out with good friends and family.

• Height: 6'
• Weight: 180
• Born: November 14, 1979 in Pittsburgh, PA
• Current Residence: New York City
• Education: Pennsylvania State University, Bachelor’s in Economics. Shaler Area High School
• Employment: Sports Marketing and Fitness Consultant
• Other: Event Director/Athlete Support at USA Stair Climbing Association (USASCA)
• Track & Field Contributor - Access Athletes
• Extreme Sports Contributor - The Sports Networker
• Athletics: Triathlon Team for Penn State University [We Are…Penn State!]
• Sports: Trail Running, Ultramarathon, Mountain Running, Stair Climbing/Tower Racing, Adventure Racing
• Club: New Balance Central Park Track Club (CPTC)
• Sponsors: PowerBar, XTERRA, MGD 64, Compex EMS, SUGOI, TCC Adventures, Nature’s Grill Café, SmashFit, Standard Chartered Bank
• Agent: Burgunder Sports Management
• Coach: Darran Bilton of Great Britain’s Marathon Squad
• Personal Philosophy: The only thing that limits you is yourself. Set a goal and commit yourself to it. Training takes a lot of commitment and discipline, but the rewards are well worth the sacrifices that are made.
• Personal Motto: There are no limits!
• Short Term Goal: Top 10 at 2010 XTERRA Trail Running World Championship and to win two XTERRA Regional Titles
• Long Term Goal: Win a National/World Championship
• Favorite quote: "Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." - Muhammad Ali

Career Highlights

• 2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion
• 2x Top 20% finisher at XTERRA Trail Running World Championship, Oahu, HI
• 2x Top 20% finisher at XTERRA Trail Running National Championship, Bend, OR
• 2x Top 10 medalist at USA Ultra/Trail Running National Championships
• 2008 USA 50 Mile and Marathon Trail 20-29 Age Group National Champion
• 4x Elite invitee and finisher at the internationally prestigious NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up
• 3x Qualifier/selected member of USA World Championship Teams (2x Long Course Duathlon, 1x The Greatest Race on Earth)
• 14x Boston Marathon Qualifier

Honors and Awards

• Competitor Magazine – New York “Trail Running” Featured Athlete [7/2010]
• XTERRA Magazine “Trail Runner Spotlight” Featured Athlete [6/2010]
• AccessAthletes.com “Athlete Chat Series” Featured Athlete [4/2010]
• PowerBar “Featured Video of the Week” [4/5/2010]
• SmashFit, First Male Featured Trainer [1/25/10]
• PowerBar “Athlete of the Week” [12/1/09]
• XTERRA Trail Mix Newsletter “Runner Spotlight” Featured Athlete [6/10/09]

Other Interesting Facts

• Four times – Selected by the New York Road Runners (NYRR) to compete as an Elite athlete in the internationally prestigious Empire State Building Run-Up. Only a couple hundred athletes out of thousands of applicants are invited to this high profile annually held stair climbing race.
• Once – Invited by Standard Chartered Bank to compete and represent Team USA in leg one of The Greatest Race on Earth 2007/08. The international marathon series consisted of top competitors from 53 international teams representing 35 countries, running exotic marathons in Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai, and Hong Kong.
• Once – Record holder for the fastest 50k time by a 20-year-old resident of Pennsylvania (3:43:20). Completed on March 25, 2000 at the GNC/USATF Ultra series, and kept by Lehigh University.
• 71 times – Ran up 36 flights of stairs in 15 hours and 34 minutes at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning on February 15, 2009. Equivalent to going from sea level to the top of Mt. Everest.
• Three times – Ran from the base to above the tree line at Mt. Washington, New Hampshire in less than 24 hours for a total of over 40 miles. Completed in January 2008 in extreme conditions on the mountain known for the worst weather in the world.
• Three times − Team Captain for American Cancer Society Relay for Life

Physical Fitness

• Push-ups/1 min: 71
• Sit-ups/1 min: 73
• Bench Press: 280 lbs
• V02 (l/Min): 4.4