Road Racing, American and World Records
In 1981, Cummings shifted his focus from track to road racing. One of his first marathons was the St. George Marathon, which he won in 2:15.16, a course record that stands to this day.
Taking advantage of new rules that enabled runners to compete professionally, Cummings represented New Balance shoes beginning in 1982.
On June 5, 1982, Cummings ran his PR in the 5,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic track meet in Eugene, Oregon, running against some of the best American middle distance runners of the time, including Matt Centrowitz, Alberto Salazar and Doug Padilla. He ran towards the front for most of the race and ran 13:19.62, a Personal Record by 9 seconds, and just short of the American Record set by Matt Centrowitz in the same race. The following link shows the entire race on video in two parts. Part 1. Part 2.
Paul Cummings was very busy and successful running road races in 1983. He ran in the Boston Marathon with the lead pack for most of the race. The following link shows a picture of Paul running with Benji Durden and Greg Meyer (eventual race winner and last American Male to win) in the 1983 race. He set an American Record in the 15K by almost 28 seconds at the Cascade Run Off in Portland, Oregon on June 26, 1983. Cummings placed in the top 10 at Spokane Washington's Bloomsday 12K Run (8th in 1983 and 2nd in 1984). Paul also ran in the New York City Marathon in 1983.
On September 25, 1983, Cummings set the World Record in the Half marathon at the Dayton River Corridor Classic in Dayton, Ohio, with a time of 1:01:32.
Cummings was included in Runner's World Magazine's list of the top 20 highest paid runners, ranked 15th worldwide, in 1984. That same year, Cummings began running for Converse shoes.
Paul's best marathon time came in winning the 1986 Houston Marathon in 2:11:31. His best finish at the Boston Marathon was 8th place overall in 1986.
Cummings is the only runner to finish second in San Francisco's Bay to Breakers 12K road race (Guinness World Record largest road race) three years in a row (1984, 1985, and 1986).
On March 15, 1987, Cummings broke the American Record in the 20K, at New Bedford, Massachusetts, in a time of 59.13.
Cummings continued running into his 40's. He won the US Master's National Championship for the Marathon in 1993 at the Twin Cities Marathon. He was also awarded the USA Track and Field (USATF) Master's Age Division (Age 40+) Runner of the Year in 1993.
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