Notable races

He was the 1985 winner of Grandma's Marathon from Two Harbors, Minnesota to Duluth when he ran the second-fastest time of an American that year: 2:11:08.^[2][3][4]

A few months later, with a sponsorship from New Balance, he ran the New York Marathon, he battled with Orlando Pizzolato, Hussein Ahmed Salah and Pat Petersen to finish fourth, netting the 27-year-old $15,000 in prize winnings.^[5]

In 1985, he was fourth in the Sydney Marathon in Australia. He also finished second in the Old Kent River Bank Run 25K with a 1:18:18. Norman was also the winner of the Charlotte Observer Marathon (1984), the Charleston Distance Run (1986, beating out Bill Rodgers, and 1988),^[6] and the Johnstown Marathon (1999) in Pennsylvania.

Norman ran the Olympic Trials Marathon in 1988. He had run the previous trials race (in 1984), but had dropped out.^[7] In his return to the trials, he stayed in, kept with the leaders, and finished sixth.^[8] The same year, he was a top finisher at the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.

Advocacy for the Pittsburgh Marathon

After several top finishes at the Pittsburgh Marathon, Norman, a native Pennsylvanian, was dismayed to see the race fall on hard times and disappear. In the late 2000s he helped lead a group of organizers and who brought the race back to life.^[9]