Peter Wirtz Callahan (born June 1, 1991) is a Belgian-American middle-distance runner. He is a Belgian National Champion over 1500m, an NCAA Champion in the DMR, and a four-time NCAA All-American. Callahan competed for Belgium at both the 2016 and 2018 European Athletics Championship in Amsterdam and Berlin respectively and also raced for the national team at the 2017 European Team Championships in Vaasa, Finland. In the course of his collegiate career, he first studied and ran at Princeton University before going to University of New Mexico.
Running career High school Callahan attended and ran at North Shore Country Day School, where he was coached by Patrick McHugh. By the time he graduated in the summer of 2009, he recorded personal bests of 1:51.22 in the 800 meters and 4:05.20 in the mile.Athletic.net: Peter Callahan (Winnetka North Shore County Day HS) profile
Callahan won three Illinois High School Association 1A state titles in (2008 - 4:20.52, 2009 - 4:15.30) 1600 meters. and (2009 - 1:51.22) 800 meters.
Collegiate Callahan first attended and ran at Princeton University, where he graduated in 2013. While at Princeton, he was coached by Steve Dolan and Jason Vigilante and set the school record in the indoor 1,000 meters at 2:20.78. He first broke four minutes for the mile in the winter of his Junior year at Princeton with a time of 3:58.86 at the Sykes-Sabock Invitational at Penn State University.
Callahan earned 7 Ivy League titles, 1 NCAA Division I Indoor Track title as a part of the Distance Medley team and 1 All-America at Princeton University.
Due to skipping two seasons from multiple injuries, he got fifth year NCAA eligibility when he enrolled in a graduate program at University of New Mexico.
While at University of New Mexico, Callahan placed fourth in the NCAA outdoor men's 1500 meters finals for two consecutive years, in 2014 and 2015. Callahan earned a Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track 1500 meter title.
Callahan finished a graduate degree in Master of Science in geography (Concentration in Environmental Studies) from University of New Mexico.
Representing the Princeton Tigers2010Heptagonal IndoorTrack and FieldDartmouth College1st7:37.981st800 m1:52.18Heptagonal OutdoorTrack and FieldPrinceton University3rd7:36.4110th800 m1:52.912011Heptagonal IndoorTrack and FieldFort Washington Avenue Armory2nd7:29.291st1000 m2:22.942012Heptagonal IndoorTrack and FieldCornell University2ndDMR9:54.111st800 m1:49.72NCAA IndoorTrack and FieldBoise State University6thMile4:02.662013Heptagonal IndoorTrack and FieldHarvard University1stDMR9:52.721stMile4:19.90NCAA IndoorTrack and FieldUniversity of Arkansas1stDMR9:33.01Heptagonal OutdoorTrack and FieldPrinceton University1st1500 m3:49.742nd7:25.82 Representing the New Mexico Lobos2014MWC OutdoorTrack and FieldUniversity of Wyoming3rd800 m1:51.931st1500 m3:58.81NCAA OutdoorTrack and FieldUniversity of Oregon4th1500 m3:39.902015MWC OutdoorTrack and FieldSan Diego State University9th800 m1:51.713rd1500 m3:52.96NCAA OutdoorTrack and FieldUniversity of Oregon4th1500 m3:55.22
Post-collegiate Callahan made an appearance as a professional rabbit in the 2015 Diamond League men's 3000 meters. In May 2016, the IAAF approved Callahan to represent Belgium in international competition. He was eligible to represent Belgium due to his mother having been born in Antwerp.
The approval happened amidst a race campaign in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics. His first international competition after his IAAF-mandated switch was the 2016 European Athletics Championships, where he raced in the men's 1500 meters in a time of 3:41.75. He did not progress into the finals. He did not qualify for the Olympics in 2016, having not satisfied the 3:36.19 Olympic "A" standard for the men's 1500 meters. His closest result was at the 2016 Swarthmore Final Qualifier, where he ran the 1500 in 3:37.87, placing seventh. Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS): 2016 Swarthmore Final Qualifier On July 22, 2016, Callahan raced in the men's mile at the 2016 Morton Games in Dublin, Ireland, where he finished in 3:56.14 for fourth place. Morton Games 2016: The Morton Mile
Callahan placed first at 2017 European Team Championships in the 1500 meters.
Callahan placed fourth in the 1500 meters in 3:54.71 at the 2018 Belgium Athletics Championship on July 8.
Callahan placed eighth in the first heat (30th overall) at 2018 European Athletics Championships in the 1500 meters.
Seconds Away is an athlete documentary directed by Benjamin Kegan that follows Peter Callahan and his longtime coach, Patrick McHugh, during the process of training for the qualifications to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Callahan failed to qualify by 1.15 seconds.
Representing 20182018 European Athletics ChampionshipsBerlin30th1500 meters3:54.2320172017 European Team ChampionshipsLille, France1st1500 meters3:59.0920162016 European Athletics ChampionshipsAmsterdam14th1500 meters3:41.75Belgian Athletics Championships2021Belgian Athletics ChampionshipsBrussels1st1500 meters3:40.512018Belgian Athletics ChampionshipsBrussels4th1500 meters3:54.712017Belgian Athletics ChampionshipsBrussels2nd800 meters1:49.48Representing 20102010 World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, New Brunswick, Canada14th1500 meters3:45.04USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships2010USA Junior U 20 Track and Field ChampionshipsDrake Stadium (Drake University) Des Moines, Iowa1st1500 meters3:46.422010 USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships - Men 1500 Meter Run Junior USATF
Coaching Northwestern University has added four-time All-American Peter Callahan as a women's cross country coach under head coach 'A Havahla Haynes February 2018.WILDCATS ADD 4X ALL-AMERICAN CALLAHAN TO STAFFNorthwestern Wildcats Callahan, the Evanston native attended North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois.
University of Chicago has added four-time All-American Peter Callahan as an assistant cross country coach under head coach Chris Hall
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