Jeff Nelson is an American former long distance runner. He was a high school phenom at Burbank High School (Burbank, California), where he set the national high school record in the 2 mile run, the predecessor to today's 3200 meter run, at 8:36.3. He set the record before a national television audience, running in open competition at the , May 6, 1979 at the University of California, Los Angeles. Nelson was also on the United States team at the 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing 4th overall in the junior men's division, handily besting future star Steve Cram in the process.