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Lead Stories: Monday, September 8, 2008

3-Time Champ Loken to Lead Trio of Elite Masters Women at More Marathon on Apr 6

Posted March 28th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Masters

A trio of leading women over the age of 40 will headline a field of more than 7,000 runners expected to compete in the More® Magazine Marathon + Half-Marathon on Sunday, April 6, in New York’s Central Park, it was announced today by Mary Wittenberg, president and CEO of New York Road Runners. The fifth-annual event is the world’s first marathon exclusively for women over 40.

Two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Kelly Keeler Ramacier of St. Paul, MN, will take on the hills of Central Park for the first time in the marathon. Three-time defending More Marathon champion Susan Loken of Phoenix, AZ, will put in her final miles before competing in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon on Sunday, April 20. Loken will team with reigning USA masters cross country champion Jody Hawkins of Frisco, TX, in the half-marathon. Runners will be vying for a $12,000 total prize purse, with the marathon winner and the top half-marathon team each earning $2,000.
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USATF Masters Hall of Fame Elects Elevens New Athletes

Posted December 29th, 2007 at 3:54 PM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Masters

Six active and five old-timer Masters athletes have been elected to the USATF Masters Hall of Fame.

The actives are: Carol Finsrud, Alfred Guidet, Gayle Johnson, Barbara Miller, Austin Newman and Nadine O’Connor. The old-timers are: Dan Conway, Alfred Funk, Ruth Rothfarb, Dorothy Stock and Herm Wyatt.

The Hall now contains 53 women and 99 men, with 97 inductees representing the discipline of track & field, 41 from long distance running, and 14 from race walking.

For biographical information about these year’s inductees, please check out the full USA Track & Field press release at: http://www.usatf.org

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Raschker named World Masters Athlete of the Year

Posted October 29th, 2007 at 9:45 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Masters

Philippa (Phil) Raschker, of Marietta, Georgia, has been named Female World Masters Athlete of the Year by the World Masters Athletics Association (WMA), the organization designated by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) to conduct the worldwide sport of masters track and field.The selection was made on October 28.

The WMA recognized Raschker for her 10 gold-winning performances at the World Masters Championships Meet in Italy in September, the 12 world records she established during her competitions this year, and her 27 gold medals at national championship meets in the United States.
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TFS News Briefs: 10/08/07

Posted October 8th, 2007 at 2:20 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports, Trail / Ultra

Novelist Credits Track & Field for Changing His Life
Nicholas Sparks, whose 12th novel “The Choice” has just been published, credits track and field for changing his life. Sparks said that that track, “taught me more about discipline and perseverance and character than any class I’ve ever taken, because to be good, you need to show up every day, rain or shine. And for me, I was talented, but I was not supremely talented. To get where I was, I had to outwork people, and it taught me to do that.” Read more at: [San Jose Mercury News]

Sunday: 26.2 Miles. Monday: 26.2 miles. Tuesday…
Another day, another marathon for Tim Borland, the California runner who is running 63 of them in 63 straight days in order to to raise awareness of ataxia-telangiectasia, a degenerative disease that leads to a lack of muscle control. Today Borland runs in Detroit on his way to the 63rd marathon on November 4th in New York City. Read more at: [Detroit Free Press][A-T Children’s Project]

Chicago Marathon Official Has “Never Seen a Finish Like That”
Pat Savage, DePaul’s track and field and cross-country coach who was head referee at yesterday’s Chicago Marathon, said that, “it was really close. Yet at the same time, you could see that one man was ahead of the other man.” Savage believes that the marathon will eventually have to go to some kind of photo-finish electronic system. Read more at: [Chicago Tribune]
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Raschker named USATF Athlete of the Week

Posted September 12th, 2007 at 11:32 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Phil Raschker has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after winning the women’s 60-64 100 meters, 200m, 300m hurdles, high jump, triple jump, pole vault and heptathlon at the 2007 World Masters Athletics Championships in Riccione, Italy.

A 13-time Masters Female Athlete of the Year, Raschker has won every event that she has contested so far at the World Masters Athletics Championships. She won the 100m (14.00), 200m (28.61), 300m hurdles (52.27), high jump (1.33 meters/4 feet 4.25 inches), triple jump (9.46m/31-0.5), pole vault (2.65m/8-8.25) and heptathlon (6,742 points). In the final days of competition, Raschker also will compete in the long jump.

Now in its sixth year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
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Records fall as USA Masters Outdoor Championships conclude

Posted August 6th, 2007 at 7:45 AM by Martha Jones

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

More world and American records were broken during the final day of competition of the USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships here Sunday on the campus of the University of Maine.

More than 1,100 athletes ages 30 to 95+ competed in the four day event.

Numerous records were broken throughout the meet and a number of individuals added to that total before competition came to a close Sunday afternoon.
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Note on the News: “Marathon Mom” Susan Loken Profiled

Posted July 31st, 2007 at 7:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

WABC-TV in New York City went out to Phoenix, Ariz., and shot a feature on Susan Loken, 44, the three-time champion of the More Magazine Marathon, in advance of Sunday’s NYC Half-Marathon presented by NIKE.

Loken, a mother of three, didn’t start running until she was 36 years-old. She won the USA masters marathon title in 2005 and 2006 and has a personal best time of 2:41:31 set at age 42.

Watch the feature at this link by clicking on the TV screen on the right under the word “SIDEBAR”:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=sports&id=5514219

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O’Connor sets masters 200m world record

Posted July 9th, 2007 at 5:00 AM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

All-time masters track and field great Nadine O’Connor, set a world record over the weekend at the USC Trojan Masters Meet in Los Angeles.

O’Connor set the W65 world record in the 200 meters with her time of 29.37 seconds. Her effort bettered the previous world record of 30.46 seconds set by Irene Obera by more than a full second.
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Shaheed, Harvey named Masters Athletes of the Year

Posted June 7th, 2007 at 1:20 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

The USATF Masters Track and Field Awards Committee has announced its Athletes of the Year for 2007. The awards are based on their accomplishments during the 2006 outdoor and 2007 indoor track seasons.

At the top of the list are two athletes who have earned the highest honors of Masters Track and Field. Nolan Shaheed, of Pasadena, Calif., was named Masters Male Athlete of the Year, and Alisa Harvey, of Manassas, Va., has been named Masters Female Athlete of the Year. The remaining athletes have earned awards within their respective age brackets.
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Sorensen sets world masters record

Posted June 5th, 2007 at 5:00 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

1996 Olympic Trials men’s 1,500m runner-up Jim Sorensen set a world masters record Sunday night at the 2007 USATF West Region Track & Field Championships in Los Angeles, Calif.

Sorensen became the fastest over-40 1,500-meter runner in history in finishing in 3 minutes 44.06 seconds, which bettered the previous record of 3:44.06 by Luiz Jose Gonsalvez as a 41-year-old in 1999.

Sorenson’s next stated target is the M40 men’s mile world record of 4:02.53, which is owned by Great Britain’s David Moorcroft.

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