Now it can be revealed: Alisa Harvey can set an American indoor record in the 1500, but she can’t beat her own 5-year-old daughter up the stairs. So we learn from a mini Q&A I conducted with our W40 star over the weekend. Alisa also confirms that she’ll double-dip at the AT&T USA indoor nationals Feb. 23-24 in Boston. She’ll run the open 800 and the masters exhibition 400. (The first round of the 800 is Saturday, and the 400 is Sunday.) I began by asking Alisa if she had filled out all the necessary record paperwork for her amazing 4:26 indoor 1500.

Alisa, who lives in Manassas, Virginia, replied:

I tried to get the paperwork filled out before I left New York, but I was not able to. The meet officials were far too busy to sign my paperwork and they could not get a copy of the photo finish since they were busy with hundreds of heats of college, high school, open, and youth races. I was promised that the paperwork would be completed by the Meet Director and sent to my address.

I then noted her busy and far-flung indoor season, and asked if she had a sponsor helping with travel expenses. She answered:

I have been doing a great deal of traveling this indoor season. I do not have a sponsor who covers my expenses. I am a member of a local track club where I receive free gear from time to time. My husband is my financial support along with my part-time employment at a local running store.

Finally, I asked how her two daughters (Virginia and Kyah) viewed her hobby and whether they have shown any sports aptitude. Alisa replied:

My daughter Virginia (13 years old) traveled with me to Penn State a couple weeks back and watched me race. She asked me before the race if I would be racing when she got to college. I promised her that I would not.
Virginia is a quick soccer player. She has just recently picked up an interest in running. Too early to tell what distance. She appears to have an affinity towards the 400 and 800, though she is pretty good at the annual mile run they have at her middle school and she once completed a 5K by accident; she was only supposed to run the 1 mile fun run.
My 5-year-old has been running since she was 11 months old. She can beat me up a flight of stairs — a fact that I find quite amusing since I am really running hard to beat her. I reach the top of the stairs and collapse in a fit of laughter as she announces, “I win!”

So the bad news is that we might not see Alisa going for W50 age-group records. The good news: Look for Kyah to be kicking masters butt around 2040.
BTW, here are the women’s entries so far in the open 800 at nationals, which serve as the qualifying meet for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain:

Nicole Cook unattached / Reebok 2:03.43 qualified
Sasha Spencer unattached / Nike 2:03.82 qualified
Morgan Uceny unattached / Reebok 2:05.00 qualified
Lindsey Schnell Arizona Elite 2:06.17 qualified
Alisa Harvey unattached 2:07.08 qualified
Joan Bohlke New Balance Boston 2:07.14 qualified
Chanelle Price unattached 2:07.30 qualified
Georganne Way Team Indiana Elite 2:07.56 qualified

If Alisa overachieves at Boston and wins a medal, she’d have to go 2:04.00 or faster to qualify for IAAF indoor worlds in early March. But heck, she may not be done stunning us this year, right?