Aeron Arlin Genet targets W40 mile American record (and prize $$$)
Aeron photo by Chris Leschinsky
In Northern California, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat informs us of a May 7 pair of miles with prize money. The Heart & Sole shoestore is sponsoring the races and the paper says: “Aeron Arlin Genet will attempt to break the women’s Masters (over 40) mile record of 4:46.29. Genet was part of a team that set the Masters world record in the 4×800 meter relay in Boston earlier this year.” That’s the American mile record, BTW. The W40 world record is outtasight — 4:23.78 by Russia’s Yekatarina Podkopayeva in 1993. USATF lists the W40 American record as 4:46.29 by Alisa Harvey in 2006. We also learn from the meet site “Top-3 finishers in each race earn $750-$350-$250. Additionally, there is a time bonus of $1,500 per race, to be divided amongst all those breaking 4:00 (men) and 4:40 (women).”
Here’s the original story in case the link goes south:
BY ERIC BRANCH
The Press DemocratPublished: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 9:28 p.m.At 53, Dan Aldridge, a former professional runner and two-time Division II national champion, has bid farewell to the days when he could run a mile in less than four minutes.
But Aldridge’s desire to see someone else run the first sub-four-minute mile in Sonoma County hasn’t diminished with time. As a result, Aldridge and several others in the Empire’s running community have spearheaded an effort to create a little history.
On May 7 at about 9 p.m., following the annual All-City track and field meet at Santa Rosa High, two elite mile fields will compete for a purse of nearly $6,000. Included among the men’s runners will be three professionals who have run a mile in under four minutes and another, former Cardinal Newman and Oregon standout J.K. Withers, who has a run a 4:03. In addition, Aeron Arlin Genet will attempt to break the women’s Masters (over 40) mile record of 4:46.29. Genet was part of a team that set the Masters world record in the 4×800 meter relay in Boston earlier this year.
As of March, 347 Americans had broken the four-minute barrier since Cal’s Don Bowden clocked a 3:58.7 in 1957.
Aldridge joined the club in 1981 — becoming the 111th American to do so — but he never did it in Sonoma County because the area doesn’t host elite-level meets.
Aldridge and Greg Fogg, co-owners of Heart & Sole Sports in Santa Rosa, have wanted to change that for several years. And their desire became a reality when local track enthusiast Peter Massi gave about $3,000 to attract top runners. The rest of the purse was contributed by the Empire Runners Club.
“You know why we were able to pull it off now? It’s very simple: money,” Aldridge said. “If we didn’t have any prize money, do you think anyone would be interested in running the mile in under four minutes in Sonoma County?”
Aldridge has tried in the past. In the mid-90s, he served as a rabbit — or pacing runner — at a meet at Santa Rosa Junior College where a professional from the Asics Aggie running club missed a sub-four-minute mile by less than a second. Aldridge even wore bunny ears and tossed carrots to the crowd for the occasion.
More than a decade later, Aldridge isn’t sure he can pace this group. But they may not need his help.
The men’s runners will include Jon Rankin of Nike, a former All-American at UCLA, where he holds the mile and 1,500-meter records. Rankin, whose personal-best in the track mile is 3:54.24, finished sixth in the 1,500 at the 2088 U.S. Olympic Trials, missing an Olympic berth by less than a second.
Rankin will be joined by Bolota Asmerom, a former star at Cal who competed in the 2000 Olympics for Eritrea, his native country. Asmerom (a PR of 3:59.86 in the mile) finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 Olympic Trials. The field will also include Tim Bayley (3:58.3) of Great Britain, an all-American at Iona College who competed in the 1,500 meters at the World Championships in Doha, Qata, this year.
The women’s field will include a familiar face in Kim Conley, who led Montgomery High to the state cross country title in 2000. Conley holds UC Davis’ school record in the 5,000 meters. Rose Wetzel, a former star at Georgetown who placed eighth at the 2009 USATF Cross Country Club Nationals, will also compete.
8 Responses
There is an unfortunate juxtaposition of words in this posting. Immediately after “…of a team that set the Masters world record in the 4 x 800 meter earlier this year.” we see the words “That’s the American record, BTW.” My immediate reaction was to wonder whether Aeron’s team had fallen short of the world mark in Boston. After rereading I realized the post had switched abruptly from the 4 x 800 world record to the world record for the mile.
All of that being said, I have seen Aeron run twice (Hartshorne Mile and Boston), and she is fabulous. Will be interesting to see whether she can threaten Alisa Harvey’s mark. Speaking of Alisa, she ran into all sorts of trouble (many months of angst) getting her mark approved even though it was run at the Penn Relays, was certified by the FAT crew and the referee, etc., etc. I bring this up because I wonder whether everything will be in place to get approval for marks set at this meet in Northern California next month.
Go for it, Aeron!! So glad you have entered the masters scene–I will be cheering you on from afar.
Good luck!!!
Does Regina Jacobs have the Masters AR for 1500? or did that get abolished? Wysocki ran a 4:08 back in 97
Far superior to a 4:46 mile.
The USATF site has a 4:32.73 listed for a Joan Nesbit, 1500 heck put a marker at the 1500m and record the split!
Matt, the 4:32.73 1500 listed for Joan Nesbit ranks somewhere around 14th on the list for W40 American. Ruth Wysocki, as you note, ran far superior times (I believe she has 3 marks that are much better than the 4:32.73 for Nesbit, including a 4:08).
Aeron Arlin-Genet has broken the W40 1500 record about seven times (don’t know the exact number, with a best of 4:21), and Alisa Harvey has broken it. Alisa, for example, ran 4:26.49 FAT at the Penn Relays and had that mark rejected by masters T&F (don’t know how many other times she broke the record).
Regina Jacobs may well have had the record, but there was some trouble there. So….we have a situation that is not optimal (it’s sort of like saying that Roger Bannister still holds the record for 1 mile), but that is where we are right now.
Blahh- records, shmecords. Sorry for the cynicism, but with so many superior marks in so many events not being OFFICIAL records for one lame reason or another, who really cares? And what about all the PED crap? Let’s just go out and run, jump, throw, and have a good time.
Oops. I hit “send” too soon. I also meant to add that I completely support Aeron and ALL other athletes in the pursuit of their goals. I just think the masters record thing is over-emphasized as the “ultimate” payoff for any of our athletic endeavors.
I concur with Mary! Records aren’t the end-all and be-all of the sport. But I sympathize with elite masters who are so far ahead of us mere mortals that records are one of the few things that make them work their butts off.
Records are a frequent subject of this blog for two reasons:
1. I’m fascinated by them.
2. If I don’t report them, who will?
Just a small note on this matter:
I have been in masters T&F since the Ford Administration, and we have indeed come a long way since then. For better or worse, records have been a part of that.
At the Penn Relays, for example, the masters were once little more than a joke. By 2001, however, masters track had become a big part of the Relays. In that year, Sal Allah, Kevin Morning, Ed Gonera, and Ray Blackwell uncorked a world record of 3:20.83 in the 4 x 400, and the sound was absolutely deafening on Ray Blackwell’s leg.
Had the crowd not been informed of the record attempt, the response would have been much less. The four masters competitors were kings, if only for awhile. So….records do have their place.
Similarly, a very large part of the USATF’s coverage of our indoors in 2010 was based on records. In the old days, who could possibly have believed that masters even deserved coverage except for the occasional newspaper piece about old people actually competing in track and field instead of playing checkers or some such.
I note that the 3:20.83 by Allah-Morning-Gonera-Blackwell, while long a world record, has now risen to “pending” on the list of American records. It has taken 9 years, but it shows there is hope.
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