Kathy Martin’s W65 American record 3K is INSANE best ABQ mark

Larry Hart, in USATF photo, spun a WR.

USATF has a nifty summary of Day 1 of ABQ indoor nationals, with newbie press staffer Ashley Mitchell giving proper attention to Larry Hart beating follow hammer Olympian Ed Burke’s M70 record in the weight throw. WRs always demand attention. (See results here.) But in my mind the best mark of the meet — which may stand up through the end — is Kathy Martin’s W65 American record 11:53.32 for 3000 meters. Let’s count the ways to be amazed. 1. It shatters the 12-minute barrier and Marie Michelsohn’s 12:03.78 from a decade ago. 2. She now holds the AR for W55, W60 and W65. 3. Her time is less than 4 seconds off the listed WR of 11:49.53 by Britain’s Angela Copson, and Kathy did at mile elevation! 4. Her last 200 of 42.34 was third-fastest among all age groups and even beat the 42.64 of 37-year-old Nadia Hernandez Morales. And 5. It’s 16 seconds faster than Marie’s listed outdoor AR of 12:09.65. Kathy is the Paavo Nurmi of American women’s track (with the benefit that she won’t retire after “winning it all”), and she’s also entered in the 800 and mile. Another especially interesting USA record was Gloria Krug’s W85 long jump of 1.51 meters (4-11 1/2). It’s short of the W90 AR of 1.60 (5-3), but no matter. USATF doesn’t list a W85 AR, so tag she’s it. Technically, Gloria set four records — going farther with every leap — 1.27 (4-2), 1.37 (4-5 3/4), 1.48 (4-10 1/4) and finally 1.51 before passing her last two tries.(The listed WR is 2.01/6-7) by Finland’s Senni Sopanen. But the season is young. Respect to all the record-setters!

Kathy was a machine in her 200 splits, except when she went crazy the last lap.

Here’s the Day 1 release for posterity:

ALBUQUERQUE – A world record for age 70-74 in the weight throw by 1976 Olympian Larry Hart (Los Angeles, California) highlighted a stellar number of accomplishments, including seven American records, on the first day of USATF Masters Indoor Championships at Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Videos of today’s events are available on demand on USATF.TV +PLUS.

The 1976 Olympian broke the previous M70 record with a 21.08/69-1.2 throw. Hart was also 1975 Pan American Games gold medalist in the hammer throw. In his effort today, he beat former rival Ed Burke’s world mark in the weight throw.

Gloria Krug (New Oxford, Pennsylvania) was a double record setter, with American records in both the women’s 85-89 long jump and shot put. Krug threw 6.72m/22-00.75 and jumped 1.51m/4-11.50 in her impressive display of athleticism. Krug now has four American indoor and ten American outdoor records.

In spite of her wins today, Krug said, “Jumping is not my thing. I do it to keep my knees active so I can throw… I feel good.”

Quenton “Doug” Torbert (Redlands, California), coming off his gold at the 2016 WMA Outdoors in M60, won the shot put in 15.33m as part of the 65-70 age group.

Many-time Masters of the Year honoree Kathy Martin (Northport, Long Island) celebrated moving to a new age group by not only winning the W65 3,000m, but setting a new American record in 11:53.32 despite the mile-high elevation. Martin battled on the track against W55 winner Mary Swan (Penn Valley, Pennsylvania) and runner up Laura Bruess (Boulder, Colorado) for the overall lead. Martin began the race at the front, maintaining her dominance for most of the 15-lap run. The younger Swan and Bruess made a pass near the end, finishing just ahead of Martin in 11:49.67 and 11:52.18, respectively.

In the 400m, two American records were broken across men’s and women’s groups. Bob Lida (Wichita, Kansas) crushed the M80 400m in 1:13.34, nearly a full minute ahead of second place. Lorraine Jasper (Birchrunville, Pennsylvania) broke the W55 American record in 1:06.79 in a fast-paced final.

Also of note, the meet’s oldest competitor, 99-year-old Orville Rogers (Dallas, Texas), made his 2017 masters championship debut in the M95 400m dash, finishing in 4:08.88. He has three events to go.

Tomorrow’s events begin at 9:00am local time with the M80-99 long jump and W55-70 60m. Admission is free. Fans can follow along on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook using #USATFmasters.

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February 17, 2017

3 Responses

  1. Matt B. - February 18, 2017

    Jeff Laynes 2nd in his heat. 7.36
    Will be an exciting final

  2. Matt B. - February 18, 2017

    Laynes won his heat 7.36

  3. Matt B. - February 18, 2017

    Martin’s mile time- wow. WR

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