Meet Kara Haas, new W45 record-holder in 15, pointing for W90s
Kara graciously answered my usual shameless questions:
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Masterstrack.com: What are your all-time PRs in track ā or did you do some other sport as a kid?
Kara Haas: High School: field hockey, basketball, softball.
College: Cross country (we didnāt have a track team)
All time PRs in track: (most of my track running has been as a master)
1500: 4:43 ā Holy Cross, 1993
mile: 5:10.58 ā Harvard Invitational 12/11/10 (age 40)
3000: 9:50.2 (Boston University, 12/31/11 ā age 41)
5000: 16:48 ā Penn Relays, 1996
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Road PRs:
Mile (*downhill): 4:38 ā Manchester Mile, July 3, 2013, Manchester, NH, flat: 5:10, High Street Mile, 8/2015
2 mile: 10:40 ā John Carson 2 mile, July, 4, 2008, Chelmsford, MA
5k: 16:29 (*downhill): USATF-NE Championship 5, June, 2012, flat: 16:48 ā Dedham 5k, 1994
5 mile: 27:14 ā Slatteryās Turkey Trot, November, 1998, Fitchburg, MA
10K: 35:06 ā NE USATF Championship, July, 1997, Winthrop, MA
10 mile: 1:01:22: Robinson 10 mile, 2004, Andover, MA
Half-marathon: 1:19:40, Philadelphia Half Marathon, 2007, Philadelphia, PA
Marathon: 2:54:17, Rock and Roll Marathon Arizona, 2008, Phoenix, AZ
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Where did you go to school, college, compete as a young person?
I went to Westford Academy in Westford, MA, where I was the MVP of the basketball and softball team (pitcher).
I started running in college at Saint Anselm College when I realized I was just too small to hang with the basketball team! We didnāt have a track program, so I ran road races in the off season.ĀEd Sheehan (RIP) of the BAA took me under his wing post collegiately and took me to some of the big meets ā Penn Relays, SeaRays in Tennessee, and I was so in awe of everybody!
I started working at Saucony and competed for them during my job tenure there, (I was World Corporate Champion in NYC 1996 ā and got to meet one of my idols, Grete Waitz!) while going to school nights to earn my M.Ed. I felt I wasnāt very good at track (I seemed to always be in the back of the pack), so I focused more on the roads.Ā In 1998, I left Saucony to begin a career in education, and have been teaching ever since!
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When did you start doing masters track (or road running)?
I ran my first masters race the day I turned 40 (10/10/10 ā kinda cool!) at the BAA Half Marathon in BostonĀ and won the masters division.Ā I had my first child the following year, and then started running track again.Ā
I ran 9:50.2 for the 3000 at the BU mini-meet three months after the birth of my first child, but it was not a USATF-sanctioned event, so it didnāt count for the masters record, although it was under the existing record.Ā I ran a few more sub-10s that year, and then ran 17:12 for 5000 meters outdoors at the New Balance Twilight Meet.Ā
I won the masters division at the Falmouth Road Race the following year (2013) and then took another year off to have a second child (born 6/6/14).Ā I won the masters division in 2015 at Falmouth once I was back training, and got to finish with Meb! (a thrill of a lifetime).Ā
Since turning 45 this fall, Iāve gone after a few of the masters track records (I need to before Sonja Friend-Uhl turns 45 and breaks them all again!).Ā Itās been really fun to be a 45-year-old on the track, with a 4-year-old and 1-year-old cheering me on ā not something you see every day on the masters scene! š
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Tell me about your family ā spouse, kids, cats, dogs? Ā (Molloy a maiden name?)
Molloy is my maiden name ā I married Michael Haas in 2002, and we have two wonderful girls: Ella, age 4, and Elin, age 1.Ā They are my reason for everything!
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What are your competition plans this year? Indoor or outdoor nationals? Worlds?
I would love to travel to a national track meet ā Iāve never been.Ā The limiting factor right now is the 4- and 1-year-old in tow!Ā Iām hoping to attend outdoor nationals this summer.Ā The road 10K championship is in Dedham, MA, so that is definitely on the calendar. I plan on running with the young guns on the track this summer, and seeing where that takes me!
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What was your race plan for the 1500 record? Ā Surprise you? More in the tank?
I had run a 5:10 mile recently, so I knew it would be close! My old buddies Bob Hodge and Brad Hearst were at the meet at Dartmouth, and gave me the lowdown on the track, planning, etc.Ā
I knew if I ran the perfect race, the result could be a sub-4:50.Ā Bob and Brad gave me my splits, my little girls cheered me on, and it all worked out in the end ā 4:49.71. I canāt say as though I had more in the tank ā ha! Ha! Iām more of a distance runner, and that was the first indoor 1500 Iād ever run.
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Any other record-setting goals this year? Ā Which events?
Iād love to take a shot at the outdoor mile and 1500 record, but I also know that Sonja will be 45, so Iāll give it my best shot and let the cards fall where they may!
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Have a coach,Ā club or other support system?
I run for the Greater Lowell Road Runners ā which is an amazing group of human beings that I absolutely adore.Ā The New England running community in general is so supportive, and I am always getting words of wisdom from Tom Dederian, Dave Dunham, Bob Hodge and Dave Camire.Ā Fernando Braz is the man I hold on a pedestal, though ā he has coached me to nearly all of my PRs (and many of them came after 40) and is, in my opinion, the best coach there is.Ā
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Why do you compete in masters track?
Hmmm ā for so many reasons.Ā My dad is 75, and he can still tear it up out there!Ā Ā I have always looked to him as a role model for what one can do as one ages. I hope to be able to inspire my daughters the same way.Ā
I love masters track as well, because there is such respect across the age groups.Ā For example, at the New England Indoor Championships at Harvard this past weekend, there was a menās masters 800.Ā The entire stadium rose to their feet to cheer the final competitor, who I believe was in his 80s, and looked simply awesome out there.Ā Thatās what itās all about!
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How can masters track attract more athletes in your age demographic?
The 40s are kind of like ātweensā ā we arenāt children anymore but we are not quite teenagers. Our days of placing in the openĀ divisionĀ are on the wane, so we start to explore the masters category. Ā Ā
I think the exhibition events are a huge boon to this demographic.Ā The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston this year has an exhibition menās masters mile that every male master I know would love to run ā itās televised!
I wish some of the meets would add a womenās masters exhibition ā such as the USATF is doing at the Olympic Trials.Ā I feel women my age are just as interested in the experience (i.e. running at Hayward Field) as they are in running fast. I also feel it would help if the running companies focused on some of the masters athletes as well. Somebody slap a logo on Flo Meiler, already! That woman is amazing!
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Anything else people should know about you or your interest in masters track?
Well, I blog ā mainly about masters running and pregnancy. I feel Iām in a bit of a unique situation ā running around after a 1-year old and a 4-year-old certainly makes the laps around the track seem relatively easy in comparison!
3 Responses
Lesley Chaplin - February 27, 2016
Congrats Kara! Welcome to the wonderful family of Masters Track
Matt B. - February 27, 2016
Kris Paaso 5:02.23 mile an AR ? Think she is 45.
Today
http://timerhub.com/getHytResults.php?page=redcaptiming.com/2016/mathis/160226F007.htm
Diane Pierce - February 27, 2016
Kara has been tearing up the roads for the past 20 years. I was a teammate of hers back in the 1990’s along with Christine Snow Reaser. She just recently jumped into a masters’ track race but is not really a newcomer. She has been doing it all along. I’ve always thought of her as a youngster. Time really flies by. Congrats on your accomplishments.
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