Michelsohn ices another world record: W65 10,000
Marie-Louise Michelsohn shattered the listed world outdoor record for 10,000 meters Saturday by more than 30 seconds at the freezing USATF Tennessee Assn. Masters Championships. Marie-Louise ran 43:06.12 — 6:56 mile pace — to beat the old record of 43:37.20 by Germany’s Rona Frederiks in 2005. It’s Marie-Louise’s fourth WR of the season. Her first was the indoor 1500 best at the Armory in New York. Born in late 1941, Marie-Louise was profiled by Running Times magazine in April 2006. She told RT: “When I was in my fifties, I thought it would be nice to peak at 60. I started running at 53 and they say you peak after seven years. Then, when I was still improving at 60, I revised the number to 62.” Revise again, M-L.
Wearing racing briefs and a jog-bra plus socks for gloves and a headband, Marie-Louise raced around 8:30 a.m. in temps under 30 degrees but beneath sunny skies.
“I had a singlet on but took it off just before stepping to the line,” she writes. “I just don’t like anything on my torso. I guess it’s my cue that I’m racing. . . . All I know is that after the race when I took off my gloves to change from spikes to flats to warm-down my fingers got numb and wouldn’t stop feeling numb even after I went inside a nearby building to warm up. I had to put them under my armpits — a suggestion from the guard. It was windy too which helped keep everybody cool.
“Afterwards I took a long hot bath.”
Marie-Louise also shared this in another note:
By the way, what I did in Boston at the indoor nationals seems to have been overlooked, perhaps due to some incorrect reporting.
The first day I broke the world record in the 3000m by 27 seconds. I ran 12:03.78 and it was reported in the USATF News as an American Record, which it was but I think it worth mentioning that it was a world record also.
Also, the age-grading percentage was 100.46 %. I was very proud of that performance. The age-grading standards are based on outdoor racing. The 3000m indoor race with 30 turns is hard. . . .
Then I came back with breaking the world record in the mile with 6:16.26 on Saturday. The old record was 6:28.91 and a very tired me broke the American record in the 800 on Sunday with a 2:52.49.
By the way, a measure of how strong that 3000m run was is that my 1500 split in that race was 5:57, basically the same as my 1500 world record on Feb. 22 of 5:57.1 which you so nicely tauted on your blog. The old world record for the 1500 was 6:03.01 by the British Kathleen Stewart. The old 3000m record was !2:30.03 again by Rona Frederiks whose outdoor 10,000 record I just broke.
4 Responses
Congratulations to Marie-Louise. Both her Boston WRs and this 10,000 deserve the widest recognition. I don’t recall ever seeing a front-page photo or profile of her in National Masters News – though I could be wrong here. Thanks to you, Ken, again, for recognizing and highlighting a great performance.
Unfortunately, due to the record cold spell, few beyond meet officials saw her run but it was quite impressive and I cannot imagine that the cold and wind helped her. A great preformance. Hopefully, next year she will return to Memphis and try to improve her time. The weather this time of the year is normally much more favorable for 5K/10K racing.
Absolutely amazing! I had to go lie down just thinking about your great runs, but I am still out of breath. Congratulations, Louise.
So out of breath that there is no oxygen going to my brain, making me leave out the Marie.
Congratulations Marie-Louise!
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