Nolan Shaheed, Alisa Harvey calling their world-record-mile shots?

Nolan at 67 can still beat elites in their 50s.

If weather and air travel cooperate, this weekend’s 50th running of the Hartshorne Memorial Mile at Cornell University will be a humdinger. The local paper suggests M65 Nolan Shaheed and W50 Alisa Harvey will try to set world indoor records. Both have plenty of record experience, so it’s not a stretch. But Nolan lost a chunk of last season to injury. Hope he’s recovered and good to go. The Ithaca Journal says: Alisa “will attempt to set the American indoor mile record for the 50-54 age group (5:08.65). The world indoor record (5:07.32) may also be in reach.” Also: Nolan is “going after the world record (5:11.43) for men ages 65-69. Nolan set the indoor world record in the 60-64 age bracket (4:50.95) at the Hartshorne Mile in 2012.”

The rest of the story:

An elite class of runners ages 40 and older will descend upon Cornell University on Saturday for the 50th annual Hartshorne Memorial Mile, and many have their sights set on record-breaking performances.

The Hartshorne Memorial Mile is the oldest masters indoor mile race in North America. The race is named after Jim Hartshorne, who organized the first event in 1968 when it was called the Masters Mile. The race draws some of the best masters runners in the world, including several current record holders.

Alisa Harvey, 51, of Manassas, Va., holds the America women’s record in the mile (5 minutes, 4.02 seconds) in the 45-49 age division and on Saturday will attempt to set the American indoor mile record for the 50-54 age group (5:08.65). The world indoor record (5:07.32) may also be in reach.

Nolan Shaheed of Pasadena, Calif., is going after the world record (5:11.43) for men ages 65-69. Nolan set the indoor world record in the 60-64 age bracket (4:50.95) at the Hartshorne Mile in 2012.

Syracuse resident Sascha Scott, who posted the fastest time among females last year (4:54.55), will attempt to break the meet record (4:49.82) on Saturday.

Several other runners competing have won or placed in the top three in world or American age group championships in recent years. Some of the local runners planning to participate include Groton’s Scott Weeks and Ithaca’s Casey Carlstrom.

Weeks won the men’s elite 40s race in 2015 (4:34.02) and will be in the same race on Saturday. He placed in the top six in the 800 and 1500 meters in the World Masters Outdoor Track Championships in Sacramento in 2011. As a masters runner, he has run the 800 meters well under two minutes and has run the mile in the low 4:20s several times.

Carlstrom will race in the men’s elite 50s. He has won and placed in the top three several times in the Indoor Masters National Championships. Casey was third in the men’s elite 50s race last year (5:02.72).

Tonya Engst of Ithaca is also set to defend her win in the women’s section I race.

Races begin at 10 a.m. at Barton Hall and is held in conjunction with Cornell’s Upstate Challenge meet.

Shortly after founding the Finger Lakes Runners Club, Hartshorne, in an effort to stoke the competitive spirit of older adults and not just their fitness and well-being, introduced the concept of ‘master miles,’ — mile races for elite runners over 40 — to the East Coast, bringing the event to Barton Hall as an addendum to the Heptagonal games in 1968.

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January 17, 2017

5 Responses

  1. Terry Ballou - January 18, 2017

    Best of luck to Alisa, Sascha, and Nolan as they go after those records! Sounds like they will make the college kids sit up and take notice. Look forward to hearing the full race report from Peter Taylor, assuming he is going?

  2. Horace Grant - January 18, 2017

    Good luck Nolan and Alisa! Go for it and have fun!

  3. Peter L. Taylor - January 18, 2017

    Terry (no. 1): Looks like there will be 10 races this year, which is a good thing. My report will be in the National Masters News, and thus I will not do a separate report for masterstrack.com (the reports would overlap).

    To amuse myself, this year I am going to put a Band-Aid over the clock on my dashboard and will not look at a cellphone or watch on my long trip up from Fairfax Racquet Club (Fairfax, VA) to my hotel in Ithaca, New York.

    Last year I required 6 hours and 29 minutes to get the job done; this year I am looking for 6 hours and 24 minutes with no aid from timing devices. When I pull into a parking space at the hotel in Ithaca I will rip off the Band-Aid and see how I did.

    Terry, note that the post-event dancing under the general direction of DJ Jorge Cuevas is an important part of the festivities. Last year I received a score of only 36 (out of 100) from one of the runners, but I don’t see her on the list this year. Apparently my dancing was terrible.

    Looking forward, it looks like I will be one of 2 announcers at Albuquerque nationals, and for the spring/summer I am hoping that the Southeastern Masters in Raleigh, NC, will be revived.

  4. Julie Hayden - January 21, 2017

    Congratulations to all who ran and contributed to the event – Charlie Fay, Tom Hartshorne, Peter Taylor & all the officials & volunteers! Some impressive times & age gradiing in the 90’s. Results on leone timing. Hope you all had a wonderful banquet and are dancing the night away. Ladies, be sure to dance with Peter and score him higher than 36/100. He deserves it!

  5. dixon hemphill - January 27, 2017

    I too enjoyed the 50th Annual Hartshorne Mile although my time left something to be desired. This was my second time at Cornell and I plan to go back next year hoping to run a faster race.
    The organizers of this event are to be congratulated. Charlie, Tom and Peter did a wonderful job!

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