Lesley Chaplin-Swann, bless her super-efficient heart, good-naturedly replied to my cheeky request for details of her W45 American Record in the 1500 over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. She took the time to type and send a report despite it being Mother’s Day (she has a grown daughter) and no doubt having better things to do. She writes: “With regards to the race (Saturday): I had run in the SE Masters meet at Duke last week attempting a double record from the mile.”

Lesley continued:
“The (Duke) meet organizers had graciously agreed to have official timers at the 1500 mark for me. I came up short on both attempts, 4.50.3 for 1500 and 5.12.48 for the mile.
“So off to Nashville for another go at the 1500. It was SO windy when we got to Nashville that my husband suggested I not run, but I figured it might calm down a little. I didn’t feel that great warming up, but I have learnt that is not a good predictor for me of how I will run. However, I still had to talk myself into running. I put my spikes on and felt so much better!
“All the college girls I was about to compete against were seeded in the 4.40s so I knew I had the potential for a good race.
“We hit the quarter in 74 right on pace, 2.31 at the half, still good. I just stayed tucked in behind two girls from Milligan. I took the lead just past the bell-lap on the curve — too soon as it turned out. There was a clock at the 200 mark but not one at the finish line. I hit the 200 clock at 4.11, I think, and knew then I had a shot if I could just hold on that last 200.
I got passed in the last 100 and finished fourth not knowing if I had done it or not, I knew it was close! (Memories of my mile at Boston just missing the WR by 2/100 of a second remain fresh in my mind!) They printed off the results and showed them to me. I couldn’t read them since I didn’t have my glasses on! They had to read my time to me! Anyway, one down, two to go!”
Me again:
Who needs eyesight when you have the eye of the tiger? Lesley is one tough runner, and shows it by taking on the kids on their turf.
No doubt we’ll have much more to watch for.
Thanks for the note, Lesley. Hope you had restful Mom’s Day!