A Close Miss on Overall Masters Record But Age Group Records Fall at Syracuse

October 6 2014. On a beautiful, crisp fall day yesterday in Syracuse, Jennifer Rhines, 3 -time Olympian who grew up in the area, made a valiant attempt at the American Masters Record at 5K. It was a close miss as Rhines blazed the course, winning the Masters race in 15:58. But, in the end, that served to highlight how strong the current record of 15:48 is, set by another 3-time Olympian,

Jennifer Rhines, winning the Women's 2014 USATF Masters 5K Championship [photo-Paul Carlin]

Colleeen DeReuck, ten years ago in Albany, NY. Although the overall Masters record for American women did not fall, the Syracuse Festival of Races and its race director, Dave Oja, put on another terrific show, as three American age-group records fell, including one that has been resistant to challenge for more than 25 years.  Jim O'Neill's June 1986 record of 17:00 for men ages 60-64 was beaten by Tom McCormack, of Jonesborough, TN, in a time of 16:58. Sabra Harvey, of Houston, TX, smashed the women's ages 65-69 record by the better part of a minute, with a time of 20:27. Margaret Betz's record had stood for more than a decade. The final record-breaking success belonged to Jan Holmquist who beat Marie-Louise Michelsohn's two year old ages 70-74 record for women by over a minute! The new record will stand next to Holmquist's name at 22:16. Spectators witnessed incredible performances on a great road racing day at the USATF National 5K Road Championships at the Syracuse Festival of Races.

For complete official results see:
http://www.leonetiming.com/2014/Festival14.htm

Tom McCormack, breaking the US 5K Record for Men 60-64 [photo: Paul Carlin]

More coverage to come in future posts, including a summary of single age course records broken.

Next National Championship 5K Race: USATF 5K Cross Country championship in Carmel, IN. (suburb of Indianapolis). And remember Hoosier Hospitality, if you are an elite Masters runner with a world class (age grade 90%) performance in the last 18 months, contact the race director, Andy Martin [Andy.Martin@ExclamationServicesUSA.com] and he will arrange for a host family to pick you up at the airport and host you for the duration of the championship (room, board, and local transportation). Please let all of your elite athlete friends know about this opportunity and come to race in Indianapolis.