Legends of Masters Long Distance Running Elected to Masters Hall of Fame

7/30/2015. Indianapolis. The USATF Masters Long Distance Running [Masters LDR] Executive Committee announced that seven active runners and eleven legends of the sport, no longer active, have been elected to the Masters LDR Hall of Fame (HOF) in the historic category. Their performances came before the HOF criteria were formalized. Once the criteria were agreed upon, it was decided to search deep and wide for runners who might be eligible. We might call this Operation Search. The deep part of Operation Search involved going back three and a half decades to runners who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The wide part involved looking outside of USATF National Championships. This is in contrast to the Masters Track and Field side of USATF where outstanding performances typically come at the National Championships. In road running there are many iconic and elite races that are not national championships.

The primary criterion for election is the production of at least 25 outstanding road races over a Masters career. The standard is determined in terms of age-grading standards. Age-Grading [AG] is a measure that indicates how fast an athlete is running compared to the fastest time an athlete of that age and sex has established. Attainment of a 90% AG in a race is considered to be a ‘World-Class’ performance. To be recognized in the Legends Search category, the athlete must have 25 road races where the average AG score is at least 92% and have at least 7 years of Masters running performance. To be recognized in the Actives Search category, athletes meet the same requirement of at least 25 performances averaging 92% AG score, but must have a ten year career. While no specific honors are required, most of these runners received many honors and accolades in their day.

These retired legendary and active Hall of Famers will receive a letter from USATF announcing the honor and their names will be placed on the USATF Masters Hall of Fame website.

  

LEGENDS

Margret Betz. 9/12/1936. 1984-2007. Conklin NY. Age Division Runner of the Year (ROY) five times from 1993 to 2003, Betz has broken American Records for her age group six times at distances from 5K to 15K. Her most impressive AG performances came at the Syracuse Festival of races where she ran 21:16 as a 65 year old [AG=96.75%] and 22:45 as a 69 year old [AG=96.28%].

Laurie Binder. 1988-2008. 8/10/1947. Age Division ROY 4 times from 1988-1991, Binder won the National Masters Marathon championship at the Twin Cities at age 44 in 2:35:08 [AG=96.20%]. While that was her most impressive masters performance, she also excelled at races from the 5K to the Half Marathon. That same year she ran 16:37 at the Davis Turkey Trot 5K [AG=94.73%] and 1:13:57 at the Philadelphia Half Marathon Distance Run [AG=94.69%].

Barry Brown. 7/26/1944. 1984-1990. Gainesville FL. A champion runner at Providence College, Brown also excelled as a Masters runner before his untimely death in 1992. At age 40 he ran 2:15:15 at the Twin Cities Marathon [AG=94.64%], 29:43 in a 10K in South Carolina [AG=95.60%], and a 46:21 at the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K [AG=94.49%]. Five years later he ran a 25:04 8K in Florida [AG=92.95%] and the following year a 32:21 10K in Pennsylvania [AG=91.93%].

Helen Dick. 8/4/1924. 1980-1996. Age Division ROY six times from 1984-1993, Dick’ most impressive performances came in the 10K run although she also had impressive performances at the NYC and Chicago Marathons. At 58 she ran 3:14:56 at the NYC Marathon [AG=92.04%]; two years later she ran 3:15:30 [AG=94.50%]. Dick ran a 40:08 10K at age 59 [AG=96.32%] and a 40:57 at age 60 [AG=95.73%]; both races were in California.

Sharon Dolan. 2/11/1942. 1997-2012. Westphalia MI. Age Division ROY four times from 2007-2010, Dolan set the American Record for her age group at the Fifth Third River Bank 25K run in 2008, winning a national championship as well. Six-times a national champion her most impressive AG performances were at the 5K where she won a national championship at the Syracuse Festival of Races at age 66 in 21:44 [AG=96.14%]. At age 68 she ran 22:14 at the Safe Place 5K in Lansing MI [AG=96.95%].

Doug MacGregor. 1/19/1939. 1989-1996. Lebanon NH. Although MacGregor had some fine longer races, his most impressive races were in the 5K to 10K range. At age 56 he clocked 16:35 at a 5K [AG=93.45%] in New Hampshire and the previous year he ran 33:49 at a 10K [AG=94.58%] in Massachusetts.

Margaret Miller. 12/12/25. 1979-1989. Thousand Oaks CA. Miller’s most impressive AG performance was a 40:27 at the Brentwood CA 10K at the age of 48 [AG=94.26%]. Other top performances include a 1:46:37 25K that same year [AG=93.76%], a 1:06:42 10 miler [AG=93.62%], and a 1:28:42 at the Santa Monica Half Marathon [AG=93.29%].

Jack Nelson. 8/30/1939. 1995-2003. Age Division ROY 3 times from 1999-2001, Nelson  had a number of notable performances. At age 58 he broke one hour at the CRIM 10 miler; 2 years later in the same race, now 60 years of age he came within 7 seconds of breaking an hour again. One of his best races was at the Tulsa Run 15K where as a 59 year old, he clocked 53:30 [AG=94.51%]. His most impressive AG performances came in a two week period in 1998 where he ran in the Run By the River 5K in Tennessee at age 59 in 16:21 [AG=97.25%]. The week before he ran in the Pacific Sun 10K in California, running 34:26 [AG=96.11%].

Larry Olsen. 11/14/1946. 1987-2008. Hopedale MA. Age division ROY 5 times from 1987 to 2007, Olsen was the 2004 Men’s 55-59 Half Marathon champion. In 1987 he broke Masters records for the 5K  in 14:47 [AG=92.33%] and the 20K in 1:03:58. Six years later he set the Half Marathon record for Males 45-49 in 1:05:46 [AG=93.14%]. His most impressive AG performance came in an 8K race in Massachusetts at age 47 when he clocked 25:11 [AG=93.97%]. Almost as impressive and in rounder numbers was his 10 miler at age 50 in the Yankee Homecoming race in 53:51 [AG=93.60%].

Bob Schlau. 9/28/1947.  1987-2008. Charleston SC. Age Division ROY in 1989, he also won the national half marathon championship that year. Schlau’s most impressive AG performances came in the 10K and 5K. He ran 31:15 for a 10K in Washington D.C. at the age of 46 [AG=95.17%] and that same year clocked 15:12 for a 5K in North Carolina [AG=94.01%]. His open career was highlighted by qualifying for the Olympic Trials in the Marathon in 1984 and 1988 [a rare accomplishment for someone already a Masters athlete]. At the age of 47 he ran a 2:26:43 at the Houston marathon [AG=92.57%].

Craig Young. 7/16/1956. 1996-2005. Colorado Springs CO. Age Division ROY in 1998, he set the American 10K Masters track record for the 10,000 meters that year with a 30:37.94. That same year Young demonstrated range by winning a national championship in the Marathon at the Twin Cities in 2:21:38. Two of his more impressive AG performances were in the Las Vegas Half Marathon in 1997 and 1998, running 1:04:39 at age 40 [AG=95.42%] and came back the next year to run 1:03:33 [AG=97.84%].

ACTIVES

Rae Baymiller. 7/27/1943. 1993-2013. New York City; Santa Fe NM. Age Division ROY 5 times between 1994 and 2013 in four different age groups, Baymiller was also national F50 Marathon Champion in 1994. They say records were made to be broken and Baymiller has contributed her share of the wreckage, smashing American records at 6 different distances over 4 different age groups, ranging from the 15 K up to the Marathon. She broke her first record in 1993, finishing the Philadelphia Half Marathon in 1:19:48 at the age of 50 and her most recent record in 2013, finishing the Bronx 10 miler  in 1:16:11, with an age-grading score of 98.10%. Baymiller’s most impressive AG performance came in the Hilton Head Half marathon at the age of 67. She ran it in 1:33:43 for a 100.71% AG score.

Ginette Bedard. 8/12/1933. 2002-2014. Howard Beach, Queens, New York City.  Age Division ROY 4 times between 2004 and 2008, Bedard broke American records in the Marathon in 2005 (F70) and 2008 (F75), and in the Half Marathon in 2009 (F75). Her most impressive age grading performances came in the NYC Marathon. Her 2005 record-breaking Marathon achieved a 99.37% score and she had 5 other NYC Marathon performances that age graded 94.47% or higher. Bedard was no slouch at shorter distances; her 40:09 time in the Fred Lebow Classic 4 miler in 2008 at age 74 was a 97.03%.

Doug Bell. 11/20/1950. 1991-2013. Greeley CO. Male (and M40) ROY in 1991, Bell has been a consistent top performer ever since joining the Masters ranks. His most impressive performances came at the 5K. At age 41 he could still break 14 minutes, running 13:56 for a 98.68% age grading score. Nine other performances at that distance from 1992 to 2007 resulted in age grading scores above 94.00%. Even though the 5K was Bell’s bread and butter, he had outstanding longer races as well. The chief example is the 1:05:44 Half Marathon he ran in Nevada at age 44 for a 96.91% age-grading score.

William (Bill) Dixon. 5/14/1947. 2006-2014. Brattleboro VT. Dixon collected his first age group Runner of the Year (RoY) award in 2004 in the M55 category. He was M60 RoY in 2008 and 2009. In 2013 he was the M65 RoY. Clearly Dixon has both speed and staying power. He has excelled on the roads and in cross country. He won his age group at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships in 2002, 2003 and 2007 through 2009. He has taken national championships on the roads at the 5K, 8K, 10K, and 15K distances. Although he ran to win and time was sometimes secondary, Dixon turned in some outstanding times. His best age-grading performance was in the 2009 CVS Caremark Downtown 5K in Providence, at age 62, when he ran a smoking 17:22. His next best age-grading race, 2 weeks earlier that same year, was the USATF 15K Championships in Buffalo NY. In that race he took home a national championship patch to go along with his 93.94% age-grading performance of 55:19.

Terry Mahr. 10/12/1948. 1999-2012. Oregon OH. Mahr is unusual among these Masters runners in that she was not attracted to national championship races; she preferred to run in major road races like the Gate River Run (FL), the Cooper River Bridge Run (SC), the Gasparilla Distance Classic (FL), the CVS Caremark Downtown 5K (RI), the Naples Half Marathon (FL), and the Parkersburg WV Half Marathon. She established top age-grading marks at distances from 4 miles up through the Half Marathon. Her three best age-graded performances were the 40:12 she ran at age 60 at the Youngstown International Peace (10K) Race for 97.51%; the 19:05 5K at age 57 in the Edison Festival of Lights Race (FL) for 96.16%; and the 1:32:31 she ran at age 63 at the Naples Half Marathon for a 96.02%.

Melody-Anne Schultz. 08/05/1941. 1994-2014. California. A six-time age group USATF national champion on the roads and cross country courses from 1997 to 2013, Schultz has excelled at races from 5K to the Marathon. Her best AG score came in the Jamba Juice 5K in San Francisco at age 62, running 19:54 (98.90% AG). Other top performances include the Across the Bay 12K where she ran 49:15 at age 61 (97.59% AG), the Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon where she ran 1:30:32 at age 62 (96.70% AG), and the Flora London Marathon in England where she ran 3:15:03 at age 61 (96.15%AG).

Margie Stoll. 05/03/1941. 2003-2014. Nashville TN. An athlete who never ran a race before her 60^th birthday, Stoll is, nonetheless a 2-time national champion. While she has toyed with the idea of preparing for a Boston Marathon qualifier, her most impressive performances so far have come in races from 5K to 5 Miles. At age 68 she ran a 23:05 5K at the Murfreesboro TN Fenton Payne and Fred 5K for a 93.38% AG. Her best 5 mile performance came at the Boulevard Bolt in Nashville TN where she broke 40 minutes at the age of 71, running 39:39 for a 93.34% AG. Her two national championships came in Syracuse NY in 2010 and 2011. She took the F65-69 prize at the age of 69 in 23:40 for a 92.55% AG. The following year she took the crown in the F70-74 age group with a time of 24:30 for a 92.38% AG.

Paul Zimmerman. 04/01/1961. 2001-2012. A two-time national champion, Zimmerman has excellent performances from the 5k to the 25K.  In 2011,  Zimmerman took the M50 8K title in 25:57 for a 93.40% AG and 2 weeks later took the 10K championship in 32:48 for a 93.59% AG. His most impressive performance came at the 3M Half Marathon in Austin TX when ,at the age of 46, he ran 1:07:16 for a 96.25% AG. Zimmerman’s top 3 AG performances were all in Half Marathon. But he had pretty good wheels when he dropped down in distance as well. His best 15K time was 49:01 at age 49 in the Mountain to Fountain 15K in Arizona for a 94.65% AG. Zimmerman also clocked a 15:40 5K in the Gatorade Steelers race at age 50 for a 94.14% AG. His best performance at the longer 25K race came at the Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids MI when, at age 44 he ran 1:22:05 for a 92.69% AG.