World Record Set as Long Distance Events Kick Off at WMA Indoor Championships in Korea

March 22, 2017. The WMA is holding its Indoor Track and Field Championships in Daegu, Korea from March 19 – 25. The Event includes both Stadia and Non-Stadia Distance Events which will be the focus of this report. Stadia Events include the 1500 Meter Run and the 3000 Meter Run; non-stadia events of interest include the 8K Cross Country Run and Half Marathon. At the Outdoor Championships in Perth last year, they had both of those events plus a Marathon. My focus is on American competitors and their results.

Cross Country (8K) March 20.  The big name here, not surprisingly, is ten-time Harrier of the Year, Kathy Martin, from Freeport NY. The age group winner of almost every race she runs and current holder of ten W60 American road race records in distances from 5K to 50K, Martin had no trouble with the Cross Country course at Daegu which she covered in 34:22.32 to win the W65 category and capture the Gold Medal. To put that into perspective, it was the fastest gold medal time of anyone over the age of 46 at these Championships. If we would age-grade it as a road race, it would get a 95.2%! Not a bad warm-up for the track events to come.  Tina Klein captured a W50 Bronze Medal in 36:40 and Kathleen Frable took the W70 Bronze Medal in 47:26. Latashia Key took 4^th in W40. Despite the majority of their team being over 64, Martin, Klein and Frable combined to capture the 50+ Silver Medal! On the Men’s side, none of our top Masters distance runners were entered. Thomas Knowles competed in M40, finishing 8^th in 28:28 and Robert Weiner competed in M65, finishing 13^th.

Kathy Martin winning the W60 title at the 2015 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in San Francisco [Photo by Michael Scott]

3000 Meters (Track) March 22. Kathy Martin took the W65 Gold Medal in World Record time, clocking 11:35.98, to crush the former record of 11:49.53. Norma Hudnall finished 6^th in that race, 3 minutes back. Kathleen Frable finished just off the podium in 4^th in W70. Cheryl Belaire won the W55 Bronze Medal in 12:52.06. Tina Klein took the W50 Bronze Medal in 12:20.76. Latashia Key finished 4^th in W40.

That winds it up for Days 1-4. The Men’s 3000 Meters is on Day 5 and Half Marathon on Day 7.