An early candidate to succeed Dani Sturtz for CPTC comeback of the year is our own Rae Baymiller, now 67, who has restarted her quest to re-write the record books in long distance running. For those without an internet connection, Rae is one of the greatest masters athletes of all time, being the oldest woman to break three hours for the marathon, at 2:52, age 55, which is still a world record.
After a Coe-ish burst of record busting performances in the late 1990s, Rae hung up her flats and moved to Santa Fe. Her design business and personal life took priority, and Rae wasn’t sure if she would ever again train at a high level. She didn’t start running until age 49, so in a sense, this new phase was a return to normality.
The hunger for fast came back last year, and Rae decided to continue her surge against what has been considered possible. While most of us set a goal that seems ambitious – say, being faster than last year – Rae took a look at the world marathon and half marathon records. And off she went.
Perhaps because she does not have a standard high school and college running background, Rae relies on a network of coaches and experts to help her train. And from talking to her, it is easy to be swept up by her enthusiasm for running, training and racing. She asked her former coach, Daniel Hamner, M.D., sports medicine and rehabilitation, to help restart her running career.
For some, Santa Fe would be a perfect training base. Seven thousand feet of hemoglobin-building altitude, some of the best food on the planet, and endless trails. And, it turns out, wild sharp- toothed animals. When pre-workout instructions came with bear-evasion tips, Rae started to think about the appeal of the northern loop of Central Park and its timid raccoons.
Now back in New York, Rae and her coach have put together a training cycle that culminates on April 10 for the Rotterdam Marathon. She has two prime motivations: the world 65-69 marathon record and perhaps to prove wrong a particular doctor who told her that after 65 muscles accelerate their decline. The world record for the 65-69 age group is 3:12:56, set by Emmi Luthi of Switzerland in 2009 at age 65.
On the way to Rotterdam, where flat terrain and cool temperatures have drawn record-seekers for decades, Rae has put together a series of long races to get her ready. The first was in our own Central Park, where she ran 1:06:48 for 15k, breaking the thirteen-year-old American record of 69 minutes, and setting an age graded score of 100.4%, missing the world record by just 12 seconds.
And then the real work began.
She clipped on a d-tag for the Manhattan/Arctic Circle Half, and ran 1:38:59, winning her age group by 14 minutes. The training was going well, so Rae went long, hitting the road for a three hour + run, across rivers, over bridges and into the cold. All along, Rae has been working with Dr. Hamner to bounce ideas off and they agreed that might have been excessive. Having been injured in the past, Rae generally limits her mileage to around 45 miles per week, although she has hit 60 this cycle. She does two speed workouts per week, and makes sure she recovers, sometimes using a Jacuzzi to avoid stiffness.
Next up on the trek to Rotterdam was the Hilton Head Half Marathon on February 12, where Rae improved on her Manhattan Half time by over five minutes, running 1:33 and change, and breaking the American record by around 3 minutes. The world half marathon record will have to wait, as she missed it by 47 seconds. But this is a journey, not a day trip, and Rae was happy that, as she put it, she “had a goal and achieved it, learned immensely and now I feel so much better about moving forward towards my Rotterdam marathon.”
The next checkpost on the journey is the NYC Half Marathon on March 20 – where no doubt Rae will be in the hunt for the 1:32:56 world record. Then a few weeks later, Rae will be off to Rotterdam and summit day: April 10.
One lesson we can take away from Rae’s running is that she has learned the value of a structured plan. She knew exactly what her goal was and worked backward to set up workouts and races to get her there ready. She is also not afraid to ask for help. While some masters runners feel they know all they need to know, Rae feels that she can learn from others. Finally, when something is wrong, she is not afraid to make a change in running and her profession. “When you are a designer you have to be aware of what is going on – things are always changing,” she says. “Always assess!”
It’s my job to assess the last few months of road running, so here goes. Clearly with the Race to Deliver on November 21, where, in a first, every man who ran set a 52-week age-graded PR. Nigel Francis, Carlos Rodriguez, John Zuehlke, Hiroyuki Nishide, Giovanni Caracci, Laurence Go, George Hirsch, Adam Riess, Christopher Kennan, and Carlos Stafford all had their best races of the year. For the record, if the temperature is 39 degrees and the humidity is 50%, go race somewhere, you might set a PR.
At the XC Champs, we had many champs. Tom Fitzpatrick, Tom Raymond, Doug Labar, Hank Schiffman, Sue Pearsall, Sid Howard and Judy Tripp each won their divisions.
The last scoring race of the year was on December 5, and just to show how tough NYC running is, Alan Ruben ran a 36:21/86.5% 10K at age 53 and still finished off the podium. Age group winners were Hank Schiffman and Sylvie Kimche, and Daniel Gercke had his first 80% race (longer than a mile).
A special note goes to Leandro Germosen, Thomas Fogarty and Roberta Little, for being tough enough to run the 15k cross country race in Van Cortlandt in a 54 degree monsoon. Any race after that one will seem easy. Leandro even took home a medal.
In the last actual race of 2010, Rae Baymiller set a new age group percentage record with her 100.4% at the Corbitt 15k and Jill Vollweiler took home a nice win.
The Manhattan Half was held in 14 degree conditions, so no one set a PR, but Rae and Andrew Moore won their age groups.
The Gridiron four miler was a rare fumble for age group wins, but Alexandre Tilmant and Gael Lledo set 52-week age-graded PRs.
Final 2010 best performers list for road races over one mile in the NYRR database:
1. Rae Baymiller: 100.4%
2. Yumi Ogita: 90.2%
3. Sylvie Kimche: 89.8%
4. Judith Tripp: 86.7%
5. Stacy Creamer: 85.7%
1. Alan Ruben: 87.6%
2. Stuart Calderwood: 86.5%
3. Yasuhiro Makoshi: 85.3%
4. Tom Phillips: 84.4%
5. James McQuade: 83.1%
And, finally, final team scores:
1st: M 50+
2nd: W 40+
3rd: M 40+
4th: W 50+
5th: W 60+
9th: M 60+
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