African-American Female Sprinters

These woman were amazing sprinters and world record holders

Flojo

Evelyn Ashford

Gail Devers

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The Old Geezers…….

I love the idea of people over the age of  60 still running and kicking the butts of the young uns! Charlotte is definitely a city full of serious runners and each day I see at least one runner who is close to retirement age , if not already well into the golden years. The awesome thing is…they look wonderful; lean, healthy and vibrant. Often times, better than those that are half their age. So, when I see this, it only inspires and encourages me to keep on running. When I get over the age of 60, I want some young person riding in a car to say, “look at that old geezer running, that’s amazing!” 

Here are some examples and inspiration: 

Buster Martin is taking time out from work to train for the London Marathon – aged 101. He is a dad of 17 and wants to be the oldest man to complete the grueling 26.2 mile run. War veteran Buster, who plays in a rock band when he’s not at work cleaning vans, said: “It’s about time someone my age did the marathon. It will be a record, though I’m not doing it for that. I just want to show that old people can do things.” He vowed: “Every Saturday and Sunday morning I will be up at 5.30am to jog.”

Diane Allen  ran in high school, but didn’t run after that until many years later. Running her first marathon at the age of 50, she has now run 13 marathons along with countless other races. She is now 60 years old and lives in Charlotte, NC and has completed 13 marathons.

 Kathy Seavers is one of the fastest over-60 female runners you’ll find anywhere, winning 1st place in her age group at least 90% of the time. She and her husband Larry are well-known to almost everybody in the Charlotte running community and they both typically run over 40 races a year. She is 65 years old. 

Chris Catoe  is  73 years old  and has a running routine that could whip someone half his age. He’s dropped back from running 55 miles a week to a mere 35. He runs every other day instead of every day. He’s cut back on marathons, but still competes in a dozen or so half-marathons and 10K races a year, shoulder-to-shoulder with people who weren’t even born when he started running in the late 1960s. 

 

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Running My Life

On Monday January 11th, I will take part in a running program for girls that is similar to Girl on the Run.  This program is called Running My Life and a high school student designed the program last year as her Gold Award project for the Girl Scouts. The program is designed to encourage girls to not only run and partake in physical activity, but to also encourge them to have self confidence in their abilities in many aspects of their lives. Since I love running, I was asked to be one of the adult leaders of the group. I am thrilled to do it. The program is offered to girls ages 9-18 at the private school where I work in Charlotte, NC. We will meet weekly on Mondays for 1.5 hours. During that time frame, we will run a course and do team building and social activities.  The weather in North Carolina and across the country this winter has been bitter cold, so I am hoping that by Monday the temperatre at least rises to 40 degrees. That would make the program so much more enjoyable. At any rate, I am excited and will post updates throughout the 12 week program.

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John Baxter Taylor, Jr., V.M.D. – First African-American to win Olympic Gold Medal

According to Penn Biographies in the University of Pennsylvania archives, the First African-American to Win an Olympic Gold Medal John Baxter Taylor, Jr., was born November 3, 1882, in Washington, D.C., the son of Sarah Thomas and John Baxter Taylor. After his family moved to Philadelphia, Taylor attended Central High School, where he was captain of the track team. After high school, while at Brown Preparatory School, young Taylor was a member of a team celebrated for not losing a race and for capturing the one-mile intercollegiate relay championship of the Penn relay games.

Taylor’s association with Penn began when he entered the Wharton School in September 1903. He withdrew from Wharton at the end of his second year and shortly thereafter, in October 1905, enrolled in the School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating from this three-year program in 1908.

During his student years at Penn, Taylor contributed significantly to Penn’s athletic standing. As a member of Penn’s 1903, 1904, 1905, 1907 and 1908 track teams, Taylor (along with Nathaniel J. Cartmell and Guy Hastings) made Penn once again the champions on the track and field. Taylor’s stride measured 8 feet 6 inches, the longest of any runner yet known at that time. He was indisputedly the best quarter-miler in the college world, establishing the world’s interscholastic record of 49.1 seconds for 440 yards in 1903 and setting a new record of 48.6 seconds for this event four years later. In 1907 he was also the indoor champion for 600 yards.

Taylor was also gaining international fame–and Olympic gold. In the summer of 1904 he visited England and France, winning the majority of his races. When the Olympics were held in England in July1908, shortly after his graduation from Penn, Taylor had two chances for the gold. His first opportunity came when he participated in the 400 meter race, doing well even though he was ill at the time. Unfortunately, when the race was called because of a disputed foul, bitter controversy ensued between the Americans and British and the Americans boycotted the rerunning of this race. Despite this disappointment, Taylor did bring home the gold as a member of America’s 1600 meter (one mile) relay team; he and his teammates fellow Penn grad Nathaniel J. Cartmell, W’08, Philadelphian Melvin Sheppard and William F. Hamilton set a world record in this race.

 Two African-Americans had earned medals at the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis–Joe Stadler (from Cleveland) had won a silver medal in the standing high jump and George Poage (from the University of Wisconsin) had won two bronze medals for the 200-meter and 400-meter hurdles. But Taylor, in 1908, became the first African-American to win Olympic gold.

Unfortunately, John Baxter Taylor had only a few months in which to enjoy his successes as a veterinary student and as an Olympian. He died of typhoid pneumonia on December 2, 1908. Thousands of his Penn teammates, alumni andstudents gathered for the funeral at the Taylor family home at 3223 Woodland Avenue in West Philadelphia.

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2010..NEW YEAR..NEW DECADE

HAPPY NEW YEAR to my fellow runners and all. 2010 is going to be the best running year yet. Admittingly, I took a two-week hiatus for the holidays, which I am positive will diminish the running progress that I made in 2009. But no worries or fears for me. I know that I will be able to get back to that status and move beyond it.  I have already been text messaging with my running partner about our 2010 running goals. My goal is to complete two 10Ks in 2010, however, my running partner wants to jump right in and train for a half-marathon for 2010. Now, I am not convinced that I can complete a half marathon quite yet. I was thinking about working up to that by completing several 10Ks during the year. HOWEVER,  I am feeling lucky and empowered. I am certain that 2010 is going to be my best year yet. I am certain that there are some wonderful things in store for me in the upcoming months of this new year and new decade and I don’t want to pass on any of it. So, training for the half marathon is a go! I will start running again this week, despite the very cold weather. I will also meet up again with my running partner beginning on Saturday to start training for the big event. Stay tuned!!!

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