Amazing story about master runner Katy Martin - More impressive than Ed Whitlock

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Amazing story about master runner Katy Martin - More impressive than Ed Whitlock 4/1/2012 9:46PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/sports/runner-kathy-martin-60-is-speeding-through-records.html?ref=sports

Life can bestow unexpected gifts, and sometime in her late 40s, Martin, a real estate agent living on Long Island, a busy working mother who had never been in a track meet, discovered a glorious secret hidden away in her body. Not only was she a good runner, she was also an outstanding one. In fact, she was one of the most remarkable female distance runners in the world.

This discovery of greatness in her legs came too late for the kind of dreams a younger woman might have: intercollegiate championships, Olympic glory, being the absolute fastest of the fast. As decades pass, maximum heart rate slows, aerobic capacity wanes, muscle mass tends to dwindle.

But Martin has been redefining what is possible for an older body, setting a string of formidable national and world records.

In competitions called masters races, athletes are reborn every five years, reclassified in age brackets like 40 to 44 or 45 to 49, each with its own set of top performances. Martin excels at every distance from 800 meters (about half a mile) to 50 kilometers (about 31 miles). While in her 50s, she broke American records in more than a dozen events.

Last September, Martin turned 60, entering prime time in the 60-to-64 age group, when she will almost certainly be faster than in a year or two or three. Setting records now is like eating a good meal while it is hot.

Since her birthday, Martin has run in 13 highly competitive races, including the Chicago Marathon and a cross-country championship in Seattle. She has set nine American and two world records. Her pending record in the 3,000 meters was set in January at the Armory track in Upper Manhattan; a month later, competing at the same site, she broke the world indoor record in the 1,500 meters with a 5:12.2.

Last month, in a 50-kilometer race at Caumsett State Historic Park on Long Island, Martin not only set a national record, but her timed intervals at 20, 25 and 30 kilometers were records as well. Her 50-kilometer time of 3:58:37 was nearly an hour faster than the listed standard.

Last November, in the Philadelphia half-marathon, she finished in 1:28:28, 44th out of 5,888 women. She easily won the 60-to-64 age bracket; only three of her peers were in the top 2,000. Her time was so fast she would have finished sixth among women 30 to 34. Her age grade was 99.3 percent.

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