Stephanie Herbst runs 2:42:53 at Chicago

wow... goodo!

and she is...?

She is prominent in a pretty good book. Something like 'The Silence of Great Distance: Women Running Long.'

Yep, I saw her out there. She looked incredibly smooth. Good to see her making a comeback after all these years.

Very interesting. Hard to believe she's 41, but it's great to see her running so well.

That's awesome! I was running college track the same time she broke the collegiate record in the 10k and won double NCAA crowns in the 5000 and 10,000.

I know she had trouble enjoying the sport and I can tell you her college days were not probably her best memories.

That is very impressive for her age and the fact that she left the pressures of top class running years ago and has gone on to other life areas extremely successfully.

This was a neat bit of information for me to see today.

Smoking hot too

She is a star Wisconsin grad from the mid-80s. She had great 10,000 and 5,000 marks at the time. She may still be the UW record holder and they have had several NCAA XC champs since then, although the cream of the UW crop was probably in the middle distances (Favor, etc).You can get more info herehttp://www.uwbadgers.com/pdf/?id=2021She was on the XC team the scored 22 and 25 points in 85 and 86, is still the UW Indoor record holder at 3000 in 8:57 (a pretty good time 20 years ago) and the 10,000 32:32, and third best at 5,000 15:31. She was also academic all american - type

Alex de Large wrote:

and she is...?

I'm not 100% sure that I'm right about this, but I believe that I was talking with her after the race in the massage tent. We were both sitting around the heaters and talking about our races. She was not too happy about her time, saying that she would have liked to hit the 'A' standard, but when she told me that she was a masters runner, and ran 242, I was damn impressed. Plus, she said she lived in Atlanta now, and that the weather really beat her up.

I remember going by her around mile 10. I remember it because she had this amazing form - long loping strides - and it took a long time to pass her. (I also remember it because she was so good looking I actually looked back).

I had forgotten all about it but now that seeing thenumber I'm amazed to find out that was THE Stephanie Herbst. I had no idea she was even running. Great that she's running and so well.

The Silence of Great Distance is a very good book. I highly recommend it to all serious runners - men and women.

Saw her run 32:54 by herself at the BIG 10 meet in cold conditions. She won by more than a minute I think.

This was the same night that two Wisconsin males ran high 29's I think. Joe Stintzi and Delaney? Or maybe Chris Borsa? Or maybe it was Korhonen or Schoensee? Maybe Fry?

I think it was Borsa, or some other yound kid because I knew all the other ones pretty well from something or other. Anyway, She ran a BIG 10 record that night and made it look like she was running 35-flat. This was May of '86.

I saw her win two Big 10 XC meets in a row, she also won at least one District crown. Fall of '85 and '86. I remember her being just beautiful and having a nice healthy figure in '85 and then being quite gaunt the next fall. Don't know if she graduated or not at that point, but I think she did not and had one or two more years to go, but dropped out of running.

I always thought that she was one of the best talents I had ever seen for 3k/5k/10k running in America. I always felt bad that she wasn't able to continue when it would have mattered most.

Congrats to her for being that good 20-some years later. It just goes to show that talent is talent.

I watched Herbst run the 1985 Big Ten Meet 10,000 (hosted by Northwestern) as a freshman. She won, and in the process buried Nan Doak with a last 400 well under 65 seconds. I think Herbst ran just under 33 minutes that day. John Easker won the men's 10,000 that day, the time escapes me also, but 28:40 sounds about right?

Wags, good memory: Big 10 record is by Easker, 28:45.25 in '85. It was just missed last year at MSU.

Other Big 10 records of note:

1500m Jim Spivey 3:38.56 '80

5000m Scott Fry 13:47.39 '87

Women records of note:

1500m Suzy Favor 4:10.93 '87

3000m Stephanie Herbst 9:08.64 '86

5000m Maureen Cogan (OSU) 16:01.16 '85

10000m Stephanie Herbst 32:54.37 '86

Herbst-Lucke's performance in Chicago is the Comeback Performance of the Year by my estimation!

And she still looks great. Check out her race photos. Hard to believe she's 41.

If that's who I think it is, I used to see her at the Chattahoochee river trail pretty much every single morning. I had no idea who she was but I could tell just by her physique and her form that she was/is a competitive runner. Doesn't look much older than late 20s either.

I think it was 1988 in Ann Arbor at Big 10 track champ meet. I was captivated by her. I think she won the 10 and 5. Could not take my eyes off her. She was beautiful. Heck, I even thought about writing a letter to her......what a dreamer I was.

The Chick wrote:

If that's who I think it is, I used to see her at the Chattahoochee river trail pretty much every single morning.

She lists Atlanta as home. It's who you think it is.

still a tad "different" so to speak...easy on the eyes, but she "plays a deep left field" if you know what I mean...

nice run though...she also ran the Philly Half