Linda Somers-Smith, age 48, ran 16:14 5K at Silicon Valley Turkey Trot!

She also won outright the PAUSATF Cross Country Championships the week befor the 5K.

Was this on a certified course? If so, new age-group WR?

Man, that is impressive. She would be a "scorer" on many men's college teams. Good for her.

I believe she won every PA/USATF XC race she entered. That's likely five or six races, all against decent competition.

The younger ladies can at least take heart in that she won't be on the scene too much longer.

An age graded 101.85%? - that's unpossible

it is possible, if you break the world record. did that seriously never cross your mind??

wejoquad wrote:

An age graded 101.85%? - that's unpossible

Yes, it did cross my mind. I thought the use of a fake word (unpossible) would indicate that I was joking.

We disunderstood your humor.

Linda's a stud-muffette for sure. She ran 2:38:49 at the marathon trials in 2008 so it's not like this is a flash in the pan performance.

linda makes me want to quit. how come i'm so much slower than 25 years ago, while she barely slows down over so many years? 16:14...age 48--geez.

Sara Hall only beats someone old enough to be her mother by 14 seconds?

And she's a partner at her law firm.

Her most recent marathon time pales compare to this. For comparison, Colleen (age 45) ran 16:38 at Freihofer's (granted, a month after Boston, but went on to run 1:07 for 20K and 2:32 in the marathon this fall). Desiree D. ran 16:15 at Carlsbad, followed by 32:25 for 10K on the track (and 2:27:53 this fall).

What does Linda have planned for the spring??

are you fcuking serious wrote:

Like a fine wine, gets better with time--what an inspiration!!! Get out of here w/ your 'drugging' allegations--what ludacris! Puh--leeeeze!!! Do everyone a favor: get over it--she's the sh!t--DEAL WITH IT!!

xo

lk

Her body should be banged up at 48 with that many years of running. She was always an odd girl and I would not be surprised if she is using something illegal.

16:14 is great, but have we forgotten that Monica Joyce ran 16:01 on the track last year at age 49?

...and 16:19 this year at age 50 (just checked)

I have known, raced and trained with Linda for 20 years. She is in no way cheating her sport, she is just a hard core athlete who has been fortunate enough to grow stronger and stronger. At our age if you are lucky enough to go injury free for a season or two you can actually put together something amazing with all of the strength you have built over the years. Hats off to Linda,great performance.

How did we get to the second page without a GN pointing out the unpossible and disunderstood? Come on kids...stop paying attention in class and get on the message boards to make yourself feel better by pointing out others flaws...right before you go out for your 17:30 min 5k time trial you'll claim was 16:13 to save face from a beatdown by an "old" lady.

She would have been the 4th man on my college team. Her run is just awesome!