Three American records fall at USATF Masters 12 km Championships

The Jersey Shore, and USATF-New Jersey’s By Hook or By Crook Run, greeted over 200 masters athletes on Sunday, September 15 for the 2024 USATF Masters 12 km Championships. Despite the warm, humid conditions, three athletes bettered American records. Roberta Groner bettered the 45-49 record by 1:17, lowering it to 42:21. Suzanne La Burt broke the 60-64 record set by Masters Hall of Famer, Katherine Martin, by 15 seconds in 48:39, and Sandra Folzer dropped the 85-89 American record by a whopping half hour, from 1:54:49 to 1:24:42.

OVERALL

Roberta Groner, top American finisher in the marathon at Doha 19, and winner of these championships in 2021, returned for a coast-to-coast win in 42:23 – a massive two-and-a-half-minute win over her nearest competition. Karen Bertasso claimed the silver medal in 43:58, with Jessica Francis third at 45:53.

Mario Vazques, overall winner of the 2023 USATF Masters 10 km Championships, added another feather to his hat with this 12 km overall championship. Taking it out hard, Vazquez developed a gap on the field in the first mile, expanding it thereafter. He won in 38:26, with a 45 second gap back to Brian Flynn. Fifty-five seconds later, Fabian Daza secured the bronze medal at 40:06.

AGE GRADING

The age grading score, the Performance Level Percentage (PLP), identifies the runners, across all age divisions, who had the best performance relative to the best times in the world. Nora Cary, 69, topped the charts; her net time of 54:41 earned an incredibly impressive 100.73%. Suzanne La Burt, 61, claimed silver from her record-breaking 48:39, earning 95.87%. Mary Cass’ 51:11, at 63, earned a 93.56%. Ken Youngers, 68, finished third in age grading at the 10 Mile Championships three weeks ago. This time he took the championships with a 47:01, earning a 90.50%. Just a half percentage point back was Vazquez, the overall winner. Podium finishes in both overall and age grading is a rare achievement. His 38:24, at 45, was graded at 90.01%. Nat Larson’s 44:36 at 62, left him in third, 0.02 percentage points behind Vazquez at 89.99%.

AGE DIVISION

National women’s champions were crowned in 40-44 Bertasso 45-49 Groner 50-54 Hortencia Aliaga 47:51 55-59 Fiona Bayly 48:02 60-64 La Burt 65-69 Cary 70-74 Marybeth Campau 1:22:19 75-79 Bonnie Brunish 1:32:29 80-84 no entries 85-89 Folzer.

National men’s champions were crowned in 40-44 Flynn 45-49 Vazquez 50-54 David Guzik 43:51 55-59 Shane Anthony 42:58 60-64 Larson 1:01:09 65-69 Youngers 70-74 Reno Stirrat 52:45 75-79 Jerry Learned 1:00:52 80-84 Tom Jennings 1:07:58.

TEAMS

The score is the cumulative time of the first three finishing athletes per team. The Garden State Track Club was the only club to take three division titles: M40+ with a 40:11 average time, W40+ at 49:44 per athlete, and at W50+ with an average time of 50:26. Another New Jersey Club, the Shore AC, earned wins in M70+ at 58:09, and W60+ at 51:57 per scoring runner. The Atlanta Track Club claimed titles in M50+ at 47:16 per athlete, and M60+ at 48:40. The Raritan Valley Road Runners took the W70+ title unopposed with an average time of 1:31:52.

Masters athletes will head to Indianapolis next for the third national championship in a six week stretch at the 2024 USATF Masters Half Marathon Championships. For the first time, Beyond Monumental and the Indiana Sports Corporation will host these championships as part of their Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben on Saturday, October 5. Registration is here.

Submitted by Paul Carlin