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|  Pozdnyakova destroys masters WR at Shamrock Sportsfest 8K March 19, 2003 Courtesy: Rick Platt/Shamrock Sportsfest
At age 48, Pozdnyakova shattered the women's 8K Masters world
record March 15 at the 31st annual Shamrock Sportsfest 8K in
Virginia Beach. The previous world record was 26:19 by Ruth
Wysocki of the U.S. on July 12, 1997 at Newport Beach, Calif.
Pozdnyakova ran a 25:56 to better the world record by 23
seconds, and the Shamrock Masters 8K race record (26:34 by
Lyubov Kremleva in 2002) by 38 seconds. Pozdnyakova now works as
an agent for other runners, and brought Kremleva, the defending
champion, with her. Kremleva, also from Gainesville, was herself
under both the previous race and world records with a 26:15.
In a race that allowed "double dipping" Pozdnyakova won $1,000
for first Master, $400 for third overall (behind Gladys Asiba's
25:47 and Breeda Dennehy's 25:55), and a Masters world-record
bonus of $500. Kremleva received $600 for second Master and $300
for fourth overall.
Two weeks before Shamrock (March 2), Pozdnyakova was the overall
winner of the Los Angeles Marathon in 2:29:40. She had her 48th
birthday two days later, then was first Master at the nearby
Gate River 15K in Jacksonville March 8. Last October Pozdnyakova
was first overal at the Ocean State Marathon in 2:29:00, a world-
best time for women 45-49. Most runners concentrate on the first
2-4 years after turning 40 to run their best times as a Master.
For Pozdnyakova to still be breaking world Masters records at
age 48 is truly remarkable.
With her women's world Masters record, the Shamrock Masters 8K
now holds both Masters world records on the fast and totally
flat course along the Atlantic Ocean . In the 1992 Shamrock
Masters 8K, Nick Rose of Great Britain set the still-current
men's Masters 8K record of 23:13. The weather for this year's
race was ideal, with little or no wind, sunny skies, and
temperatures in the 40s (rising to the low 50s for the marathon).
While Pozdnyakova and the women took advantage of one of the
best weather years ever at Shamrock, the open men (with a
plethora of talented international runners) wasted an
opportunity to go for the race and world-record bonuses offered
this year by Shamrock. The opening mile was a pedestrian 4:55,
with the women's lead pack only eight seconds behind. Things got
fast after that first mile, but the damage was done. Covering
the final 3.97 miles in 17:32, Kenya's Linus Maiyo had yet
another ferocious duel to the finish (he lost a photo finish to
South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala at the Feb. 23 World's Best 10K
in Puerto Rico, both timed in 28:16), but Maiyo won a physical
sprint to Shamrock's outdoor finish line adjacent to the
Virginia Beach Pavilion. Maiyo had a 22:27, just 18 seconds off
the Shamrock record (22:09)and 24 seconds off the world record
(22:03). Kenya's Francis Komu was second in 22:28, followed by
Kenya's Moses Macharia Mwangi (22:41), Australia's Andrew
Letherby (22:55) and Kenya's Patrick Nthiwa (23:01). If only
that talented field had gone out in 4:30 (rather than 4:55),
more history could have been made.
The Masters men's race was also very close, as Kenya's Andrew
Masai, 43, outkicked Eddy Hellebuyck, 42 of Albuquerque, 23:54
to 23:57, with Jon Sinclair a distant third (25:12).
The marathon was won by Kenya's Fred Getange (2:25:55 for
$1,000) over debut marathoner Keith Kimmons, a senior at the
University of Tennessee-Knoxville (2:26:40 for $600). Masters
marathon winner Dai Roberts, 41, of Virginia Beach, was third
overall (2:28:11), ahead of two other local runners--Michael
Mann of Hampton (a PR 2:28:28) and John Piggott of Williamsburg
(a PR 2:30:14), all three working together the entire race.
The women's surprise marathon winner, Stacie Alboucrek, 35, of
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was not among the seeded runners, as she
had just intended to run 18-20 miles as a training race for
another marathon three weeks later. But the weather was perfect,
she felt great, and kept going to a 2:39:49 win, good for the
$1,000 first-place money, and an additional U.S. Olympic
Trials "A" standard (sub-2:40:00) bonus of $250. Runnerup Susan
Graham Gray of Hagerstown, Md. was on pace for a "B" standard
qualifier (2:48), but cramps midway had her struggling in to a
runnerup 2:57:00, just ahead of Heather Davis of Raleigh, N.C.
(2:57:27) and Jill Knesh of Homer City, Pa. (2:57:33).
The women's Masters winner was Leisa Engle, 44, of Virginia
Beach (3:06:07).
TOP 10 MALE SUB-MASTERS FINISHERS-8K
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Ponce de Leon traveled to St. Augustine, Florida in his search
for the Fountain of Youth, but never found it. Perhaps he would
have succeeded if he had continued 60 miles further west to
Gainesville, where Ukraine's Tatyana Pozdnyakova (right)
is defying age with a series of incredible running performances.