Constantina Dita-Tomescu won the women’s marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At thirty-eight, she became the oldest Olympic marathon champion. Her marathon run was on relatively flat paved surfaces; she did not have to run up a mountain.
Anita Ortiz’s marathon this week was up a mountain and, in winning, she set a record:
“… Ortiz, a 1982 Wheat Ridge High School grad who won the Western States 100 in June, broke the Pikes Peak Marathon women’s age-group (45-49) record with a time of 4:28:20. The previous record (4:48:16) was set by Durango’s Sharon Kuhn in 2004.”
link: Falls fail to deter Ortiz, 45, in Pikes Peak Marathon
Anita Ortiz is forty-five years old. The second place winner in the women’s division was Sharon Kuhn, 50, and third place finisher was Andrea Williams, only 28.
Perhaps by Pikes Peak standards, runners in their twenties or thirties are considered ‘youngsters.’
Catherine Forsythe
