RW honors 34 people who have defied expectations and inspire all us all. By running they have pushed their lives even further.
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Running is a powerful force that offers rewards greater than a trim physique or a finisher's medal. It also has the capacity to transform our minds and spirits, and to improve the lives of others. Take the 34 people we honor here — the Runner's World Heroes of Running 2007. By defying expectations, breaking barriers, and leading future generations, they remind us that the simple act of moving forward can have a profound impact. There's the 88-year-old ultrarunner who's made it his life's work to lead us where no runner had gone before, the cancer survivor who launched a worldwide movement against the disease, and two young superstars who are pumping new life into American distance racing. Through their stories, we hope you'll be inspired to explore the full potential of your running life.
The Powerhouse: Amy Palmiero-Winters
Text by Susan Rinkunas
Amy Palmiero-Winters's 3:04 in the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon meant far more than shaving 12 minutes off her personal best. It proved that anything she ever did on two legs she could do on one — and faster. By breaking the 3:16 she had run 13 years earlier, before losing her left leg in a motorcycle accident, Palmiero-Winters demonstrated the power of an unbreakable spirit. "'Disabled' means something you can't do," says the single mother of two and welder by trade. "I don't know of anything that I can't do." Readers found the 35-year-old so inspiring after reading about her in our pages that they selected her as our first-ever Reader's Choice Hero.
In 1994, Palmiero-Winters was riding her Harley when a car broadsided her. After surgeries to repair her mangled foot were unsuccessful, Palmiero-Winters opted to have her left leg amputated below the knee. Running on a prosthesis designed for walking, she won the 2005 Ossur National Leg Amputee Half-Marathon (1:57). Still, Palmiero-Winters knew she could do better. So in 2006, she contacted A Step Ahead Prosthetics & Orthotics, a company that serves the needs of active amputees, and was fitted for a true running leg. Three months later, she smashed the world record for female amputees by 27 minutes. Five months after that 3:26 performance, she set her 3:04 PR, breaking her own world record. Her wish list is ambitious: run a sub-three-hour marathon and a 100-mile ultra, qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials and the Hawaii World Ironman Championships. But Palmiero-Winters wouldn't have it any other way. "If you could give me my leg back today," she says, "I wouldn't take it."
The Philanthropist: Martin Franklin
Text by Charles Butler
It's not often that you see a hard-charging CEO break down in tears. But there was Martin Franklin, 42, chairman and CEO of the Jarden Corporation, a $6-billion consumer-product conglomerate, in a rare moment of weakness. He was 20 miles into last July's Badwater Ultramarathon — 135 miles from Death Valley to Mount Whitney in California — when he climbed into his support van and told his crew, "I can't pee! I think my kidneys are failing!" Too much was at stake for him to break down so soon.
On top of his own $135,000 contribution, Franklin, a British expat and 3:24 marathoner, had collected pledges of $300,000 that would go to the Wounded Warrior Project — if he completed the race. It would be the largest single donation ever received by the nonprofit organization, which helps American veterans who've been injured or disabled transition to civilian life. Fittingly, then, it was a Wounded Warrior on Franklin's team, a former retired Army sergeant named Steve Robison, who helped persuade him to carry on. He finished five hours ahead of his goal time in 41:29:24 — and with a better appreciation for servicemen and women. Franklin says, "I don't think any amount of suffering you experience on a run could compare with what veterans have gone through."
The Peacemaker: Tegla Loroupe
Text by Sarah Lorge Butler
Tegla Loroupe knows the life-changing power of sport. As a spritely 21-year-old, she became the first African woman to win a major marathon when she triumphed in New York City in 1994. The 4' 11" 85-pounder was the toast of the Big Apple — and her native Kenya, where the ambitions of female athletes had long been discouraged. Loroupe recognized that her notoriety could serve a purpose in her rural homeland, a volatile area where neighbors battled for scarce resources. In 2004, she formed the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation to promote conflict resolution between warring communities through education, poverty reduction, and sports programs — including Peace Runs. Loroupe's inaugural 10-K attracted elite athletes, politicians, diplomats, and, most important, warriors who turned in their AK-47s in order to run. Loroupe, 34, who has since organized dozens of Peace Runs throughout Africa, is already at work on her next initiative, to open Peace Academy, a boarding school and training facility for orphans displaced by violence and AIDS. "I've realized," she says, "by using sports, I can give something back to the community where I come from."
The Ironwoman: Sister Madonna Buder
Text by Joanna Sayago
Marie Dorthy Buder was 23 when she followed her first calling in life and became a nun. More than two decades later as Sister Madonna, she found her second: running. "I heard a priest expounding the physical and spiritual benefits of running," says Buder, 77, who serves with the Sisters for Christian Community in Spokane, Washington. Before long she was training religiously, and over the next seven years she accumulated 37 marathon finishes. At a time when many of her peers were slowing down, Sister Buder was just warming up.
At 52, she added swimming and biking to her repertoire, and since 1982 she's powered through more than 300 triathlons, including 34 full Ironmans (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, 26.2-mile run). In 1996, she completed an Ironman in 14:27:14 — fast enough to break the world record for 65- to 69-year-olds. And at 75, Buder became the oldest woman to complete the Hawaii Ironman, a title she repeated in 2006. Proving she's as resilient as ever, in June, just eight weeks after fracturing her arm in a bike collision, Buder won her age group at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship. Buder recalls once questioning whether it was appropriate for a nun to compete in races. She doesn't worry anymore. "You don't need to apologize for the gifts you've been given," she says. "Only apologize for not using them."
The Environmentalists: Blue Planet Runners
Text by Sean Downey
How far would you run for a cause? Five miles? 26.2? How about 15,200 miles? That's the distance 20 Blue Planet Runners covered in their nonstop, around-the-world relay to raise awareness and money for safe drinking water. The runners began in New York City on June 1, traveling east through Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China, and Japan, and finally crossing the United States to finish where they started on September 4. The team was selected from 300 applicants based on their diverse backgrounds, commitment to the cause, and ability to withstand the rigors of the road — each runner had the task of covering 10 miles within 90 minutes roughly once a day.
In Russia, one of the most grueling stretches, runners dodged semis and battled massive horseflies during 18 days on the Trans-Siberian Highway. Runners stayed motivated by spreading their message — how a donation of $30 could supply a person in an affected area with water for life. Jin Zidell, 69, a philanthropist from Kentfield, California, conceived the run. He started with $7 million of his own money and then signed Dow as a sponsor. This drew fire from critics of the company's environmental record, but Zidell says the support enabled 100 percent of the run's proceeds (about $1 million) to go to the cause. To date, the Blue Planet Run foundation has funded 135 projects in 13 countries — from Sierra Leone to Bolivia — providing safe drinking water to 100,000 people.
The Pioneer: Ted Corbitt
Text by Gail Kislevitz
Ted Corbitt has made so many contributions to the world of distance running that listing them all would be an endurance feat in itself. The 88-year-old has tallied 199 ultras and marathons, held records in the 20-, 50-, and 100-mile distances, and logged 200- to 300-mile weeks over his career. A living symbol of durability and longevity, Corbitt has continued to run, and now walk, marathons and ultras into his eighth decade. This strength and tireless work ethic were cultivated when Corbitt spent his early childhood working on a cotton farm in South Carolina. He later ran through college, although segregation rules occasionally kept him from competing.
At 32, Corbitt placed 15th in his first marathon in Boston, and the following year he ran the marathon in the 1952 Olympics. Corbitt's fascination with the human body not only fueled his running (he experimented with intervals, resistance training, self-massage, and other now-common techniques) but also his career (he became a physical therapist in New York City, where he regularly ran 31 miles around the island of Manhattan). These successes earned him the respect of his peers, who named him the first president of the New York Road Runners Club in 1958, and then president of the Road Runners Club of America, where he established the calibrated bicycle measurement system as the course-certification standard. "The biggest observation I'd make about our sport is the growth, especially among women," he says. The only development that pleases him more? "portable toilets."
The Inspirations: Jamie and Lynn Parks
Text by Gail Kislevitz
After she was nearly killed in a car crash in 1987, doctors doubted Lynn Mcgovern would walk again. But Mcgovern, whose brain stem had been damaged, endured seven years of rehabilitation to learn how to walk a short distance — namely, down the aisle to marry Jamie Parks in 1994. Since then, she has continued to defy expectations by completing more than 170 road races, thanks to her devoted husband, who would rather push Lynn in her wheelchair than run alone. "I am so lucky Jamie has given me this gift," Lynn says.
The 45-year-olds have covered more than 13,000 miles together. Their personal bests, including a 17:35 5-k and a 2:57 marathon, are remarkable, given Jamie's workload (Lynn and the chair weigh 170 pounds). Jamie, who met Lynn in 1985, started pushing her in races in 1991. "She faces so many challenges, but never complains," says Jamie, a mail carrier in Tinley Park, Illinois. "It makes it hard for me to complain about anything." At a half-marathon in August, one of the chair's wheels fell off at mile 12. Jamie pushed Lynn on a single wheel for the final mile, finishing in 1:32:11. "We were mad, but then you move on," Jamie says. "We don't take things so seriously as other folks might. Our big picture is much bigger."
The Frontrunner: Ryan Hall
Text by Sarah Lorge Butler
With two exceptional debut performances in 2007, Ryan Hall has become the newest star in — if not the leader of — the American distance pack. The 24-year-old from big Bear Lake, California, ran a 59:43 at the Houston Half-Marathon in January, smashing the 21-year-old American record by 72 seconds and averaging a 4:33 mile to break the elusive one-hour barrier. Only nine other athletes have covered the distance faster. Not bad for a first try. Then at the London Marathon in April, Hall ran a 2:08:24, the fastest American marathon debut and the second-fastest American time ever. "Ryan had an incredible year," says Craig Masback, CEO of USA Track & Field, the governing body of the sport.
"With those performances, he went from a talented young runner with tremendous promise to one of the top contenders at any race." Hall's times have done more than just bolster his own career. They've helped silence the critics who have long said that American distance runners can't compete against athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia. For Hall, who is deeply religious, pouring everything he has into his running isn't just a matter of national pride, it's the way he can best honor god. His London experience, especially, left him feeling like he has more to give. "London made me hungry for another marathon," says Hall, now 25. "I want to tap out my potential and see how far I can push myself." We won't have to wait to see for ourselves — Hall will run the Olympic trials marathon in New York City November 3.
The Phenom: Alan Webb
Text by Peter Gambaccini
"I'm on top of the world, baby!" Alan Webb screamed after shattering Steve Scott's 25-year-old American mile record of 3:47.69 in July, running a 3:46.91 on a track in Brasschaat, Belgium. It was an achievement U.S. distance fans had awaited and expected since 2001, when Webb sent shock waves through the track world by running a 3:53.43 mile when he was a high school senior. Webb, 24, of Reston, Virginia, has had epic highs and crushing lows (most recently, his eighth-place finish in the 1500 at the world championships in august). With scorching finishing speed and a tactical mastery that displayed patience and maturity, Webb shot past the world's best for victories at the USA Championships in Indianapolis, and a 3:30.54 for 1500 meters in Paris — and he did it with a fist-pumping enthusiasm that electrified the entire track-and-field scene. The mark he wants next? "That's easy, man," he says, "world record," which would mean dipping below the current mark of 3:43.13 — no easy feat. But Steve Scott himself believes it's within Webb's reach. "When all is said and done," says Scott, "people will consider him the greatest distance runner America has ever had."
The Visionary: Nancy Brinker
Text by Sarah Lorge Butler
Nancy Brinker knows how to make dreams come true. In 1982, two years after her sister, Susan Komen, had died of breast cancer, Brinker woke up with a vivid image: a sea of women, wearing pink t-shirts, running. Brinker, who had recently founded the Susan G. Komen for the cure to fight the disease that took her sister's life, decided to follow her dream and organize a charity run. That first Race for the Cure in Dallas in 1983 attracted 800 runners. Today, there are 120 race for the cure events held annually, with 1.4 million participants, making it the largest fund-raising event for breast cancer in the world. Through these events, Komen has raised more than $916 million for medical research, early-detection education, and health services, such as mammograms — all of which have improved survival rates and the quality of life of patients. But the Komen races are more than fund-raisers — they are support groups. "I see the events as a bonding event, a celebration of survival," says Brinker, who herself battled breast cancer in 1985. Brinker, who lives in Palm Beach, Florida, remains just as focused at finding a cure today as she was 25 years ago. She says she lives by the words of Nobel Laureate Marie Curie: "I never see what has been done, I only see what remains to be done."
The Leader: Dave McGillivray
Text By Amby Burfoot
Dave McGillivray lives by two simple rules: plan for everything and stay positive. Yet McGillivray's life is anything but simple. He's an endurance-running machine, a tireless philanthropist, and one of the best race directors the world has ever seen. That reputation was put to the test in April, when a nor'easter threatened McGillivray's main event, the Boston Marathon. The man who has immersed himself in all race details — from security to porta-potties — for the past 20 years suddenly was faced with a whole new set of worries. Namely: can the race go on?
On race eve McGillivray was in constant contact with the national weather service, the executive office of public safety and security, and authorities in the eight towns the course passes through. But by the next morning, mother nature was ready to cooperate, and the race went on flawlessly. When it was over, McGillivray, more sleep-deprived than usual, upheld a 36-year custom by running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. Though Boston is his super bowl, McGillivray has helped execute more than 750 racing events, some of which have raised funds for his children's fitness foundation, which helps fight the obesity epidemic. On August 22, the father of four ran his age (53) in miles, a birthday tradition he started when he was 12. Somehow, between all his endeavors, McGillivray has managed to complete 121 marathons and eight Hawaii Ironman triathlons. "I participate in races to build my own confidence and self-esteem," he says, "and I direct them so others can have the same opportunity."
Photographs by John Davis
From MSN Health
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