Runners
I LOVE THIS PHOTO of my sister, Sarah, and me running together when we were kids. Four decades later, I still remember the moment. I’m 8 and she’s 3, and we’re holding hands, sprinting across the Mall in Washington, D.C., where our family lived for a time. The truth is, I’m pulling her along, faster than she could possibly go on her own. But look at those joyful-jailbreak expressions on our faces. We’re silent-laughing—laughing so hard that no sound comes out. I thought of that photo while reading “My Sister, the Runner?” Writer at Large Steve Friedman’s account of coaxing his younger (and defiantly nonrunning) sister, Ann, into doing a 5-K with him (page 98). I think it’s one of the best stories we’ve ever published. It’s about running the way The Godfather is about the mafia. What it’s really about is family. When it comes to running, Sarah is the anti-Ann. She started in college after deciding on a whim to do a triathlon. She did both all through law school and babies, and now, at 42, she’s the most dedicated and decorated athlete in the family. She’s done four marathons, and although an old knee injury slows her down, she often wins her age group in triathlons and occasionally wins outright. In August, she com- COURTESY OF MARATHONFOTO (RACE) The idea is to work more like siblings, and direct additional time, talent, and resources toward producing more original content for the Web and smartphones— where runners are spending more of their time—while still making great magazines. So look for a Web site redesign and a new mobile app from us early in 2015. Beginning with this double issue, our first, the frequency of Runner’s World will go from 12 issues per year to 11. (Existing subscriptions will be extended by one issue.) We are also integrating the editorial staffs of RW and sibling title Running Times, which speaks exclusively to highly dedicated, competitive, front-of-the-pack runners (that’s the cover of RT’s Jan/ Feb issue below). RT’s frequency will also change, from 10 issues per year to six bimonthly issues. peted in the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in the sprint division, finishing in 1:19:49. “I never saw myself as someone who could win races,” she says. “But when I turned 40, I decided to really turn it on and see what I could do. I’ve gotten faster each year. We’ll see how long I can keep that up…”
I LOVE THIS PHOTO of my sister, Sarah,
and me running together when
we were kids. Four decades later,
I still remember the moment. I’m
8 and she’s 3, and we’re holding
hands, sprinting across the Mall
in Washington, D.C., where our
family lived for a time. The truth
is, I’m pulling her along, faster
than she could possibly go on her
own. But look at those joyful-jailbreak
expressions on our faces.
We’re silent-laughing—laughing
so hard that no sound comes out.
I thought of that photo while
reading “My Sister, the Runner?”
Writer at Large Steve Friedman’s
account of coaxing his younger
(and defiantly nonrunning) sister,
Ann, into doing a 5-K with
him (page 98). I think it’s one of
the best stories we’ve ever published.
It’s about running the way
The Godfather is about the mafia.
What it’s really about is family.
When it comes to running,
Sarah is the anti-Ann. She started
in college after deciding on a
whim to do a triathlon. She did
both all through law school and
babies, and now, at 42, she’s the
most dedicated and decorated
athlete in the family. She’s done
four marathons, and although an
old knee injury slows her down,
she often wins her age group in
triathlons and occasionally wins
outright. In August, she com-
COURTESY OF MARATHONFOTO (RACE)
The idea is to
work more like
siblings, and
direct additional
time, talent, and
resources toward
producing more
original content
for the Web and
smartphones—
where runners are
spending more of
their time—while
still making great
magazines. So
look for a Web site
redesign and a new
mobile app from
us early in 2015.
Beginning with this
double issue, our
first, the frequency
of Runner’s World
will go from 12
issues per year
to 11. (Existing
subscriptions will
be extended by
one issue.) We are
also integrating the
editorial staffs of
RW and sibling title
Running Times,
which speaks
exclusively to
highly dedicated,
competitive,
front-of-the-pack
runners (that’s the
cover of RT’s Jan/
Feb issue below).
RT’s frequency will
also change, from
10 issues per year
to six bimonthly
issues.
peted in the USA Triathlon Age
Group National Championships
in the sprint division, finishing
in 1:19:49. “I never saw myself as
someone who could win races,”
she says. “But when I turned 40,
I decided to really turn it on and
see what I could do. I’ve gotten
faster each year. We’ll see how
long I can keep that up…”
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RISING STAR<br />
Emma<br />
Coburn<br />
SHE MADE ONE thing very<br />
clear in 2014: Steeplechase<br />
is mine.<br />
“The goal [for the year]<br />
was just to be healthy, hopefully<br />
PR, and be under 9:20,”<br />
says Emma Coburn, 24. She<br />
did all that, and more. She<br />
won her first race, in Shanghai<br />
in May, in 9:19.8—a PR.<br />
Later that month, she placed<br />
third in 9:17.84 in the Prefontaine<br />
Classic, then won the<br />
national championships in<br />
Sacramento in June. On July<br />
5, she ran 9:14.12 in Paris for<br />
second. Seven days later in<br />
Glasgow, she again finished<br />
second, but her time of<br />
9:11.42 was the third-fastest<br />
in the world for 2014—and an<br />
American record.<br />
Coburn ran her first steeplechase<br />
as a high-school<br />
junior in Crested Butte, Colorado.<br />
She was scheduled to<br />
run the 800 meters at a meet<br />
in Albuquerque, but she says,<br />
“My dad didn’t want to drive<br />
all that way to just watch me<br />
run two laps.” So she signed<br />
up for a 2-K steeplechase.<br />
She won, and qualified for<br />
nationals.<br />
Her fourth-place performance<br />
at nationals helped<br />
net her a scholarship at<br />
the University of Colorado,<br />
where she made nationals as<br />
a freshman, placed second as<br />
a sophomore, and won both<br />
the NCAA and U.S. titles as<br />
a junior. She red-shirted her<br />
senior year to focus on the<br />
2012 Olympics, where she<br />
finished ninth in the steeplechase.<br />
In 2013, she won her<br />
second NCAA title, running<br />
through a lower-back injury<br />
that ended her season early.<br />
Coburn is known for her<br />
fearless, front-running style.<br />
The steeple is a grueling<br />
event—7.5 laps with four 30-<br />
inch barriers and one barrier-plus-water<br />
jump per lap.<br />
“My best chance of winning<br />
doesn’t come in a sit-andkick<br />
race,” she says. “It’s a<br />
bold move to run hard from<br />
the start, and often it leads to<br />
second place but a great time.<br />
But I prefer to run that way.”<br />
Steeplers need<br />
strength, timing,<br />
balance, and nerve.<br />
It’s Coburn’s habit<br />
to take the lead from<br />
the gun, Prefontainestyle.<br />
It’s a gamble that’s put the<br />
world on notice: Watch out<br />
for the Americans. “Running<br />
a full international schedule<br />
this year gave Emma that<br />
high level of competition<br />
to take her racing to the next<br />
level,” says Jenny Simpson,<br />
owner of the previous American<br />
steeple record of 9:12.50<br />
(set in 2009, before she<br />
switched to the 1500 meters).<br />
“I anticipate that the steeple<br />
will continue its steady<br />
rise—it’s already happening<br />
with [three other American<br />
women] all breaking the<br />
9:30 time barrier for the first<br />
time in 2014.”<br />
Coburn agrees, calling<br />
2014 “one of the best years<br />
the women’s steeple has<br />
ever had.” But for this gutsy<br />
runner, it’s just the start. “I<br />
haven’t reached my potential<br />
yet.” —N. W.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH BY BENJAMIN RASMUSSEN<br />
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 RUNNER’S WORLD 83
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