Armstrong Wins; Borthwick Third at USATF Masters 1 Mile Championships

Colorado Results Scoreboard

On Saturday (21-May) seven (7) athletes and one (1) team from Colorado competed in the USATF Masters 1 Mile Championships in Rochester, N.Y. The championships, hosted by the Rochester Mile, were the seventh event in the 2022 USATF National Masters Grand Prix.  A total of 178, from 25 states, athletes competed in the championships.

Amy Armstrong, 45, of Evergreen ran to a national title as she won the W45-49 division in a time of 5:13.  Finishing second was Sara Girotto of Pennsylvania in a time of 5:27. Armstrong's time was just six seconds off the national record of 5:07 held by Sonja Friend-Uhl. Armstrong's time converts to an age graded performance of 88.78% which is deemed to be a national-class performance and just shy of a world-class performance (90% and above).  It was the ninth best women's score amongst the 55 competitors.

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IN THEIR WORDS - AMY ARMSTRONG

I was extremely pleased with my experience at the USATF Masters 1 Mile Championship this past weekend.  I felt strong and ran a faster time than expected.  

The mile race in Rochester was my second USATF Masters Championship event and I look forward to many more!

It feels great to be back doing shorter road distances and track.  I used to compete in the 300m / 600m indoor during my college years at Université de Moncton.  After moving to Colorado 18 years ago, I decided to try something different and focused on the marathon distance for several years. Training with Denver Metro Racing under coach Phil Buckley and incorporating heavy lifting have definitely contributed to a successful transition.
 

This summer, I will be participating in USATF Colorado track meets and more mile races this summer, including the Elite Women's Masters Field at the Mountain Avenue Mile in Fort Collins.

 

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In the hyper-competitive men's 55-59 division, John Borthwick (Boulder Road Runners), 58, of Dillion finished third running 5:06 (90.09% age graded). The race was won by Nat Larson of Massachusetts in 4:50 with John McMahon of New York finishing second; five seconds ahead of Borthwick. Borthwick's age-graded performance was the 11th best among the 123 men that competed.

The Boulder Road Runners men's 70+ team continued their streak of podium finishes as they placed second; just one second behind the Atlanta Track Club.  They were led by Doug Bell, 71 of Greeley who finished fifth in the 70-74 division in a time of 6:08.  Richard Katz, 73, of Boulder and John Roeske, 73, of Loveland finished 8th and 12th; respectively, Katz's time was 6:48 while Roeske stopped the clock at 7:05.

USATF MASTERS GRAND PRIX STANDINGS - Colorado 

Full Grand Prix standings

Individuals (top 10)

M55  John Borthwick (8th place)

M60  Tim Degrado (2nd place)
        Adam Feerst (6th place)
        Daniel King (7th place)
        Roger Sayre (8th place)
        Jeffery Barros (10th place)

M70  Doug Bell (2nd place)
        Mike Wien (5th place)
        Richard Katz (6th place)

M75  Jan Frisby (7th place)

Teams (top 5)

M60+  Boulder Road Runners (1st place)
          Athletics Boulder (5th place)

M70+   Boulder Road Runners (2nd place)


There are three more events on the 2022 Grand Prix calendar.

June 29 - July 10	World Masters Athletics Championships (Non-Stadia LDR Events)	Tampere, Finland
Sep 18	USATF Masters 12 km Championships	Highlands, NJ
Oct 22	USATF Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships	Boulder, CO