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July 2, 2005 Hansen has a run on things
By JAN GARRISON She was a strong advocate for including distance running for women in the Olympics. A volunteer coach for an elite club of women runners called "See Jane Run", Hansen has also helped train beginners for their fund-raising marathons for the last seven years. But even she is surprised by the number of girls and women finding their way into distance running over the past few years. "It's amazing to me," she said during a break at the recent Culver Academies cross-country and distance running camp. "It wasn't like this when I started out. I actually started running to be different. It is exactly the opposite now. It seems everyone is doing it." Hansen was one of the featured speakers and at the camp for middle school and high school-age runners. Other speakers scheduled through the week included Bob Schul (1964 Olympic 5,000-meter champion), Bob Kennedy (U.S. 5,000-meter record holder), Dr. Steven Simons (2004 Olympic Track & Field physician), and Ralph Reiff from St. Vincent's Sports Medicine in Indianapolis. Hansen believes the surge in runners - and women runners, in particular - is coming from two phenomena. The first is running to raise money for charities. The second is the indirect impact Title IX is having on younger women. Hansen served as the volunteer coach for Team Diabetes. Runners and walkers would enter a race - usually a marathon - and collect pledges to support diabetes research. While the Team Diabetes program has faded, she said, several other non-profit organizations have picked up the program. The most notable is Team in Training for leukemia. And there are other teams now raising funds for the American Heart Association, stroke prevention, and breast cancer. When she took a Team Diabetes group over to the London marathon, there were a total of 22 charities represented at the race, she said. Most of the people running for these causes are women - with most participating in their first marathon. "They have a double goal," she said. "The basic goal is to raise money for their cause and, of course, they want to finish the race." The raising funds for charity aspect seems to have a much greater appeal to women than men. According to Hansen, this also applies to other distance events. There is an annual bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles that raises money for breast cancer research The second aspect of the running boom among women is the Title IX influence. As more and more girls participate in high school and college sports, they are looking for an athletic outlet as they move out of the competitive sports arena. "There is no direct outlet for the majority of those in the Title IX generation," she said, "And that is why they are turning to running. Hansen believes "See Jane Run" is a perfect example of that. Based in the Los Angeles area, the running club is made up strictly of women training for distance and track-and-field events. It has grown from seven to 18 members and has received elite club status with United States Track and Field, meaning members can compete at the major events in the country. The women are between 22 and 28 years old and the majority were involved in college athletics. While some members have been involved with other mixed running clubs, they found the clubs didn't meet their unique needs. Most of the women are either beginning a family or a new career and finding the time to train is difficult. "See Jane Run" members will move practice times around to accommodate someone going out of town on business and they will share babysitters if needed. "That doesn't happen in most running clubs," she explained. Between the success club members are having at the higher-level events and the word-of-mouth about how it operates, Hansen said women runners in other states are started to inquire how they can start similar clubs. For example, there now is a "See Jane Run" in Colorado. Whatever their motivation, Hansen believes once lot of women run their first marathon, 10-K or 5-K, they become hooked. "You always think you can do better. You never run your best race," she explained. "And it is the only sport where you can become more competitive as you grow older." As people age, they move into different divisions. Sometimes you are the oldest and slowest in your grouping. But the next year, you are the youngest and strongest in your new age group. Personally, Hansen became the first woman in history to run a sub-2:40 marathon (2:38.19 in 1975) and won 12 of her first 15 marathons, including the famous Boston race. She also set two world records. As president of the International Runners Committee, she was a key player in gaining Olympic access for women in the marathon, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Hansen now works for the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Lose Angeles, where she directs coaching education. Besides her two marathon world records, Hansen broke the world record for 15 kilometers on the road, for 6 miles on the track, and 11 other distances on the track in one 50-mile race (200 laps) on the track, winning a national title for the 50-miler. As a master athlete, she won two World Championship titles in the 1500 and 5,000 meters. Hansen states she has never truly raced against anyone but herself because her goals are always time-related. Then she smiled and added, "But I always set my goal high enough to take care of you, too."
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