Fit View By Efren Martinez
Can’t Touch This
When you meet Barbara Miller for the first time, you meet what we all see up front, which is a polite and soft-spoken person on the outside. But when you run with her, you get a feeling of amazement and MC Hammer’s “You Can’t Touch This”. Barbara’s 72 years young and is what I consider a local running Hero. She’s been featured in Runner’sWorld, Running Times and was just recently on the cover of Norcal Running Magazine. Barbara has also received The USATF Outstanding Athlete Award for her age division 8 times. She was Runner’s World Female Master of the year at age 60 and in 2009 she was United StatesTrack & Field (USTAF) Pacific Association Master Female runner of the year. In 2000, she was the SOS Female Outstanding Athlete of the year, which includes all sports and all age divisions. There’s more, but I’m sure you’re getting the picture post card/video here, “You Can’t Touch This.”
Like I said, when you first meet Barbara, she’s polite, soft-spoken and by all means a very humble person. Her running accomplishments includes setting a world record at The Boston Marathon at the age of 60 with a time of 3:11:57 and she currently holds the Boston course record for her age division. She also has set other American records in the 5K, 8K, 10K, 12K, half marathon and marathon. She started to put up world records in the 55-59 age divisions and has continued all the way to her current age division 70-74. Some of her records have been broken, but she still holds records in several distances. The one she’s most proud of is her Boston half marathon record at age 60. She ran it in 1:29:49 and as far as she knows it hasn’t been broken. Barbara has been running for over 30 years and is an active runner and still races. In fact, she has signed up for a 4-mile race in Sacramento in February and a half marathon in March. She also plans to compete in the Buzz Oates Series in Sacramento. This is a series (13 in all) of races ranging from the 5K to the Half Marathon. She will also compete in some PA/USTAF races mostly in the Bay Area and of course, some of our local races. Yes, Modesto View Readers, “You Can’t Touch This.”
I asked Barbara what advice could she share with our young people today that find themselves too busy for exercise? She replied, “Just do it! You will feel better for it. Being physically fit really raises your quality of life. When you feel good about yourself it spills over into all aspects of your life. Your self-esteem goes up. Your confidence goes up, etc. You do not have to run to stay fit and healthy, but you do need to exercise everyday and make healthy food choices. Running is a personal choice for me. It has been a complete life changer. I feel blessed to have been able to travel to so many places and have so many running friends all over the United States. But, if running is not for you, do something that makes you move and keeps you happy and physically active. Your life will be much better for it.” In memory of Doug Braasch
Modesto View Readers, you can meet and greet our World Record Super Star running sensation on February 5th at The Super Sunday Relay’s in Modesto. This is a fast and scenic two-mile loop through a community park. Each of the three-person team will run the loop once. Individuals can choose to run the loop three times for the entire six-mile time. This is its only race like this locally and there are plenty of chances to win awards (given to top 3 in each age division) & raffle prizes. Get your family and friends together and form a fun Relay Team. For more information log onto www.cvrunning.com/super_sunday.htm or www.shadowchase.org or call 209-986-8446 email info@cvrunning.com
