BEAVERCREEK — A local race walker became part of athletic history on Aug. 13 in London, England.
Susan Randall, of Beavercreek, was among the field of seven international competitors to race in the first-ever International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) women’s 50-kilometer event to be held as part of the IAAF World Championships.
Randall had qualified for the event by virtue of becoming the North American-Central American-Caribbean (NACAC) area champion, with a bronze-medal finish earlier this year in Peru. Per IAAF rules, all area champions were eligible to compete in the World Championships in London.
Ines Henriques of Portugal won the inaugural women’s 50K (31.069 miles) event in a world record time of 4 hours, 5 minutes and 56 seconds. China’s Hang Yin finished second in an Asian area record time of 4:08.58, and teammate Shuqing Yang of China placed third with a personal-best time of 4:20:49. Kathleen Burnett, of the United States, set a new North American area record with a fourth-place time of 4:21:51.
Henriques won $160,000 for her win.
Randall and Brazilian Nair Da Rosa both were sidelined from the event to place sixth and fifth respectively. The IAAF has a rule that competitors must maintain a specified race pace to complete the 50-kilometer event. Neither competitor could keep up with the world-record pace Henriques had set.
American Erin Talcott placed seventh overall after a technical disqualification.
Randall now plans on training for the U.S. 50K national championships, which will take place in January.
