Susan “Lynn” Cooke of Tampa is relatively new to masters track, having “first stepped on a track when I was 56,” as she once wrote. So she can be excused for not getting the memo that you don’t set records six months before aging up. But Lynn set herself a goal: the W55 American record in the mile.
On Sunday, at age 59 1/2, Lynn says she clocked 5:38.3 — taking a sizable chunk off the listed AR of 5:41.71 by Lesley Chaplin Hinz in 2015. (Results from the Robert Walker Jr. Pre Disney Club Championships Relays & Open Tune-up meet weren’t up Sunday night.) More remarkable, Lynn is under Kathy Martin’s listed W60 WR of 5:42.65. So hold on till 2019, Lynn, and you could join the gods.
Lynn boasts having created the first elite masters female racing team ever sponsored by a global brand (New Balance Tampa Masters Racing Team) when she was 57.
So she had a great support team, which she credited on Facebook. (See below.) Lynn’s entered in the 800, 1500 and steeple at Spokane nationals. (At Malaga worlds, she’ll focus on the 8 and 15.) The listed W55 WRs are 2:21.98 and 4:51.26 – a heavy lift. But the W55 AR at 15 is Lorraine Jasper’s 5:08.96. And her 800 AR target is 2:30.53 by Jane Arnold, dating to 1996. Time for a redo. (Lynn ran 2:39.32 in mid-June.)
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I like Lynn Cooke a lot. She’s fun, very social, determined, and great to be around. Also, as I have said before, I love to see women who had no high school or college careers in T&F emerge much later as stars or superstars in masters. In my opinion it’s much more daring to participate in T&F than to do road races only. The most obvious difference is that you are very visible in track and field; people are actually looking at you.