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garycohenrunning.com
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"All in a Day’s Run" is for competitive runners,
fitness enthusiasts and anyone who needs a "spark" to get healthier by increasing exercise and eating more nutritionally.
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This is what the running elite has to say about "All in a Day's Run":
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runners can relate to them."
Brian Sell — 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathoner
"Each of Gary's essays is a short read with great information on training,
racing and nutrition."
Dave McGillivray — Boston Marathon Race Director
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Maria Trujillo was a member of the 1984 Mexican Olympic team and finished in 25th place in the inaugural Olympic Women’s Marathon. She became an American citizen in 1986 and won the 1995 Pan American Games Gold Medal for Team USA. In 1991, Trujillo finished in 14th place in the World Championships Marathon. Maria qualified for five U.S. Olympic Trials with a highest placing of seventh place. Her big marathon victories include the 1986 San Francisco Marathon in 2:37:58, 1987 Columbus Marathon in 2:32:09 and 1990 Houston Marathon in 2:32:55. Maria raced her personal best time at the 1990 Boston Marathon, finishing in third place in 2:28:53 behind Rosa Mota and Uta Pippig. Her major half marathon wins a include Las Vegas (1986), America’s Finest San Diego (five times), Duke City Albuquerque (1987) and San Blas, Puerto Rico (1989 and 1990). Maria won the Clarksburg, California 30k four times from 1991 to 1995 and won the Quad Cities Bix 7-Mile in 1990. She ran collegiately for Hartnell College and Arizona State, setting the ASU record in the 10,000 meters in 34:24. Maria was inducted into the Hartnell College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013, Salinas HOF in 2014 and is to be inducted into the Arizona Runners HOF in late 2018. She resides in Los Gatos, California and was very gracious to spend an hour and forty minutes on the telephone for this interview in the summer of 2018.
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| GCR: |
In 1984 you competed in the inaugural Women’s Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles. How exciting was it to participate in that first ever event?
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| AA |
It didn’t register at the time because it was only my third or fourth year of running. I just took it like another race, but it hit me years later. Then I realized that I was an Olympian who made history by running in the first Olympic marathon for women. I wasn’t even nervous. It was only my fourth marathon.
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| GCR: |
Even though you were somewhat of a novice, what memories do you have of the competition and what was your race goal?
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| AA |
Of course, we all knew about the great Joan Benoit and Grete Waitz in the marathon. I was also reading in running magazines about Mary Decker and Zola Budd and Carl Lewis and FloJo – all the greats. It was amazing to be in the same place as these athletes. I didn’t really have a race plan. I was just going to run it like any other race. I had run my best time at New York the year before and I had done 2:38. So, I thought I could do 2:38 again. And I ended up running 2:38, but it was hot.
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| GCR: |
Could you describe your race strategy that day, how the race developed for you and your performance?
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| AA |
I started out at my own pace and had people to run with. We were fifty-one women and I ended up in twenty-fifth place. I always had company which was nice because for part of the race we had to run on the Santa Monica Freeway and there were no spectators. There were only runners on that part and it was hot. We drank a lot of water along the course. The heat didn’t really affect me because I was used to living in Arizona and being Mexican the heat doesn’t affect me.
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| GCR: |
Did you attend the Olympic Opening or Closing Ceremonies and go to other Olympic sporting competitions?
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| AA |
I was representing Mexico and they told me they didn’t have a lot of money, so they didn’t send me to the Opening Ceremonies. I was training in Mexico City and they just sent me to Los Angeles two days before the race. So, I missed the Opening Ceremonies and basically just went there and ran. It was sad. I was there four days and enjoyed walking to the cafeteria and some activities like movies playing in the theater. Many athletes from all over the world were very friendly. I enjoyed my four days and ran and at the time it was just like any other race.
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| GCR: |
A true statement is, ‘Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.’ How has being an Olympic athlete and, especially in that first Women’s Olympic Marathon, continued to impact your life?
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| AA |
It put attention on me along with other races, like when I broke 2:30 in Boston, and that got me invited to other races around the world in Japan, South America and other places. The Olympics were part of my highlights that made it attractive for me to compete against international runners.
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| GCR: |
You competed for Mexico in the 1984 Olympics but, after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1986, competed for the U.S.A. thereafter. What was your thought process in changing to a U.S.A. competitor? Did you feel there were more opportunities if you competed for the U.S.A?
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| AA |
Going back to when I was younger, what happened is that my family moved to the U.S. when I was around fourteen years old. I started running when I was nineteen to try and lose five or ten pounds. I ran in Salinas and some people who saw me running asked me to join their team. I told them, ‘I only run one mile.’ Even though my running started here, I kept my Mexican citizenship. There was an opportunity to run for Mexico, so I did that. But the Mexican Federation did not have a good support system for women at the time. There were times I was invited to run in Japan in big races and I would have to get a letter from the Mexican Federation giving me permission to go. That became a factor that made me think I didn’t want to be dependent on some people who didn’t really support my running. I was living and running in the U.S., so I decided to change. I ran in my first Olympic Trials Marathon for the United States in 1988 in Pittsburgh and after that I ran in a total of five Olympic Trials. My best finish was seventh and I didn’t make any U.S. Olympic teams. I could have been in maybe two or three more Olympics for Mexico. I don’t regret that, because in Mexico I could hold every record for running distances and not receive their support which was disappointing.
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| GCR: |
You mentioned qualifying for five Olympic Trials. Some outstanding runners do well for a short period of time and Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon champion, said he believes the landmark of his running career is that he ran at a high level for a lengthy time. What does it say about you as you were consistent for twenty years and into your master’s running years?
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| AA |
I didn’t really follow the money in racing, though there were a couple years where I did well. I had my career in computer science where I earned my degree, so I had a choice to become a career person or to become a runner. I asked many people and most said that I could always get a job later, the body deteriorates, and I should pursue running. That was also how I felt. The jobs were very demanding. At one interview to be a computer programmer they asked me directly, ‘If there is a deadline and there is a race, will you give up the race and finish up the project?’ I said, ‘No, I would go to the race.’ Of course, I didn’t get the job, but that’s the way I felt.
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| GCR: |
You won the 1995 Pan Am Games Marathon in 1995 which were held in Argentina. What were some highlights of that race and how exciting was it to win on such an international stage?
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| AA |
In my running career I was lucky and almost never got injured. But what happened is the year before when I was in Colorado training at a friend’s house at high altitude it was snowing very much, and I fell and broke an ankle. That put me down where I thought I may never come back and be a runner at that level. When I went to the Pan Am Games I didn’t feel prepared. I had only one recent marathon in me and it was a 2:42 at a local marathon. My roommate was Jennifer Martin and she was nice. She told me that she had this dream where we won medals and she was first with me second. I told her I didn’t have confidence because my times on the track were slow. I was happy with her dream because I got a medal. But it turned out in reality that I was first, and she was second. I didn’t have the confidence that I would win, but I won because it was so hot. The race helpers were handing out wet sponges along the way. It was even hot for me as it was tropical weather.
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| GCR: |
Let’s chat a bit about some of the interesting wins and races during your career. First, two years after the 1984 Olympics, you won the1986 San Francisco Marathon in 2:37:58. How exciting was it to win a big city race?
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| AA |
That was a real shock. After the Olympics when I graduated from Arizona State I thought about taking my degree and concentrating on my career. Computer science was expanding and really happening in Silicon Valley. But I got in really good shape because my boyfriend at the time who I was planning to marry was a marathon runner. I was doing some twenty-mile-long runs in training and felt strong. I went to that race, got a number and stayed with my brother at Berkeley where he was a student. I stayed in the dorm and slept on the floor. My brother drove me to the race. I had the thought that I was in great shape but running wasn’t as important, so I was just going to run the race. Allison Roe was there, and she was the World Record Holder at 2:25. She was from New Zealand. She was happening. She was sponsored by Audi that was the sponsor of the race, so she was wearing the big Audi logo. I started running and felt good. The first mile I took off and I was leading. Some people were yelling at this girl they didn’t know, ‘Hey, you’re going at 2:20 pace! Too fast!’ I didn’t keep that pace, but I was the leader for the whole time. I thought somebody was going to catch me. I don’t wear a watch, so I don’t run along and think I should run this pace or that pace. I’m horrible at that. When I got to the tape and I won I thought, ‘did I really?’ Then they treated me like a celebrity. One of my prizes was an Audi car and prize money Some were asking, ‘who are you?’ I said that I had run in the Olympics but hadn’t done much of note since then in the last year. They gave me a trip to Mexico to run in their sister marathon. So that became my next marathon. I went to Mexico City. Since I trained there for seven or eight months before the Olympics and then ran in the Olympics, I had created a name for myself in Mexico. They told me that I hadn’t been training in high altitude so there was no way I was going to win. Since everything was paid for I decided to just run it. I visited my aunt in Mexico and had a little vacation and then I won it! So, they gave me another car in Mexico that was a Volkswagen Jetta. I couldn’t bring it here so I sold it to my aunt for five thousand dollars. I had just graduated from college and I was making more money in running than I could in my first year on the job and this was a lot of fun. Those two races put me on the path to be a runner.
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| GCR: |
The next year you dropped your personal best marathon time by five minutes when you won the1987 Columbus Marathon in 2:32:09. Were you ready, was it surprising and what do you recall from that day?
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| AA |
I did train hard for that race but that was another surprise to get a huge PR from 2:37 to 2:32. I felt – wow! But it felt easy. I felt very comfortable the whole way. At the end I was getting tired, but I pulled it off.
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| GCR: |
Another race that stands out is when you won the 1990 Houston Marathon in 2:32:55. Were there other ladies with you or did you get out in front early?
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| AA |
I had placed third in the Houston Marathon the year before. Veronique Marot from England had won it that year and was back. Kim Jones was there, and she had beat me before. There were other big names from England and Europe. When they interviewed me before the race I said, ‘Last year I was third. I will be happy to be third again.’ But it was hot, and I won. I don’t know how I won, but it was a flat course and I was training in Arizona where there were no hills and it was a good day where I felt strong.
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| GCR: |
That same year in 1990, just a few months later you ran the Boston Marathon in a big personal best of 2:28:53 to finish third behind Rosa Mota and Uta Pippig. How did you decide to race so soon after winning in Houston?
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| AA |
I decided that I was in really good shape so maybe I should contact the Boston Marathon staff. I did that at the last minute to see what they could do for me. They said they would give me a thousand dollars of appearance money and put me up. But when I got there they told me they were out of money and didn’t have the thousand dollars. I said, ‘that’s okay.’ It was short notice. I was silly because they also had the Milk Run 10k the week before and I raced that. That was too much because my hamstring was sore from running 32 something. I had confidence that time that I could break 2:30. I felt it. I just went and followed my dream. Again, I had no watch, but I knew that my time at the end would be under 2:30. So, then I did it! I didn’t care about my place.
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| GCR: |
When you were out on the course during the race and you were in second behind Rosa Mota, with Uta Pippig in third behind you, did you have thoughts that if things went right that maybe you could win?
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| AA |
I thought that I should never pass her. She was the Olympic Gold Medalist from 1988 and I had that mental block. I was thinking that if I passed her she would pass me back. I wasn’t confident. After the race I watched the replay on television and saw where Kathrine Switzer made the comment, ‘Maria Trujillo is so close to Rosa Mota and she has no credentials.’ That was the same way I felt. It was a good thing I didn’t hear that during the race. But she was right that I felt I could get so close to Rosa but that I could not pass her.
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| GCR: |
Sometimes you ran other marathons that weren’t as big and prestigious. In 1991 and 1995 you won the Long Beach Marathon. Did you like that race?
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| AA |
I just went there because it was close by. Janis Klecker was supposed to be there one year, but she got a cold, so she wasn’t there to race with me. Then there was Gordon Bakoulis who is a strong runner, but the year she raced it was hot, and she is red-haired – she could have won, but the heat got her. Sometimes there are opportunities and I wasn’t supposed to win, but I won.
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| GCR: |
You mentioned how you enjoyed racing internationally and a marathon you raced in 1996, 1997 and 1998 was the Sao Paulo, Brazil Marathon where you finished in third place the first two times and fourth place the final time. How exciting and fun was racing in Brazil?
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| AA |
I just loved going to Brazil. Sao Paulo was a crazy city with crazy people and I loved it there. To me it was like a relaxing vacation. I tried to do the race and enjoy it, so I was happy with whatever place I ended up. They were generous and gave my appearance money. One year Lisa Weidenbach was there, and she took the win. They would invite five or ten top runners.
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| GCR: |
Were the fans enthusiastic along the route when you were running?
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| AA |
Oh gosh, yes. They were alive and crazy and excited. They also have a midnight run at the end of the year that I did. The race is in San Silvestre and is a celebration. People are running and drunk and crazy and it is a big party. I had good connections in Brazil and it was amazing running there.
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| GCR: |
Let’s talk a bit about some distances other than the marathon. You won the Clarksburg, California 30k four times from 1991 to 1995. Did you find that it was nice racing 30k since you finished up before twenty miles and you haven’t hit that wall of the last 10k in a marathon where fatigue sets in?
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| AA |
The way I thought of that race was that I was training for a marathon so instead of doing a boring twenty-miler I did this race and had a good tempo going. That’s what I did. I would take it like a long training run. It gave me the win most of the time, but I never went there with fresh legs to run fast or break a record. Later, I checked my times and saw that Lisa Sommers had the record and it was about four minutes faster than me. I got lucky and won the race many times. They did a great job with the race and I could drive there that morning since it was close by and the race started at 10:00 a.m. It was convenient, and I didn’t have to get a hotel and stay overnight.
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| GCR: |
You had some good half marathon wins including in 1986 at Las Vegas, five times at America’s Finest San Diego, and the 1987 Duke City Albuquerque Half Marathon. Did you like the half marathon distance since you could push harder and a little faster than your marathon pace?
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| AA |
When I was running my main income was from marathons. I was focused on marathons because if I placed high I would get a good check. Since I didn’t have a regular job I was using the races to make some money and then I would ask the race organizers if I could stay an extra week if it was in a nice place like the Bahamas or Hawaii. I had a passion for traveling and took advantage of being a runner and seeing the world. The half marathons didn’t pay that well during my time when I was racing. I would do them but didn’t rest much or focus on winning. It just happened.
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| GCR: |
You combined your travel passion to win the San Blas, Puerto Rico, Half Marathon in 1989 and 1990. Was that a fun excursion?
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| AA |
I went there and was again surprised that I won. But I ran well in warm weather. That was also how I won the Bix 7-Mile when Joan Benoit and Margaret Groos were in the race. The heat gets other runners before it gets me. The Puerto Rico race was an example of that. I won because it was hot.
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| GCR: |
We have raced some of the same races over the years. You ran the Citrus Bowl Half Marathon in Orlando in 1987 in 1:13:03 to finish second, in 1988 in 1:13:11 for second place again and in 1989 in 1:16:47 to finish in fourth place. I was running 1:08s and 1:09s those years. What do you remember about our Citrus Bowl course?
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| AA |
I loved it. The course was a nice course without many hills. They put us up in a nice hotel, I always placed well and I loved going there.
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| GCR: |
Another interesting race you did in Orlando was the 1988 Red Lobster 10k where Liz Lynch McColgan was the first woman to break 31 minutes with a 30:59 time and I just happened to run the whole way with Liz before I broke 31 minutes for my last time ever in 30:55. You ran a strong 33:32 for ninth place on the cloudy and slightly rainy day. Do you remember much from that race?
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| AA |
It was a totally flat race and I love those races. I remember they had some characters dressed up like fish after the race.
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| GCR: |
A race that has hills in the last half of the course and is extremely hot and humid is the July 4th Peachtree Road race 10k in Atlanta where you were third in 1990 in 32:26 and fifth in 1991 in 33:39. What stands out from the Peachtree Road Race?
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| AA |
I love that race. I did it five times and I still have my five peach awards that they give to the people who place in the top ten. I did well. It was hot and humid but that didn’t bother me. I felt good.
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| GCR: |
If we jump forward a few years, you ran the 2000 Olympic Trials Marathon in 2:42:10 less than a year after having a child. How long of a break in training did you take during the latter stages of your pregnancy and after you had your baby? Did the time off give you a ‘spark’ when you resumed training?
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| AA |
I actually ran the World Championships in Spain when my baby was five months old. I told the U.S. team management that I just had a baby and wasn’t sure how I would run. But they needed a five woman team and they took me. I lost the ten pounds that I gained and went back into training. My baby was born in April of 1999 and the Games were in in August. I did it and ran 2:45. I wasn’t the last of the U.S. woman. I was number three, so I felt that I didn’t waste their money or time. My mother was taking care of my daughter and I was married at the time so my then-husband and I stayed in Spain for a ten-day vacation. When I came back from Spain I think my daughter missed me, but she forgave me. I continued running but I didn’t expect much at the Trials. I wanted to not be last, but I surprised myself and was twelfth.
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| GCR: |
You were a Master runner then and at the 2000 Boston Marathon you ran 2:42:24 which was the first U.S. woman, third Master and 18th overall. Was that an exciting race and finish?
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| AA |
I was surprised to be first American. But I think all the American women were tired because we had just run the Olympic Trials. I was a runner who could race marathons often. One time I did two marathons two weeks apart and both were 2:35. I’m the kind of runner who can do that and the reason I was the first American at Boston that year is that it was only two months after the Olympic Trials and the other ladies were tired.
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| GCR: |
In your heyday as a competitor you typically raced about 20 to 25 times a year. How did you balance training with your busy racing schedule and did you just train through some of the races?
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| AA |
I did train through some of the races - like I said my focus was the marathon. My big checks to justify not getting a job were the checks from the races which sometimes could include appearance money. I had to perform, but some races did pay me also to show up. That’s why I focused on placing well in the marathons. I made a deal with myself that if I was not making enough money to survive that I would have to get a job.
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| GCR: |
Let’s talk a bit about your early athletic activity. You did note that you came to the U.S. when you were fourteen years old. Were you an active child who competed in a variety of sports?
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| AA |
In Mexico we were in small town. We didn’t have cars, TVs or phones. The kids were friendly, so we would organize games in the streets. We would play baseball with just girls or with the boys. It was an active life. We picked mangoes from trees, so we would climb up to get the mangoes. We would pick oranges. We would walk everywhere. If we went to church, we walked. We walked to school.
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| GCR: |
When you came to the U.S. about the time you were starting high school, how was your transition to life in a new place and did you participate in organized sports or intramural sports?
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| AA |
When we moved it was a shock to me. We moved from a town that had maybe seven thousand people to Los Angeles and I went to Lincoln High School. I didn’t speak English. All the different races of people weren’t getting along. There were large classes. It was a shock. In my P.E. class I got a C. I didn’t understand and was behind everybody.
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| GCR: |
You didn’t start running until you were at Hartnell College, so could you tell us how you started running and then how you progressed to being on the track and cross-country teams?
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| AA |
I started taking classes for physical conditioning. One of them was aerobics and one of them was jogging. In my aerobics class the instructor would have us run a fast mile every month. I would run faster than everyone else. The instructor said I should talk to the track coach and she introduced me to him. The coach found out I was running in hiking boots and did about an eight-minute pace for a mile. He figured if I was five or ten pounds overweight and could run an eight-minute mile in hiking boots there was a lot of potential.
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| GCR: |
Who you started running at Hartnell, who taught you the basics of distance running?
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| AA |
Since I started liking running I would go to the track when other runners were working out. There was this one good runner and he was Mexican. His name was Ricardo Lopez and he ended up going on to run a marathon in 2:26. So, he knew his stuff. He started telling me that I could lose weight and become a better runner. He told me to not eat too much red meat and started coaching me on the side. I followed his advice and lost the weight. Then I continued running with different people. Then the Hartnell coach asked me to sign up for track in January. I decided to give it a try. The first thing he did was to send me too a running store where I could get running shoes with a discount. I got Etonic shoes which were good. Gary Shaw was the coach at Hartnell. He is the one who guided me. Since I came from a family of eight children my parents didn’t have college money. I didn’t want to work in the fields which is what the Mexican people do in Salinas. That job is horrible, so I decided I had better get an education. He told me I could get scholarships. On top of all this, my dad was the type of dad from the old school of thinking. That meant no education for me and no running. He was basically using the thoughts that there were in Mexico on the farm where women had a role in life to get married and have children and to stay home. When I was eighteen he was telling me to get a job until I had a husband and then have babies and that was my destiny. When I started running he was in shock and told me to stop. He and I didn’t talk to each other for three months. I went against my dad’s wishes and I signed up for school and running and went on my own.
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| GCR: |
One of the other top runners in your area when you were competing was Sabrina Peters. What was her impact on your training and racing?
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| AA |
She is still my good friend. She is wonderful. She came from a running family. Her two brothers were runners and she ran since she was a little girl. She was already a star. I was supposed to try to beat her because she ran for Monterrey and I ran for Hartnell. Our schools were big rivals as our community colleges were about a half hour apart. They told me that Sabrina had all the local records. When I first saw Sabrina, she looked like a runner. I was a bit chubby and I still had my baby fat. I had only been running for one year and when I competed against her the first races did not go well. She was way ahead of me. But in the next year I lost more weight and my muscles started responding. My coach was getting excited. He was telling me that I was number two in the state of California. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. The good thing was that I already loved running and I was focused. My coach would tell me to take one day off each week so every Friday I didn’t run. He had me running light miles. There weren’t a lot of miles, so I felt like I could do more. I started doing more on my own. I met this runner who was a housewife and a marathon runner. She would take me to run fifteen miles which my coach would never recommend. I was improving a lot. All my extra weight was gone, and I started looking like a runner. One day we went to Stanford to run a 3,000-meter race. Sabrina was there but there were all these other women in the race. I didn’t have the credentials of other women, but I just ran as fast as I could. I forgot about Sabrina and I got the state record for the 3,000 meters. I beat Sabrina by five seconds. Since I forgot she was in the race I didn’t focus on her and chased whoever was in front of me. Now Sabrina became number two. I was asking myself, ‘did I really do that?’
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| GCR: |
What were some of the fast workouts you did in training? Did your coach have you running with the men’s team?
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| AA |
For cross country we only had two women. There was a full cross-country team of men, so my coach had us run together with the guys. We would go to the park and we did hill repeats. Once in a while we would come back to the track and do a mile. I passed a couple of guys and I didn’t know I could do that. I felt badly for the guys. I ran about a 5:07. My coach said, ‘Wow! You improved a lot!’ I didn’t know how I did that. The other woman wanted to quit. She was the mother of two boys. The coach wanted to keep her on the team, so he had me talk to her, slow down and run with her. So, I slowed down, and she stayed. Sometimes the guys wouldn’t want to run because a woman beat them. Poor Coach Gary.
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| GCR: |
After you finished your two years at Hartnell, how did you decide to go to Arizona State?
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| AA |
My coach wanted me to go to Stanford and set me up with them. They were going to give me a scholarship and my grades were good. Stanford had a great team with Patti Sue Plummer and Regina Jacobs and other great runners. I had an interview with them and I did ask if they had a computer science program. They said they only had a graduate program. I had already done two and a half years of computer science education and didn’t feel like wasting it. Sabrina Peters had gone to Arizona State and the coach said, ‘hey, why don’t you go with Sabrina?’ I asked if they had a computer science program and they did. So, I went there, and Sabrina and I became friends.
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| GCR: |
Who was your coach at Arizona State and what did he do to improve that fitness of Sabrina and you to help you out over the next two years?
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| AA |
Roger Kerr was our coach. He didn’t have a lot of special training for us. In fact, Sabrina kept getting coaching from her coach at Monterrey. So, she wouldn’t train with us most of the time. She also had a condition where she would get injured easily so she liked to run on golf courses. We would usually run with her once a week and she would do her workouts from the Monterrey coach. What my coach did that was wonderful for me is that he started making me do repeat quarter miles for speed. That really helped me. The quarters would start at about 75 seconds and the fastest might be 69 seconds. We would do a bunch, from twelve to fifteen of them.
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| GCR: |
What base mileage did you do in college and then how much did you increase your training distance and intensity when you transitioned to marathon training?
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| AA |
My coach at Arizona State was easy. Some days when there was an easy day he would tell me to do whatever I felt like. So, I would go out and do five miles and, when I look back, that was not enough. Also, there were times when my computer science projects would be intense and that would be a priority. It was a good thing that he wasn’t pushy. I did set the 10k record at the school of 34:24 which was about the only noteworthy thing I did at Arizona State. Once I finished I got a boyfriend and he was a runner and he had me increase my training. That is how I became a road runner. I could run in the 33s and eventually into the 32s and up to the marathon distance. The boyfriend helped me and then I became self-coached. I read books to learn about training. There were some African runners I admired, and I asked them how they trained. They didn’t use the track. One told me he just did a long run out to a spot and then on the way back picked up the tempo like it was a race. So, I memorized workouts of people who seemed to do well for my use. I would do hill repeats. We had a mountain that was five miles up that I would do twice, so it was a total of a twenty-mile run when I went up and down two times. On the five miles up, I was breathing hard while on the five miles down I was not. That’s how I trained for the Boston Marathon when I ran 2:28. That’s my hill and that’s how I ran it. Sometimes I had a boyfriend who would ride along on a bicycle and carry water for me. I got up to eighty miles a week and I got guys to train with who were also training for marathon races. I didn’t have an organized training group. There was one girl who later took my record at Arizona State, Laura Lamenna, who ran 33 something who looked me up and asked if I wanted to train together. So, I said, ‘yes.’ She and I made appointment to meet at the track at 6:00 a.m. Laura went on to compete internationally and at the Olympic Trials. We went together to Korea to run in the Ekiden relay and other races. She was much younger than me, about ten years, and we became running buddies. On weekends I ran with twenty miles with guys or go to my mountain to do the up and down and up and down.
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| GCR: |
You mentioned running repeat quarter miles at Arizona State. Did you do these in your marathon training?
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| AA |
I would do twenty quarter miles and they would be around 80 second pace.
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| GCR: |
On your tempo runs or long runs did you do negative splits?
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| AA |
I did in training and also did fartlek runs. I never had the negative splits in races. I always ran faster the first half. It would differ, and I might slow down two minutes in the second half. My first half was always faster. Kim Jones was famous for racing negative splits, so I had to watch out for her during the second half of a race. If I was leading and no one caught me I was lucky, but I had to watch out.
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| GCR: |
Who were some of your favorite competitors and adversaries from your road racing days and collegiate competition?
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| AA |
Laura Lamenna, who I mentioned. She is my friend and we have the same birthday. We also have daughters who are the same age. We trained so hard and now she lives in Eugene, Oregon where they own a running store. She is one that I keep in touch with. I never thought she would beat me in this one race in Arizona, but she beat me. There was a picture and story in the newspaper the next day because she beat me by about one second. The other one was Lynn Dilino who used to run 1:11 for the half marathon and 32 minutes for the 10k. We went to France for the World Championships Half Marathon and we were roommates. We were both in San Diego for the half marathon and she beat me there. That’s where she ran 1:11 and I ran 1:13. She lives in Boston and still runs. She adopted a Chinese daughter and her daughter also runs. We keep in touch too on Christmas and birthdays. I must mention my roommate at the University of Arizona, Lisa Melton. She lives in Colorado now and is like my sister. She still runs, and her daughter runs. I have met a lot of good friends in running. Sometimes they beat me and sometimes I beat them during my running days. It is a great community of runners who are friends.
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| GCR: |
With social media it is nice that it doesn’t seem to matter if someone is a Boston Marathon champion, a Boston Marathon qualifier or a fitness jogger – don’t you find that everybody is friendly in the running community?
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| AA |
Yes. And the last few years I have been sort of lazy as I have bunions and that caused me to gain some weight. Now I joined this running group that is local in Los Gatos one day a week. It is a beautiful place to run as we are next to the mountains and we have two nice tracks. The city is only about 26,000 people so everything is close by. I can run to the tracks and not have to drive. This group comes to Los Gatos to run and most of the runners don’t know about my running past. I’m one of the slowest runners. They are respectful because I am old, and they are friendly. I had been missing out and these are the kind of people I want to be with.
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| GCR: |
What are you doing to possibly get ready for some races?
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| AA |
That group only comes to Los Gatos on Tuesdays. I meet them on Tuesdays at six o’clock and I told them I want to do a 10k. My longest run lately had been forty minutes, but I found myself running an hour and eleven minutes two weeks ago. It was hilly, and I was tired. The group is training to compete in cross country and so they do hill repeats and fartlek on hilly terrain, and I cut those runs short. I like having people to train with me. I did run a mile race and I did 7:19, but that was hard. The coach of the group has some people I can train with. If not, I can run alone. I run with them and try not to get in their way. I want to run a 10k under fifty minutes and I can do it. I signed up for a couple 10ks and that’s my goal.
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| GCR: |
With the luxury of hindsight, is there anything you could have done differently in training and racing focus that may have resulted in better performances?
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| AA |
I should have had a coach. There were many years I did not have a coach. I was running with Laura Lamenna and there were guys I would invite to run my long runs with me. I lived in Arizona for about ten years and there weren’t a lot of good runners. I should have had a coach and I didn’t. Sometimes I wonder, ‘could I have done 2:25?’ That’s the only regret I have. Some people who compete at the top have psychologists, coaches and teams to train with. I missed out on that part and I just did my own thing most of the time. I ran a lot of great races and I’m not disappointed. The best part is that I never got injured. I may not have trained to my max, but I had a long career.
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| GCR: |
When you were a child and a teenager, what were the qualities you learned from your mom and dad and your big family that helped mold you into the person you are with your characteristics and traits that may have helped you to be a better runner, even though your dad didn’t want you to do so?
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| AA |
I think they did the right thing because my brothers went to college and, later, my sisters went to college. I think my dad telling us that women should stay home was a challenge. We could see the different ways in America and now my dad is proud of his daughters. One is a nurse, another is a hairdresser, and another is a teacher. I am in computer science and my brothers went to college. None of us had to ask him for money. He challenged us and couldn’t pay for college, so we had to find a way. My dad was always hard-working on the farm and in the fields and in factories in Los Angeles. He was very hard working. My mother took care of the kids and later worked outside the home. We saw that life is hard and you’ve got to work and be independent. We became independent at a young age. At fifteen years old I was planning how to make it out of here and to find my own way. I became focused and determined that I wanted to do certain things.
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| GCR: |
You were inducted into several Halls of Fame including the Hartnell College Athletic HOF in 2013, Salinas HOF in 2014 and will be enshrined in the Arizona Runners HOF later in 2018. How does it feel to be so honored?
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| AA |
I’m getting inducted this year in the Arizona Hall of Fame and so is Bill Rodgers. I think his connection is that he trained there when there were some cold winters in Boston. There is a 10k on November 2nd with that weekend, so I will be there and try to break fifty minutes. I won the Phoenix 10k in 1983 so that is my connection. I was lucky to take my mom and dad to one of the ceremonies. This is emotional because one of my sisters told me that my dad was crying.
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| GCR: |
It must have been nice when your dad became a fan of your running.
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| AA |
Back when I was running so well for Hartnell there were pictures of me in the newspaper and that was when I think he started accepting my running. At the start of my running it didn’t help that a nineteen-year-old girl got raped and killed in Salinas when she was running alone. That is the sad part about women running at any age. It has happened so many times. They recommend that women don’t run alone and should run in groups. I was running in groups when I was at Hartnell.
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| GCR: |
When you look back at your life from moving to a new country, working to achieve academically and athletically, the discipline of running, your racing success and balancing motherhood with running, what is your philosophy of what helps people to be their best?
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| AA |
You just have to follow your passion through life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be running. Some younger people have asked me how to become a professional runner and I tell them you don’t. If you love running that is a good thing but we don’t really plan on it. We have to deal with having good DNA as that is part of the formula to be a successful athlete. So, follow your passion and not money. We need enough money to support ourselves but should have a balanced life. I always wanted children and I postponed it until I was about forty years old. I wouldn’t recommend that for younger runners. Take the time to have children when you are younger. There are many people I met who after age forty were unable to have children and it was too late. I was one of the lucky ones. I waited maybe too long, but I have my two children and I’m happy. Follow your dreams and keep a balance with career, motherhood and life.
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Inside Stuff |
| Hobbies/Interests |
Lately I’m slowing down a lot. I appreciate going to the beach, taking walks and enjoying a good meal. Peace and visiting my family. I love reading and going to the movies, but I haven’t been doing either lately. I love music and listen often
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| Nicknames |
I have two middle names. I have my grandmother’s name which is Maria del Rosario which sounds like ‘Rosary.’ When I came to the USA, no one could pronounce Rosario, so I chose Maria as it was easy for everybody. They did give me nicknames of ‘Chano’ and Chaito.’ Since I grew up in a large family, we had nicknames for each other. My body was hairy, and I didn’t shave my legs so they used to call me ‘monkey.’ My brothers and sisters tried to annoy me. We didn’t have a lot of toys, so we just teased each other
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| Favorite movies |
‘Out of Africa,’ ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘Contact.’ I found ‘Silence of the Lambs’ really disgusting but I liked it
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| Favorite TV shows |
I never really watched much TV. I do have a mind for comedies like ‘Friends, ‘Cheers’ and ‘Seinfeld’
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| Favorite artists |
I admire Leonardo da Vinci who was the greatest. And ‘Picasso’
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| Favorite music |
I listen a lot to classical music. For some reason it calms me down. When I read I listen to it. I listen to Rock ‘n Roll when I’m driving and even Hip-Hop music that my nineteen-year-old daughter listens to
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| Favorite books |
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Animal Farm’ and other books that teach a lesson
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| First car |
My sister and I used to share a car once we learned to drive and could go to the junior college. It was a Ford Maverick. When I went to Arizona State I drove all the way by myself from Salinas to Phoenix in that very old car. I made it but, looking back, a boyfriend I got a while later was a good mechanic and he couldn’t believe my dad had my drive that car by myself. He did fix my car!
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| Current car |
I have two old cars – a Suzuki that I bought when my daughter was born and a Honda that I drive to my parents’ home because they are old and I help them now. It is a Honda Accord DX
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| First Job |
My first job was my dad introducing me to cutting broccoli in the summer in the fields. I was only 16 and I tried the job. I got good at it and I guess it was because I was athletic. The really bad thing is that you work from when the sun is coming up at 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning until the sun is coming down. I was thinking that this was horrible, and you had no life. Then I made up my mind that there had to be another way. My dad’s idea was for me to drop out of high school, which I did, and he got me a job. I worked from when I was 16 until I was 17 and then I just quit on my own. I went back to high school. I registered and signed up myself and I just made it because I was seventeen-and-a-half. They told me I was way behind. I asked what I could do to catch up and they told me I could take adult classes and that I needed to speak English I also went to Hartnell and picked up Algebra and they gave me credit. For one year I just went to school from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. I made all the credits. That was my high school time and I did nothing else
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| Family |
My parents have been married for 65 years. Their names are Rita and Everardo. He’s a little younger. She’s 85 and he’s 84 years old. My daughters are Arlena, who is 19, and Marlena, who is 17. Somehow my parents did a good job as none of my siblings got into drugs and most of them graduated. My two younger brothers followed me to college. One went to Stanford and kept his scholarships because he made straight A’s. The other is self-made and is a CPA with a master’s degree. Sometimes when parents are tough the children do better. I’m nice with my kids so that is a different approach
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| Pets |
I had dogs as a child. As a young adult I had a dog when I lived by myself. I ran and had a dog and had a good life. I called him ‘Nike’ because I was sponsored by Nike and it means the ‘Goddess of Victory.’ When I was married we lived in a small house and I gave up my dog. I don’t have a dog now
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| Favorite breakfast |
Lately I’m trying to be healthy, and when running led me to good nutrition I started eating eggs and berries. I like scrambled eggs, fruit and yogurt
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| Favorite meal |
When I was a runner for dinner once a week I would have liver with onions to help prevent anemia. I love sea food. I have allergies to shell fish, but I love salmon, Mahi-Mahi and any type of white fish
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| Favorite beverages |
I never really drank alcohol until I got married around age 37. I started drinking a little bit of red wine because there was information that it was healthy. Red wine is still my favorite drink. I feel that I don’t get many colds because I drink a lot of grapefruit juice. I drink water. I don’t drink much soda any more. If I’m tired and must drive, I might drink a Diet Pepsi
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| First running memory |
My first run when I was a child was when a dog chased me. This was in Mexico. Some boys were teasing this dog and somehow, I was walking by to the store. This dog was really annoyed. I got scared and started running. The dog chased me, and I was running so fast. I went as fast as I could, but the dog caught me and bit me on my butt. The dog won. I went to my grandmother’s home and she washed it with soap
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| Running heroes |
Joan Benoit was my hero. I thought that to be a good runner you had to be tall and have long legs and come from a background of good runners. I saw Joan Benoit at the Boston Marathon in 1983 when it was my second marathon. I did 2:39 and she did 2:22 for an American Record. It was an improvement of five minutes from my first marathon. I found myself there for the picture of the top ten runners after the race because I finished ninth. I said to myself, ‘How can she run so fast? She’s no taller than I am. She doesn’t have those long legs that I thought runners needed.’ So, I started following her since then and she did so great, even in the New York mile. I would see her at races. Eventually, we sat next to each other on a plane and I had a chance to have just a normal, personal conversation with her. I love her, and she truly loves running. She is very dedicated and has the right DNA. The best thing I love about her is she is short. If she can do it, I can do it
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| Greatest running moments |
Winning the Columbus Marathon in 1987. That was a huge PR. I love the race and the people are nice. That was like a dream. After the race I told them that I felt like pinching myself. Did I really win? It was amazing. Of course, the Boston Marathon when I felt like I was going to break 2:30 and I had the goal. Before the race on every training run I felt like I was flying. I went there and ran the time and it was cool. Winning the Pan Am Games was great. I was okay with finishing second to Jennifer Martin and her taking the Gold Medal since she was my roommate and had that dream and I agreed. Since I had broke my ankle and came back and didn’t know what to expect, winning that race was amazing
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| Worst running moment |
My last Olympic Trials in 2004. My hamstring was hurting, and I had two babies. And I had just received the bad news that my two-year-old was autistic and my life was going to change with doctors and specialists and special schools. I showed up and I gave myself two goals: I want to break three hours and I don’t want to be last. I could be last because at the Olympic Trials everybody is fit. And if something happens, people may not break three hours if they walk and just finish. So those were my two goals. My training wasn’t that great, and my confidence wasn’t that great. It was tough, but I ran about 2:57 and made my goals, even though they weren’t good goals
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| Childhood dreams |
We were isolated in that small town in Mexico with no TVs and no phones. We would see planes flying. We also had the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and I would see coins circulating from the Olympics that were 25 pesos. That is the only memory I have of the Olympics in Mexico. In my home town there were some tourists from the United States who sat on benches and spoke English. I wondered where they came from. I thought that there was more to the world with the Olympics and with these people speaking another language and I wanted to see the world. Of course, I didn’t want to move here to the United States when my parents moved me as a teenager. I was with my first boyfriend and we were holding hands. In my town we got married at age sixteen. But my parents moved us, and it was tough. We got to Los Angeles and when I went to high school I told myself I was going to be a flight attendant. They called them a stewardess back then. I wanted to see all the different parts of the world. So, when my running came along it was that opportunity because I got to compete in fourteen countries. We would run and then be a tourist and I would get paid for it. So, all my dreams went into travelling the world
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| Embarrassing moment |
In my first competition for Hartnell College I got the team uniform. I was going to run a 2,000-meter track race. Before the race Coach Gary said, ‘get ready to go. You’re going to race in five minutes. Take off your sweat pants.’ That was the only thing I was wearing. He asked my what I had underneath and I said, ‘only my panties.’ ‘What happened to your running shorts?’ I said, ‘it’s a little cold so I decided to wear my sweat pants.’ All he could say was, ‘oh my God!’ It was embarrassing to tell my coach I only had on panties. So, I ran in my sweat pants while everyone else was wearing little, tiny shorts. I got lapped. That was my first race. The next time I wore my shorts, and nobody lapped me
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| Favorite local place to run |
The Forest of Nicene Marks. You must be careful there on the trails because it is easy to get lost and there is poison oak. I train there and do run their women’s’ five-mile race. The marathon they have is too brutal for me
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| Favorite places to travel |
There was a women’s race in New Zealand that Allison Roe invited me to when I beat her at the San Francisco Marathon. I went there for a week and I loved New Zealand. You can totally trust the people, and everybody is into an active life. The meals were beautiful, and things were expensive. I also liked Australia where I went for the Sydney Marathon
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| Favorite place to run a race |
Japan. I love Japan. They treated us like celebrities. All the runners wanted our autographs. They had published a magazine with the top runners’ pictures. People would bring the magazines and want us to sign them. There were extravagant dinners with ice sculptures shaped like runners. There was all the Saki and sushi and fresh seafood you could want. I loved their food. In our room there was a refrigerator with all kinds of food and drink. They were so generous. They took us on tours to Mount Fuji and a temple and a castle. They planned lots of activities for the runners to get out and to learn about their culture. They gave us appearance money. That was the best treatment ever
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