16-Jan-1982 – Orange Bowl Marathon – 2:29:01.6 – Adidas TRX Competition Super
Date of birth: 23-Nov-1949
Nationality: West German (at the time)
World Record duration: 7 months, 27 days
The athlete:
It is surprisingly difficult to find any information about Charlotte Teske and her win at the 1982 Orange Bowl Marathon in Miami. What we do know is that she started marathon running in 1976 and just broke three hours in her first attempt. Despite promising herself she’d never do it again, she would continue running marathons and by 1980 she became the third German runner to get below 2:40.
Her performance in Miami in 1982 would mark her as the first German runner to break 2:30. This is considered to have been the marathon world record by the Association of Road Running Statisticians, an independent group created years later by many former racing officials and supported by researchers from across the world. This is because the course Grete Waitz ran at the New York City Marathon was found to be short in 1985, although only performances from 1981 were invalidated by World Athletics.
In any case, that victory would be overshadowed by what she achieved at the 1982 Boston Marathon later that year. Until the 22nd mile it was Grete Waitz who held the lead, heading for what looked like a 2:23 finish. Waitz began suffering unbearable pain in her legs, finally having to be rushed away to hospital. Teske had no idea what had happened, assuming she was still second.
It was only after the finish that she was finally informed that she had won, with Jacqueline Gareau six minutes behind in second. Teske was circumspect, saying she felt she hadn’t really beaten Waitz. Unfortunately an inflammation of her sciatic nerve curtailed her efforts at the 1984 Olympics, but by her retirement she had secured many more marathon victories. This was alongside many national championships in Germany, her last win coming in 1990 at the Munich Marathon.
The shoes:
Having initially thought that Teske wore the Nike Elite, as it was her shoe of choice at the 1982 Boston Marathon only months after the 1982 Orange Bowl Marathon, I was finally able to find a photo of her winning that earlier race. Unfortunately I’m unable at the time of writing to licence it, which is why I’m using a photo of her from the 1983 Toronto Marathon, but the photo from the race in Miami showed clearely that she wore the Adidas TRX Competition Super.
The TRX Competition Super was an evolution of the TRX Competition that originally released in 1979. It was made with various features designed to make the lightweight model an effective tool for distance running.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Teske
https://germanroadraces.de/?post_eng=charlotte-teske-awarded-with-the-grr-award-in-2015-for-her-lifetime-achievement-and-the-boston-marathon-victory-prize-from-1982
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/04/20/Charlotte-Teske-of-West-Germany-had-just-experienced-the/7141388126800/
https://www.leichtathletik.de/news/news/detail/was-macht-eigentlich-charlotte-teske
http://www.nosugar.co.uk/index.php
https://www.thedeffest.com/vintage-ads/adidas-1979-trx-competition-vintage-sneaker-ad
https://x.com/TheTrabMan