5-Jun-1983 – Avon International Women’s Marathon – 2:26:26 – Adidas Atlanta
Date of birth: 4-Feb-1955
Nationality: American
Women-Only World Record duration: 1 year, 2 months
The athlete:
The next installment of the Avon International Women’s Marathon series was significant for many reasons. It was nominated as the trials for the team the USA would bring to the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which thanks to the efforts of Jacqueline Hansen and the International Runners’ Committee included the women’s marathon for the first time.
Secondly, the course itself was almost identical to what would be used for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. No less than 1036 women took the start, but it was Julie Brown who would win and convincingly at that with her time of 2:26:26 nearly seven minutes ahead of former marathon world record holder Christa Vahlensieck. It would end up being the third fastest time of the year and the women’s only marathon world record.
It should not have come with much surprise was Brown was capable of. Despite preferring competing at shorter distances she set the American National Record in only her second marathon in 1978. She kept focussing on shorter distances for the 1980 Olympics before the American boycott.
After suffering through various injuries including a torn achilles tendon, Brown would refocus on longer distances once it was announced the marathon would be part of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Before this however she would need to qualify for the team, and that meant placing on the podium at the Olympic Trials.
She felt confident going into the race, saying later she planned on running conservatively until the 20 mile mark. The strategy worked, Brown finishing 37 seconds behind Joan Benoit. Unfortunately she could not convert this pace into an Olympic medal, and while she still kept competing for some years afterwards she would call time on her athletics career by the end of the eighties.
The shoes:
Although we have no clear photos of Brown from the race that day, at the 1984 Olympic Trials she was wearing the Adidas Atlanta. As she was sponsored by Adidas in 1983, and trained under Bill Dellinger, it would not be surprising if she wore the Atlanta to set the women’s only marathon world record.
Waitz used the same model to set the marathon world record in 1983, and you can read more about the model in that article. In short however, it used specially developed Dellinger Web technology which helped absorb impact and provide stability during the gait cycle.
References:
https://news.germanroadraces.de/international/a-pioneering-project-dr-david-martin-recalls-in-distance-running-how-an-extraordinary-race-staged-in-atlanta-30-years-ago-eventually-won-olympic-status-for-marathon-runners-25-years-avon-frauenl/
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/02/More-than-1175-women-will-be-arriving-from-some/2795423374400/
https://wyobenchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/1978-09-21_Photo_Julie_Brown_Breaks_Women_s_Marathon_Record.pdf
https://tonireavis.com/2024/05/12/remembering-the-1984-u-s-womens-olympic-marathon-trials/
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/25/sports/players-learning-a-lesson-for-the-marathon.html
https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RW1984OTMara.pdf
https://more.arrs.run/runner/6061
https://www.jackdogwelch.com/?p=56327
https://x.com/deadstockutopia/status/1141075182574088201