7-Aug-1983 – IAAF World Championships – 2:28:09 – Adidas Atlanta
Date of birth: 1-Oct-1953 (died 19-Apr-2011 – aged 57)
Nationality: Norwegian
The athlete:
It was thanks to the considerable lobbying efforts of former marathon world record holder Jacqueline Hansen that the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Athletics had the women’s marathon. Hansen was President of the International Runners’ Committee, and through these efforts had the IAAF announce in 1980 that the women’s marathon would be part of the program for 1983.
As for the race itself, favourite Grete Waitz later said that preparations for the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Athletics were without any problems, which should have been a warning to her competition coming into the event. Conditions were hot and windy, with Waitz biding her time until the 34th kilometre when she increased her pace and left the competition behind. While nowhere near the pace of her outright world record performance at the 1983 London Marathon, it was more than enough to secure victory. She was able to complete an entire lap of the stadium before second place arrived.
The reason this mark is included on my website is because the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) do not consider the course for the 1983 Avon Women’s Marathon to have been of record quality. I note that the same team who meticulously measured the marathon course for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics were involved in setting up that course which used many of the same roads. According to the ARRS, the 1983 course had an overall net climb and they note that the course was certified i.e. it was the correct distance.
Although certification information is not available in the document detailing the certification of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic marathon course, it indicates that the modified 1983 course also had its start and finish within 50 percent of the marathon distance apart. These are the current standards for course eligibility set by World Athletics.
Perhaps I have missed something, but again while I have included this mark, it would seem to me that the time set by Julie Brown at the 1983 Avon Women’s Marathon was the valid women’s only marathon world record.
The shoes:
Unsurprisingly, Waitz wore the Adidas Atlanta that she used to set the outright women’s marathon world record. As you can read more about in my article on that achievement, the Atlanta had Dellinger Web technology in the midsole. The webbing helped absorb impact and gave additional stability during running.
References:
A Long Time Coming by Jacqueline Hansen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grete_Waitz
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/london-marathon-iconic-moments
https://mobile.twitter.com/deadstockutopia/status/896088358258065408
https://www.orangejungle.de/gb/sale/adidas-originals-atlanta-spzl-scarlet-chalk-white-gold-metallic-917840
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgmUZsDh1uy/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAXqTBGHfRr/
https://mobile.twitter.com/deadstockutopia/status/1141075182574088201
http://spzl.me/category/adidas/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpw9pkKh3Ot/
https://news.germanroadraces.de/grete-waitz-die-erste-marathon-weltmeisterin-helsinki-1983-robert-hartmann-berichtet-edna-kiplagat-ken-siegt-beim-wm-marathon-in-daegu-2011-heute-marathon-der-frauen/
https://worldathletics.org/records/certified-roadevents
https://rrtc.net/Articles/LA84.pdf
https://more.arrs.run/race/12369
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/19/sports/mrs-waitz-aims-at-marathon.html
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/08/07/Grete-Waitz-the-slim-Norwegian-schoolteacher-who-pioneered-womens/6929429076800/
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1139852/mike-rowbottom-blog-on-helsinki-1983
https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/2011/04/20/grete/