Winning medals at two national meets, Heartland Racewalkers prove age is just a number
After earning a number of medals at the USATF National Masters Indoor championship in Louisville in March, the Heartland Racewalkers christened the outdoor track season at the July 7-9 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh.
Unseasonably mild July temperatures contributed to some excellent times — and a couple of records.
The seven racewalkers came away with four gold medals, four silver and two bronze, as well as four ribbons, in two races: 1,500 meters on a high school track and 5,000 in a venue paralleling one of the three great rivers in Pittsburgh.
Karen Swisher, a former Heartland Racewalkers club president now living in Wisconsin — where she’s still a club member — took gold in both races, breaking her own 5K record in the 70-74 division.
Alan Poisner from Overland Park, a veteran walker who was club president for 20 years, also took two gold medals. It’s the third time he’s earned two golds in the 85-89 division. He beat 22 of the 53 men from younger divisions.
David Eisenberg, the current Heartland Racewalkers president, won two silver medals and continues to show faster times after his breakout success at the World Masters races in Torun, Poland in June.
Lori Groom won bronze in the 5K walk, while Eileen McManus won silver in the 1,500 meters and bronze in the 5K.
Earning ribbons, given to those who finish top-eight in their respective divisions, were John Anderson and Maggie McCoy.
In the 1,500-meter power-walking race, Sharon Poisner took fourth in the 85-89 division. It was the first race she’d entered and she beat a woman in a younger age division.
Heartland scores at National Masters, too
Two weeks after the National Senior Games came the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships, held July 21-23 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Heartland club president Eisenberg won silver medals in the 5,000-meter and 10K walks in the 70-74 division.
Poisner entered the 5,000-meter race and won gold in the 85-89 division, which he had also won in 2019. He was the oldest male competitor in Greensboro.