Me and Suzi MacLeod

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Me and Suzi MacLeod

By Joanna Harper

I quit running track races not too long after I finished graduate school. For over 20 years I never toed the starting line on the track. Then in August of 2007 my club put on a low key 5K track race.

I decided to run the race because it was part of a race series that I was interested in. I really enjoyed it and wondered why I had quit. Shortly afterwards I was told by a friend that the 2008 USATF masters track meet would be held in near by Spokane. Thus began my entrance to the world of master’s track.

Suzi-MacLeod-running-with-her-dog

While I have gained many things from my return to the track, my favorite thing has been the people that I have met as a result.

One of the most memorable of these people is Suzi MacLeod.

Suzi MacLeod and her fave training partner, Georgie.
Photo courtesy of Andy Tullis

Suzi lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband Norm and her dog. This year at the national masters championships she won the W75 titles in both the 800 and the 1500. Perhaps her biggest accomplishment in 2009 was setting a world record in the mile in August at an all comers meet in Eugene. (Suzi MacLeod ran 8:16.3 to set the W75 1 mile WR.)

But Suzi is memorable beyond any athletic achievement.She has a personality that is larger than life to say the least. And with her flaming red hair she stands out where ever she goes.

I ate dinner with Suzi twice in Wisconsin during the USATF meet. Once we were joined by her friend and my club mate Jeannie Groesz. The second time we joined Boise runners Christine Olen and Lois Allen.

Both times Suzi dominated the conversation but not in an aggressive manner. Instead she amused us with a variety of stories from her life. One of the things that I had remembered from these stories is that she and her hubby did some dog sitting at their home.

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As it turned out, my next race after Oshkosh was a trail half marathon in Bend. While I love to travel for vacations and for races, I always feel guilty when I leave my dog behind. So I contacted Suzi and asked her if she would mind watching him during the race. In response, she invited Watson and me to spend the weekend at her place. I quickly agreed.

Bend is a three hour drive from my home in Portland and we arrived early Saturday afternoon prior to the Sunday race. We were greeted by six or seven dogs. They had a bunch of dogs over for the weekend since their owners were out of town.

I spent the afternoon talking with Suzi and Norm, while Watson got to know the other dogs at the house. It was two days after Suzi’s mile record and she was still high from the experience.

Suzi talked about her record mile run, her years as a world class downhill skier and their recent trip to Reno for Norm’s 80th birthday. Norm and Suzi still ski in the winter and they drove to Reno.

I couldn’t help but contrast Suzi with my mother who is the same age. My mother is frail and seems really old. Suzi is incredibly vibrant and is more alive than almost any one I’ve ever met.

After dinner that night, Suzi asked if Watson and I wanted to go to the park for a walk. Of course we were both up for that. Well Suzi proceeded to pile all of the dogs into her car and drove us to a wilderness area where the dogs could run free.

She had all the dogs trained to come when she blew a whistle so she didn’t need any leashes. I was very impressed that she could control all of those dogs off of the leash. It only increased my already high regard for her.

Suzi-MacLeod

The next morning I left for the race and Suzi took all the dogs including Watson back to the park for a morning walk. Later in the morning she did a track workout.

It was only three days after her mile record. I don’t recall all of the details, but I remember that she finished with a 46 second 200 meters. She did this by herself at age 75!!!

After my race and her workout, we hung around for much of the afternoon before I left for home. When we were leaving, Watson rolled over on his back to let her scratch his belly. He only does this with friends. I think that Watson was as taken by Suzi as I was.

Suzi MacLeod, USATF Masters Champs
Photo courtesy of Ken Stone

One of the last things she said to me that day was that she hoped I hadn’t been bored by spending the weekend with the old folks. I told her that I actually had a wonderful weekend. I didn’t want to go further because I didn’t want her to know just how amazed and impressed I was by her. But I guess she’ll probably find out now.

Suzi if you’re reading this, you are my inspiration. I want to be as active at 75 as you are.

Joanna Harper

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