Sharon Warren Some sprinters just like to go fast, not very far, not often, but fast. Sharon Warren is one sprinter who’s fast but keeps on going. WMA Champs Italy 2007. From the get go, Sharon declared the package deal. “If you want me,” she told him, “you have to take track and field too.” Sharon laughs and continued, “He said, ‘Oh, well.’ He’d drive me to the meet, sit in the car, get out to watch me run, then go back to the car. When our daughter Tomika started running she’d ask him to come to watch her races too.”Mother Knows Best Tomika started track at age nine. "I didn’t want her to run, I wanted her to swim. But she had the passion, it was in her genes. So she ran and was so talented. I told her she can get a Track Scholarship and she did." “Tomika’s now 30 and working for Wells Fargo/Wachovia. She’d stopped running. I’ve been on her to start again.” Listening to Sharon you get the sense that mom, passionate, straightforward, makes a persuasive argument. "She rang the other night and said she went for a 2-mile jog.” Sharon got her own mother, who’s 78, into the gym to work out for a while but she’s since stopped. Now that Sharon’s got her daughter jogging again maybe she can get her mom back in the gym. Post a comment on this story. Times are Different Sharon works part time at the Tennis Center in the New York Armory. She'd worked at the Athletic Track in the Armory for 10 years but was fired in 2006. "Ed Small and I know the real deal, what happened wasn’t right. That’s why it settled out of court. Glad Ken Stone brought it out in the open." The Starting Line Sharon started running at 12, recruited to the Police Athletic League (PAL). “We were a national team. You had to train three days a week and hit certain times to make the team.” When she finished high school she didn't go on to college. “I worked for an advertising agency for 19 years. I worked full time and ran. Looking back I don’t know how I did it.” Her best times, in her 20’s were 100m - 11.9 and 200 - 24.30. She didn’t do the 400 then, “I couldn't stand it, and it was too long.” Masters Running  Around her late 30's, someone suggested she run masters track. Back then, she says, "It was a small program and mostly men were running. I coached myself and ran with the high school girls I was coaching. Then in my 40's Howard Adams coached me. When I was 49 or 50 Ed Small coached me. " “At 50, I started training for the 400M. I didn’t like it but knew it would build my endurance and speed for the 60, 100 and 200.” At 55, for 4 years in a row, she’s been the 60M and 200M national indoor champion. The Canadian Karla Del Grande beat her in 2009 but Sharon was still the US champ. She went to the Worlds in Italy in 2007 and won two silvers in the 100 and 200 and got gold in 4x100. “Everyone was surprised, I wasn't. I remember a former coach saying ‘We don't train this hard or travel this far to come back without a medal; we’ve worked too hard for this.’” She doesn’t really know any of her overseas competitors. “I don’t really need to as I’ve got the best in the world to aim for, Phil Raschker. I train to race against Phil and when I age up look forward to competing against her. We’ve had some good races. This year at the USATF SE Masters Champs in Raleigh N.C we ran in the 100 but they put us lanes apart. Phil ran 14.41 and I ran 14.57. It would’ve been good if we’d run side by side. The next time we’re in the same age group will be the Worlds in Sacramento (2011) when Phil will be 64 and I’ll be 60.” She won’t be going to Nationals or Worlds this year. “I might not always get to the big meets,” she says, “but I don't disappear, I stay local.” She won the 100M and 200M at the Mac Association, Empire State Championships June 21 (14.20 and 29.93). And at the Eastern Regionals, June 27 she again won two golds in the 100M and 200M (14.36 and 30.18). Coaching Others In 1987, she started helping coach young girls for the PAL team. She wanted to give back to the club that gave her a start so many years before. She not only coached but helped the kids with their SATS, negotiating with coaches on scholarships, getting them into two year colleges if they couldn't get four years. At the Armory tennis center she helps the kids. They see her running around the courts, stretching and they ask her questions. “I help them with their endurance, getting them to warm up by jogging, to stretch and do drills.” Starts and Stops Sharon got a heel spur in 2006 after she’d won the 60, 200 and 400 at the USA Indoor Nationals. “After beating Phil Raschker in the 60, I was setting myself for the big challenge of racing her at the outdoors nationals. But I couldn’t run, I had cortisone shots and rode the bike and ran in the pool. Phil ran 13.99 in the 100 and I ran 14.49 after doing all my training in the water and bike.” The cross training proved to her “that you don't have to keep running. The body has to take a break; you can't keep pounding or you’ll get injured.” At 50, she noticed that many of the women she ran against earlier weren’t around. “It’s not easy to maintain 14’s for the 100 and 29 in the 200.” Cross Training Sharon runs in the pool with a belt in nine feet of water. “My workout is a warm up of 3x90 seconds with a jog in between, then I get faster with 3x60secs, 6x45secs, 6x30secs and 6x15secs all with fast leg turn over.” She does speed workouts on the stationery bike, three sets of 3x30secs with three minutes recovery between each. “I usually run two times a week, three days in the gym on the bike or in the pool and rest two days. I also do light weights. My knees have never bothered me. I run on soft surfaces like the mondo track or soccer field. I don't train in spikes and wear light waffles. And I play tennis and teach a few aerobic classes each week.” Running with Others  She sometimes works out with Marie-Louise Michelsohn, “who gets help with her speed and I get help with my distance training. We do our own things but try to get together when we can.” She’s also worked with M55 world-class sprinter Fran Schiro. “He’s a beautiful person. We’re two of a kind; we don't take no mess and are partners in crime.”Sharon (center) WMA Champs Italy 2007. Tennis Anyone?Working at the tennis center, she’s started hitting the ball and loves it. “Some of the pros here have been helping me out and encouraging me to play. I haven’t been doing it for a year yet and I’m not sure how far I can go. It’s a good challenge to try something new. I might start playing matches next year. I saw this lady that hasn't been beaten and I'm thinking about taking her on. It got me really motivated.” That's Sharon Warren, competitive, competent and ready to give you a run for your money. Read Your Comments on Sharon's story. Post a comment on this story. Return from Sharon Warren to Women Runners Post Your CommentDo you have a comment on this story? Share it! Your CommentsClick below to see other comments... Comments on Sharon Warren Read the comments on WRT's story on sprinter Sharon Warren. New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave us a comment in the box below. |
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