History of Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile

Perhaps no other indoor masters mile has endured the test of time better than the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile. This year 2001 marks the 34th anniversary of the men's mile, and the 21st anniversary of the women's mile at Cornell University.

Originally, this mile was called the Cornell Masters Mile and remained so until 1988, when Jim Hartshorne -- the creator and director for 20 years -- stepped down. Rick Hoebeke took over as race director that year, and renamed the event the Hartshorne Masters Mile in recognition of Jim's contributions.

Jim Hartshorne will best be remembered for promoting Masters-level competition in track & field on the East coast, especially the masters mile. Jim initiated the first eastern U.S. indoor masters mile in 1968 at Cornell University. Bolstered by the overwhelming success of his first Cornell Masters Mile, Jim got on the telephone to race directors of all the major track meets on the East coast in an attempt to sell them the idea.

This turned out to be a difficult task in some cases because most of them had never heard of the Cornell Masters Mile. Some thought it was nothing more than a gimmick or stunt. "Nothing doing!" one bigwig meet director rebuffed. "I'm not going to have some old fart drop dead on my track!" However, Jim followed up his phone calls with formal, descriptive letters and race results, and within a year or so, he succeeded in getting the masters mile events on the program of several prominent East coast track & field meets: the Penn Relays (Philadelphia); the Knights of Columbus Games (Boston); Wannamaker/Millrose Games (New York City); the first Martin Lurther King Games (Villanova); and the Cornell Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships (Ithaca).

In 1981, Jim added the women's masters mile to the meet and nine female "track-blazers" toed the starting line.

James Mott Hartshorne, also the founder of the Ithaca-based Finger Lakes Runners Club in 1968, died on Dec. 17, 1994. His legacy will live on with the event that bears his name: the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile.

In 1991, the current race director Rick Hoebeke, added an Elite Masters Mile to the schedule. This invitational event was designed for men capable of running the mile in 4:30 or faster. This inaugural addition at Cornell saw the former world record holder for the masters mile, Davie Stewart of Ottawa, Canada, win the mile in 4:23.

In 1993, John Bermingham, an Australian national living and training in Edmonton, Alberta, won our elite mile and established a new indoor masters record at Barton Hall with a time of 4:17:84 (it still stands as a meet record). The next month, Bermingham ran the masters mile at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden and finished second to Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan in 4:10. (Coghlan won the event in 4:05.) Of course, Coghlan ran the first sub-four minute masters mile at Boston (3:58.15) later that spring.

Over three decades of men's masters mile results boast many familiar names in U.S. track & field and American road racing: George Sheehan, who ran the first three Cornell Masters Miles (1968-1970); Hal Higdon (1973), a senior writer for Runner's World; and former Olympians Browning Ross and Ted Vogel (1968); and Arnie Briggs of Liverpool, who died in November.

In two decades of women's mile results, you also witness athletes who have achieved standards of excellence in our sport: Patti Ford, the 1999 F40-44 indoor American record holder for the mile, and the current F40 3,000-meter champion and American record holder; Nancy Oshier, a former nationally-ranked masters competitor and Olympic marathon trials qualifier; Margret Betz, current American record holder for F60-64 in the 15K and the 8K (pending) and the 1999 5K national champion for women F60-64 -- and former USATrack & Field and Running Times age-group Runner-of-the-Year; Dr. Marcia Spaeth, former dean of women's athletics at Cortland State, pre-Title IX; and noteworthy senior sensations Gloria Brown, Lenis Tucker, Loretta Shehan, and the Twin Tiers' own Sally Rusby.

Special kudos to Ford, Betz, Diane Griffeth (now Kohl-Riise) and Diane McGuire for competing in the most Hartshorne Masters miles over the years.

--Rick Hoebeke