Cindy Conant named age-group Road Runner of the Year

Seashore Striders runner Cindy Conant of Kensington, Md., has won more female overall and masters championships at the beach than any other female runner over the past 20 years. Just recently, though, USA Track & Field named the age-group winners of the Divisional Road Runners of the Year for 2017, and Conant grabbed the honor in the 55-59 age group. It was the first national award in her 25-year racing career. Conant never competed in cross country or track & field, but ran to stay in shape in college. She waited until after her children were born to begin her running career in her 30s.

“I was honored to be recognized for the age-group award,” she said. “What I was told is that USATF looks at your top five races that are USATF events and decides on the winner.”   

It is quite an achievement to be mentioned with names like Bernard Lagat (men’s 40-44), Nat Larson (men’s 50-54 and 55-59), Jen Rhines (women’s 40-44) and Joan Samuelson (women’s 60-64).

One of the races looked at closely is the annual Boston Marathon, a historic 26.2-mile journey that Conant has competed in more than 20 times in her career. She’s run in 12 of the last 16 Boston Marathons, according to the BAA Result site, and the interesting statistic is that each year she would age older, but get faster. Not many runners do that in their career, but Conant is not the average runner. She finished 647th in 2002 with a time of 3:50:24, but in 2015, she finished third of 1,206 in her age group in 3:07:24 – amazingly, a full 43 minutes faster and 13 years later. Last year at the age of 56, she again was third at Boston out of 698 in her age group in a time of 3:14:17.

“Finishing third twice at Boston is one of the highlights of my running career, even though the marathon is definitely not my favorite distance,” she said. “I really like the 10-mile and half-marathon distances as my favorite, but, more importantly, I just love to race.”

Conant is competitive in any race she enters; however, she is more competitive with herself and the effort she is putting in.

“Winning is fun and the awards are great, but when I race, I want to have that inner drive that I am doing my best, and if I am, then win or lose, I’m happy with the results,” said Conant.

Last year, following Boston’s 3:14, the inner drive and competitiveness came out in her, as she was not pleased with racing seven minutes slower than her personal best, even with a third-place Boston finish. Conant waited three weeks and entered the Pocono Marathon, where she ran 3:07:17 and won the 55-59 age group as the fifth female to cross the line.

Conant is currently nursing a slight injury and knows she cannot give 100 percent, so the plan is for her to skip the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in D.C. next month as well as Boston this year and get ready for the Broad Street 10-miler and the Seashore Half Marathon in May.

Conant has run 1:02:45 for a 10-mile personal best. The American record for her 55-59 age group is a few seconds faster at 1:02:39.  

“I think I can break that record, and that is one of my long-term goals,” said Conant.

Conant is very active with the Montgomery County Road Running Club, where she trains with some quality guys doing weekend long runs and tries to support every race the club puts on.

“I can only do two quality workouts a week now, and I also get to the track when I can, but I really do not have a coach or a training plan,” she said. “I really just run the way I feel, and I just really like to run and love to race.”

A hobby that Conant does pretty well! 

Tim Kennard 10-Miler this Sunday

A popular 10-mile run and 5K dash will be held this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. at Salisbury State University. The race should gather more than 400 runners to the starting line to race in memory of Timothy Kennard. He was just 48, and the father of a 7-year-old son, when he passed away March 11, 2004, after a courageous battle against kidney cancer. Tim is missed by his family and fellow running friends. This run/walk is in his honor, with proceeds going, as Tim requested, to help children and animals. This year, the proceeds will help Coastal Hospice, specifically for pediatric cases and programs for grieving children who have lost a sibling or a parent to cancer; the Salisbury Horizons Student Enrichment Program, which provides support, education and hope to children from economically disadvantaged families; and Coalition of Caring, a fund for our animal friends in need. Registration is still open; go to www.seashorestriders.com or www.timkennard.org.