Avon International Women's Championship Marathon

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Finishing only 13 seconds behind the blond Hungarian was Manuella Angenvoorth, 31, of West Germany Manuella ran an incredible race especially since, just a few days before, she'd been in the middle of a rough German winter.

Fourth place went to Cindy Dalrymple of Honolulu who is—like all these women—quite a story. Cindy was a world class track and field competitor in the early 1960's . . . but wanted to run the non-existent (for women) distance events So she gave it all up, went back to school, got married, had two children, and then—in 1973—plunged into distance races. Now, at 36, she's once again world-ranked!

Gayle Barron, the local favorite, had put so much effort into the actual organization of the run that it was surprising she could even walk the 26-mile distance. Still, she finished a very respectable fifth.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

So it was a good race. An excellent race. But in terms of Olympic recognition, it's only another step on a long road. What's needed is a concentrated base of public support. That means YOU. Get involved in this thing!

Grab a pen and paper and jot off a . . . demand to know just how soon women's distance (especially marathon) running will be officially sanctioned as Olympic events. Write to: Joel Ferrell, President, Amateur Athletic Union, 3400 W 86th St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46268 . . . Barbara Palm, National Chairperson for Women's Long Distance Running, Amateur Athletic Union (same address) . . . and especially to: Director, International Amateur Athletic Federation, 162 Upper Richmond Rd., Putney, London SW15 2SL, England.

And don't accept a standard "Thank you for your interest, blah, blah" reply. Get these people off their respective bottoms and let 'em know you're not only interested in women's long distance races, but darn upset over official inaction about such events.

As Kathi Switzer sums it up: "Everybody teases me about being frenetic and aggressive and pushy and demanding . . . . . . . . . and I am. I'm impatient. Sometimes it's not good enough to just 'do your own thing'. You've gotta hit'em hard."

Indeed. Write those letters.

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