The Finger Lakes Runners Club hosted the 57th annual Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile on January 17, 2026, at Cornell University’s Barton Hall. With 90 runners competing across seven heats—tying the record attendance set at the 50th anniversary race in 2017—the meet delivered exciting races, stellar age-graded performances, and two record-breaking runs!
In the Combined Section 1 heat, 86-year-old Sandra Folzer improved on the W85 indoor mile world record she set at last year’s Hartshorne, running 9:43.00 to shave 2.24 seconds off her previous mark of 9:45.24. In the Women’s Elite heat, 60-year-old Michelle Rohl ran 5:29.05 for an astonishing 95.67% age-grade—the top mark of the day—to set a new W60 American record for the indoor mile, clipping almost two seconds off Suzanne McDonald’s 5:30.74 from 2021.
But that wasn’t all for Rohl, a three-time Olympian in the race walk and 1999 Pan American Games bronze medalist, who now holds 10 individual age-group American records in distances ranging from 800 to 10,000 meters. The next day at the USATF Niagara Indoor Championships, she shattered the W60 world record for the 3000m race walk with a 15:09.64, more than 30 seconds faster than the previous mark. For these performances, USATF named her Athlete of the Week. And her season is just getting started! Just one week later, she broke the W60 indoor mile world record with a 5:26.65 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston and was featured in Runner’s World.
Full results are available on the FLRC site, including age-grade percentages and times. Leone Timing’s results are also worth checking out for their split times and position changes. Don’t miss the great race photos and videos! (You can also click the header links below to watch the associated videos.)
Race Results
Combined Section 1: The opening heat of the day featured 17 runners spanning a wide age range. 52-year-old Amy Dawson won overall in 7:46.42, while 66-year-old Susan John was second for the women in 8:16.89, and 53-year-old Heide Van Buskirk was third in 9:07.67. For the men, 66-year-old Ted Limpert took first in 7:51.03, followed by 81-year-old John Leary in 8:08.40 and 67-year-old Anthony Boyadjis in 8:22.69. Although she was back in the pack, 86-year-old Sandra Folzer broke the W85 world record with a 9:43.00, surpassing her previous record of 9:45.24 set last year at Hartshorne. Meanwhile, 91-year-old Edna Hyer—a Hartshorne legend who has broken multiple records at this meet and was the oldest competitor—finished the race in 16:48.90.
Men’s Section 2: 64-year-old Neal Coffey led from the gun to take the win in 6:14.63, holding off 67-year-old Derrick Staley, who worked his way up to second after the 800 and finished in 6:20.01. James Dean, 53, claimed third in 6:25.54. The race featured a trio of strong 70+ performances: Spider Rossiter, 74, clocked an impressive 6:33.96; Ken Hodges, 72, came through in 6:58.07; and 75-year-old Tim Payne crossed in 7:39.38.
Women’s Section 2: 61-year-old Pamela Ricker led the race from the start to finish in 6:21.00, good for the fourth-best women’s age-grade of the day at 83.40%. Jeannette Boyd, 50, finished second in 6:25.87, while 45-year-old Laura Morse came in third at 6:30.55.
Men’s Section 3: 65-year-old Johnny King-Marino controlled the pace for most of the race, but 50-year-old Thomas Meyer took the lead with 400 meters to go and unleashed a 35.86-second final lap to take the win in 5:39.70. King-Marino held on for second place in 5:49.49. Michael Olson, 60, placed third in 5:54.71.
Men’s Elite B: With rabbit Patrick Milano pacing the race through the first 1200 meters, 42-year-old Dave Cook took control at 400 meters and ran strongly for the win in 4:51.01, recording the third-fastest lap of the day with a 31.45-second 200m kick. Jordan Varano, 46, finished second in 5:05.93. The race’s standout age-graded performance came from 60-year-old Benoit Hogue, third overall, who ran 5:08.10 for an 88.90% age-grade—second-best among all men for the day.
Women’s Elite: This heat featured the top women’s performances of the day. 50-year-old Sascha Scott, a five-time Hartshorne champion who has never been beaten at this race, tracked rabbit Bella Burda for the entire race to take the win in 5:18.15, earning a 90.78% age-grade. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Chelsea Benson, 43, in her first competitive mile in 20 years, finished second in 5:25.78 with an 83.99% age-grade. But the day’s best age-graded performance came from 60-year-old Michelle Rohl, whose third-place finish in 5:29.05 translated to an impressive 95.67% age-grade—a new W60 American record for the indoor mile. Anne Riordan, 41, placed fourth in 5:29.52, just 0.47 seconds behind Rohl, with Jennifer Boerner Selig, 43, close behind in fifth at 5:30.32. 39-year-old Donna Langerfeld took sixth in 5:41.92, with 48-year-old Alison Schwalm finishing seventh in 5:42.88. Liz Hartman, 43, crossed in 5:43.71, followed by college teammates Jennifer Perry, 45, in 5:49.76, and Erin Dewalt, 45, in 5:51.63. Katherine Durrant, 52, finished eleventh in 6:15.98, and 64-year-old Lorraine Jasper rounded out the heat with a 6:37.67.
Men’s Elite A: The final race of the day saw rabbit Alexander Simpson take the field out in 34-second laps, with 50-year-old Nick Conway tucking in behind him for the next six laps before 40-year-old Shaun Donegan made his move into the lead. From there, Donegan held off two-time Hartshorne champion Sam Morse, 42, with the fastest lap of the day—a blistering 30.05-second final 200m to Morse’s 31.18, the second-fastest lap of the meet—to win in 4:31.08. Morse finished second in 4:34.07, with Conway’s third-place finish in 4:34.70 converting to a stellar 91.76% age-grade, the top men’s mark of the day. William Hoyne, 43, was fourth in 4:42.80, followed by Chuck Terry, 43, in 4:48.00 and 51-year-old Mike Padilla in 4:48.98—Padilla’s time was good for the third-best men’s age-grade of the day at 87.90%. Louie DiNuzzo, 43, and George Young, 44, finished seventh and eighth in 4:50.69 and 4:52.05, respectively, with Peter Boyd, 51, rounding out the field in 5:04.75.
Volunteers
Hartshorne requires a significant volunteer effort, starting with race director Adam Engst and assistant directors Charlie Fay and Tom Hartshorne. Leo Nakaranuruck arrived early to help set up. Jim Miner and Rebecca Lambert managed the registration table, with Joanne Button taking over for the second shift and later helping with lunch check-in. Jesse Koennecke served as clerk of course, and Jan Hunsinger started all the races. Tonya Engst greeted and coordinated volunteers. Our speedy rabbits were Bella Burda, Patrick Milano, and Alexander Simpson. Paul Houle took photos, and Jorge Cuevas was our videographer. David Rossiter counted laps and rang the bell, Jon Lewis called splits to runners, and Rich Bernstein monitored the finish line. Joel Cisne, Tom Hartshorne, Tristan Lambert, and Aaron Proujansky helped keep spectators off the track during the races. Christine Sparfel assisted Marte Reps with on-site management of the award luncheon. Thanks to everyone involved!
Sponsors
Finally, we want to thank the sponsors who made this year’s Hartshorne possible. It takes a lot of money to host a national-level meet like this, including rabbits, race photos, race videos, a post-race banquet, and cash prizes to attract some of the top talent in the US and Canada. The race’s 2026 sponsors include Sean Nicholson, Joe Daley, the Hartshorne Family, Javier Martinez, Cayuga Health, and Bangs Ambulance. Also, thanks to Cornell University for allowing us to race in Barton Hall, the Cornell Track & Field Team for letting us compete before their meet, and Leone Timing for world-class timing services. The masters running community is tremendously grateful for their support. Just because we’re not so young anymore doesn’t mean we don’t take our racing seriously!
See you next year!