Kim Merritt (born May 22, 1955 in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

) is a former American

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

who competed in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. Her career coincided with the development of women's running in the United States and she was at the forefront of distance running in the mid-1970s. She won the 1975

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

and in 1976 she took the women's titles at both the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was first held on December 16, 1973, and it typically takes places on the second Sunday in December. The ma ...

s. Her personal best time of 2:37:57, set at the 1977 Nike OTC Marathon, was an American record for the distance and made her the fourth best runner worldwide that year. Merritt also won numerous shorter races on the national circuit, including the

Falmouth Road Race The Falmouth Road Race is an annual road race on Cape Cod from Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Falmouth Heights. The race organizer is Falmouth Road Race, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization that puts on the race ea ...

, Crim 10 mile run and

Gate River Run The Gate River Run (GRR), formerly known as the Jacksonville River Run, is an annual road running event in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, that attracts both competitive and recreational runners. It has functioned as the US National Champi ...

. She ceased competing around 1980, although she made an unsuccessful attempt at the 1984 Olympic Marathon Trials.

Career

She attended the

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UW Parkside or UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-ti ...

and won the state cross country championship in 1973, going on to place fifth at the nationals. During her time there she received

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

honours in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

and cross country, as well as earning

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are give ...

honours for her studies as a

student-athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

. Merritt took the inaugural honours at the Quad-City Times Bix 7 Mile in July 1975 and then won the Charleston Distance Run the following month – she returned to both competitions in 1976 and retained her titles. The twenty-year-old Merritt made her major

debut in September 1975 at the

and defeated Michiko Gorman to win the race in a time of 2:46:15 hours. This also made her that year's national champion over the distance and ranked her as the fourth fastest woman in the world in 1975. She ran in three marathons the following year, starting with a win at the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

in April. Running in her first race abroad, she took second place at the Waldniel Women's Marathon in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

behind

Christa Vahlensieck Christa Vahlensieck (née Kofferschläger; born 27 May 1949) is a German former long distance runner and pioneer in the marathon for women. During her running career, from 1973 to 1989, she simultaneously achieved a world record in the 10,000 metr ...

. Her third and final run over the distance in 1976 came at the 1976

in December, which she won in a personal record time of 2:44:44. This was the fastest run by an American woman that year. Merritt broke the American record for the distance at the 1977 Nike OTC Marathon in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, winning the women's race with a time of 2:37:57. She returned to the New York Marathon but finished as the runner-up, beaten to the finish by Michiko Gorman. Merritt entered and won a number of road races in 1977: she won the seven-mile

, the Crim 10 mile run, the Virginia Ten Miler, She also took consecutive wins at the

Bellin Run The Bellin Run is a 10K (6.2-mile) race held annually on the east side of Green Bay, Wisconsin, just outside Bellin Memorial Hospital, the race's founding organization. The first Bellin 10K was held on June 12, 1977 and was known as the Bellin ...

10K from 1977–79. She was the inaugural winner of the

15K in 1978 and won the second edition of the Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic held that same year. The 1978 season was her busiest in terms of marathons: she opened her year at the Boston Marathon, just missing the podium with a fourth-place finish, and ran at the inaugural Cleveland Marathon the following month, where she finished second after Jacqueline Hansen. Her next race over the 26 miles and 385 yards distance came at the Oregon Track Club race and she finished sixth while the winner

Julie Brown Julie Ann Brown (born August 31, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, musician, writer, and director. Early life Brown was born in Van Nuys, California, the daughter of Celia Jane (née McCann) and Leonard Francis Brown. Her father worked ...

set the fastest time of the year. Merritt's final run of the year came at a race on home turf in

New Glarus, Wisconsin New Glarus is a village in Green County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,266 at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1845 by immigrants from the canton of Glarus in eastern Switzerland, from which the village takes its name. It is lo ...

, which she won in 2:53:53. Her final year of competition at the top level was in 1979. She ran at the Boston Marathon and came in sixth place, although she was ten minutes behind the women's winner Joan Samuelson. The Avon Waldniel Marathon in September was a more successful outing, as she was the runner-up to England's Joyce Smith and completed the distance in 2:39:43 – the second fastest of her career. Merritt later married and had children, leading to the end of her running career. She made a brief return at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials for the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

, but her run of 2:43:31 was only enough for 53rd place.1984 Olympic Team Trials Results
Boston Trials. Retrieved on 2011-01-23.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Kim Living people 1955 births American female long-distance runners American female marathon runners Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Parkside alumni Boston Marathon female winners New York City Marathon female winners 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen