American long-distance runner
Anne Marie Letko (married name Lauck; born March 7, 1969, in Rochester, New York) is an American long-distance runner who competed in the Summer Olympics in 1996 (10th place in marathon) and 2000 (5000m).
Anne Marie Letko is the daughter of Jim and Sandy Letko.[1] She started running at the age of 14 when she accompanied her father on jogs around the block.[2] Letko claims that she became hooked on running after winning her age division in the Hampton Classic 7-miler.[2] Lynne Lauck, her future mother-in-law, was the overall female winner in the same race.[2] In high school, Letko finished 18th at the 1986 Kinney Cross Country Championships. She was two-time New Jersey State Champion in the indoor 3200 meter run[4] and her mark of 10:39.6 was a state record from 1986 to 2001.[5]
In 1991, Letko won the 10,000 metres at the World University Games in Sheffield, England, in what was a personal best for her at the time of 32:26.87.[6] Her 31:37.26 at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, was the fourth fastest 10,000 by an American woman.[7] In 1994, Letko won USA 15K Championships at the newly named Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Florida.[8][9]
Dehydration forced Letko to drop out of her debut marathon - the New York City Marathon - in 1993.[10] She returned the following year, coached by for two-time NYC marathon champion Tom Fleming, to finish third with a time of 2:30:19.[7][11] Letko qualified for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, with a third-place finish of 2:31:18 at the United States Olympic women's marathon trials the preceding February in Columbia, South Carolina.[12] She was the top American woman in Atlanta finishing in 10th place with a time of 2:31:30.[13]
Letko won Spokane, Washington's Lilac Bloomsday Run in 1993, Atlanta's historic Peachtree Road Race in 1994,[7] and has competed in San Francisco's Bay to Breakers multiple times, finishing third in 1994,[14] second in 1996,[15] and third in 1998.[11] She is the last American to win the Crim 10 mile race in Flint, Michigan (1994).[16][17]
A native of Glen Gardner, New Jersey,[18] Letko graduated from North Hunterdon High School in Clinton Township in 1987.[19] In 1992, she earned a B.A. in English from Rutgers University.[14][20] She competed under the name Anne Marie Lauck after she married Jim Lauck in 1995.[14] Jim Lauck later became a chiropractor.[11] She was previously coached by Alberto Salazar.[11]
United States
