Marianne Dickerson
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born(1960-11-14)November 14, 1960
St. Joseph, Illinois
DiedOctober 14, 2015(2015-10-14) (aged 54)
EducationUniversity of Illinois '83
University of Michigan '84
Harvard Business School
Sport
SportAthletics
EventMarathon
Achievements and titles
Personal best2:31:09
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  United States
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1983 Helsinki Marathon

Marianne Dickerson (November 14, 1960 – October 14, 2015) was a female long-distance runner from the United States.[1]

Personal Life

Dickerson was born in St. Joseph, Illinois.

NCAA

She was a star runner first at St. Joseph-Ogden High School, then at the University of Illinois after a stint on a track scholarship to the University of Michigan. (She earned a bachelor's in general engineering from the University of Illinois and a master's in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan). November, 1980: UI cross country's Marianne Dickerson placed first at the AIAW state meet.November 1982: In the first-ever Big Ten women's cross country championship meet, Marianne Dickerson earned first-team All-Big Ten honors with a sixth-place finish.[2] in 1983 after also earning All-American status in the 10,000m, placing third, at NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[3]

Professional

Against the advice of her coach, she entered a Missouri race, a portion of the inaugural Avon Marathon series. Winning the race qualified her for the series championship in Los Angeles, where she placed second behind Julie Brown.

That race served as the qualifier to the World Championships.[4] She was a surprise to take the silver medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.[5] While Grete Waitz was a clear winner, Dickerson was in fourth place behind Rosa Mota and Raisa Smekhnova, that group having already dispatched stars Joyce Smith, Laura Fogli and Christa Vahlensieck. Dickerson passed Mota outside the stadium then surged to dramatically beat Smekhnova (a sub-4 minute 1500m runner)[6] on the track inside the stadium.[7]

Injuries prevented her from competing in the 1984 Olympic Trials. She qualified for the 1988 trials by winning the Baltimore Marathon, but faded in the middle of those trials.

After getting her degree in Engineering, she went to the Harvard Business School. In 2015, she returned to her alma-mater high school as an assistant coach before her death.[8]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing the  United States
1983 Los Angeles Marathon Los Angeles, California 2nd 2:33:45
1983 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 2nd 2:31:09
1988 Baltimore Marathon Baltimore, United States 1st 2:41:05 [9]

References

  1. ^ "A Life Remembered: Marianne Dickerson". www.news-gazette.com. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  2. ^ Illini Women’s Athletics Begin to Take Flight in the ‘80s Illinois Fighting Illini
  3. ^ Former @IlliniWTrack Marianne Dickerson Passes Away Illinois Fighting Illini
  4. ^ America's first marathon medalist Runner's World
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2009-08-05.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) IAAF Results p459
  6. ^ "Raisa SMEKHNOVA | Profile".
  7. ^ Amy Cragg ends U.S. women's marathon drought with thrilling bronze ESPN
  8. ^ "Marianne Dickerson, Medalist in the First Women's World Marathon Championships, Dies". 19 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Untitled".
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