Hall of Fame: Kim Seelye Jones – PTHS Class of 1976
Trailblazing Distance Runner and World-Class Marathoner
|
Kim Jones began running marathons after watching Joan Benoit Samuelson’s victory at the 1984 Los Angels Olympics on television. Two years later Kim won the 1986 United States Marathon Championships, earning a spot to compete in the 1987 World Championships in Rome. She quickly rose to become one of the best female marathoners in US history and was ranked 3rd in the World in 1991. Throughout her career, Kim has been one of the most dominant distance runners in the world. She has more high-level placings in world-class marathons than any other US female marathoner in history with 17 performances under 2:33.
Kim grew up in Port Townsend, Washington, where she achieved great success in high school track: two state titles her sophomore year in the Mile and 880; and four state titles her senior year in the 880, 440, Mile Relay, and 440 Relay. Kim raised her two daughters in Spokane, Washington. She now resides in Lafayette, Colorado with her husband Jon Sinclair, and lives near her daughter, Jamie Roth and two granddaughters, Avery and Brynn. Since retiring from competition in 1998, she has been a coach with Anaerobic Management (www.anaerobic.net), an on-line coaching service for distance runners, as well as a speaker at special events, road races and expos. Kim won the Armory Foundation “Writers of America 2012 Book Award for writing excellence” for her autobiography Dandelion Growing Wild. Fastest marathon performances: 2:26:40: Boston ‘91 (2nd) 3rd fastest all-time U.S. marathon performance 2:27:50: Berlin ‘91 (2nd) 2:27:54: New York City ‘89 (2nd) 2:29:34: Boston ‘89 (3rd) 2:30:00: Boston ‘93 (2nd) *** Plus 12 other performances under 2:33 since 1986 5000 meters- 15:43 (‘96) 10km- 32:23 (‘89), 32:48 (‘97) 15km- 50:09 (‘88), 50:20 (‘95) 1/2 Mar.- 1:11:34 (‘88) 25km- 1:26:54 (‘97) Marathon- 2:26:40 (‘91), 2:31 ('97, at age 39) U.S. 30K (1:47:41) and 20 mile (1:55:29) records |
Ranked 3rd in the World in the marathon (1989)
Ranked #1 American in the marathon (1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993) 8th place finisher (first American) at the Stuttgart World Championships (1993) Member of the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame (1996) Member of the Colorado Distance Running Hall of Fame (2009) 25 career marathons Average time - 2:33:04 Average place - 4.1 Fastest marathon 2:26:40 - Boston 1991 Slowest marathon 2:48:48 - Honolulu 1984 (first marathon) MARATHON PERFORMANCES: 1984 Honolulu - 2:48:48- 5th place 1985 Twin Cities - 2:35:58 – 2nd place 1986 Twin Cities - 2:32:31 – 1st place 1987 Twin Cities - 2:35:42 - 2nd place 1988 Pittsburgh - 2:32:15 - 5th place 1988 Chicago - 2:32:03 - 5th place 1989 Houston - 2:32:32 - 2nd place 1989 Boston - 2:29:34 - 3rd place 1989 Twin Cities - 2:31:42 - 1st place 1989 New York - 2:27:54 - 2nd place 1990 Boston - 2:31:01 - 5th place 1990 New York - 2:30:50 - 2nd place 1991 Boston - 2:26:40 - 2nd place 1991 Berlin, Germany - 2:27:50 - 2nd place 1992 Hokkaido, Japan - 2:35:46 - 3rd place 1993 Boston - 2:30:00 - 2nd place 1993 World Championships/Stuttgart - 2:36:33 - 8th place 1994 Boston - 2:31:48 - 8th place 1995 London, England - 2:31:35 - 6th place 1995 World Championships/Gothenburg - short course - 14th place 1995 Chicago - 2:31:24 - 2nd place 1996 New York - 2:34:46 - 4th place 1997 Boston - 2:32:52 - 9th place 1997 New York - 2:32:00 - 6th place 1998 Houston - 2:35:44 - 2nd place |