Susannah Beck
{{Short description|American distance runner}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Susannah Beck
| image =
| caption = Kirtland during a road race
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|5|1|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Yarmouth, Maine, United States
| country = {{USA}}
| collegeteam = Yale University
| event = Marathon, Half Marathon
| pb = Marathon: 2:34:44
Half Marathon: 1:13:03
10 km: 33:46
}}
Susannah Beck is a retired American distance runner who specialized in marathons and ultra trail running. She placed fourth at the 2000 United States Olympic Trials Marathon and eighth in 2004. Beck shifted to long-distance trail racing in her later career.
Early life
Beck grew up in Yarmouth, Maine and attended the Waynflete School in Portland, Maine for high school. At Waynflete, she was coached by Andy Palmer and became a national-class cross country runner. Beck won the 1985 Maine Class B State Cross Country Championship{{Cite web |title="Maine Milestones" piece on Susannah Beck, who in 1985 won the Class B girls crown |url=https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/news_pph/15261/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Portland Public Library: Digital Commons |language=en-US}} and placed as high as fifth at the U.S.A National Championship.{{Cite web |title=FOR YALE GRADS, IT’S A HOME RUN |url=https://www.courant.com/2001/09/02/for-yale-grads-its-a-home-run/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Hartford Courant |language=en-US}} Beck enrolled at Yale University with the intent to run competitively, but a combination of injuries and stress from school led to her quitting the sport in 1989.
Career
After college, Beck moved to Eugene, Oregon for work. There she had access to some of the best fitness terrain in the country and numerous running friends with whom she could train. Beck regained her old form and became a national-class runner once again. Her breakthrough performance came in 1998 when she won the USA 12 km Championship.{{Cite web |title=Susannah Beck|url=https://mainerunninghof.wordpress.com/2014-2/susannah-beck/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Maine Running Hall of Fame|language=en-US}}
In 1999, Beck clocked a time of 2:38:50 at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, which qualified her for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon.{{Cite web |title=Susannah Beck|url=https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/susannah-beck-14305552 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=World Athletics|language=en-US}} At the Olympic Trials in South Carolina, Beck placed fourth of 170 women, narrowly missing an Olympic berth.{{Cite web |title=Women's Olympic Trials Marathon Results |url=https://www.marathonguide.com/news/exclusives/usawomenolympictrials_2008/USAOlympicMarathonTrialsHistory.cfm |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Marathon Guide |language=en-US}} Later in 2000, she placed third at the USA 25 km Championship and sixth at the USA Half Marathon Championship.
2001 was another productive year for Beck, as she claimed 15th at the Boston Marathon, third at the USA Half Marathon Championship, and 43rd at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championship in England.
Beck ran 2:36:34 at the 2002 Twin Cities Marathon, which qualified her for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. In the summer of 2002, Beck placed seventh in a world-class field at the Beach to Beacon 10K with a time of 33:46.
She logged her personal-best half marathon time of 1:13:03 at the 2003 Duluth Half Marathon.
At the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in St. Louis, Beck placed eighth of 121 women in a time of 2:34:44. Later that year, Beck relocated to her home state of Maine and won the Maine Women's division of the Beach to Beacon 10K.{{Cite web |title=Beach to Beacon: Aug. 1, 2004|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2017/07/30/beach-to-beacon-aug-1-2004/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Portland Press Herald|language=en-US}}
After 2004, Beck shifted her focus to ultra-marathons and trail races. She won the 2008 USA National Championship at 50 miles and finished second at the North Face 50-Miler in San Francisco.{{Cite web |title=The North Face Endurance Challenge California|url=https://ultrarunning.com/calendar/event/the-north-face-endurance-challenge-california/race/1312/results?gender=F |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Ultra Running Magazine|language=en-US}} USATF named Beck the female Ultra Runner of the Year for 2008.{{Cite web |last=Fitzgerald |first=Bob |date=2008-12-08 |title=USATF Track, Distance, Age-Group Awards Announced |url=https://www.nerunner.com/2008/12/08/usatf-track-distance-age-group-awards-announced/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=New England Runner Magazine |language=en}}
Other notable trail results include her victory at the Xterra Trail Half Marathon Championship in 2008 and her runner-up finish in the same event in 2009.{{Cite web |last=Bryant |first=Stacey |date=2009-09-15 |title=Lauren Fleshman & Max King Win XTERRA Half Marathon Trail Championships |url=https://www.runnersworld.com/trail-running/a20812413/lauren-fleshman-max-king-win-xterra-half-marathon-trail-championship/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Runner's World |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Morical |first=Mark |date=2008-09-25 |title=Oregon runners dominate trails|url=https://bendbulletin.com/2008/09/28/oregon-runners-dominate-trails/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Bend Bulletin |language=en}}
Beck was inducted into the Maine Running Hall of Fame in 2014.
Personal
Since 2012, Beck has managed her family business, the Maine Environmental Laboratory, in Yarmouth, Maine.{{Cite web |title=Staff and History|url=https://maineenvironmentallaboratory.com/?page_id=34 |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Maine Environmental Laboratory|language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/susannah-beck-14305552 World Athletics Profile]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Susannah}}
Category:American track and field athletes
Category:American female long-distance runners
Category:American female ultramarathon runners
Category:American female marathon runners