Maria Pia D'Orlando (born 2 November 1934) is an Italian former

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 ...

. She was the first female Italian national champion in the marathon. Her personal best of 2:46:13 hours for that event was previously masters world record in the over-45 age category.

Biography

She had an exceptional run of success about the age of 45. Just days before her 45th birthday, 21 October 1979, she won the masters division of the

New York 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 fin ...

in 2:54:58 on what was later judged to be a short course. In January 1980, she won the

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

Marathon for the second time in 2:54:31. She had also won in 1978 in a comparable 2:54:16. She took on a full schedule at the European Veterans Championships in Helsinki, winning the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

, the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and the Marathon in 3:02:00. On 12 October 1980 she won the Italian National Championship (open division) in

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

the first time the championship was offered for women in 2:49:22.4. In early 1981, she went to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, where she dominated the WAVA Championships taking home gold in the W45

and the cross country event. The 18:09.03 in the 5000 m was a W45 world record. It lasted as the Italian masters record until 2009. On 13 September 1981 she improved her marathon time to 2:48:46 in

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Then on 9 May 1982 she improved her time again to 2:46:13 for the W45 world record in

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

References

External links

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Maria Pia D'Orlando
profile at Association of Road Racing Statisticians {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Orlando, Maria Pia 1934 births Living people Italian female marathon runners Italian female long-distance runners World record setters in masters athletics Italian masters athletes Place of birth missing (living people) Italian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Italian sportswomen

Biography

See also

References

External links