| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Elaine McGillam | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 11, 1964 United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Elaine Van Blunk (née McGillam;[1] born September 11, 1964[2]) is an American long-distance runner who finished third at the 1994 Chicago Marathon. She was the 1989 winner of the 3000 meters at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, and finished seventh in the 10,000 meters event at the 1991 Pan American Games.
Personal life
Van Blunk attended Archbishop Prendergast High School,[3] and later Saint Joseph's University.[4] She graduated from Saint Joseph's in 1986.[1] She is married to Jim Van Blunk, who was an athlete and later admissions director at Saint Joseph's University.[4] Jim Van Blunk won the 1986 and 1987 Broad Street Run races.[5] Van Blunk has lived in West Deptford Township, New Jersey,[4] and Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.[6]
Career
Whilst at Archbishop Prendergast High School, Van Blunk competed in Catholic League girl's athletics competitions. In 1981, she finished third in the cross country event,[7] and in 1982, she won the 3,200 meter race in a meeting record time of 11:09.4.[8] Whilst at Saint Joseph's University, Van Blunk qualified for the 1985 NCAA Championships,[3] and in 1986, she became an all-America athlete.[9] After graduating, Van Blunk worked as an accountant,[1] and later as an investigator in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the office of the New Jersey Attorney General.[4] She gave up the role to pursue athletics full time,[4] although she also worked part-time as a track assistant at Saint Joseph's.[1] Van Blunk was sponsored by Nike.[4]
She was the 1989 winner of the 3000 meters event at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships.[10] In the same year, Van Blunk finished sixth in the Penn Relays mile run.[9] She also won a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) race in Park Avenue, New York City,[9] and a 3.1 miles (5.0 km) event at the Metropolitan Athletics Congress.[9] In 1990, Van Blunk won the 10,000 meters event at the Penn Relays. She finished second in the event in 1991, albeit in a faster time.[4] In 1990, Van Bluck won the 8 km road race at the United States Championships.[11] She competed at the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Seville, Spain,[4] and placed seventh in the 10,000 meters event at the 1991 Pan American Games.[12] In 1992, Van Blunk won a Dukes invitational 5,000 meters race in a time of 16:04.7.[13] In 1993, Van Blunk set a course record of 1:12:11 at the Fairfield Half-Marathon.[6] She also won the Broad Street Run,[5] in a course record time of 53:15,[14] and the half marathon event at the United States Championships.[11] She also finished 21st in the 10,000 meters event at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics.[15]
In 1994, Van Blunk finished third at the Chicago Marathon, 51 seconds behind winner Kristy Johnston. It was Van Blunk's second career marathon.[16] In 1995, she won the 25 km road race at the United States Championships,[11] and competed in the marathon event at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, but did not finish the race.[17] In 1997, Van Blunk won the Broad Street Run for the second time.[5][14]
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | World Cross Country Championships | Aix-les-Bains, France | 34th | Senior race | 20:07 | [18] |
| 5th | Senior team | 112 pts | [18] | |||
| 1991 | World Cross Country Championships | Antwerp, Belgium | 28th | Senior race | 21:18 | [19] |
| 4th | Senior team | 77 pts | [19] | |||
| World Indoor Championships | Seville, Spain | 8th | 3000 m | 8:58.23 | [20] | |
| Pan American Games | Havana, Cuba | 7th | 10,000 m | 36:10.91 | [21] | |
| 1993 | World Cross Country Championships | Amorebieta-Etxano, Spain | 89th | Senior race | 21:40 | [22] |
| 10th | Senior team | 167 pts | [22] | |||
| World Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 21st | 10,000 metres | 33:42.85 | [20] | |
| 1995 | World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | — | Marathon | DNF | [20] |
Road race wins
- Old Kent River Bank Run: 1995[23]
- Cooper River Bridge Run: 1994[23]
- Broad Street Run: 1993, 1997[23]
- Pittsburgh Great Race: 1989[23]
National titles
- USA Indoor Track and Field Championships
- 3000 m: 1989[10]
References
- ^ a b c d "She's in it for the long run". Philadelphia Daily News. August 1, 1991. p. 71. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Elanie Van Blunk". World Athletics. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ a b "Finally Free of Injuries, McGillian Running Wild". Philadelphia Daily News. April 18, 1986. p. 126. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Running hard in pursuit of an Olympic dream". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 12, 1991. p. 234. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Blue Cross Broad Street Run". Philadelphia Daily News. May 5, 1997. p. 102. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Van Blunk sets course record". Hartford Courant. June 28, 1993. p. 18. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cross-Country". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 11, 1981. p. 42. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dougerty girls take track title". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 23, 1981. p. 76. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Elaine Van Blunk". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 26, 1990. p. 52. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "UNITED STATES INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (WOMEN)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ a b c "UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS (WOMEN)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ "PAN-AMERICAN GAMES: Havana, Cuba 1991" (PDF) (pdf). Association of Track and Field Statisticians. p. 16. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ "Van Blunk gets easy win in women's 5000 at Duke". The News & Observer. April 11, 1992. p. 31. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Facts 'n' Figures". Philadelphia Daily News. April 20, 1999. p. 160. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Women 10000m Athletics IV World Championship 1993 Stuttgart (GER) – Saturday 21.08 – Gold Medal: Junxia Wang, China". Todor 66. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ "OREGON RUNNER COLLAPSES – AFTER WINNING RACE". Chicago Tribune. October 31, 1994. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ "Women Marathon Athletics V World Championship 1995 Goteborg (SWE) – Saturday 05.08 – Gold Medal: Maria Manuela Machado, Portugal". Todor 66. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Magnusson, Tomas (February 15, 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 6.0km CC Women - Aix-les-Bains Date: Saturday, March 24, 1990, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on October 16, 2007, retrieved October 24, 2013
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b
Magnusson, Tomas (September 8, 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 6.4km CC Women - Antwerpen Linkerover Date: Sunday, March 24, 1991, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on October 16, 2007, retrieved October 24, 2013
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c Elaine van Blunk. World Athletics. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ^ 1991 Pan American Games full results. ATFS. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ^ a b
Magnusson, Tomas (March 24, 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 6.4km CC Women - Amorebieta Jaureguibarria Date: Sunday, March 28, 1993, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on October 16, 2007, retrieved October 25, 2013
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c d Elaine vanBlunk. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
External links
This page was last edited on 29 November 2021, at 14:38