Athlete: Andriette Wickstrom
Age: 60
Residence: We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back
Family: Single
Career: Teacher
Affiliation: Prairie Striders
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5K: 21:33 (60)
10K: 43:40 (56)
10 Miles: 73:18 (57)
Half marathon: 1:37:24 (58)
Marathon: 3:23:45 (58)
Key Workout:
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Andriette Wickstrom, 60, of We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back, is a marathon streaker. Wickstrom will be running her 25th Twin Cities Marathon in a row on October 4. She has run 24 Boston Marathons in a row. Few runners could match that simultaneous double streak. In addition, Wickstrom, who races virtually every weekend, has now collected 13 straight Grandma’s Marathons in Duluth, Minnesota. In all, Wickstrom has run 85 marathons, and she usually runs fast enough to win or place in her age group.
Twin Cities: Last year at Twin Cities, Wickstrom ran 3:25:46 to place second in the 55–59 division. Only Christine Kennedy outran her. Wickstrom’s time was age-graded to 84.2 percent, and she placed 158th of 3,997 women in the field. Wickstrom hopes to better the 3:27:39 she ran at Grandma’s on June 20—winning the 60–64 title by 25 minutes—in order to keep improving through the year. She’ll run a fifth marathon of 2015 at Des Moines on October 18, two weeks after Twin Cities. “I recover fast,” she says.
Marathon Training: Wickstrom runs about 40 miles a week year round, with an occasional 60- or 70-mile week during peak marathon training. She doesn’t time her runs or use any training system. “I fit in training when I can,” she says. “I run whenever I feel like it. I’m not consistent. If I feel a little glitchy, I take a day off. That way I avoid injuries.”
Racing Regimen: Wickstrom said that frequent racing gets her in shape for marathons. Through mid-September, she had run 41 races in 2015. This included a 21:33 5K for an age-group victory at the National Senior Games in Minneapolis in July. Wickstrom does a lot of racing in the Twin Cities area where she once lived, with family and friends cheering her on. She says her secret weapon at the Twin Cities Marathon is a cheering section waiting for her at 22 and a half miles.
Class Work: Wickstrom does substitute math teaching in the local school district and also teaches at local colleges. Her favorite class is called “Running, Reading and Reflecting,” at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake. She has a personal collection of 300 running books.
Pit Stops: Calling herself a “garage sale maniac,” if Wickstrom is out running and sees a yard sale, she stops to check it out. Other opportunities also give her pause. In the middle of a recent 12-miler, Wickstrom stopped at a friend’s farm, picked an apple off his tree and ate it while resuming her run. On 4:30 a.m. runs in the darkness, Wickstrom carries a flashlight and looks for coins. “I know where to find them,” she says. Last year, Wickstrom pocketed $55.10 in change scooped up while running, then made out a check for that amount to an animal shelter.
Running Errands: “I’m always running to get groceries,” Wickstrom says. “If I’m running while carrying a watermelon, that to me is a good workout.” How does running out of a market and down the street with a watermelon play in small town Storm Lake? “I don’t always tell people what I do because they might roll their eyes,” she says.
Peak Efforts: In 1996, Wickstrom, then 41, had her best performances. She ran her Boston Marathon PR, 3:13:24, lifetime PR at Chicago, 3:03:59 (earning $1,000) and Twin Cities PR, 3:06:40, all within seven months. Other lifetime PRs that year included the 5K in 19:24, 10K in 38:30 and 10 miles in 64:53. Wickstorm has won four U.S. national masters age-group titles—two at the Twin Cities Marathon (2005, 2010) and two at the Tulsa 15K (2013, 2014) in Oklahoma. Since 2002, Wickstrom has been first in her age group in more than 140 races from the mile to the marathon in six states.
Team Title: The 100th Boston Marathon in 1996 was special for Wickstrom, not only for her Boston PR that year, but because she’d been invited to compete with the Prairie Striders masters racing team. In her youth, Wickstrom had never been on a school team. She said she was more of a bookworm who worked in the library. Boston was her first team experience. Wickstrom was thrilled to contribute to Prairie’s masters women’s victory in a field of 52 teams.
Long Nights: Except for Boston, Wickstrom drives to all her races, often making long trips the day before. Sometimes she stays with friends or family, but typically she sleeps in her car overnight. Wickstrom says she doesn’t like paying for motel rooms. For parking she finds busy truck stops about an hour from the race site. “There’s safety in numbers,” she says. Wickstrom folds down the back seat of her 2005 Honda Accord, sets three alarm clocks and snuggles into her sleeping bag.
Future Plans: In another few years, she hopes to reach her goal of 100 marathons.
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
