by David Prokop 

Russia has a long tradition of producing fine distance runners, and that goes back all the way to the days of the Soviet Union. In recent years most of the better runners coming out of Russia have been female. Ever notice how many Russian women have excelled in the major marathons in this country?

One of the best of the Russian women who have raced in the US is Liudmila Stepanova, who was second in the half-marathon at the 2009 Russian Championships in Moscow with a time of 1:14.51, and she’s even better and faster at the shorter distances such as the 5- and 10K!

On Sunday, August 11 in the Indianapolis Double, Stepanova set a new world record in the Double Road Race™, posting an aggregate time of 52:38.6 (35:21 for the 10K and 17:12 for the 5K).

Her aggregate time was almost 35 seconds faster than the previous record of 53:13.4, set by Molly Pritz in winning the Overland Park Double on July 30^th. Molly had run 35:24 for the 10K and 17:48 for the 5K in Overland Park.

This Saturday Liudmila Stepanova will be entered in the San Jose Double Road Race™ where she will be shooting to improve on her world record. This time, however, she won’t just be running against the clock as she was in Indianapolis, where she ran so well she was fourth overall in the race – with only three men finishing ahead of her! The field in the San Jose Double will also include … Molly Pritz, one of the finest road racers in America over the longer distances and the previous world recordholder in the Double, who no doubt would like to reclaim the world record for herself. And on paper at least, she’s fully capable of doing so – after all, she ran 2:31.52 in the 2011 New York City Marathon at age 23 in her marathon debut!

This, incidentally, will be the first time in the history of the Double where the current and previous world record holders will go head to head against each other!

I am really looking forward to the San Jose Double...here is an inside look at Liudmila who is running Saturday.
Bob Anderson 8/20/13 7:17 pm

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Liudmila Stepanova, who celebrated her 30^th birthday just this past Sunday, August 18, has been running races in the US since 2010, coming here for anywhere from two to three months, competing in a series of races, then going back home. But she hasn’t stayed here long enough at any one time to pick up the language, although she understands English to some extent. Therefore, any information we were able to glean about her came to us courtesy of her agent, Larisa Mikhaylova, who lives in Hebron, Ky., where Liudmila lives and trains when she’s in the United States. Larisa herself was a former international star for Russia in the 800 meters (best time – 1:57.17!) and was ranked in the top 10 in the world for that event in 1997, ’98 and ’99. Larisa Mikhaylova is also the US agent for Julius Koskei of Kenya, who set the men’s world record in the Double at Indianapolis when he ran an aggregate time of 44:31.9 (29:48 for the 10K and 14:43 for the 5K). The previous men’s record had been 45:15.5.

According to Larisa, when Liudmila Stepanova was just a little girl in her hometown of Cheboksary, Russia, she liked to run everywhere. Then when she started competing in school, she found that she liked that, too – and after that she was thinking that maybe she could become a good runner in the future.

The future is now, and obviously Liudmila Stepanova is a big step beyond being just a “good” runner. Her performance in Indianapolis is proof of that. She also has personal bests of 4:20 for the 1500, 4:45 for the mile, 15:31 for the 5K and 34:06 for the 10K.

According to Larisa Mikhaylova, Liudmila started to train very seriously at age 21 after finishing college, getting married and having a child. While the agent says that Liudmila can run well from the mile to the marathon, she prefers the 5K and 10K, which would seemingly make her perfectly suited to the Double Road Race™. Indeed, the women’s race in the San Jose Double should go a long way to determining who has the advantage in the Double – a runner with superior 5- and 10K times (Stepanova) or a runner with superior half-marathon and marathon times (Pritz).

Of course, a key factor will be the relative physical condition of each runner. Molly Pritz underwent surgery to repair two torn tendons in her left ankle in late March, came back from that to set the world record in Overland Park, then missed the Denver Double due to another leg injury. What will be her fitness level in San Jose?

Regarding Stepanova’s condition, there isn’t a shred of a doubt about her fitness level – all you have to do is look at what she did in Indianapolis! Speaking about the Indianapolis Double, Liudmila’s agent told us, “She says it was a good experience because she had never done that before and she wanted to see if she could do it. She said, ‘It’s not easy if you’re running hard, it’s hard work,’ but right now she’s in very good condition and she thinks she can set a new world record (in San Jose).”

Then Larisa, the agent, added, “Yes, I’m sure she can do that!”

Asked what strategy Liudmila might follow in San Jose, Larisa said, “I think that should be a secret – it will be a very serious strategy and she doesn’t want to tell anybody how she will run. It’s a big secret.”

One thing that isn’t a secret is that the 5’1”, 104-pound mother of one is a very dedicated, hard-working runner. Right now she’s training about 100 miles per week, doing two workouts a day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, single workouts the other days and a race on the weekend. She plans to run the Akron Marathon on September 28 (her marathon best is 2:40:43), so she’s concentrating on keeping her mileage high.

After running the Akron Marathon, which comes at the end of her current stay in the US, she’s going back home to Russia – to her husband Andrey, a policeman in Cheboksary, and her eight-year-old son, Vadim. She will return to the US next spring for another two-or three-month stay to run another series of races.

And now you’ve had a glimpse at the human side of the life of a professional road racer from a little town in Russia…