Joan Nesbit

Joan Nesbit Mabe (born January 20, 1962) is an American former long-distance runner who competed mainly in distances from 3000 meters to 10,000 meters. Her highest honour was a bronze medal in the 3000 m at the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She represented her country at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and appeared four times at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Nesbit was a two-time national champion, having been the winner of the USA Cross Country Championships in 1995 and the 3000 m at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She competed collegiately for the North Carolina Tar Heels, taking three All-American honours in NCAA competition. She also had wins in road races, including the Peachtree Road Race and Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.

She continued running into her forties and set a world masters record in the indoor mile for the 45+ age category. Nesbit is now the head men's and women's varsity cross country coach at Chapel Hill High School.

Career

Early life Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Nesbit attended East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she graduated in 1980, before studying American literature up to masters level at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She had taken up distance running towards the end of high school and winning the 1600 meter NCHSAA state championship her senior year led to a college sports scholarship.

College She ran collegiately for the North Carolina Tar Heels. In her first two years, she failed to make it out of the heats at the NCAA Outdoor and Indoor meets. At the 1982 NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Championship she ranked 37th then improved to 15th place the following year. Other road performances around this time included wins at the Maggie Valley Moonlight in 1989 and 1992, and the Buffalo 4-mile Chase and Crazy 8's Road Race in 1992.

Nesbit managed only eleventh in the 3000 m at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1987, but was much higher placed the following year, taking the runner-up spot behind Lynn Jennings. At the separately held United States Olympic Trials she was back down the order, ending 17th in the 10,000 meters. This was last place by some distance, but she persevered until the finish, driven on by memories of her late father. She failed to break into the top of the American elite that decade, finishing 13th at the 1988 USA Cross Country and tenth at the 1989 USA Outdoor 3000 m. A plantar fasciitis injury interrupted her career in 1989 to 1991, but she reflected that she had been doing too much training and welcomed the change. She missed the 1993 season but returned to take her first national podium in the 3000 m at the 1994 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in third. She achieved that same placing at the USA Indoor Championships, which brought her another international call-up. This was the first and ultimately Nesbit's only medal for the United States.

Turning to the outdoor season, she was fourth in the 5000 meters at the USA Outdoor Championships then won her first national title at the USA Cross Country Championships. With a sixth-place finish, she led the American women to fifth in the team rankings at the 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Another national title followed at the 1996 USA Indoor 3000 m.

Nesbit made three further appearances at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, running in 1996, 1998 and 1999, but failed to register higher than 25th in the individual rankings. She ran in the heats only at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

She also had a successful return to the road running circuit during this period, taking wins at the Reedy River Run (1994 and 1998), the Peachtree Road Race (1995), Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run (1996), and Virginia 10-Miler (1998).

Masters division Nesbit continued running past her late thirties and won her first national masters division title over the 5K run road event in 2002. She set American masters record in the 1500 m and indoor mile run. Her best for the indoor mile is a world record for the 45–49 age group.

Personal records Outdoor track 1500 metres – 4:12.40 (1992) 3000 metres – 8:51.92 (1992) 5000 metres – 15:24.68 (1995) 10,000 metres – 32:54.19 (1984)

Indoor track 1500 – 4:21.19 (1985) Mile run – 4:40.17 (1989) 3000 metres – 8:56.08 (1995) Two miles – 10:00.02 (1985)

Road 5-kilometer run – 15:40 (1995) 8-kilometer run – 26:27 (1989) 10-kilometer run – 32:04 (1995) 10-mile run – 53:25 (1996) Half marathon – 65:47 (1999) All information from USA Track & Field and Association of Road Racing Statisticians

National titles USA Indoor Track and Field Championships 3000 m: 1996 USA Cross Country Championships Long race: 1995

International competitions