Marty Cooksey

Martha "Marty" Cooksey (born July 18, 1954) is an American former long-distance runner who competed in events ranging from 5000 meters to the marathon. She achieved her marathon best time of 2:35:42 hours at the American Olympic Trials in 1984.

She had her career peak in 1978, winning marathons in San Diego and Atlanta, as well as the American title with her runner-up finish at the 1978 New York City Marathon. Her times for 15 km, 20 km and half marathon were retrospectively recognised as women's world records for the road distances. Internationally, she competed for the United States at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1982 and won the gold medal over 10,000 meters at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis.

Career Raised in Orange County, California, Cooksey attended California State University, Fullerton, but her sporting focus was on basketball and volleyball while she studied there. She began taking part in women's road races in the late 1970s during the time of the running boom in the United States. She won the women's race at the 1978 San Diego Marathon in January with a run of 2:54:06 hours. Following this, she entered the 1978 Avon International Marathon held in Atlanta, Georgia, and was the surprise winner of the event, defeating more established runners such as Kim Merritt and Miki Gorman.

That year, Cooksey competed frequently and managed a total of 24 road races. She won the Lilac Bloomsday Run in May. A month later at the Cascade Runoff in Portland, Oregon, she ran a women's world record time of 51:37 minutes for the 15 km. August saw her set another women's best of 1:15:04 hours in the half marathon at the inaugural edition of San Diego's America's Finest City Half Marathon. She won her first national title at the New York City Marathon, coming second only to Grete Waitz. Although she had led for much of the race at a world record pace, she faded badly after 16 miles and crawled to the finish line, recording a time of 2:41:49 hours. Her fastest marathon run of the year came in December at the Honolulu Marathon, where she was the runner-up in 2:45:42 hours behind Patti Catalano. She won her second ever US Championship race that year, taking the 30 km title in Springdale, Ohio. Cooksey was chosen as the Female Road Runner of the Year for 1979 by the Road Runners Club of America. The year after, she retained her 30 km national title, improved her marathon best to 2:41:01 hours (coming sixth at the London Marathon), and was also fourth at the Honolulu Marathon. Her racing began to be affected by injury from the 1980 season onwards and she only managed a competitive return two years later. She missed the rest of the season due to a repeated stress fracture injury. After she recovered, she came second behind Gabriela Andersen-Schiess at the California International Marathon in Sacramento and her time gained her qualification into the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Trial. Injuries yet again spoilt her 1985 and 1986 seasons, although she won the American 5K road title in the latter year.

It was not until the 1987 Pittsburgh Marathon that Cooksey competed over the full 42.195 km distance. Although it was her final year of competing at the top level, it was the first in which she won an international medal. At the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, she was selected to represent the host nation in the 10,000 meters. She retired from her running career in 1988, but continued to participate sporadically and won the Colorado Springs Pike's Peak race at the age of forty-three.