Originally written for Track & Field News (1981).
I added this introduction from Chapter Three: And Some of the Women in When Running Was Young and So Were We. – JDW
Same story, different gender. Newsmakers?
Back in the day, the ladies were nothing less than great explorers, seeking the outer limits of, well, their limits.
Who knew how fast they could go? Who could have guessed how many millions of women would follow?
I remember thinking early on – this how crazy I am – if I was a female, I would be the thirteenth (13th) fastest marathoner in the world.
Not long after, the only way I could keep up was by riding the press truck and getting a head start.
Patti Catalano: USA’s Top Woman Road Runner in 1980
Patti LaTora was a damn good runner. Patti Lyons was even better. Patti Catalano is the best.
Whatever the name on the finishers’ list, there is usually no question about the position – Patti Catalano, at age 27, is America’s top road racer.
Just look at the record book, which now reads like Catalano’s 1980 schedule of appearances. She holds the 10k mark, having won the Bonne Bell Championship in 32:24. She became the first American to break 50 minutes for 15 kilometers, winning the Cascade RunOff in 49:42. She set the 10 mile record of 53:40 in winning the Bobby Crim race.
She covered the very hilly Elby 20k (uncertified) in a world best 1:08:37. And, of course, she set an AR in the marathon in winning at Montreal (2:30:58), then broke that mark in New York City (2:29:34), where she became only the second woman under 2½ hours.
En route times at Bonne Bell (5 miles in 27:04) and Montreal (30k in 1:45:24) give her unofficial, but accurate, national bests. Add her 1979 half-marathon AR of 1:04:04 – a time she missed by only ten seconds this year – and Catalano’s records speak for themselves.
Although records don’t come easily, Catalano often makes it seem so. Her racing tactics are the simplest: “I just go out and run as hard as I can for as long as I can.” The rest of the story is a little more complicated.
There is a joy about Patti Catalano. An atmosphere of sheer exhilaration, an attitude of unrepressed happiness that flows from here very pores. She has an endearing quality which almost shouts, “Hey, look at me! Wow! Isn’t this fun?! Can you believe how well I’m doing?! Can anybody be this happy?!”
Every time she wins a race – something she does almost weekly – she acts as if it is her initial success. Teeth spread across her face like the grill of a 1958 Buick, she is beside herself with the surprise of the moment.
At first glance an observer might think she is hotdogging it. Acting amazed, the way the smart girls in high school always did when they received superior grades. In Patti’s case, she really is shocked. She still remembers the fat girl who smoked, and she is simply overjoyed not to be that way any longer. She is ecstatic about being the best road racer in the United States. The “best” of anything is heady stuff.
Such rapture seems childlike. Perhaps it is. Patti has been quoted that she is finally having her childhood. She is experiencing the play that was denied to her as a youngster.
The eldest of nine children, she ended up caring for all of them. Both parents worked two or more jobs, so she became both mother and father to her siblings. It was not a carefree life. It was a toughening experience, giving her the self-discipline necessary to work day after day after tiring day.
Work? This woman has always worked. Running is play, even if it is 150 miles per week.
That mileage total is not a misprint. While Catalano does not run 150M a week routinely, she did exceed that amount in preparation for the 1980 New York City Marathon. Ordinarily, she will average 130 miles before a marathon. Even during a recent winter lull, she was covering 13 miles daily, close to 100M a week.
Once a week, there is speedwork. “Nothing short,” coach/husband Joe relates. “Usually, we’ll do long intervals – repeat halves, 1320s or miles. For instance, we’ll run 6-8 times a mile at about 5:25 mile pace.”
Of course, since Boston remains a big goal, there are some more specific workouts. Frequently, she will run the legendary Heartbreak Hill 10 times, covering the 600 yards at a 1:46-1:48 average. Remember, she is accustomed to hard work.
“She has so much energy that running alone doesn’t use it all up,” Joe tells us. It’s not surprising then, to learn Patti also does Nautilus weight training thrice weekly.
While Joe and Patti believe this supplementary exercise is probably a contributing factor to her recent progress, they do not attempt to hide the fact that the lifting is not just another way to burn up Patti’s excess energy. She cannot be allowed to train as hard as she wants.
Patti Catalano’s transformation from an obese barroom habitué to world-class athlete has been frequently recounted. A transformation that melted the 150 pounds on her 5-4¾ frame down to 106.
Quite simply, she became tired of wasting her dollars and her time – as well as her life – and decided she had to make a change. She began to run.
Donning a sweatsuit, her most comfortable street shoes and a skindiver’s weight belt, our tubby heroine circled a cemetery for 7 miles. The next day, feeling as if she should be planted in her training venue, she couldn’t get out of bed.
Two weeks later, she could finally walk again without limping. In another week, she ran again. She was still smoking, but she was a runner. That was less than five years ago.
In September, 1976, Catalano (as Mrs. LaTora) made an important career move – she bought her first pair of real running shoes. She also stopped smoking. The next month she ran her first marathon, winning the Ocean State race in 2:53:40.
Despite this impressive debut, Patti wasn’t yet committed to the sport. The weight became to return. She resumed smoking. After a seven-month injury-induced layoff, she renewed her athletic career in June of 1977 and ran 2:47:20 that fall.
Another injury, and the cycle began again – smoking and gaining weight. Then, not quite three years ago, Joe became her coach. When he told her what a great runner she could be, he sounded serious. So, she became serious. The rest, as they used to say in the past, is history.
In 1978 (back to her maiden name of Lyons) she lowered her marathon PR to 2:41:32, rated 5th best in the world. She was the No. 3 American Road Runner. In 1979, she dropped to 2:38:22, was rated No. 6 world-wide and rose to No. 2 among U.S. Road Runners. Now she’s No. 1.
The breakthrough probably occurred in an event she did not win – the 1980 Boston Marathon. Jacqueline Gareau was the victor in that race, but Catalano’s 2:35:08 for 2nd was another PR. More importantly, that race showed her she could be great; she could be the very best. That’s all Patti Catalano needed to know.
Less than two weeks later, May 4th, she won the prestigious Midland Run, covering 15k in 51:58. Among those in her wake was Gareau.
On May 18 – pausing the day before to marry Joe and effect another name change – she set a since-broken 5M American Record of 26:14. And the next week she set her 20k world best. Keeping up the heavy schedule, on May 31, she chased the incomparable Grete Waitz at the L’Eggs Mini Marathon. Waitz set a 10k WR of 31:00, with Catalano finishing with her fifth PR in six weeks.
Patti also came up with one of the year’s better quotes. Asked if she wasn’t discouraged to see Waitz so far ahead – Catalano had finished two minutes in arrears – she said, “I wasn’t discouraged to see her so far away. I was happy to see her at all.”
Catalano is one of the few women in the world who can keep Waitz in sight. She can come closer to the Norwegian than most because of her ability to endure more work than other women. She has also developed the unique ability to avoid injury while at the same time competing frequently.
Finally, she has maintained her enthusiasm. Day after day, mile after mile, race after race. This bespeaks talent and intelligence. Much of it can be attributed to Joe. Few people have the guts and determination of Patti, but no one else has Joe, and he is clearly her greatest asset.
Joe Catalano has been running for 17 years. He has enjoyed modest success as an athlete, covering a marathon in 2:23:22. Yet his best performances are as his wife’s coach.
Joe answers the phone, handles the press, negotiates with race directors, plans Patti’s training, times her intervals and accompanies her on runs.
In short, he handles every problem that arises and avoids others before they have a chance to interfere with his wife’s running. All (?) she has to do is concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other as rapidly as possible.
They play their roles perfectly. “I’m giving 100% of my energy to her, and she gives 100% to her running,” Joe points out. “That’s our deal and it seems to be working.”
One look at Patti’s obliteration of the record book in 1980 shows such teamwork is indeed working. There is no end in sight. In addition to winning the Boston Marathon in 1981, the goal set by the Catalanos is to improve all of Patti’s times. “The way Patti has been improving, I just can’t see any limit,” offers Joe. “In the marathon particularly, her potential is unlimited.”
Maybe. Maybe not. But how much better does she have to get? Really, she just wanted to lose a few pounds. All that’s left for Patti Catalano is to cross the finish line and wait for Grete. With Joe’s help, she might just do it.
In 1980, Patti Catalano raced from January into December. Of sixteen races, she won twelve, finished second in three. Five of those races were marathons.
Now married to Dan, Patti Dillon had one of the greatest years ever, male or female.
Single or married.
http://archive.boston.com/marathon/stories/2004/patti_catalano_113003.htm