Nominee: Kathleen Judice

My name is Kathleen Judice and I am from Dayton, Maine. I have been a runner competing in races since 1980. My first 10k was when I was 10 years old and I quickly increased to the 15K distance, competing with an international field. I placed in my age group many times at that race, the Midland Run in NJ, which was run by TAC, what is now USATF. I ran my first marathon in Atlantic City (also TAC certified) back in the late 80s and placed in my age group in what was a memorable experience as a hurricane was quickly approaching and I needed to finish before they closed the course.

I have continued to race throughout my life and began racing track and field events in 1982 and coaching in 1986. I love the challenge of track and field and as a youth would consistently race in the mile and 2 mile and whatever event my coach needed me to do in order to help my team earn points at every meet. I learned how to throw a shot put, discus, javelin as well as high jump and long jump and could usually pull in one or two extra points for my team. Honestly, I just loved to compete and the added challenge of a new event or an event I did not practice regularly was a lot of fun.

I also love the camaraderie I find at meets and road races and that makes USATF special - having an opportunity to race with lifelong friends and meet new ones. I still remember my first USATF road race, meeting an elite athlete who took notice of my skill. That memory has stuck with me all these years because I felt special. I also remember meeting a world record holding female pole vaulter back in 2018 who encouraged me to continue to learn.

As an athlete I have found myself mentoring new athletes at a very early age and quickly studied to obtain many coaching certifications in multiple sports. I raced as a sponsored athlete for triathlon and road races in the 90s but took a break while I had my 6 children (raising my 4 survivors - I lost 2 young). As my own children grew up I’ve continued to stay in shape and occasionally race, but did not race at a highly competitive level again until the past 5 years when I had more time and was working to heal after a life threatening illness.

I quickly realized how much I missed the competitive aspect of challenging myself to improve and continue learning as an athlete as well as the athlete friendships made. I also find competing for myself helps me to improve as a coach, working mostly with youth but occasionally adults, as I appreciate all sides of track and field (I understand better where the athlete is coming from). I even competed in one open USATF international racewalk event (to inspire some youth I was coaching) where I knew I’d be challenged by form due to an injury but tried my best and was only disqualified at the finish of the race. What I learned from the race and the experience was invaluable. The past few years I have begun competing more regularly year round and have competed in Maine USATF indoor and outdoor track and Maine’s XC meet series. I attend as many meets as possible, constantly adding additional events at each meet to increase my overall fitness and endurance. While competing in the track meets year round, I also continue to compete in USATF road races including most recently, the Boston Women’s 10k, Beach to Beacon 10k, NYC Marathon, Millinocket marathon (which I have run 6 times), MDI Half Marathon (placing in my age group), among other smaller USATF road races in New England and I am registered to compete in 4 USATF certified marathons this year (including both Boston and Chicago which I will be running as a time qualifier). I will also be running in the Berlin Marathon which is one of the now 7 world major marathons. As much as I love long distance, I am a new pole vaulter and I love to compete in the pole vault. I just earned a new personal best at the Maine indoor state championships and am excited to continue working hard to improve in this event.

I am a proud member of USATF and fully support the mission to “drive competitive excellence and popular engagement in our sport in a safe environment for all”. I am also a proud Mainer having lived in Maine for half of my life. My goals for the future are to continue to improve in as many track and field events as I can, including a desire to find a USATF meet that will host the decathlon for women now that decathlon is allowed. I would also like to be able to travel out of state representing Maine at larger events. I am interested in this role as an athlete representative for Maine as I feel I have a deep appreciation of the sport as an athlete at many levels having myself competed since youth through masters, at times at a highly competitive level, as well as a coach, working with athletes of all ages for the past 40 years. Hope to see you all at the Track soon!