"Women's Track World"

[tandfman]

Debbie Heald was my age and she ran as fast as I did in high school.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LrvJ2bsFduY

It's interesting that you should mention Debbie Heald. I confess that like almost all of the people I knew who were serious track fans, including the Nelsons, there was a time when I followed the men closely but the women not at all. All of that changed when I attended the US-USSR indoor meet in Richmond, VA in March, 1972. Heald upset the Soviets and in doing so set a World Indoor Record in he mile. It was by far the most exciting event of a good meet and it really got me hooked on the possibility of following the women's side of the sport, which I've done closely ever since.

[Conor Dary]

It's interesting that you should mention Debbie Heald. I confess that like almost all of the people I knew who were serious track fans, including the Nelsons, there was a time when I followed the men closely but the women not at all. All of that changed when I attended the US-USSR indoor meet in Richmond, VA in March, 1972. Heald upset the Soviets and in doing so set a World Indoor Record in he mile. It was by far the most exciting event of a good meet and it really got me hooked on the possibility of following the women's side of the sport, which I've done closely ever since.

One of the best and exciting races I've ever seen....

On a similar note, I never paid attention to women's marathons until Cheryl Bridges ran 2:49 in 1971. A decent time for that era by anyone. It was the first time I realized women could run competitive times.

[Helen S]

I am curious now what the state of women’s track was at various times in the US. At my HS in Gary, Indiana there was a team, but I can’t tell you much about them- their longest race was 180 yards, they did not have meets when the boys did. It was barely above an intramural sport.
I started the women’s team at my college (Earlham ‘74) the year after I graduated because there were a few women who wanted to run track, but the men’s coach said they were not in his job description.