| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Colleen Stella De Reuck |
| Nationality |  South Africa United States |
| Born | |
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 47 kg (104 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Running |
Event(s) | cross country half marathon marathon |
Colleen S. De Reuck (born 1964 inVryheid,Kwazulu-Natal) is along-distance runner fromSouth Africa, who became an American citizen on 11 December 2000. She has had a long-lasting career, running in her forties, and made a total of four appearances at theSummer Olympics.
She was a late bloomer and her first major success came in 1995 and 1996, when she won theHonolulu Marathon and theBerlin Marathon. Despite numerous appearances in theSummer Olympics and theIAAF World Championships in Athletics, medals never came on the track. By virtue of winning theOlympic Trials, she was also the 2004United States National Champion in the Marathon.[1] Just ten days short of moving into theMasters division, she broke the 16-year-old Trials record, and defeated eventually Olympic bronze medalist,Deena Kastor in the process.[2]
After her transfer to compete for theUnited States in 2000 she won her first major world medals, taking the individual bronze and team silver at the2002 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Another team bronze came at the following year's championships and she won at the 2004 and 2005USA Cross Country Championships.
She continues to run and finished third at theHouston Half Marathon in 2009, finishing in 1:12:14.[3]
De Reuck began competing for South Africa and made her first Olympic appearance at the1992 Barcelona Games, where she finished ninth in themarathon race. She tried her hand at thehalf marathon, resulting in a win at theCity-Pier-City Loop in 1993 and a fourth-place finish at the1995 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. She also won theHonolulu Marathon that year with a time of 2:37:29. In 1996 she won theLilac Bloomsday Run, theBerlin Marathon, and theEurocross cross country meeting inLuxembourg.[4] She made her second Olympic appearance in the 10,000 m, taking 13th place at the1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Her first appearance on the world championships stage came at the1997 World Championships in Athletics and she finished in eighth in the final of the10,000 meters. At the1998 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she finished in 15th overall in the women's long race. Following a missed opportunity at the1999 World Championships in Athletics, she representedSouth Africa at the Olympics for the third and final time, but managed on 31st place in thewomen's marathon with a time of 2:36:58.
After making anationality transfer, De Reuck made her first appearance for "Team USA" at the2002 World Cross Country Championships inDublin, Ireland, where she finished third overall (27:17) and helped the United States team to a silver medal. The following year she finished in seventh place at the2003 World Cross Country Championships, helping the U.S. team to the bronze medal. She made her fourth and final Olympics the2004 Athens Olympics. She finished in 39th place in the marathon, while U.S. teammateDeena Kastor won the bronze medal.
She won theUSA Cross Country Championships twice consecutively in 2004 and 2005. De Reuck represented the United States twice more at the World Cross Country Championships, finishing in 13th place in 2005, and 33rd place at her final competition in 2006 at age 41.
A resident ofBoulder, Colorado De Reuck is a formerworld record holder at10 miles (51:16, set at theCherry Blossom Ten Mile Run) and 20 km (1:05:11 New Haven). She was fourth at the 2005Chicago Marathon in 2:28:40, amasters record for United States.
At the 2009Boston Marathon at age 45, she finished 8th overall, beating the W40 winner by over a minute and the next competitor in her own division by 14 minutes.[5] Just nine days earlier she had run 2:32:37 at theTwin Cities Marathon inSt. Paul, Minnesota beating the listed American W45 record by over 6 minutes.[6]
She ran at theFalmouth Road Race inMassachusetts in August 2010 and took fifth place as the first American past the line.[7] Shortly after she ran in the Copenhagen Marathon in Denmark and placed 1st in 2:30:51, 8 minutes ahead of her nearest opponent.
On 14 January 2012, de Reuck ran in the 2012 US Olympic Team Marathon Trials, finishing in 2:38:52. Her pace was 13:14 behind women's winner Shalane Flanagan. Her time was good for a 35th-place finish out of 152.
Following her elite career de Reuck took up coaching with Boulder Striders as well as personal training. She was inducted into the Boulder (Colorado) Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.[8]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing South Africa | |||||
| 1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | 9th | Marathon | 2:39:03 |
| 1993 | City-Pier-City Loop | The Hague, Netherlands | 1st | Half Marathon | 1:10:50 |
| 1995 | Honolulu Marathon | Honolulu, Hawaii | 1st | Marathon | 2:37:29 |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 13th | 10,000 m | 32:14.69 |
| Berlin Marathon | Berlin, Germany | 1st | Marathon | 2:26:35 | |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 31st | Marathon | 2:36:48 |
Representing the United States | |||||
| 2002 | World Cross Country Championships | Dublin, Ireland | 3rd | Cross | Individual |
| 2nd | Cross | Team | |||
| 2003 | World Cross Country Championships | Lausanne, Switzerland | 3rd | Cross | Team |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 39th | Marathon | 2:46:30 |
