By David Harry

Staff Writer

Life on the run begins early in the morning for Sue McCarthy of South Portland.

At least twice a week, McCarthy, 47, is on the track before 6 a.m. at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. She’s training to compete in the XIX World Masters Athletics Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., in July.

“It is exhilarating to be able to run fast,” she said.

The fact she is running again is notable: McCarthy resumed her track career 20 years after competing in college and came back from knee surgery two years ago to excel in her age group.

McCarthy, a sprinter, competes in 60- 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in a local corporate track league and for the Massachusetts-based Mass Velocity track club. She has won a gold medal in the 400-meter dash and placed second in 60-yard and 200-yard dashes in March at the USA Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque.

Now McCarthy is looking for financial help to compete in Sacramento. She estimated she needs about $1,000 to help with lodging, airfare, entry fees, meals and a uniform.

Divorced and the mother of an 11-year-old daughter, McCarthy has balanced her career and sprinting while climbing the national ranks in the master class for women between 45 and 49.

In 2009, McCarthy set the Maine Corporate Track Association Master class record for the 100-meter dash at 13.1 seconds.

Watching her compete and achieve has impressed Kim Williams, a South Portland resident who will compete in a class for slightly older runners.

“It is her work ethic,” Williams said. “She is very talented but trains very hard and very smart.”

Both are on the Mass Velocity team. Locally, McCarthy runs for the MaineHealth corporate team while Williams competes for UNUM.

“It is fun to watch her,” Williams said. “She is a real presence on the track and does not give up position without a fight.”

McCarthy began running track at Northport High School on Long Island, N.Y. She then attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she still holds outdoor records for the 200- and 400-meter dashes.

McCarthy said she remained active and ran road races, and was race director and rode time trials on a bicycle while raising her family and starting her career.

She said her training has not changed greatly since college.

“My stopwatch works just the same,” she joked. “The only thing that is different is the challenges of adulthood.”

Williams said watching McCarthy recover from her knee injuries impressed her.

“She did not give up, even when her times were not as good because she was recovering,” Williams said.

The training is as much physical as mental, with some distance running in the evenings, bicycle riding and weight work at home to go with the early morning sprints at USM. Through all that, McCarthy said she is trying to reinforce composure.

“Just as you have to train the body, you have to train the mind and your nerves,” she said. 

Williams said McCarthy’s competitive instinct is visible.

“There is something about running fast that really turns that on,” Williams said.

McCarthy said camaraderie is as apparent as competition when she runs with corporate teams and Mass Velocity.

“We are all out there hugging and giving each other pointers,” she said. “I love running, where I finish is secondary.” 

Those interested in assisting McCarthy can contact her at suermccarthy@gmail.com.