She went a long, long way in $20 shoes

Wendy Sayres, of Readfield, started running in 1975, and raced for several decades. A member of the Androscoggin Harriers, founded by her husband Bill, she also ran for the Maine Road Ramblers and the Central Maine Striders. She was a consistent age-group winner as a masters, seniors and 60-plus competitor.

Sayres grew up in New York City and came to Maine in 1970. An elementary school teacher who retired in 1995, she took up running after her husband bought her a pair of running shoes, which she notes cost $20. Actually, the shoes set unused for six months before she gave running a try.

Sayres ran her first road race on March 27, 1976 at the Roland Dyer Memorial Race at Riverside, where she finished third among women in the 5-K event, clocking 22:47. She was 42. She ran one other race that year, taking third again at the Lewiston Three-In-One-Day Races where she completed the 2.8 mile event in 21:17.

In 1977, she ran eight races starting with the Roland Dyer 5-K in March in 23:40. Then it was the Boys Club 5-Miler in Portland where she ran 38:09. At the Lewiston Three-In-One-Day Races on April 23 she clocked 20:00 for a 1:17 improvement over the previous year. She won her first age group award at the Father's Day Race at Cheverus, taking first in her category in 30:00. Sayres finished the year setting a masters record at the Turkey Trot in 46:46.

In 1978 she competed in 11 races. Among the highlights were a second place women’s finish at the Lewiston Three-In-One-Day Race, in 20:13, and on Sept. 17 she won her first race overall at the YMCA 4-Miler in 28:27 in Auburn. That year Sayres also placed third overall at the Bar Harbor 13.1 miler in 1:41:58, and she took second overall at the Lost Valley 15-K in 69:07. At the competitive Bonne Belle 10-K she placed 4th in the 40-50 age category in 44:16. In all, she won her age group four times in 11 races in 1978. Her running earned her Most Improved Runner of the Year for the Androscoggin Harriers.

In 1979, Sayres ran in five races and was first in her age group twice and took second overall in the C'est Si Bon 4.5 Miler, clocking 31:26. In 1980, she ran three races, winning her age group in all three.

After just four years of running she was honored as Women’s Masters Runner of the Year by the Maine Masters. "Bill has always been the encourager and coach," she said. And Robin Emery, Sayres said, was her foremost role model.

Through the 1980s, even with the improved competition in the older age groups, Sayres continued to win her division. In 1984 through 1987, for instance, she went unbeaten. In 1982, Sayres was ranked 12th nationally in the 5-K, in the 45-49 age category, as a result of a 36:53 performance at age 47.

Sayres, who was 5-foot-5 and 113 pounds, said that her best racing distance was 15-K to the marathon. Her three best lifetime performances were: the 1981 Boston Marathon, 3:31, at age 47; the 1980 Casco Bay Marathon, 3:26 at age 46; and the Bonne Belle 10-K, 1978, at age 44, in 44:16. Her greatest moment in running, she said, was "running the first marathon I entered, Casco Bay, and realizing I could go more than 20 miles without hitting the wall."

Faye Gagnon reflected on Sayres' role in Maine running this way: "She was a pioneer, being one of the few female racers [in the 1970s] in Maine who consistently won races and/ or placed in her age category. Back then Wendy, who was in her forties, was a great inspiration to those of us who were not high school or college runners but were beginning to run at a later stage in our lives. At races Wendy always had words of encouragement, congratulations, or consolation for her female competitors. . . Wendy not only deserves to be in the Running Hall of Fame because of her accomplishments as a runner, but also as an inspiration to women to see that being an athlete can be an important integral part of the whole woman."