Photo above: On October 8, 2006, Alisa Harvey won her fourth women's title in the Army Ten-Miler with a winning time of 59:00.

The USATF Masters Track and Field Awards Committee has announced its Athletes of the Year for 2007. The awards are based on their accomplishments during the 2006 outdoor and 2007 indoor track seasons.

At the top of the list are two athletes who have earned the highest honors of Masters Track and Field. Nolan Shaheed, of Pasadena, CA, was named Masters Male Athlete of the Year, and Alisa Harvey, of Manassas, VA, has been named Masters Female Athlete of the Year.

Last year, at age 40, Alisa Harvey exploded on the masters scene, breaking age-group records and proving to be the fastest- ever American woman middle distance runner over 40. On April 29, 2006, she smashed an American age group record in the mile with a time of 4:46.29 at the Penn Relays. She won both the 800m and 1,500m events at the USATF Masters Track & Field Championships in Charlotte, N.C., in August, 2006. In Fairfax, VA on January 6, 2007 she set a new indoor world record in the mile with a time of 4:47.26. As a 40-year-old-athlete, Harvey is setting new performance standards for masters track and field, yet still races competitively against open athletes.

Note: On Saturday, June 9, Alisa Harvey placed third (37:23) in the Women's division of the Lawyers Have Heart 10K in Washington, DC.

Read Alisa's training article, Speed Training, published in the March/April 2007 Washington Running Report. Her four techniques used for acquiring and improving speed are: quick feet, skipping, high knees, and strides.