Carolina Alwina Hubertina "Carla" Beurskens (born 10 February 1952) was one of Holland's most prominent female long-distance runners from the second half of the 1970s until well into the 1990s, including all distances from 3000 metres to the marathon. During the greater part of this period she was most successful at the longer distance.
The variety of the twenty-three national titles she obtained during her long carrier shows how Beurskens dominated métier: three titles on indoor- and five on outdoor tracks, nine on the road and six in the cross country. In long distances she is the most accomplished Dutch female athlete in modern history.
Carla Beurskens did not very often represent her native country in major international tournaments. She took part in the Summer Olympics twice: in Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988, three times in European and one time in World Championships. For various reasons she never performed particularly well at those events. Her fifth place in the European Championships marathon of 1982 in Athens was her best achievement ever.
Much better were Beurskens’ achievements in the marathons of various big cities all over the world. For instance, with the exception of Kenya's Tegla Loroupe, she is the only female athlete who won the Rotterdam Marathon more than once. And this although shortly after her first victory in 1984 she declared that in the future she would ignore Rotterdam, unless the circumstances for female competitors would improve drastically. Finally in 1990 the circumstances seemed to fulfil the conditions of the athlete from Limburg, because she appeared on the scene once more and won for the second time. Moreover, she became the first female in Rotterdam to realise a time within two-and-a-half hours: 2:29:47. She won the City-Pier-City Loop half marathon in the Hague four times (1984–86, 1990).City-Pier-City Half Marathon – List of winners
Carla Beurskens ran her personal best (2:26:34 hours) on November 15, 1987, in the Tokyo Marathon, finishing second behind triple winner Katrin Dörre. This Dutch national record stood for nearly thirteen years. It was finally broken on November 2, 2003, by the Dutch Kenyan Lornah Kiplagat at the New York Marathon: 2:23:43. Beurskens was also victorious in the Nagoya marathon in Japan in 1987, finishing in 2:28:27, taking into account the bad weather conditions (some snow showers on the way), in Eindhoven in 1995 and Enschede in 1997, both towns in The Netherlands. She won the Parelloop 10 km in race in the Netherlands in 1993 Arrs.net: List of Parelloop winners
Eight out of the ten times she participated in the Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii, she carried off the palm, for the first time in 1985. A two-week vacation offer came together with the invitation for this event. She took part without being fully prepared and won straightaway. In the following years up to 1994 her series of victories was only interrupted in 1988 and 1991. With her eight victories in Hawaii she is the most successful female marathon runner ever. Nowadays she is invited by the organizers to be present at the event as a guest of honour.
Achievements Representing the 1982Osaka Ladies Marathon Osaka, Japan 2ndMarathon2:34:14European Championships Athens, Greece5thMarathon2:39:221983World Championships Helsinki, Finland17thMarathon2:39:251984City-Pier-City Loop The Hague, Netherlands 1stHalf Marathon1:12:57Rotterdam Marathon Rotterdam, Netherlands1stMarathon2:34:56 Olympic Games Los Angeles, United States22ndMarathon2:37:511985City-Pier-City Loop The Hague, Netherlands 1stHalf Marathon1:10:44Frankfurt MarathonFrankfurt, Germany 1stMarathon2:28:37Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:35:511986Egmond Half Marathon Egmond, Netherlands 1stHalf Marathon1:18:16City-Pier-City Loop The Hague, Netherlands 1stHalf Marathon1:09:28European Championships Stuttgart, West Germany7thMarathon2:39:05Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:31:011987Nagoya MarathonNagoya, Japan1stMarathon2:28:27Tokyo MarathonTokyo, Japan2ndMarathon2:26:34Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:35:111988Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea34thMarathon2:37:521989Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:31:501990Egmond Half Marathon Egmond, Netherlands 1stHalf Marathon1:13:25City-Pier-City Loop The Hague, Netherlands 1stHalf Marathon1:10:04Rotterdam Marathon Rotterdam, Netherlands1stMarathon2:29:47Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:33:341992Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:32:131993Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:32:201994Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, Hawaii 1stMarathon2:37:061995Eindhoven Marathon Eindhoven, Netherlands 1stMarathon2:35:161997Enschede Marathon Enschede, Netherlands 1stMarathon2:37:20
References
Stalman, R. (1986) Profiel van Carla Beurskens. Atletiekwereld nr. 5: KNAU Ploeg, H. v.d. (1987) Programma Carla Beurskens nog een groot vraagteken. Atletiekwereld nr. 4: KNAU Bijkerk, T. and Paauw, R. (1996) Gouden boek van de Nederlandse Olympiers. De Vrieseborch Schoor, L. v.d. (1998) Carla Beurskens, het boegbeeld van de vrouwenmarathon. Atletiek nr. 2: KNAU
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