780 Run in Benefit for Homeless Women

Under cloudy skies Sunday morning, 780 women lined up behind the Irvine Marriott Hotel for the second annual Success Run, All Women 8K. Organized by Women in Business of Orange County, the race was sponsored in part by the Marriott, with proceeds from race registration fees going to the Program for Women Foundation for a career counseling and training program to help homeless women at the soon-to-be-constructed Hotel for Women at the South Orange County YWCA.

Placing first in the Success Run was Patti Sue Plumer with a time of 29:19, which bested Ruth Wysocki’s winning time last year by almost a minute. This was only the third race Plumer had entered since she broke her leg when struck by a car in March. Although she said in an interview before the race that she planned to “take it slow and run, not race,” Plumer easily took the lead, outdistancing second-place runner Ngaire Drake of New Zealand by 14 seconds.

Setting a new American 8K record at 28:47 in the 45-49 age category was Shirley Matson of San Diego. Matson, who turned 45 this year, is also the American record-holder and champion in the 44-year-old bracket. She had said Saturday that she was hoping to set a new 8K record. Matson placed ninth in the race. She was trailed by Harolene Walters (29:10), winner of the Masters Division of the 1985 Boston Marathon.

The youngest runner was 8-year-old Deshna Plumer of Irvine, Patti Sue’s sister, who finished with a time of a little over an hour. It was the younger Plumer’s first race. Coming in ahead of Deshna was Bess James (50:29), at 76 the race’s oldest runner. James, who started to run in her late 60s, lives in San Jacinto and says she tries to race every weekend.