Elaine Van Blunk

Elaine Van Blunk (née McGillam;[1] born September 11, 1964[2]) is an American long-distance runner who finished third at the 1994 Chicago Marathon. She was the 1989 winner of the 3000 meters at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, and finished seventh in the 10,000 meters event at the 1991 Pan American Games.

Elaine Van Blunk
Personal information
Birth nameElaine McGillam
Born (1964-09-11) September 11, 1964
United States
Sport
SportAthletics
Medal record
Long-distance running
USA Track & Field Indoor Championships
1989 New York City3000 meters
Marathon
World Marathon Majors
1994 ChicagoMarathon

Personal life

Van Blunk attended Archbishop Prendergast High School,[3] and later Saint Joseph's University.[4] She graduated from Saint Joseph's in 1986.[1] She is married to Jim Van Blunk, who was an athlete and later admissions director at Saint Joseph's University.[4] Jim Van Blunk won the 1986 and 1987 Broad Street Run races.[5] Van Blunk has lived in West Deptford Township, New Jersey,[4] and Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.[6]

Career

Whilst at Archbishop Prendergast High School, Van Blunk competed in Catholic League girl's athletics competitions. In 1981, she finished third in the cross country event,[7] and in 1982, she won the 3,200 meter race in a meeting record time of 11:09.4.[8] Whilst at Saint Joseph's University, Van Blunk qualified for the 1985 NCAA Championships,[3] and in 1986, she became an all-America athlete.[9] After graduating, Van Blunk worked as an accountant,[1] and later as an investigator in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the office of the New Jersey Attorney General.[4] She gave up the role to pursue athletics full time,[4] although she also worked part-time as a track assistant at Saint Joseph's.[1] Van Blunk was sponsored by Nike.[4]

She was the 1989 winner of the 3000 meters event at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships.[10] In the same year, Van Blunk finished sixth in the Penn Relays mile run.[9] She also won a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) race in Park Avenue, New York City,[9] and a 3.1 miles (5.0 km) event at the Metropolitan Athletics Congress.[9] In 1990, Van Blunk won the 10,000 meters event at the Penn Relays. She finished second in the event in 1991, albeit in a faster time.[4] In 1990, Van Bluck won the 8 km road race at the United States Championships.[11] She competed at the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Seville, Spain,[4] and placed seventh in the 10,000 meters event at the 1991 Pan American Games.[12] In 1992, Van Blunk won a Dukes invitational 5,000 meters race in a time of 16:04.7.[13] In 1993, Van Blunk set a course record of 1:12:11 at the Fairfield Half-Marathon.[6] She also won the Broad Street Run,[5] in a course record time of 53:15,[14] and the half marathon event at the United States Championships.[11] She also finished 21st in the 10,000 meters event at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics.[15]

In 1994, Van Blunk finished third at the Chicago Marathon, 51 seconds behind winner Kristy Johnston. It was Van Blunk's second career marathon.[16] In 1995, she won the 25 km road race at the United States Championships,[11] and competed in the marathon event at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, but did not finish the race.[17] In 1997, Van Blunk won the Broad Street Run for the second time.[5][14]

International competitions
Representing the  United States
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventResultNotes
1990 World Cross Country Championships Aix-les-Bains, France 34th Senior race 20:07 [18]
5th Senior team 112 pts [18]
1991 World Cross Country Championships Antwerp, Belgium 28th Senior race 21:18 [19]
4th Senior team 77 pts [19]
World Indoor Championships Seville, Spain 8th 3000 m 8:58.23 [20]
Pan American Games Havana, Cuba 7th 10,000 m 36:10.91 [21]
1993 World Cross Country Championships Amorebieta-Etxano, Spain 89th Senior race 21:40 [22]
10th Senior team 167 pts [22]
World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 21st 10,000 metres 33:42.85 [20]
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden — Marathon DNF [20]

Road race wins

National titles

References
  1. "She's in it for the long run". Philadelphia Daily News. August 1, 1991. p. 71. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Elanie Van Blunk". World Athletics. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  3. "Finally Free of Injuries, McGillian Running Wild". Philadelphia Daily News. April 18, 1986. p. 126. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Running hard in pursuit of an Olympic dream". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 12, 1991. p. 234. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Blue Cross Broad Street Run". Philadelphia Daily News. May 5, 1997. p. 102. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Van Blunk sets course record". Hartford Courant. June 28, 1993. p. 18. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Cross-Country". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 11, 1981. p. 42. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Dougerty girls take track title". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 23, 1981. p. 76. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Elaine Van Blunk". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 26, 1990. p. 52. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "UNITED STATES INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (WOMEN)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  11. "UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS (WOMEN)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  12. "PAN-AMERICAN GAMES: Havana, Cuba 1991" (PDF) (pdf). Association of Track and Field Statisticians. p. 16. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  13. "Van Blunk gets easy win in women's 5000 at Duke". The News & Observer. April 11, 1992. p. 31. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Facts 'n' Figures". Philadelphia Daily News. April 20, 1999. p. 160. Retrieved December 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Women 10000m Athletics IV World Championship 1993 Stuttgart (GER) – Saturday 21.08 – Gold Medal: Junxia Wang, China". Todor 66. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  16. "OREGON RUNNER COLLAPSES – AFTER WINNING RACE". Chicago Tribune. October 31, 1994. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  17. "Women Marathon Athletics V World Championship 1995 Goteborg (SWE) – Saturday 05.08 – Gold Medal: Maria Manuela Machado, Portugal". Todor 66. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  18. Magnusson, Tomas (February 15, 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 6.0km CC Women - Aix-les-Bains Date: Saturday, March 24, 1990, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on October 16, 2007, retrieved October 24, 2013CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. Magnusson, Tomas (September 8, 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 6.4km CC Women - Antwerpen Linkerover Date: Sunday, March 24, 1991, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on October 16, 2007, retrieved October 24, 2013CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. Elaine van Blunk. World Athletics. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  21. 1991 Pan American Games full results. ATFS. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  22. Magnusson, Tomas (March 24, 2007), IAAF World Cross Country Championships - 6.4km CC Women - Amorebieta Jaureguibarria Date: Sunday, March 28, 1993, Athchamps (archived), archived from the original on October 16, 2007, retrieved October 25, 2013CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. Elaine vanBlunk. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
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