Libbie Hickman’s career as a professional runner ended joyfully with the discovery that she was pregnant with her first child, a year after she accomplished the career goal of making an Olympic team.
Bette Poppers’ path to becoming an outstanding masters runner began when she was seven months’ pregnant, didn’t like feeling “fat,” and tried running to shed some pounds.
Parthenia “Potts” Jones has been a mother of sorts to the Denver running community, a tireless volunteer and founder of a running club known as the Potts Trotters.
They will be inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a gala at the Denver Athletic Club.
“It’s wonderful because I get lost in being a mother, and I kind of forget that I even was a runner,” said Hickman, 47, a Colorado State product who ran the 10,000 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
“It kind of brings back all those memories, and it’s a wonderful feeling. It’s an opportunity for me to look back at my career. I feel so honored that it’s been acknowledged.”
Runner’s World named Hickman female road racer of the year in 1991, 1998 and 2000. She won the 1997 Bolder Boulder, the first victory for an American woman in that race in 14 years.
Motherhood was a radical change for Hickman, who gave up the necessarily selfish life of the elite runner for the selfless role of raising children. She has three, ages 9, 6 and 4.
“There’s no longer a you, it’s them,” Hickman said. “It is a 180. You’re doing everything just for yourself, to get the best performance out of yourself, and then you’re up in the middle of the night and you don’t care about yourself at all. All you do is worry about the little ones.”
Not that she’s complaining. Far from it.
“I think what made the transition so beautiful is that I just love being a mother,” Hickman said. “Some people do have a hard time, because you’re kind of known as a runner, and that transition can be kind of tough. Mine was so smooth because I just went straight into being a mother and I do love it, I love every moment. It’s so challenging, but at the same time it’s so rewarding.”
Poppers was 32 years old and pregnant with her second child when she noticed how happy her husband was when he came back from running, which he took up after quitting smoking.
“I thought, ‘Gee, he’s looking like he’s having fun out there,’ ” said Poppers, now 68. “I said, ‘I’m feeling a bit fat,’ because I was pregnant, ‘maybe I should try this.’ “
She ran a little over half a mile that first time out and kept that up until her daughter was born. Then she began joining a friend for runs on the High Line Canal, and her friend introduced her to racing.
After a few age-group wins, Poppers was hooked. She would run in the marathon Olympic trials of 1984 and 1988 as a masters (over 40) runner.
It was back in those days when Jones was attracted to volunteering at races, which sometimes requires getting up in the middle of the night on race day.
In the beginning, she did it for the T-shirts.
Jones founded the Potts Trotters in 1998. She is a deputy marshal for the city of Aurora in charge of the city’s juvenile community service program.
“My parents always taught us it’s better to give than receive,” Jones said. “I like to bring people together. Bringing people together, that’s what I enjoy about the races.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
Colorado Running Hall of Fame
Other 2011 inductees:
Steve Flanagan: Represented the U.S. in the world cross country championships in the 1970s, when he ran for the Colorado Track Club and the Frank Shorter Racing Team. He is the father of America’s top female distance runner, Shalane Flanagan, who was a bronze medalist in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
John Meyer: Denver Post sports writer and avid endurance athlete who has covered the Denver running scene for more than 20 years. Meyer won the 2007 Jesse Abramson Award for excellence in track and field journalism, awarded by the Track and Field Writers of America.
Previous inductees:
2007: Frank Shorter, Colleen De Reuck, Pat Porter, Jon Sinclair, Joe Vigil, Lorraine Moller, Ted Castaneda.
2008: Mark Plaatjes, Steve Jones, Arturo Barrios, Tony Sandoval, Steve Bosley, Ellen Hart Peña, Melody Fairchild.
2009: Benji Durden, Alan Culpepper, Rich Castro, Maureen Custy-Roben, Kim Jones, Creigh Kelley, Stan Mavis.
2010: Herb Lindsay, Adam Goucher, Elva Dryer, Shayne Culpepper, Danny Reese, PattiSue Plumer, Mike Sandrock.
