Belvedere runner sets world record in 800-meter race at Santa Barbara meet
- Kevin Hessel
- Oct 22
- 1 min read
Belvedere resident Nancy Simmons set a world record in the women’s 65-69 age group 800-meter run Oct. 19 at the Beverley Lewis Memorial Open/Masters Track and Field meet at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.
Simmons clocked 2:38.05, besting the previous world record of 2:39.61 set in 2016 by 1.56 seconds.
The achievement came just five months after Simmons ran her first 800 as part of a relay team that set a world record May 24 in Fairfax, Virginia.
Simmons won the 800-meter race at the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, in July with a time of 2:41.77. After that race, she said she realized she was about 2 seconds off the world record and set a goal to break it.
“I’m going to take some time to rest my body and my brain and then think about what’s next,” she said.
Simmons competes with Impala Racing Team and has been running competitively since 2011.