As a teenager attending high school before Title IX was enacted in 1972, Carole Jackson didn’t have the opportunity to compete in organized sports. She’s making up for it now.
Jackson, an architect who has lived in Oak Park for 32 years, has been competing in regional and national track and field meets since 2016. This summer, at the age of 70, she participated for the first time in the World Masters Athletic Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, where she competed in the hammer, weight and discus throws and placed in the middle of a pack of 22 elite athletes in her age group.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to go if I thought I’d be at the bottom,” Jackson said. “I knew I probably wouldn’t medal but it ended up being a really fun experience. The camaraderie among the women was great. I’ll definitely do it again.”
Jackson also competed this year in the National USATF Track Meet in Sacramento, CA, where her relay team beat a national record by nearly three seconds, and she won two gold medals in throwing events.
Jackson discovered the sport of throwing eight years ago while accompanying a friend who was throwing the discus at area track meets. A woman she met at a meet encouraged her to try it rather than sitting around watching others. She started taking the sport seriously after joining the USA Track and Field organization and competing in the 2016 National Throws Pentathlon in Lisle, IL, where her combined score earned her a silver medal. She also competed that year in the USATF Track Meet in Grand Rapids, MI, where she won a gold medal in the 4 x 100-meter relay.
Jackson has won dozens of medals over the years and has consistently improved her performance, even as she ages. In fact, this year was a personal best. In addition to her record-breaking relay at the USATF meet in Sacramento, she won two gold medals in the hammer and weight throws.
“Normally, athletes decline as they age. I’m really fortunate that I’ve continued to get better, especially in the hammer and weight throws. My running times have dropped a bit. But it’s still fun and I feel good,” Jackson said.
Before joining the USATF, Jackson ran regularly with the Oak Park Runners Club and refers to Bob Hakes and Bob O’Connor as inspirations. She went with them to her first professional track meet, the 2015 Senior Games in Springfield, IL. O’Connor encouraged her to get a pair of running spikes. She later joined the SoCal (southern California) Striders because they focus on throwing as well as running – as a member of USATF, she can join any team in the country.
Jackson chalks up much of her success to her disciplined training regimen. She works twice a week with Keven Allen, a boys track and field coach at OPRFHS, and twice a week with a personal trainer on weightlifting and plyometrics, a workout designed for building strength, balance, agility and lung capacity.
“There is really a lot of skill involved in throwing,” Jackson said. “You have to learn the foot movements and, at the same time, you have to coordinate what you’re doing with your arms and hands, and, at the end, you need to have speed when releasing the hammer. All the components have to come together. There are people who are bigger than me who can just hay-bail it – but I think I’ve gotten to where I am because of training and proper technique.”
In addition to training, Jackson has had to get used to having hundreds of people around during competitions, watching her compete, something that many of her fellow athletes learned during college meets.
Carole Jackson with her medals during the 2016 National USATF Track Meet in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she won a gold medal in the 4×100 relay. | Provided by Carole Jackson 
Carole Jackson with Bob Hakes and Bob O’Connor in 2015 when she was in the Oak Park Runners Club. Both Bobs were inspirational to her decision to take running seriously. | Provided by Carole Jackson 
The photo of Jackson with the medals and the two badges was taken this year at the Nationals in Sacramento, CA, where she won two golds medals and one silver medal. | Carole Jackson
“I got into this late, so it’s been a real learning curve,” she said. “I’m more comfortable now. But you still have people in the crowd who know more about the sport than you do and can critique you when you’re on the spot,” she said.
The camaraderie of the women she competes with and against has helped her build self-confidence. She insists that the competition is rooted in improving individual performances, not beating others.
“It’s a group of really friendly women – everyone offers helpful suggestions. They really keep me on my toes. If it was cut-throat, I’m not sure that I would have stuck with it,” she said.
When she isn’t training or competing, Jackson, who has lived in Oak Park for 32 years, is an architect and owner of Building Solutions, Inc., which focuses on rehabbing residential buildings. She is also an animal lover and, over the years has adopted and fostered several shelter dogs.
“Staying physically fit helps you stay mentally fit. It helps with your attitude about the world and yourself. It helps you stand tall,” she said.
She remembers running at Concordia University’s track once with a friend who told a group of college runners that she was 67.
“They were impressed. I think it’s great for younger women to see that running can be a lifelong pursuit,” Jackson said.