Susan Loken began running in her 30s and has since had a successful running career, competing in numerous marathons across the country. At age 44, she competed in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials marathon, finishing 40th overall. She is passionate about promoting health and fitness for youth through her involvement with Chances for Children Arizona. While pursuing her own running goals, her dream is to continue helping the organization in their mission.

1. Smokin’
Loken
July 2008
Christmas in July?
Getting Your Home
Holiday Ready
Plus: Matt Leinart at Dolce Luna and Cool Summer “Essentials”
Living the
American Dream

2. 42 July 2008 www.ahwatukeemag.com
Smokin’

3. 43 www.ahwatukeemag.com July 2008
LokenTaking life in with every stride
By Tenley Jella
Photos by babesphotos.com
his is no ordinary tale of a woman who
trained all her life to become a world-class
runner. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Ahwatukee’s Susan Loken has proven that
passion and dedication can make anything
happen — and at any age. She proved it
when she took up running in her thirties
and just this past April, at the ripe young
age of 44, competed in the Olympic Trials
in Boston.
That’s right, and it all began when
Susan left her successful career with Nordstrom in
Washington, for the opportunity to be a stay-at-home
mom by moving to Arizona in 1995. Catapulting her
from 40-50-hour work weeks maintaining a career,
to 24/7 work weeks maintaining her family. With
three sons (Michael 22, Taylor 16, and Chris 11),
time management and multitasking took on entirely
new meanings for Susan and she soon found herself
getting out of the house. “I began walking (eventually
running) to have some alone time, get out in the
beautiful sunshine, lose weight, and feel like I was
accomplishing something personally,” says Susan.
It wasn’t long before Susan connected with many
local runners and not only built close relationships
that she still has today, but also found a training
partner. So she started training for her first marathon,
with the dream of simply completing it. And the
rest, they say, is history. “Upon completing my first
marathon in 1998 I had the confidence and passion to
push myself further. I realized that, ‘when your heart
is in your dream, no request is too extreme.’”
Since then, Susan has competed in numerous
marathons around the country including, of course,

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5. 45 www.ahwatukeemag.com July 2008
the P.F. Chang’s Rock and Roll Marathon in April
where she finished 7th
, and is currently the reigning
champion of the Twin Cities Marathon for the third
consecutive year. A tough question for Susan, but if
she had to pick her favorite race, she admits it would
have to be the More Marathon in NYC. “I love what
it represents,” smiles Susan. “It promotes the health
and fitness of women over 40. It celebrates moms,
daughters, aunts, sisters and the special bond of
the friendship between women. To me it represents
everything that running has given me; strength,
confidence, health, proof that life can begin at any
age, and most importantly that success is not a solo
journey. If you don’t have your family and friends
to provide support and to celebrate with, it has no
meaning at all.”
Speaking of the More Marathon, Susan shared
a funny story that took place two weeks before the
Olympic Trials at the More Half Marathon. FYI
— The More Half Marathon is designed as a team
event that consists of two women and one of the
contestants must be over the age of 40. “In the
previous years,” says Susan, “the winning team
has always been won by a 40-year-old teamed with
a fast young elite. My goal was to win the team
competition with two women over 40. I teamed with
another top USA Master named Jody Hawkins. We
took the lead immediately and without conversing
prior decided to work together during the race. She
pulled me up the hills in the midsection of the race
and I pushed her through the final miles. In the
final 200 meters of the finish, we embraced hands
with the intention of crossing the finish line with
a spirit of our teamwork. With just 100 meters to
the finish line, a young runner took us by surprise
and sprinted past us! I immediately responded, but
was unable to beat her final kick to the finish line! I
learned a valuable lesson, that a race is not over until
it’s over! Jody and I celebrated a little too soon!”
And to top off this somewhat embarrassing moment,
Runner’s World Magazine printed a picture and story
of the incident in this month’s circulation. Susan
now has a special keepsake.
An insignificant hiccup in the grand scheme
of things considering two weeks later Susan was
competing in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
The Women’s Marathon was held on Sunday, April
20th
in Boston, the day before the infamous Boston
Marathon. A multi-looped course through downtown
Boston and Cambridge was designed for the trials
to optimize the number of spectators. It was an
exclusive marathon composed of the top American
elite runners vying for a chance to represent the
United States at the Olympic Games in Beijing this
summer.
And since most of us will never know what it’s
like to be a part of this prestigious opportunity, the
following is Susan’s first-hand account of what she
describes as a “priceless” experience:
“It was truly an honor to compete in the trials.
This experience was the ‘icing on the cake’ for
my years of time, effort, energy, and sacrifices I
have put into my training. The Olympic Trials can
be best defined as ‘my personal Olympics.’ The
marathon is such a strategic and unpredictable
event. Compared to other sports where plays, goals,
outs, minutes, and seconds define an outcome. The
marathon is composed of over 2 hours of continued
patience, stamina, and endurance. It is both a
physical and mental challenge to an unexplainable
extreme. Because of this, truly anyone can be
victorious that day, not just the favored. I was
the “wildcard” in the trials and did not place my
expectations to be in the top three to compete in
Beijing. My goal was to run my personal best, savor
the moment and know that I was giving 110% while
competing with the very best.
The crowds were unlike anything I’ve ever seen!
Hundreds of spectators lined the streets for the entire
race fueling the adrenaline rush and still I heard my
friends and family screaming my name each and
every mile!!! Nine of my closest girlfriends worked
hard to qualify for the Boston marathon so they could
travel to Boston to support me and run in the Boston
Marathon the following day. My parents, sons, and
boyfriend were there to pull me through. Again,
priceless! The best part of the weekend was having
my boys in the stands watching and cheering for
me. The thought of my sons sitting in the stands at
Susan’s Race
Recommendations
• Twin Cities Marathon
• NYC Marathon
• Boston Marathon
• Santa Barbara Half
Marathon
• AFC Half Marathon
and of course our own
• Arizona P.F. Chang’s
Marathon

6. 46 July 2008 www.ahwatukeemag.com
About Chances for Children
Chances for Children Arizona (CFCAZ) is a
not-for-profit organization that aims to
provide children in Arizona recreational
opportunities that otherwise may not be
affordable to them. CFCAZ believes that
every individual deserves the chance
for success. They offer kids a chance by
supporting running, fitness, nutrition
and character-building programs with the
ultimate goal of decreasing the obesity
rate among our kids.
Chances for Children gave Susan the
ability to use her passion for a purpose.
Last year they asked Susan to implement
and coach a fundraising half and full
marathon walk/run team for the P.F.
Chang’s Marathon. The funds raised help
Chances for Children continue to provide
kids in the Valley with recreational
opportunities!
Last year they had 87 “Team Chances”
members successfully complete the half or
full marathon. Participants improved their
lives by becoming fitter and healthier and
by fulfilling a challenging personal goal,
they also gave 607 Valley children the
same Chance.
Currently they are gearing up for
their next “Team Chances” P.F. Chang’s
Training group. Informational meetings
are scheduled in July and August at Sole
Sports in Tempe. They also have groups
forming in Scottsdale, Maricopa, Queen
Creek and Casa Grande!
From Susan
“Living in Ahwatukee where the kids
have endless opportunities to participate
in sports, I found it hard to believe that
so many of our Valley kids don’t have
that chance. I could not imagine what it
would be like if my sons didn’t have sports
in their lives. It was a dream to become
involved with a charity that understands
the positive impact recreation has on our
kids. So becoming a coach and program
director for Chances for Children has
allowed me to teach the lessons, mistakes,
and successes from my running journey
to help others successfully complete their
marathon and support the health and
fitness for children. It also gave me the
opportunity to work directly with the kids
we support and coach our first running
group for at-risk-teens.”
Chances for Children-Arizona
www.chancesforchildrenaz.com
(602) 708-2740
Sole Sports Running Zone
www.solesportsrunning.com
(480) 522-2475
Susan’s Vitals
Guilty Pleasure: Red
Wine and Brownies!
Favorite July 4th
Moment: Watching
fireworks on a blanket
in the park with my
sons when they were
little.
Celebrity Look Alike:
Energizer Bunny
Current Read: Lactate
Lift-Off by Owen
Anderson PhD. I’m
constantly reading
ways to improve
running performance
so I can give Team
Chances the best
coaching possible.
Favorite Vacation
Destination: I can’t
name just one. Any
place that offers
natural beauty and
outdoor activities.
Above: Susan running in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Boston

7. the finish line, watching their mom run
in the Olympic Trials pulled me through
the toughest miles of the race. I wanted
to make them proud and I wanted them
to see for themselves that hard work,
dedication, and perseverance pays off. I
ran my second fastest time ever, 2:42:55
(6:13 per mile) and placed 40th
overall!”
As Susan will tell you, “success is
not a solo journey,” it’s a team effort
that gets her from race to race. She has
been sponsored by some big names
including Asics, Aruba Sunglasses, and
Powerbar. Not to mention chiropractors,
strength trainers, and coaches. She is
very enthused about her newest sponsor,
however: Sole Sports Running Zone
in Tempe. “I was honored and thrilled
to be sponsored by Asics, but running
and supporting a local running store
that truly cares about all the people in
our community is the best sponsorship
I could ever have.” Improving the
community is something Susan is
definitely passionate about as she is the
Program Director and highly involved
with Chances for Children Arizona, a
non-profit organization that promotes
a healthy, active lifestyle in our valley’s
youth.
On the brink of her 45th
birthday on
the 28th
of this month, I think it could
be said that Susan has it all. But Susan
doesn’t plan on hanging up her running
shoes anytime soon. “My next goal is
to defend my title at the USA Masters
Marathon Championship in the Twin
Cities this October. I also have the goal
of breaking the USA age group marathon
record.” And while she is passionate
about achieving her personal running
goals, “my dream is that I can use my
efforts and running success to continue
helping Chances for Children with their
mission.”
But when Super Susan (that’s what
I’m going to call her now) is not raising
a family, defending a title, or helping the
Valley’s youth, you will find her simply,
in her beautiful backyard. “Our backyard
is nestled on a South Mountain preserve
lot and is the most peaceful, relaxing and
beautiful place ever. It’s our little slice of
heaven on earth.” Combine that with a
glass of wine and a good book and Susan
regains her “mere mortal” status.
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