LAURA PIFER IS A TROPHY WIFE, BUT NOT THE WAY YOU THINK
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY MAURICE GARLAND
WHEN LAURA PIFER SIGNED UP FOR ATLANTA RUN CLUB’S INAUGURAL ATLANTA MILE RACE IN JUNE 2025, SHE KNEW SHE HAD A CHANCE AT WINNING IT. THE SUWANEE, GEORGIA RESIDENT STARTED THE YEAR WINNING THE WOMEN’S FIRST-PLACE PRIZE AT THE POLAR OPPOSITE PEACHTREE ROAD RACE THAT JANUARY. SHE WAS ALSO FRESH OFF A FIRST-PLACE FINISH AT THE ATHENS TWILIGHT MILE RACE WITH A TIME OF 4:54, MAKING HER MORE THAN QUALIFIED FOR THE 5:30 CUTOFF TIME TO COMPETE IN THE ATLANTA MILE’S ELITE FIELD.
“IT’S HARD TO FIND ROAD MILE RACES BECAUSE THERE’S NOT THAT MANY,” SAYS PIFER, WHO FOUND OUT ABOUT THE RACE WHEN A FRIEND SENT HER AN ARC INSTAGRAM POST ANNOUNCING IT. “I WAS ALREADY IN MILE AND MIDDLE DISTANCE SPEED SHAPE AND THOUGHT IT LOOKED REALLY COOL. PLUS, IT WAS CLOSER THAN ATHENS.”
ALREADY A WINNER OF NUMEROUS LOCAL ATLANTA RACES, SHE DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO PROVE. HOWEVER, WHEN SHE WENT TO PICK UP HER RACE BIB AT DICK’S SPORTING GOODS IN BUCKHEAD AND SAW THE NEARLY TWO-FOOT-TALL FIRST-PLACE TROPHY CUP STANDING ON THE REGISTRATION TABLE, SHE GOT SOME EXTRA MOTIVATION.
“I WAS LIKE, ‘YOU BETTER BREAK FIVE MINUTES IF THEY'RE GONNA GIVE YOU THAT TROPHY, LAURA,’” SHE SAYS. “SO I DEFINITELY WANTED TO JUST RUN AS FAST AND HARD AS I COULD BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THAT PRIZE PURSE WAS REALLY, REALLY NICE TOO.”
BUT WHEN SHE SHOWED UP TO THE START LINE IN ATLANTA’S GRANT PARK NEIGHBORHOOD, SHE HAD DOUBTS. NOT ABOUT HER ABILITY, BUT ABOUT THE RACE ITSELF. THERE WERE ONLY 15 RUNNERS PRESENT, AND THE SEVERAL THUNDERSTORM DELAYS MADE THE WEATHER CONDITIONS LESS THAN IDEAL.
“THERE WAS A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE HANGING AROUND, WARMING UP, DOING THEIR STRIDES, AND I DON'T REMEMBER MANY WOMEN REALLY BEING THERE WITH ME EITHER,” SAYS PIFER, WHO WAS ONE OF THE TWO WOMEN WHO QUALIFIED TO COMPETE FOR THE $1,000 GRAND PRIZE. “I WONDERED IF A LOT OF PEOPLE JUST DIDN'T KNOW IF THE RACE WAS GONNA HAPPEN, AND MAYBE THEY DIDN'T SHOW UP.”
THE WET GROUND DIDN’T DAMPEN PIFER’S PERFORMANCE THOUGH. SHE SHOT OUT LIKE A DART, ESTABLISHING A 5-SECOND LEAD ON THE RUNNER CLOSEST BEHIND HER. WHILE A HANDFUL OF RUNNERS STAYED AHEAD OF HER, PIFER WAS MORE INTRIGUED BY THE LARGE CROWD GATHERED AS SHE CLOSED IN ON THE FINISH LINE.
“IT SEEMED LIKE SUCH A SMALL RACE BECAUSE WE STARTED LATE,” SAYS PIFER, WHO DIDN’T REALIZE THAT THERE WERE 300-PLUS RUNNERS WHO HAD ALREADY RUN IN THE GENERAL DIVISION RACE BEFORE HER AND WERE NOW WAITING AT THE END TO CHEER. “WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THE MASSES GO OUT IN FRONT OF US. SO WHEN I FINISHED AND SAW EVERYBODY THERE AND HOW MUCH FUN THEY WERE HAVING, I WAS LIKE ‘WOW, THIS IS SO COOL.’”
“PIFER GAVE THE CROWD SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE. AT 40, SHE WAS THE OLDEST RUNNER IN THE ELITE FIELD AND FINISHED IN 4:58.”
PIFER GAVE THE CROWD SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE. AT 40 YEARS OF AGE, SHE WAS THE OLDEST RUNNER IN THE ELITE FIELD AND FINISHED THE RACE WITH A TIME OF 4:58. GOOD ENOUGH TO ACCOMPLISH HER SUB-5 MINUTE GOAL, COME IN SIXTH OVERALL, AND ULTIMATELY HOIST THE FIRST-PLACE WOMEN’S TROPHY IN VICTORY.
“THE RACE WAS TOUGH,” REMEMBERS PIFER, MENTIONING THE HALF-MILE UPHILL START. “IT WASN’T A VERY FAST COURSE, SO YOU REALLY HAD TO GET GOING. I REALLY WASN'T SURE HOW IT WOULD GO, BECAUSE I DON'T TRAIN SPECIFICALLY FOR THE MILE ANYMORE. AT MY AGE, I'M DOING MORE MARATHON AND 10K KINDS OF WORK.”
PIFER HAS BEEN PUTTING IN WORK FOR DECADES. BY THE TIME THE MIDVALE, UTAH NATIVE GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL IN 2002, SHE HAD WON 10 TRACK AND CROSS-COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS AND SET SEVERAL OTHER RECORDS. THE PINNACLE BEING HER OWNING THE NATIONAL 5K RECORD FOR 17-YEAR-OLDS DURING HER SENIOR YEAR, RUNNING A TIME OF 16:29. FIFTEEN YEARS BEFORE SUPERSHOES EXISTED.
“THAT RECORD’S OBVIOUSLY BEEN BROKEN NOW,” SHE SAYS WRYLY. “YOU KNOW, WITH CARBON SHOES AND ALL THAT FUN STUFF.”
PIFER WENT ON TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, WHERE SHE WAS PART OF TWO NATIONAL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CROSS-COUNTRY TEAMS. HER SUCCESS ISN’T MUCH OF A SURPRISE CONSIDERING SHE COMES FROM A FAMILY TREE THAT INCLUDES HER FATHER, WHO WAS A STEEPLE RUN CHAMPION AT ILLINOIS STATE, AND UNCLES SHE SAYS ARE STILL RUNNING ULTRAMARATHONS IN THEIR 60S.
NOW MARRIED AND A MOTHER OF THREE, PIFER IS CARRYING ON THE TRADITION BY COACHING CROSS COUNTRY AT COLLINS HILL HIGH SCHOOL IN SUWANEE, GEORGIA AND WATCHING HER OLDEST SON JAMESON BUILD A LEGACY OF HIS OWN AS A HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPION AND RECORD HOLDER WHO WILL BEGIN RUNNING FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA THIS FALL.
PIFER ADMITS THAT RUNNING TOOK A BACKSEAT TO RAISING HER CHILDREN EARLY ON, BUT NOW THAT THEY ARE GETTING OLDER, SHE HAS FOUND TIME TO HIT THE PAVEMENT MORE CONSISTENTLY OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS. THAT PART OF HER JOURNEY HAS HELPED HER FIND THE BALANCE BETWEEN RUNNING FOR CLARITY AND RUNNING FOR COMPETITION.
“THE RACES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SO DIALED IN THAT YOU CAN’T ENJOY IT,” SAYS PIFER, WHO IN ADDITION TO RUNNING HER OWN UPCYCLING BUSINESS, STILL GETS UP MOST MORNINGS TO RUN. “IT’S FUN TO PR AND GET FASTER EVERY YEAR, BUT SOMETIMES YOU'RE IN DIFFERENT POINTS OF YOUR LIFE.”
AS FAR AS THIS PART OF HER LIFE GOES, PIFER IS BACK ON BEAST MODE. THIS PAST APRIL, SHE FINISHED 3RD MASTERS WOMEN IN THE 2026 BOSTON MARATHON WITH A TIME OF 2:37:33, JUST 33 SECONDS AWAY FROM AN OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIME. ANOTHER ACCOMPLISHMENT SHE CAN ADD TO HER CROWDED MANTLE NEXT TO THE ATLANTA MILE TROPHY, WHICH SHE REVEALS IS GETTING PUT TO GOOD USE AT HOME.
“MY SON LIKES TO PUT HIS POKÉMON CARDS IN THAT TROPHY,” LAUGHS PIFER. “SO I GUESS IT'S JUST A NICE POKÉMON HOLDER NOW.”