PhD Pre-Doc Student Is Running Faster than Ever These Days - Literally

Christine Davis is a PhD Pre-Doc student at the Indiana University School of Social Work, operates a case management consulting firm that specializes in helping elderly clients remain in their own homes, and is running faster than ever – literally.

Now in her early 60s, Davis uses running to keep her life in balance as she juggles the responsibilities of work and being a student. But don’t picture Davis as a weekend-jogger. Instead, think of a lightening bolt streaking down the track in the 100-meter dash.

In 2008, Davis was named a USA Track and Field Masters female Athlete of the year and to say the least, 2009 has been a very good year for Davis. She is ranked as one of the top 10 runners in her age group in the country and this past August she held her own against competitors from around the country at the National Senior Games in San Francisco. There, she finished 5th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 16.21 seconds. She also finished 7th in both the 200-meter dash and the long jump.

What’s more she even managed to shave a fraction off her previous best time in the 100-meter race she set at the World Masters Games in Melbourne, Australia, when she was in her mid-50s.

During the months leading up to the national games, Davis competed in a series of track meets to gauge her times and the competition. Among the events she entered was the Indiana Senior Games. There, she walked off with five first places in the 50, 100, 200-meter races along with the long-jump and shot put competition.

“I always liked running,” said Davis. Her interest in running started as a child in Alabama, where she was the fastest in her elementary school located in a town near Montgomery. She ran track in high school and then attended a university that did not have a track team.

She became involved with the sport again through her children. Her daughter and son both attended Lawrence Central High School and both were runners. Her daughter was a state champ in the 100 and 200-meters and long jump and received a full-scholarship to Arizona State University to be on a track team there.

But by the 1980s, Davis was competing again participating in the Scarborough Peace Games that featured teams from Indianapolis and athletes from the Toronto area. In the years since then, her daughter has become her coach. “We were on her track circuit for years and years…and now she is my coach,” Davis noted.

After the Peace Games was disbanded, she ran in the Hoosier State Games until those were discontinued as well. She has participated in the Indiana Senior Games in recent years.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics,” Davis noted. Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics in Rome and was her idol. “I had dreams of running on the same team with Wilma Rudolph at Tennessee State University where Rudolph attended college.

A trip to the World Master’s Games in Melbourne, Australia in 2002 ( she finished 8th in the 100-meter dash) and going to the national senior games in San Francisco gave her a taste of what it might have been like to have been in the Olympics.

For more than 30 years, Davis has been involved with rehabilitation services, working with the elderly and the disabled. She recently decided to concentrate in the area of geriatrics because of the aging of the population, a decision that led her to the School of Social Work’s Pre-Doc PhD program, which is designed to allow students to explore their interest in doctoral education.

Her business, Davis and Associates, assists elderly clients with a range of issues from coordinating medical services to helping the get the support services they need to remain in their homes, Davis explained.

As she watched her parents’ age, she became motivated to help others find the help they need to remain in their homes so they can avoid going into institutions like nursing homes. “That’s my whole goal of the agency that I run, is to keep people in their homes and help them find the supports that they need.”

Last semester Davis took a course looking at theories on aging, one of which looked at how activity affects aging. “That was a theory I believe in – to be active mentally and physically,” Davis said. I feel that it is so important for people to keep going.”

And that’s exactly what Davis intends to do. Her next major competition she hopes to compete at is the Hawaii Senior Games next October. Competition for Davis gives her an incentive, a reason to run.

“I don’t want to get out there and just jog,” Davis said. Competing allows her to run against others, but in a sense she is really competing against herself to see how far she can go as a sprinter.

The training helps her spiritually, mentally and physically. “I have clients that I have to take care of but at the same time, you have to take care of yourself, too. It’s really crucial to do that.”