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We welcome Rita Hanscom, world class Master's Track & Field Champion, speaking on "How to be an athlete in the last half of your life."
Here's a look at Rita's incredible, inspirational story:
Rita Hanscom is an attorney, wife, mother, and a remarkable example of resilience in athletics. A graduate of the University of Hawai‘i and Boston College Law School, she has built a distinguished career in public service, working in the California Attorney General’s Office, where she investigates health-care fraud.
Around age 47, after reading about Masters track and field, she resolved to learn pole vaulting—and that decision began a second chapter of extraordinary achievement.
Rita has competed in Masters events both nationally and around the world, earning accolades, winning medals and breaking records. In addition to five gold medals, she earned a world record in the heptathlon at the 2009 World Masters Championships in Lahti, Finland, and that year was honored as the Best Masters Female Athlete in the World.
In 2025, at the USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships, competing in the women’s 70–74 pentathlon, Rita tallied 3,682 points, setting a new American age-division record. She also cleared 1.23 m in the high jump, ran 12.71 s in the 60m hurdles, and helped her 4×200 relay team break another American record.
Rita has overcome two Achilles tendon injuries with trademark determination—staying active through recovery and proving that movement fuels healing. Her philosophy: stay active to heal and to thrive.
Rita has competed in Masters events both nationally and around the world, earning accolades, winning medals and breaking records. In addition to five gold medals, she earned a world record in the heptathlon at the 2009 World Masters Championships in Lahti, Finland, and that year was honored as the Best Masters Female Athlete in the World.
In 2025, at the USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships, competing in the women’s 70–74 pentathlon, Rita tallied 3,682 points, setting a new American age-division record. She also cleared 1.23 m in the high jump, ran 12.71 s in the 60m hurdles, and helped her 4×200 relay team break another American record.
Rita has overcome two Achilles tendon injuries with trademark determination—staying active through recovery and proving that movement fuels healing. Her philosophy: stay active to heal and to thrive.
As she says, “One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to remain healthy and independent.”